Closing Time

20.

The rest of the day was highly interesting. No two people who walked in the door had similar colours. No person had just one colour. And the colours seemed to fluctuate according to their moods.

I'd gone to check Sasha's under the pretense of filling up a jug of water. His was a nice red colour with light yellow and green tones. I felt a sharp burst of energy when I brushed up against him. That's what that meant- Energy.

Dottie's had been the nicest I'd felt so far. Warm, loving, nice... I avoided her bubble to avoid random outbursts of love again. I'd noticed that as she got into a lot more serious mindset, her aura spread out. It would hover over and around the people she was chatting to. That would explain a bit about why people seemed to relax in her presence. She had that something... something familiar.

I waved goodbye to Sasha and Dottie as they left at ten. The only thing to look forward to now was Lou's arrival. I was curious about what I'd see.

But time ticked by, and he was late. I watched the clock with clear irritation on my face. It was past last call, there were ten minutes left to midnight. Where was that bastard? Without him here, I would have to shut down and head home. He was the one who set up the barrier around this place that kept me from leaving.

"Waiting for someone?"

I turned my attention to the customer who'd wandered up to the counter. Pushing away from the bar, I walked up to the register, shrugging casually. "Not really. I just want to go home."

"Is that so?" The old man smiled knowingly. "What about that young man who always comes in here?"

Young man? Yeah, right. "I don't know." I started to rifle through the pile as I looked for his bill.

"You two seem quite close."

"We aren't, really." I slid the bill over to him. "He's just another regular."

"Oh, please." The old man snickered. He waved away my statement as he reached for his wallet. "These old eyes have seen everything. Men only tease women they like."

I already knew he liked me. That's not news. But I was currently slightly distracted by the colours that fluctuated around this man's body. They seemed dull, weak... like they were about to fade away.

"Yes, but I don't really like him back." I replied easily after a short pause. Collecting his money, I opened the register to give him his change. "All he's done is make my life hell ever since he walked into the bar."

"Okay, then... how about that other gentleman. The one that sits with him?"

Mike? I raised an eyebrow as I looked up. "What about him?"

"Who's he to you?"

"The same as the first." Closing the register with a decisive ring, I held out his change. "A regular."

He chuckled softly. He shook his head to himself as he took it from my hand. "All work, no play makes Jill a dull girl. Maybe you should drop some of the professional courtesies."

"That's up to me to decide, sir." I smiled at him as he started to turn away. "Have a good night."

"Sure. Sure... you too." He threw a wave over his shoulder. A mysterious chuckled was his goodbye before he stepped out the door.

I rolled my eyes to myself as the last two people in the bar got up to pay off their bills. Then the bar was empty.

It had been ages since I'd seen it empty so early. For some reason, I missed the energy that demons carried with them into my bar. It felt nice to have people around when it wasn't just a festival or a holiday. I was using the term 'people' very loosely, but they looked human, they acted human... more or less. I was past their black eyes, but the angels and their tendency to quickly jump right to seduction was still something I found hard to swallow.