x

“oh, i treat my customers perfectly fine as long as they respect me.” alex smirked, sipping from the beer she had grabbed from the bar. “this is my job. i know you’re jealous, but damn, pipe down, kid.” a small chuckle left her as she let her eyes fall on some of her performers. they were doing well. money was basically flying. “you been good?”

‘oh i am wildly jealous.’ charlie spoke with a completely deadpan expression on his face. ‘i’ve been okay, store’s doing good that’s about all i can ask for. i just need you to hook me up with one of those girls and i’ll be perfect.’

…

“Are you sure? It’s okay, honestly. I don’t mind at all. Um-” Tim looks around before going over to an empty table and grabbing a handful of napkins from the dispenser. When he walks back over he squats and gets to work scooping up the food on the floor with the napkins and dumping it back into the container it was in. “Whatever it was, it looked good?” Tim grins up at the woman sheepishly.

‘it was alright.’ nadia laughed not wanting to make him feel any worse than he obviously did. ‘i appreciate your help cleaning it up but i promise i was completely at fault, i should’ve really been paying more attention but really, thank you.’

“Don’t say I didn’t offer you something to make your days a little brighter.” he shrugged, looking at the other. “But, to each their own.” As she mentioned it was something she had to learn to live with, Archer nodded. “You’re right, you do. But, the stuff I have makes life I little less horrible. Just in case you’re ever curious.”

she was curious but she wouldn’t admit that, she would’ve loved something to numb the pain but she just couldn’t, could she? ‘i’m curious...what do you get out of helping me though?’

“I’ll get some help… as soon as you get me another beer to help me be less sober, please.” He mocked. Archer wasn’t one to be nice to people period. And he wasn’t going to change that just by ordering things. “I can get it myself if it’s an issue for you.” And he would. Archer had helped himself to beers at the bar multiple times, especially when he thought people were taking too long.

‘help yourself to my beer and you help yourself get an automatic ban.’ so it wasn’t her beer but she felt protective of the bar. she leant against the bar after grabbing his beer and smirked. ‘you know this whole grumpy act,’ she waved her hand in front of him with and continued, ‘it’s kinda hot.and i’m digging it a little bit but honestly do you have to be such a dick? i like it but not everyone else does.’

As the other’s leftovers hit him on their way to the ground, Archer sighed, shaking his head. “Watch what you’re doing next time, would you?” he asked, looking down at his legs that were now covered in whatever she’d been eating previously. “You shouldn’t carry your leftovers around if you can’t hold onto them.”

‘i can’t say i purposefully dropped them but i am sorry.’ nadia looked down and sighed a little. ‘what can i do to make it up to you?’ she didn’t know what to expect, she knew who archer was and she knew the kind of person he was so she was probably just getting herself in a world of trouble even talking to him.

“Tears are a sign of weakness.” Archer spoke, unable to hide the annoyance towards her current emotional state. “And, it wont get you anywhere. If you want something done, you have to just do it. Tears wont solve your problems.”

‘screw you.’ camila mumbled harshly under her breath. she was weak, but that wasn’t for anyone else to point out. ‘how would you suggest i go about doing whatever i need to do then?’

With a nod of his head, Thomas looked at her, reassuring her he understood. “I appreciate you guys putting in the effort to get things done when I’m not around.” he sighed, looking at her. “Makes me realize that I hired the right people when I hired you all.” he smiled. “I’m gonna take a small break, call and check on Farren. Yell if you need me, alright?”

‘don’t be trying to make a move on me mr masen, i’ve heard what you’re like.’ it was of course a joke, she knew that thomas wouldn’t do that and what he had done was clearly a mistake and that showed in the way that he very obviously cared for his family. ‘take your time and send our love. we won’t need you, you let me know if you need anything.’

With a slight nod of his head - followed by a quick inhale with his hands placed in his pockets - Thomas sighed. “Usually on days like that I follow it with a glass of bourbon.” he admitted, watching the other as they sat at his bar, tears no longer hidden despite how hard she tried. “But, I’m usually not many places aside from here and home these days, so, I guess it doesn’t really seem too inappropriate.”

