Apt. 5C (h.s.)

2

(july 2nd)

I was about to start my new job and I was kind of nervous. And by kind of, I mean really. I was really nervous. But I was glad that I had Jo there with me. We had become somewhat close since yesterday and it made me happy that I actually had a friend here already. I expected to not have any friends until I was here for a couple months at least.

After I got ready, I grabbed my purse and a jacket just in case and walked out of my apartment, locking the door behind me. Jo came out of hers as I did so, locking her door as well.

"Hey," I grinned at her.

She eyed my hand, looking at my keychain that had only two keys on it. I guess she realized that neither one of them looked remotely close to a car key. One of them went to my apartment door, the other to my mailbox on the main floor.

"How are you getting to work?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I was gonna walk, why?"

She gave me a concerned look. "Absolutely not, EJ, I'm driving you. Come on,"

"That's sweet of you, but you really don't have to do that." I told her.

She walked closer to me, grabbing my shoulders lightly. "We're friends. Friends do things for each other. I don't mind driving you to work until you get a car. It'd be totally inconsiderate of me to do that anyways, we're neighbors." She was laughing a bit by the end of her spiel.

I sighed. "Okay, thanks, Jo."

"It's no problem at all." She smiled. "Now come on, don't want to be late on your first day."

...

We got into the bar and I followed Jo to the back room. There, we dropped our stuff off, putting it in our assigned lockers. She gave me the key to mine when when got in the room. It was cool to add another key to my keychain so it didn't look as stupid. She then led me to the bar and began showing me the ropes. I was a waitress at a restaurant with a bar in it back in Ohio, so I knew some things just from watching other people. She was going over the things I definitely needed to know when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around to see this really attractive guy that looked a bit older than Jo smiling at us.

"You must be EJ, I'm Axel." He held out his hand.

"Hi, nice to meet you," I shook it, looking back at Jo to see if she knew him, but I could tell that she did because she was practically drooling over him. Smooth, Jo.

"Oh, right," She snapped out of the trance she was in. "EJ, this is our manager. We have to listen to him or we get fired, so."

"Gotcha," I noted.

When I shook his hand I realized that one of his many, many tattoos was a really pretty rose with an electric guitar behind it.

"Is there any chance your middle name is Rose or something?" I went out on a limb.

He chuckled. "As a matter of fact, yes, it is. But my first name as an 'e' in it. My mom was a huge Guns N' Roses fan. Still is to this day, actually."

"I'm guessing you probably knew the chords to Sweet Child O' Mine in the womb." I joked.

"Actually I did," He continued my joke. "I just didn't realize it. But once I got my first guitar lesson from my dad when I was about seven I knew then I was destined to play that song for the rest of my life."

"I've heard him play it. You'd think he came up with it if you didn't know any better, that's how talented he is." Jo gushed.

Axel smirked at her, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I better not distract you guys, wouldn't want to get in trouble with the owner because you guys aren't working."