by April Lust
He sent a quick message to his landlord, Arnold, complaining again about the leak in the ceiling, but he knew he wasn’t going to hear back from him for several days at the very least. Arnold was in an MC, the Nightwalkers, which apparently ruled over this tiny town and consumed all of his landlord’s time. It was annoying, but at least the rent here was cheap and people left him alone. That was all Pax wanted, really, the luxury of his own solitude. But more importantly, he needed a fucking job. Badly. He’d started buying only ramen noodles at the local grocery store, trying to tide himself over cheaply until he found something to get some income, but he was starting to feel weaker and weaker as the days went by. He needed to eat more and sleep less and actually function like a human. But it was a self-perpetuating cycle. He’d worry about his money and beat himself up for getting into this situation in the first place, and then as a result he’d feel so drained of energy that he wouldn’t even leave his apartment for days at a time.
But today, he’d have to get out to buy some food, at the very least. So he forced himself into the freezing cold shower, put on some sweatpants and a tank top, and headed out into the night. He intended to go straight to the grocery store and then head back home, but for some reason his feet got to wandering, taking him into a part of town that he hadn’t explored before. It was nicer, the buildings less-broken down and more expensive-looking. It’d be nice to live here, he thought to himself as he passed by sturdy-looking apartment buildings.
In the distance, his eyes spotted a bus stop, plastered-over with various advertisements. Maybe there would be job postings there that he could consider. If he didn’t get income soon, he’d have to leave even his ridiculously shabby apartment, which meant he’d just have to leave and find another town to put down roots. He was tired of jumping around everywhere. He wanted to stay in one place, at least so that his body and mind could get some much-needed rest.
When he approached the bus stop, there was somebody already standing there: a slim yet curvy young woman in a tight black dress. Pax was so distracted by the frantic way she was typing on her phone that it took him several moments before he noticed the job posting directly in front of her. “The Gorge,” he mouthed to himself, memorizing the phone number written on the poster. He had a mind for memorization. He never forgot anything once he committed to it.
The girl eventually turned and walked past him, not even looking him in the eye. Pax shrugged it off, even though her face lingered behind his eyelids for several moments after she disappeared. She was strikingly beautiful, really, dressed like she was going to a party rather than hunting for a job. But it didn’t matter either way. Pax wasn’t interested in having anything right now, even with the most gorgeous woman that he’d seen in town so far. Relationships and Pax didn’t mix well. He could handle a casual hook-up here and there, but usually women got attached to him very quickly, which was the ultimate turn-off. He was a lone wolf, through and through, and nobody was about to change that.
Chapter Two
Jessica
“Macie, pick up, pick up, pick up,” Jessica said as she finally walked back into her apartment complex, cradling her cell phone between her chin and her neck.
The phone rang six or seven times before she got an answer. “Hello?” Macie said on the other end of the phone.
“Macie!” Jessica exclaimed, temporarily too excited for coherence. “Macie, come over as soon as you can.”
“What’s wrong, honey? Is everything all right?” Macie asked in a concerned tone of voice.
“Yes, yes, it’s fine. Well, no, actually, it isn’t,” Jessica said. “But I’m okay, it’s not an emergency. I just need to talk to you as soon as possible, hopefully privately. As in, Arnold can’t hear what I’m going to say.”
“All right, all right,” Macie said. “I’ll be over to your place in ten.”
Jessica passed the time by pacing back and forth across her tiny studio apartment, opening up her phone just to stare down at the number she’d copied down from the poster at the bus stop. Maybe this was her chance, her one true shot at getting out. She’d just have to do it the right way. Gary couldn’t find out about it ahead of time, otherwise he’d be sure to intimidate the Gorge’s bosses and ensure that they wouldn’t even give her a chance to get the job. Macie’s boyfriend Arnold was one of Gary’s top lieutenants in the MC, but Macie was loyal. Jessica could trust her to keep her mouth shut.
Macie knocked on the door a few minutes before Jessica expected her to. Jessica rushed to let her in. “Come in, come in,” she said, hurriedly shutting and locking the door behind her friend once she was safely inside. “I’ve got some news!”
“Is it the blind date you were supposed to go on tonight?” Macie asked, a grin slowly spreading across her face. “Oh, my God. Did you actually get laid?”
Jessica scoffed and shook her head. “No such luck. Gary sent a couple of the guys out to pummel the shit out of him. My date’s in the emergency room getting patched up.” She sighed and headed over to the couch, gesturing for Macie to walk over and sit down next to her. “And you know what the saddest thing is? With my history with Gary, it’s not even close to being the worst date I’ve ever had, even though my knees are fucked up now.” She pointed at the patches of blood on her legs.
