reminiscence

Three

Desi finally showed up to her job 20 minutes later.
"about time, I drowning here!" I said running around the bar making 3 different drinks at once.

"sorry, sorry!" I knew she wasn't

"hey remember our bet" she said wiggling her eyebrows
Shit I totally forgot..

"you know.. can we postpone"

"NO! girl, I've been waiting all day to see you work your stuff!"

"fine"  If she only knew the day I have had. Maybe I did need this. A little bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone right?

She walked away to attend to a male customer. She gave him his drink and he stuffed a 60% tip down her shirt. She turned to me and winked. I rolled my eyes. You're got the be kidding me.

I don't have the looks or the charm for this.

A few hours later my tip jar was still dry Connor made his way over to me.

" heard about you little bet" he clicked his tongue watching me make a drink

" oh boy... did Desi tell you? She knows she's winning" I whined

" I'm here to help you out chill out!"

" well" I sighed "I do need all the help I can get, she has 4 times the amount of tips as me"

We looked over at Desi who was handing a gentlemen a drink making sure to brush his hand. She knew exactly what game she was playing.

"ok here's the plan, I'm going to get over the loud speaker and announce that there will be a show at the bar"

" huh..."

" your going to get on top of the bar and dance"

"connor! I'm not a stripper!"

" I never said strip! just sexy dance on the counter. you can do it!" he called as he walked over to the
speaker. No, no I can't. That took a level of confidence that I didn't have.

" Alright ladies and most importantly gentlemen... We have a little friendly contest going on here at The Mist. I need you guys to help me out a bit can you guys do that?"

The crowd cheered. Oh boy....
" ok I'm going to get my two best ladies up here. They are going to dance for you and I want you to put your tip in the best ladies cup, got it?"

The crowd cheered again as he placed two empty cups on each side of the bar.

"Alright our first contestant tonight is the well loved Desiree" Connor called her over. Desi jumped up on the counter and immediately started playing her game. Causing the crowd to cheer the loudest.

"Ok next we have the ... well Arabella"

" oh thanks for the great introduction Connor. You could have come up with something!" I whispered yelled as I hoped up on the other end of the counter stumbling a little bit. For me the crowd was silent you could hear a pin drop.

Conor put on "feelin myself" by Beyoncé and we started dancing. Desi slid her arms down her body and shook her rear end. I tried to copy her by shaking my hips. I'm sure I looked ridiculous. Desi's cup started to fill up with bills. At this moment I decided to kick it up a notch. I licked my lips sliding my hands down my body. My cup gained a few cents. Better then nothing right.

Gaining a little confidence I got even more into to jumping around and getting in Desi's face. My cup started getting more full of bills. That's it I went all out.... I took my hair out of it's messy bun and flipped it around. This proved to be a bad idea... I lost my footing and fell right off the bar into someone's hands.

"Hey Bella, fall for me again " I look up at the mans arms I was in. It was Niall wearing  a baseball cap to cover his face as much as he could.

"Wow! what a contest!" Connor said coming over the speaker. "Looking over the tips, I think we have a winner ... AraBella!"

I looked over at my tip cup that was overflowing and men were still shoving money in there.

" Um Niall.. please put me down" I whispered so no one recognized him.

"oh yeah... you really need to stop falling on you arse in front of me"

I rolled my eyes as he put me down. I walked back behind the counter to Desi and Connor.

"I told you you could do it" Desi gave me a hug

" um yeah I guess I can" I walked past them and into the back room. Desi following me.

"you alright?" she asked

"yeah just need to catch my breath"
Something that was common for today was losing my breath.

"alright, but you were truly amazing out there" she winked

She went back to the bar. I grabbed my phone out of my bag and pulled up Niall's number.

" Did you follow me here" I sent him a text

"no I heard The Mist was the hotspot now and I had to check it out for myself, you know how I love a pint"

sure. I can say I believed him but that would be a lie. He totally did follow me here. My phone buzzed.
The door swung open to Connor.

"alright girly breaks over, it's closing and I have men asking for you!"

I returned to the floor. I searched the crowd for Niall. The crowd was dying down so he should be easy to find but he was no where to be seen.

I declined a few dates from old drunk men and finished my shift for the night.
"Well what a night" Connor said as he looked the door
Desi was mopping the floor " We should do dance battles every Friday night!"

"No.. no I don't need a broken bone" I quickly rejected her idea.

Conner and Desi giggled as we finished closing.

I grabbed my things and headed hone. I was truly exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. Walking through the door I was greeting by Hudson.

"Oh your still up, good I have the best story to tell you..."

"What's this?" he interrupted me showing me my phone. A text from Niall on the screen: *a video of me dancing *
" Oh Connor had this idea to get tips and"
" Are you cheating on me" he slurred definitely drunk

"No babe, it's my job. I was working. You should see how much money I made-"

He grabbed me by the wrist interrupting me.

"You're quitting"

"Don't be ridiculous, I can't I love my job. I've been there since Hudson's grandfather owned it and we are finally getting a good crowd"

He wasn't budgeting. He pushed me against the wall. Wrapping his hands around my throat

"Don't you talk back to me!" he said through his teeth. I could barley breathe as his grip was to tight.

"Got it" He spat as he let me go and I slumped to the ground.

"yes" I said through tears
He walked away slamming the door to the bedroom leaving me crying on the floor to catch my breath once again.