Careful what you wish for

The Fox was gradually filling up with guests who were not just the regulars. Which was a shame as the regulars were certainly the most comfortable to be around. It was Alena’s expectation that more guests would continue to come and therefore she would not be able to leave early. She was wearing a tight-fitted black dress that was clearly not made out of any expensive material. It was more than a few inches too short and had a low neckline. There was undoubtedly a way to be wearing a dress like that in a classic manner, but this was not it. When she moved around she would occasionally pull the dress down, as she was very aware of the lack of coverage that it provided.

She decided to wipe the counter off, which for reasons she did not understand, was always sticky from alcohol - or at least that was what she hoped it was. As she was almost done a male voice interrupted her. Not the first one to call her love tonight and certainly not the last, she thought to herself. She smiled because she had to. The smile did not reach her eyes. She served the man what he asked for and was ready to finish the cleaning task when he placed an elbow on the counter and continued the conversation. “It is?” She could describe The Fox with many adjectives and not one of them was marvelous. As she noticed his eyes wandering over her she unconsciously touched her hair. She usually did that when something made her nervous or unsure.

If Alena had been a regular customer at the Fox, she might have felt different about the place. The bar did indeed attract various types of people. But the amounts of alcohol made most of them annoying - they had that in common. As an employee she was unable to leave if someone behaved inappropriately (and they always did). Instead she had to smile as she could not afford to be the cause of someone leaving. After all, the customers were what paid her salary, though it was not very high.

She looked at the man in front of her. Even though there were many different types of people here, he stuck out somehow. She could not quite determine what made him more interesting than the others. His appearance definitely played a part in that, but she was not going to let him know just yet.  

His chuckle made her smile and this time it actually reached her eyes. “I do meet a lot of people. And I don’t get paid enough for it”. She placed the bottle of whiskey on the counter, as she intended to refill his glass when he had emptied it. Whiskey always started a conversation, did it not?

Alena raised an eyebrow as he offered her a job - or offered to find her one were probably a more fitting description. “Southside is not sophisticated enough for you?” she filled his glass almost as soon as he emptied it. She was not sure whether he had revealed the entire job description but it had made her curious - probably more about him than the actual job itself.

“It depends”. She was not really looking for danger. Refilling a glass one the house was plenty of that. Her boss would probably kill her if he knew. Alena rested a hand on the counter as she leaned slightly over it. By doing so she minimized the distance between them. Not by much, but it enabled her to lower her voice as she answered his question with one of her own. “What consumes you?”.

She lifted a hand towards her hair again, but stopped the movement before her hand reached that far. She wanted to come off as confident and her nervously touching her hair definitely did not contribute to that. Her smile turned into a laugh as he described his night and morning to her. She was unsure how to interpret that information, but to her it sounded like a hangover. She definitely did not think that he meant it so literally. “I’m sure a drink can help you with that”. The simplest way to cure a hangover as far as she was concerned. She left the bottle at the counter for another round.