He'll have to break all the rules to keep her, but first she has to break just one and let him in...
It's taken four years, but Anna Fray has finally put the past behind her. Mostly. She fills her days working in a bar and her nights watching bad ro...
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From the moment Amber, Max and Sev had arrived, the footfall to the bar increased. We were lucky to get the kegs changed and spirits topped up in time. Now, as the band played, I took a brief moment to glance over the thick crowd of people from my place behind the bar. It was strange to think this place could be so mellow and relaxed during the day, yet it could become this as soon as the sun went down. A tightly packed room of sweat soaked skin and alcohol fuelled chatter.
I quickly scanned the other side of the bar, checking the other three weren't struggling. Kelly had put me in charge of the bartenders while she kept an eye on the rest from the CCTV in her office. We were always at our busiest when we had a band on.
Just as I turned, I saw Sev disappear down to the storeroom. I motioned to Max and he pointed to one of the beer taps, so I knew Sev must have gone to change one of the kegs. I gave him five minutes before following him to check there wasn't a problem.
The sound of the music followed me as I wound down the stairs, the smell of damp getting stronger with every step. I trailed my hand across the exposed stone wall and felt the clammy residue of condensation coating the bricks. The cool temperature of the storeroom was perfect for storing beer, but the building had been built in a time before central heating, so it didn't have the ventilation needed to prevent the walls from sweating.
"Sev?" I called as I heard muttering from the storeroom.
"I've got it," he replied, but I followed him in anyway. I knew one of the connectors could be a pain to reattach. The pungent smell of mould and ale drifted on the air as I entered the room. An intricate network of pipes ran along the ceiling, connecting each keg to the tap in the bar above.
"Do you want a hand?"
"I said I've got it."
I waited patiently as he struggled. He clearly wasn't the type of person to ask for help, least of all from a girl.
Before I had a chance to stop him, he opened the valve. With a hiss, beer sprayed from the joint, covering him head to toe in the local brewery's finest IPA.
I reached to shut off the valve, while he tried to shield whatever part of him hadn't already been drenched in beer.
"That valve's dodgy," I said, trying to hide my smile. I'd been in his situation enough times to know there was nothing worse than spending the rest of the shift soaked through and smelling like a stale beer.
The glare Sev gave me would have been unnerving if it wasn't for the fact he looked like a drowned rat. His overly styled hair was now flat and plastered against his damp skin. His eyes flashed as his cheeks started to flush with embarrassment and annoyance.
"You could have told me that before I twisted it," he seethed.
My eyebrow rose as I replied, "I tried."
I motioned for him to go back upstairs as I fixed the valve and got the keg back on tap.
He avoided me the rest of the night. Every now and then I'd see him glower at me from along the bar and for a moment I'd feel uneasy. For the most part, I just got on with my job.
