Immortal Love Book #2. Evil

2. "Back in town"

The next day was as boring as the day before, except a little bit better because it was a Friday, and it was the last day of work for the week. Harry let us all leave early for some reason he didn't mention, so I was helping out at Kimmel's at around 5.00 pm, a lot earlier than usual. The place was even fuller than the day before, probably because it was a Friday, and everybody came to unwind here on Fridays. I put on an apron and I started walking around the place trying to satisfy every client inside the bar, which was getting harder every day. Merissa worked all day at Kimmel's on Fridays, and so did Jess, so between the three of us, alongside Luca in the kitchen, we managed to keep the clients happy.

"Sweetheart!" Denny, one of the town's infamous drunks that had been spending almost every night here, yelled for me. I turned to him trying not to drop the tray full of dirty dished I was carrying. "Get me another beer, will you?" he asked, and I smiled at him. As soon as I turned around, I rolled my eyes and Merissa laughed at my gesture.

"One beer." I said to Merissa, who was on and off working behind the bar. She nodded and then she filled up one of those big beer glasses that Denny always drank from.

I went to the kitchen to drop the dirty dishes and when I was back outside, the glass was full and waiting for me to pick it up. I thanked Merissa with a smile, and I took the beer to Denny's table. He was sitting with his brother in law, Mark, and his son, Lester, both complete assholes that spent their lives drinking and taking advantage of vulnerable women. Oh, and of course Denny was one of them as well, but just a lot older. The three of them stopped talking as soon as I left the beer on the table and they focused their eyes on me. Lester, who was short of fifteen years older than me, undressed me with his eyes, ignoring my clear uninterest.

"Look at you all grown up, Stella." Lester said. He had moved out of Santa Mon when he got a girl pregnant when he was twenty-something and he ran away with her because they were 'in love', and he hadn't seen me since. So, of course I looked a lot different than how he remembered me. I gave him a fake smile.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" I asked, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

"I can think of a couple things you could do for me." Lester said. Denny and Mark made sounds with their mouths, encouraging Lester to keep going. I internally rolled my eyes.

It was often that when men got drunk inside the bar, they would start harassing us. Me, Merissa, and Jess were already used to it, but that didn't make it less awful every time it happened. I decided in that moment that, because I could tell they weren't going to order anything else and that they were just being assholes, it was time for me to move on to the next table, so I walked away. But before I could do so, Lester grabbed my wrist.

Old drunk men weren't much of a problem around the bar when they could barely talk, let alone hurt us, but when men like Lester got impatient, then we got scared. He pulled me softly towards him, like he wasn't trying to cause a scene, and I tried to get rid of his grip. I was unsuccessful.

"Lester..." I said quietly. I also didn't want to cause a scene, but I desperately wanted to get out of there.

"Oh, c'mon now, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you." he said, like I was the one being irrational. I swallowed nervously. He had a big smile on his face I wanted to punch off.

"You are hurting me, Lester. Let go of my wrist." I warned. Lester looked at Mark and Denny, and they both laughed softly. What was so funny?

"Don't be so dramatic, Stella. We're just talking." he said, in a quiet tone.

I looked around me to see if anybody was aware of what was happening, but nobody was. Luca was inside the kitchen, Jess was running around taking orders and cleaning tables, and Merissa was behind the bar looking at her cellphone. I sighed. I knew Lester wasn't going to try anything in the middle of a crowd, but that didn't make the moment any less scary and uncomfortable. I shook my wrist once again to try to set free, but it didn't work.