Lonely Harte (Damon x OC) CH.1
SUTTON'S POV
“Hey Sutton I need you on bar tonight!” Sam my Manager said as I walked through the back door of The Cellar. I had been hoping for a shot at bartender but had mostly been serving downstairs in the restaurant area since I started. Suddenly I was nervous I really didn’t want to screw anything up on my first bar shift. Sam could see my anxiety starting to spike and he smiled. “Don’t worry you’ll be with Eli, you’ll be fine. Really you’ll be his extra set of hands so he doesn’t get in the weeds if we get busy.”
I nodded and felt my anxiousness subside a little. Thank God I was working with Eli. The man had a true talent behind the bar plus I didn’t think he’d really need my help but at least I could watch him and hopefully learn a thing or two.
I headed up the stairs and pulled up my long wavy sandy blonde hair out of my face into a high pony tail. Once upstairs I headed straight to the bar, Eli was behind the large wooden bar talking to the few bodies scattered around it. He smiled brightly at two young woman across from him, his tall muscular frame leaning over them from the other side of the bar. They marveled at him which was the usual reaction from most woman. He was a great bartender but him being gorgeous definitely helped his tips.
I stepped behind the bar surveying the scene as I waited for him to step away from the girls. He glanced over noticing me and I smiled and waved. He quickly said something to the girls before turning and walking over to me. Eli was a very attractive man, he was in his mid twenties was very fit, his bright white teeth contrasted nicely against his dark skin and he had beautiful emerald eyes. If I was looking to date he would definitely be a contender but I wasn’t looking for anything like that right now. Plus he had plenty of options I doubted I was on his list anyways.
“So Sam sent you as help huh?” He asked amusement in his eyes and a smile pulling at his lips.
“Yeah, guess you’re stuck with me tonight. Sorry.” I shrugged and smiled back.
“What a bummer.” He said with light hearted sarcasm.
“I have to be honest I haven’t trained on bar much. So not sure how helpful I’ll be.” I laughed.
“Don’t worry babe, I’ll show you the ropes.” He winked and I smiled and rolled my eyes. Eli was such a flirt.
True to his word Eli had been a great teacher, in his down time he showed me where everything was, went over the basic bartending rules, how to pour the draft beer correctly and even how to make a few popular drinks. Thankfully I was already familiar with the computer system so I was able to start and close tabs fairly easily which helped him out when more people came and went.
Around ten Eli told me I could go ahead and take the next customers he said he was right there if I had any questions but I knew he just wanted to go flirt with the same girls who hadn’t left their spot and were now on their fourth drink.
I smiled and went back to rinsing glasses and placing them in the dirty rack and restacking the clean glasses. When I finished my last glass a handsome man who looked to be in his mid thirties sat down, I glanced over at Eli who nodded at me to go ahead and take him.
“What can I get for you?” I asked. He looked up at me and gave a polite smile but his dark blue eyes looked a little sad.
“Bourbon please, neat.” He said.
“We have Wild Turkey, Jim Bean, Evan Williams, Makers?” Eli made it a point to tell me to try to upswell when possible. Don’t give them well Liqour unless they ask for it specifically.
“Wild turkey’s fine. Actually make that two.” He said looking off to his right. I nodded and grabbed two low ball glasses pouring the amber liquid in them making sure I measured correctly. I sat them in front of him at the bar and he handed me his credit card. “Just keep it open.” He smiled.
“Will do.” I said returning his smile.
I successfully opened his tab noticing the name on his card, Alaric Sultzman. What an interesting name. Since everyone was good for the moment I took the opportunity to check my phone. Carliegh texted me asking if I wanted to meet her and Mira at the Grill when I got off. They said they were playing pool with some cuties and were deep in some whiskey sours. I told them I’d let them know when I was off and would meet them if they were still there.
As I looked up a man was sitting down next to Alaric. I had to do a double take at him. He was about six foot, he had lean muscles I could see from under his black t-shirt and he had the strongest jawline I’d ever seen. He looked maybe early to mid twenties, it was hard to tell. His black hair was a little disheveled and he had a light skin tone. I swallowed and made sure my mouth was closed, this man didn’t need to see me gaping at him that would be extremely embarrassing.