‘i could definitely do with a drink.’ camila mumbled as she wiped her tears, she was embarrassed to be crying in front of complete strangers but somehow getting it out of her system helped somewhat. ‘can i have a glass of your worst white wine please.’ crap wine would get her drunker faster.

As Thomas threw the cigarette on the ground - a habit he knew he needed to break - he held his arms out to catch the food or the person he’d just knocked them out of in any attempt to save something from hitting the ground. “No, I’m sorry.” he apologized, watching as his foot stomped the cigarette in an attempt to put out the tiny fire. “I wasn’t paying any attention to what I was doing and I should know by now to be more careful in a place like Lakeview. Are you alright?”

nadia chuckled nervously and smiled. ‘i’m completely fine mr masen, honestly. i had so much to eat in there that these leftovers would’ve gone to waste anyway so you actually just did me a favour and now i don’t have to throw them out at home. i told my husband i was just going for a drink with a girlfriend, turned into a full meal.’ she laughed again as she started to pick the leftovers up. ‘can i steal a cigarette from you though? terrible habit.’

“Just because its popular doesn’t mean its not boring,” Bonnie said with a shrug before grabbing a copy of her own menu. “If you like coffee I’d recommend our tiramisu milkshake.”

‘well that does sound...interesting. though i’m sure it would make me feel horribly sick.’ charlie shrugged his shoulders and gave a smirk. ‘you know what, fine, i’ll have one of those. if it’s awful then you suck.’

“God I remember being newish to town, quite overwhelming isn’t it? Everyone seems to know everyone.” Zoe gave a sympathetic smile, girl problems, god could she identify with that. Still she was certain the other woman didn’t want to hear that so she just slid a drink over instead. “On the house,”

camila was extremely grateful for the kindness of this stranger, not that she deserved it. she had broken hayden’s heart in the worst way possible, she had no right to feel like crap about it. “thank you, thank you so much.” she mumbled taking a sip, it was just what she needed.

Zoe bit her lip slightly as she knelt to try and help tidy up the mess she’d made. “Oh yes no I’m fine, just feel awful about your food. Are you sure there’s nothing I can get you instead? If only to keep my conscience in check, I was just heading in so I’d be glad to get you more.”

‘i promise it’s completely fine.’ nadia wasn’t all that hungry anymore anyway hence the leftovers and she would probably end up forgetting about them before they went bad. ‘don’t feel guilty honestly it’s probably the best thing that you could’ve done for me.’ she laughed.

“Oh,” Joanna hadn’t really expected that and her hand came to rest on her stomach, almost out of reflex. In the early days of her pregnancy she’d struggled to do that, unwilling to connect with the life inside her in case it ended up going wrong. There was hope now though, this was the furthest she’d gotten before. “Em, I’m not very photogenic you know,”

nadia rolled her eyes with a smile. ‘everyone is photogenic with the right photographer and the right lighting but i won’t push it, i just think you’d look lovely and it would be a nice memento of your pregnancy.’ she wasn’t going to push joanna into something that she didn’t want of course, she had plenty of other work.

“Call me bon bon again and it’ll be your heart that ends up open just not in that way.” Bonnie threatened but she still smirked, a small indication that she wasn’t actually annoyed by the nickname, or at least not enough to threaten him. “Oh come on coffee and chips are what everyone orders.”

charlie matched her smirk. ‘so if everyone orders them then i would deduce from that that they are not in fact boring at all, they actually popular.’ he shrugged dramatically and held his hands up. ‘tell me, what would you suggest i order?’

“I’m not frowning, Tilly.” Maisie said. “I’m just thinking.” She leaned on the bar. “Just the normal stuff… new people, new problems.” She sighed. “But you look happy so that makes me happy!”

‘well your thoughtfulness looks very similar to everyone in the world’s sadness, i suppose you’re just extra happy all the time.’ tilly smiled and gave a somewhat questioning look. ‘new problems?’