“Ugh, poor baby,” Macie said, leaning over to give Jessica a hug. “Gary’s been such a dick recently. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, well, it’s what I should have expected,” Jessica said with a shrug. “As long as I work at Sully’s, Gary will always have a way to get into my business and interfere with my life.”
Macie frowned, tapping her fingers on the back of the couch anxiously. “So what are you going to do?”
“Well,” Jessica said, struggling to fight the beaming smile that threatened to crack her face wide open, “I’m going to apply for a new job, across town. Safely out of the Nightwalkers’ territory.”
“What job?” Macie asked, her mouth falling open as Jessica’s words sunk in. “How can it be out of Gary’s reach? Practically everything in this town is affiliated with the club.”
“Not anymore!” Jessica said happily. “There’s this new place, called the Gorge, opening up on the edge of town, right outside of the Nightwalkers’ jurisdiction.”
Macie bit down on her bottom lip, looking up at Jessica with worry evident in her eyes. “Is it an Eagles place?” she asked softly, referring to the rival club that ruled the neighboring town.
“No!” Jessica said, even though she wasn’t 100% confident of that fact. “I’m pretty sure it’s neutral territory. If an MC was pushing up on Gary’s space, I think we would have heard about it by now. There probably would have been a war started already, for Christ’s sake.”
Macie nodded slowly, even though the concern written across her face remained in place. “When are you going in for the interview?”
“Tomorrow,” Jessica said. “Tomorrow afternoon, right in between my shifts at Sully’s. I’m hoping they let me know soon if I get the job or not…”
“You’ll get it,” Macie said encouragingly, reaching over to squeeze Jessica’s hand between her strong fingers. “You will.”
Jessica blew out her breath and smiled across at Macie. “CiCi,” she said, “you’re the only one that believes in me.”
“That’s not true!” Macie argued. “Arnold believes in you, too!”
“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Jessica said in between laughs. “But Arnold is Gary’s man first and foremost. He doesn’t really care about me.”
Macie shook her head, her brows furrowing together in frustration. “Okay, Arnold’s loyal to Gary, sure. It’s an MC thing. But I’m the boss, and what I say goes. Arnold loves you because I love you. End of story.”
“Fair enough,” Jessica said, chuckling. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Anything, sweetheart,” Macie said quickly.
“Just don’t tell anyone that I’m applying for this job, okay? I don’t want it to blow up i
n my face, especially if I don’t get it. Can you imagine how pissed Gary would be if he found out I was trying to find a way out of Sully’s?”
Macie scoffed and shook her head. “That fucking asshole needs to get his shit together and let you go. But don’t worry, I won’t say anything. My lips are sealed.”
“Thanks,” Jessica said, squeezing back at Macie’s fingers. “I knew I could count on you.”
They sat there in silence for a minute, until Jessica felt an odd sense of anxiety creep over her body, making all of her tiny little hair follicles go erect like they were preparing for battle. It took her a long moment to figure out why she suddenly felt nervous, and then it hit her. “Do you think I can do it?” Jessica whispered, not looking directly at Macie for fear of showing her own weakness.
“Get the job? I know you can,” Macie said, patting the back of Jessica’s hand encouragingly.
“No, I mean, do you think I’d do a good job if I actually got it?” Jessica murmured. “I’ve only ever worked at Sully’s, ever since I was a teenager. I don’t know if I can do anything else.”
“It’s a bar, sweetie, just like any other. You’re going to do fine,” Macie said without hesitation.
But Jessica still chewed on the inside of her mouth, biting down on the sensitive inner flesh just to distract herself from the bubbles of anxiety that rose and popped within her stomach. “I’ve just never known anything else, you know? Maybe I’m secretly terrible at everything and Gary just keeps me around at Sully’s because I’m supposed to be his girl.”
“He’s not that thoughtful,” Macie shot back. “He doesn’t care about your feelings at all. If he did, he wouldn’t cheat on you with every cheap skank that rides into town every other day.”
“True,” Jessica said, laughing at the situation even though really it wasn’t funny at all. “Maybe when I’m out of the picture and he doesn’t see me every day, he’ll get over it. You know what I mean? Maybe he’ll let go of me, finally, once I get another job.”
Macie rolled her eyes and shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t count on it. He’s an asshole, but he is in love with you. Not, like, sweet, true love. Like obsessive, controlling love. Personally, I don’t know how the hell you put up with it as long as you did.”
Jessica sighed deeply, feeling a familiar sensation of shame burn inside of her. She knew there was some truth to what Macie was saying. If she had any real self-respect at all, she would have done something like this years ago. But maybe she simply wasn’t ready before, and only now did she have the strength and the skills necessary to break out of that. Even still, she knew how to handle her current life, as bad as it was. She was going to be walking into unfamiliar territory, meeting new people and doing new things. It was a terrifying prospect.