I looked anywhere else, scanning the bar but eyes kept drifting back to him. This was new I had never been this instantly attracted to someone before. I kept myself busy around the bar hoping Eli would tell me he didn’t need me soon since it was emptying out a bit so I could meet up with the girls.
“Excuse me.” I heard and my head snapped in the direction it came from, Alaric was beckoning me and now the icy blue eyes of the insanely good looking stranger were also on me. I felt heat flush to my face and tried my best to hide it with a smile as I walked over to the men. I tried my best to focus solely on Alaric so I wouldn’t get too flustered.
“Yes sir.” I said stopping in front of them.
“Another round please.” Alaric said.
“You should just make it the whole bottle.” My eyes landed on the stranger next to Alaric as he spoke wearing a smirk while his eyes were looking into mine intently and for a moment I felt lost in them.
Eli appeared behind me his hands on my shoulders almost startling me. “Damon, Ric.” He said looking at the men. His name was Damon… “Good to see y’all, I got a bottle of something special for y’all.” He said and quickly disappeared and I politely smiled at the men.
“Guess Eli’s got y’all covered.” I said and stepped away trying to control my breathing. Jesus this was embarrassing. I took the opportunity to take the dirty rack of glasses downstairs to the dishwasher. I glanced back at the two men and Damon’s eyes were on me with an unreadable expression. I quickly hurried down the steps and toward the kitchen away from his gaze.
When I returned with a clean rack of glasses I kept my eyes straight ahead as I headed back behind the bar. Out of the corner of my eye I could tell Alaric and Damon were still there. Eli was chatting with them laughing about something. I felt eyes on me again as I sat the rack down I tentatively looked up seeing all three men looking my way. “Hey Sutton come here.” Eli called.
Sucking in a deep breath I walked over not sure what to expect of this encounter. “I wanted to formally introduce you to my two best customers.” Eli laughed. “Alaric Sultzman and Damon Salvatore.” I smiled at both of them politely trying to be normal. I was sure my cheeks were bright red at this point. “And this is my brightest trainee Sutton Harte.” Eli said grinning at me with his hand on the small of my back. I was surprised by the contact but wasn’t weirded out by it necessarily. It was probably just the way he was, naturally flirty and all.
“Hi, nice to meet you both.” I said. Alaric smiled back at me pleasantly. I saw something flash in Damon’s eyes as he glanced at Eli’s hand still resting on me. Quickly he recovered and he smiled.
“Pleasure to meet you Sutton.” Damon said with a sexy smirk. His eyes glanced to Eli like he was gaging his reaction. Weird.
“Eliiiiiii!“ One of the drunk girls shouted giving him her best pouty lips.
“Duty calls.” He said smirking and stepped away from us. I just rolled my eyes and smiled, typical Eli.
“So are you new to town?” Alaric casually asked sipping his drink.
“Not new new. I’m not really from here, but I go to the university here. I’m a junior. I transferred here last spring.” I said.
“How’re you liking it? I’ve been looking at potentially teaching there. I teach history over at the high school now.” Alaric responded.
“Oh I love it. It’s definitely smaller than my previous school but that was one of the reasons I came here.” They didn’t need to know it was because I didn’t have the money to stay at the larger university I had been at. “They have a lot of good programs too.” I finished and Alaric nodded and smiled.
“So what’re you studying?” Damon asked bringing my attention back to him and those insanely blue eyes of his.
“Right now Business.”
“Right now?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
I laughed nervously. “Yeah.. I’ve changed my major a few times. I know as a junior I should have more of an idea what I wanna do but I don’t.” Damon’s expression seemed intrigued and Alaric nodded understandingly.
“Don’t worry you still have plenty of time to figure it all out. It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do.” Alaric gave me a reassuring smile.
“Thanks.” I smiled back.
