Closing Time

15.

I slipped up.

But it's no big deal. He doesn't even know what I'm talking about.

I clenched my fist under the table. I need to be more careful. "Yeah. They show up for a while before I shut down and they tip pretty well. Any increase in customers is welcome." I paused in order to change the conversation. "Halloween is coming up too so we have to put up some decorations."

"How do you plan to celebrate that? Heading to a party?"

"Nah." I chuckled. "I'll be working the entire night. Halloween is a big event for us. The three of us dress up, Dottie hires two of her friends as extra waiters, Sasha gets his grandmother to help in the kitchen, I have to create new cocktails. It's fun."

Trace whistled lowly and made me look up at him. "That does sound fun... don't you get any sleep?"

I laughed. "No. We don't. The partiers stay till three or four after which we all just relax, eat some leftover food and wait for the sun to come up."

Trace was smiling with me, his green eyes watching me intently. "So how long have you been working here?"

"It's going to be about ten months officially, but I'd say about a year and a half."

"Officially?"

"Yeah. I was jobless before that and used to work there whenever I was needed alongside a part time job waitressing somewhere else. The other bartender quit, then Carl made me a full time offer."

"He sounds like a nice man."

"He is." I sighed. "I just worry about him a bit."

"You're a pretty good bartender, and you're pretty." I rolled my eyes at that. "Other bars would be stupid not to hire you."

"Yeah... I guess my experience would come in handy." I replied slowly, suddenly slightly down about it. I hadn't thought about this in a while.

My eyes shifted to the side as the waitress came back to the table with a cup of coffee. Trace nodded at her in thanks as she placed it down in front of him. I took the few moments of silence to place my head back in the game.

This is a date with a guy I kind of like. He's cute. He's clearly into me. And he's familiar... kind of. It's not been that long— actually, it's going to be almost a year. Whatever, it doesn't matter. Talking with a childhood friend and flirting should be easier than what I'd faced lately. And honestly, I needed something to keep my mind off of work. Trace might just be that something.

"You okay?"

I looked up. "Huh?"

Trace laughed. He placed the cup back down after a sip. "You looked like you're thinking really hard about something."

I grimaced slightly. I think I zoned out for too long. "Might have. It's just... work." The one thing I'm trying not to think about.

"Well, that's explainable." He shrugged. "That's all our lives consist of. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, kind of."

He paused as he cocked his head. "So, I'm right in assuming you're not dating anyone right now?"

I couldn't help a small chuckle at that. "No. I'm not. You aren't either... right?"

"Nope." He smiled. "Would've said yes about two months ago."

I whistled lowly, leaning forward with interest. "Who was it? What happened?"

Trace laughed easily, unbothered by my question. "Isn't talking about an ex bad news on a first date?"