Darkness in the Neon Lights (H2OVanoss)

Chapter 18

A few weeks have gone by, and Smitty and Brock have been trying to keep me by at least one of their sides at all time. It seems, despite them saying that my disappearing for a night was okay, and to not do it again, they don't fully trust that I'll keep my promise, and they want to make sure I'm both okay and doing what I've said I would do.

So, the second I got the green light to start online classes, Brock has been on my ass, making sure that I get as much done in every class I take, even on the weekends. Smitty then comes over to play games with me and relax at my apartment, but I know that he's only keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't take off without a warning again. Even at work, it just doesn't feel the same.

Now that I know that everyone there has a "kink" to get them through the day, I can't help but see the signs now. The faded white lines on their vanities, the number of drinks I serve them, the cans of energy drinks under Chilled's and Mini's vanities. The worst are the needles that they wrap up in tissue paper and throw away. Now that I've seen them, I can't get them out of my mind.

I know that they can all be better than this, but I don't know how to get them all to stop. At least, I don't know how to do it alone.

So, when we finally had a slow night at the club, I made my way up to Panda's office and knocked on the door before going in. He's behind his desk, going over paperwork for the club, and without looking up, he tells me to come around the desk. I do as he asks, and stand beside him as he looks over the paperwork, which I see are resumes to take the now open positions.

"Most of these kids haven't impressed me," he groans as he puts a stack of resumes in the trash. "The only one that I've even thought about hiring is this one," he says, handing me a resume for a guy named Scotty. "He has server experience and the picture he sent with it is of him wearing a Hooter's uniform."

"Why did he send that picture?"

"He isn't the first. A lot of guys will wear that uniform since it's the closest they can get to ours, and it shows off what I need to really see." He pulls over another pile of resumes and hands them to me. "I want to see what you can do now. I want you to think about the rules and standards we have here and I want you to look through these, and pick out who you think would work best for our team."

I take the stack of resumes and look at him, wide eyed. "Really?"

"Yeah. I want to test your judgement and see if you'd be able to create a team this club can work with."

I nod and look at the resumes, walking over to the couch and going over each and every one of them. As I read the resumes, I look at each picture that came with it and see if the body type would work with our standards. Each one sounds decent and would seem like a good member for the team, but there's one that stands out the most. A college student named Steven Viking. Curly brown hair, a beard, and a innocent look in his eyes. It catches my attention without trying, so I know he would definitely work out with all of us here.

I grab his resume and walk back over to the desk and slide it over to Panda. He looks it over before he looks back to me and asks, "Is this really the one you think would work best? He doesn't really have the look we normally hire."

"That's why I think he would work with us. He has more of an innocent look to him, and under his hobbies and interests, he has a lot of things that are, well, kind of nerdy."

"All the more reason-"

"He isn't a bad looker," I quickly say, cutting him off before he can turn this guy down. "He isn't as pretty as Bryce was, but he has a really good look. I know he doesn't have the body type we normally have here, but give him a couple months and it'll be were you want it."