Jack & Lucy

Jack

I don't know what strings Lucy pulled to have her put in the front bar and Ashleigh with me in the back, but I was surprised to see the peppy blonde beelining it back here. Lucy knows the back bar pulls in more money because we also take care of the patio, so she must truly be pissed about me and Maggie. 

But I am also pissed because she didn't give me the opportunity to clarify the situation. She's now under the impression I hooked up with Maggie and I want to know who else thinks that's the case. I wonder if Ashleigh will give me any insight into the gossip. How can I ask about the Maggie situation when I don't want anyone to know about the Maggie Situation?

Ashleigh and I are spinning circles around each other, trying to keep up with the drink orders, so it's not like there is a ton of time to chat anyway. Any lull I have I think of Lucy, so it's probably good we are slammed right now. 

I'm ringing in my thirtieth beer bucket when Ashleigh comes and stands next to me with a credit card in her hand. 

"You guys have to work way too hard back here. I'm never switching with Lucy again," she whines as she stretches her back out. 

"The money is better, so I am surprised she's switched," I say, hoping for this to be a nice segway. 

"I found her crying in the bathroom earlier over some guy so I thought I'd be nice and switch when she asked me," she says as she scoots me out of her way to close out her tab. 

"What was she crying about?" I ask, knowing I need to get the beer bucket together instead of prying. 

Ashleigh shrugs, "I dunno. But maybe you can kiss and make it better?" She gives me a sly grin before sliding away from the computer and moving to the other end of the bar. Ashleigh would have given me more hell if she knew I was the reason Lucy was upset, but her comment there at the end confuses me. I quickly scoop ice into a tin bucket, shove six Coors lights into it and drop it onto the counter. Ashleigh's torso is leaning over the counter to hear a customer better but it looks like she's displaying her tits to him proudly. His group also notices the display and after she rings him up, I notice the cash he drops into the tip bucket. Lucy gets flustered when I simply smile at customers when Ashleigh is over here flashing for cash. I am going to tell Lucy from now on, all is fair in love and tip money. 

 Around the end of the first half, I notice we are getting low on glassware and Brandon has been helping the girls up at the front. I tell Ash that I am going to run into the back and I weave around the crowds to get to the backroom. Before I cross into the hallway, I peek at the front bar and see Lucy, Sabrina and Hannah scrambling around each other as well. There is no way I am going to get a chance to talk to Lucy. 

I move further down the hallway and spot Missy coming in from the back door, assuming she just finished her smoke break. 

"This place gets crazy for college basketball! I forgot how crowded it gets," Missy says, blowing out a loud sigh from exhaustion. I nod, not trying to engage in a conversation when she says, "No wonder you were saying you'll be too exhausted to come tomorrow night."

"Yeah, I don't see me partying after work tomorrow. Sorry Miss," I tell her as I continue down the hallway. 

"Maggie will be bummed," she says before I push the door to the kitchen open. I freeze and look back at her. 

"Maggie?" 

"Don't worry Jacky, your secret's safe with me. Trust me, I am thrilled she's moved on from Steve."

I move away from the door, momentarily abandoning my glassware mission. I know I left Ashleigh alone and am thinking Missy is only engaging in conversation because she's not eager to go back to cocktail waitressing, but I need some clarity. 

"Missy, I think you may have gotten confused. There is nothing going on between me and Maggie. You're actually the second person that has mentioned something to me about your sister today. I'm not sure what is going around."

She smirks and gives me a knowing look. She takes a step forward as she says, "I told Lucy it was to stay on the DL, but I knew Maggie wouldn't care if she knew." 

"Missy, I think there is some confusion, there isn't anything going on with me and your sister. I actually just told her I am seeing someone and would hate for rumors to spread." 

"You're seeing someone now? Wasn't your tongue just down Maggie's throat like a week ago? Real classy Dalton," she says back to me with a smirk and an eye roll. She saunters back down the hall and I run my hands down my face. This is exactly what I didn't want. This is exactly why I didn't want to hook up with anyone from here. And now my stupidity has hurt the one person I actually care about. 

I find the rack of glasses and Ashleigh is annoyed that I left her alone for so long. It's halftime now, so the bar top is crammed with drinkers. I'm grateful that most of the orders are drafts or bottles but we're still getting the complicated cocktail orders and I'm using my aggravation to pulverize the mint leaves in all of these mojitos. 

I'm annoyed because I thought tonight was going to be fun with Lucy. I finished all of my stressful midterms, had no early plans tomorrow and just wanted to continue where I left off with her. I'm grateful that Missy and Maggie are primarily roaming around the front. Maggie came back to sling shots around the end of the first half but didn't linger at the bar. 

Brandon finally comes to refill and restock everything, so I have no reason to leave my station again. I can't go peek upfront and I have no idea if I'll get a chance to talk with Lucy. The only bonus of tonight is the money. The rest of it sucks. 

I'm glad when people leave in droves as soon as the game ends. Not many people linger, so closing up might not take too long. My hope is to catch Lucy after she clocks out so this tension doesn't roll into tomorrow. 

I speed clean our station, let Ashleigh deal with the drawer, and promise Maggie to come in an hour early tomorrow to finish the prep work if she lets me bounce a bit early. She gives me an eye roll and threatens to rip my nuts off if I am late tomorrow, but I promise her we'll be ready to go when she opens the back bar. She gives me the go-ahead to clock out and I practically jog to the front bar to intercept Lucy. I find Hannah and Sabrina closing down and ask where Lucy is at. 

"She left about fifteen minutes ago. I don't think she was feeling well tonight," Sabrina answers and then goes back to wiping the counter down. I turn to head back to the office. 

Fuck.