“Don’t worry I still haven’t figured out what I want to do either.” Damon smirked and Alaric rolled his eyes.
“Glad I’m not alone.” I smiled. Eli came back over checking the time on his phone.
“Hey Sutton you can go ahead and head out if you want. I think I’ll be good till close since it’s a week night.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah I’m good.”
“Okay awesome!” I chirped.
“That eager to leave huh? Please tell me I’m not that bad of a trainer..” Eli joked.
“No no, of course not.” I laughed. “My roommates are over at the Grill they wanted me to meet up with them if I got off in time.”
“Ahh Gotcha. Well have fun and thanks for tonight. You did great.” He said his eyes lingering on me longer than usual.
“Thanks for all your help & training me.” He nodded and smiled.
I turned back to Damon and Alaric. “Nice to meet y’all. I’m sure I’ll see you guys around. Have a good night..”
“Have a good night.” Alaric said back and Damon tipped his glass to me as I walked by and headed downstairs toward the exit.
I was especially thankful I had another shirt in my car. I quickly texted the girls and headed down the street toward the Grill.
DAMON’S POV
For whatever reason this tiny blonde bartender in front of me captured my attention. I hadn’t noticed her when I first sat down it wasn’t until Ric had called her over asking for another round that my eyes landed on the petite girl. She was pretty, not in an in your face kinda way but pretty none the less and her ass looked pretty good in the jeans she was wearing.
That wasn’t what caught my curiosity though. I had seen my fair share of attractive woman but it was something else about this girl that intrigued me. Her voice was soft and smooth with a hint of a southern accent, I had to admit it was kind of cute. Kind of. Her eyes were warm like honey and she seemed a little flustered by me which wasn’t a shock, a lot of woman felt that way but I was amused by her and her reactions to me.
I couldn’t put my finger on why when Eli’s hand had rested on the small of her back it annoyed me. She didn’t seem like the type of girl to be with someone as big of a play boy as Eli. The man was busier than I was. But that was also because of Elena…
When Sutton bounced out of the bar I felt a twinge of disappointment which was also very strange. Once she was gone I felt Ric’s eyes one me.
“What?” Said without looking at him.
“She’s cute.”
“I think she’s a little young for you Ric.” I said looking at him as I took another sip of my drink.
He rolled his eyes. “You know I didn’t mean for me.”
“You know I’ve sworn off woman at the moment.” I said casually.
“You mean woman not named Elena?” I glared at him now.
“Careful Ric.” I said narrowing my eyes at him. It was a totally fucked up situation. I was in love with my brother’s girl. He had left her here making a deal with Klaus to save my life and I spent my summer helping her track him down. Now Stefan was back, Elena still loved him and wanted to be with him, Klaus was around and I was somewhere in the middle of all this bullshit trying to keep my brother in check for the girl we both love.
I knew deep down Elena felt something for me I could feel it this summer, there were moments and glimpses but that’s all they were and she kept them buried especially now that Stefan was back. Being number two to Stefan was something I’d grown to be familiar with, to our father, to Katherine and now to Elena.
“I’m calling it a night.” Ric said after a little while signaling to Eli to close out his tab. I nodded and finished my drink as well. We both got up heading down the stairs and out of the building.
“Look Damon, I’m not trying to be dick here but maybe for now at least you should just give the whole Elena thing a rest. I know how much you care about her I do—“
“Ric.” I stopped him mid sentence, we weren’t doing this not tonight. I couldn’t do this and I wouldn’t. “You’re my best friend but if you don’t stop right there—“ he raised his hands and gave me a pointed look before turning around and heading to his car and I did the same.
I didn’t really want to go home but I didn’t want to go back The Cellar either since it was pretty deserted. Stefan would no doubt be brooding at home and I was avoiding Elena since she was in full put Stefan back together mode. I decided to head over to the Grill maybe a few more drinks might help me pass the time.
Going to finally start sharing this story I've been working on for a long time. Please let me know what you think! I have about 20k words already written for this so i'll be releasing chapters as I polish them up. Thanks for reading <;3