“Hey,” she said to Macie, pulling insistently on her fingers to make sure she was paying maximum attention to what Jessica was saying. “Promise me something.”
“Sure, what is it?” Macie asked.
“Promise that no matter how far apart we get, or however messy things get between me and Gary, you and me will always be friends.”
“Of course!” Macie said, launching across the couch to crash into a hug, pressing Jessica roughly against her torso. “Always. Never forget that you have me, no matter what.”
Jessica smiled into Macie’s neck, allowing herself to feel a little glimmer of hope, no matter how irrational it might have been. Despite everything she’d been through, despite all the bullshit with Gary, she was still lucky to have the MC in her life if only because it brought Macie to her. As long as she had Macie, she knew she’d be all right. Nothing could break them apart.
But still, the fear lingered inside Jessica’s heart, making it beat faster and harder every time she checked the clock that night. She watched the minutes tick by, bringing her closer to her interview, the moment of truth. I can do this, she told herself on a loop. I can do this. I’m strong. I’m tough. I’m not as weak as Gary thinks I am. I. Can. Do. This.
# # #
Pax
Pax got the job within five minutes of showing up the next morning. The owner took one look at him, clearly appraising his height as well as his protruding muscles, before offering Pax his hand. “Welcome to the Gorge,” the owner, Tom, said with a broad smile before clapping Pax on the back. Pax felt a little awkward at that. He got the sense that Tom wanted to be his friend or at least a friendly acquaintance, but Pax just wanted to do his work and be left alone. In any case, Tom hired him as a nightly bouncer, but he was allowed to work during the day as well to help set up shop before the bar opened at night.
That was what he was doing now, lifting boxes of liquor to and from the basement under the main level of the bar, when the girl from the night before walked in through the front door. She was dressed much differently now, having traded in her tight black dress for a button-down shirt and formal-looking black slacks. But she still looked hot; her bountiful curves caught Pax’s eye again, even though he tried as hard as he could not to look at her. He couldn’t afford to be distracted, especially not on his first day on the job. “Hello? Is Tom here? I called about an interview yesterday?” she said hesitantly, nervous energy coming off of her in thick waves.
Pax ignored her, focusing on getting the bottles out of their various boxes and positioning them behind the bar in an orderly arrangement. Tom popped up out of a backroom the next second, offering his hand for the girl to shake. “Wow, you look perfect for the job!” Tom announced as soon as he saw the girl standing within the front doorway. Jesus, this guy wasn’t subtle at all, was he? His entire hiring strategy seemed to hinge on what the prospective employees looked like. But Pax supposed that made some degree of sense. After all, bouncers needed to be intimidating to make sure that the patrons didn’t start shit, and bartenders needed to be attractive so that creepy old men would keep coming back to buy more.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name on the phone last night. What was it, Jennifer? Jasmine? Something like that?” Tom asked. Pax watched the exchange out of the corner of his eye, seeing the young woman smile broadly, some of the tension in her shoulders evaporating right before his eyes.
“Jessica,” the girl said, shaking Tom’s hand enthusiastically, her smile seeming to get even wider and brighter.
“Well, when can you start, Jessica?” Tom asked.
“Really? That’s it? Are you sure you don’t want to check my résumé or anything, I brought it with me…” Jessica said, digging through her bag to pull out a piece of paper. But Tom just shook his head.
“Not necessary,” Tom said, waving his hand dismissively when she tried to hand him her résumé. “I can already tell you have what it takes to be a part of the family here. Hey, why don’t you grab yourself a drink from behind the bar, get used to the feel of the place? Otherwise, you can come back tomorrow night for work. I’ll see you then.” Tom retreated from the bar, nodding at Pax on his way back into his office, next to the restrooms at the back of the building.
Jessica slowly walked over in Pax’s direction, walking around the bar and staring at the line of drinks he was assembling for a long moment. “I’ve never had champagne before…” She was murmuring to herself, but Pax couldn’t help but stare at her profile, looking at the way her breasts and hips and ass stood out from her waist, even dressed as conservatively as she was. She probably had no idea what the criteria was for the bartender position. Even just looking at her, Pax could already tell that she had no idea how attractive she was. Somehow that just made her even hotter, the fact that she didn’t realize that she could have most men wrapped around her little finger in 60 seconds flat. Not Pax, though. He was very accustomed to women and the various tools they could use to get a man under their control, and as far as he was concerned he was immune to it. Even if she was one of the hottest women he’d ever seen.
“I’m sorry,” Jessica said, turning on her heel to face him without warning. “I’m stuck on two bottles of champagne here
and I’m not sure which one to open for myself. Do you think I should save the expensive one for the customers or just go all out?”
“Pick the rich people one,” Pax said without thinking. “You never know when you’ll get another chance to taste it.”
