Sweet Rush

Five

The days fly by quicker than I can keep up with and just like that, Friday is back. Unfortunately this is the time where the bartenders need to show more skin than usual. It's literally a policy and makes the bar more profit as college kids and married men come in on these nights. The science behind it is that the more slutty you look the more they keep hitting on you increasing the number of drinks sold.

That's the harsh truth about capitalism- sex always sells. I pair my extremely short black dress with my go-to leather jacket and dash out the apartment towards the bus stop.

Just shy of five minutes late, I enter the bar, the music is up, young people are already present and I can feel my battery depleting with every step I take that gets me closer to starting my shift. I head behind the bar gathering everything I need before people start requesting drinks. The bar easily becomes packed, keeping me occupied. I get the strange urge to look up towards the office directed above the bar and when I do I wish that the floor could swallow me up. Jane standing in a white button up and navy blue pants stares down at me, unwavering when he sees me looking right back at him. My control to stop myself from checking him out is impaired by nature. His hands are planted in his pockets and his expression is neutral, yet I can see the concentration in his gaze. It's as if I'm hypnotized by his beauty because no matter how much I try I can't seem to rip my eyes off him.

"Are you gonna get my drink or not?" The old man awaiting his whiskey asks with annoyance pulling me out of Jane Pritchard's trance.

"Of course." I smile.

If those eyes could have bore holes through my body, I'd be a sponge. I discreetly glance up every now and again to see if he's still there and like a freaking creep he is. There's a difference between looking down at the bar to overseer the workers and staring at someone in particular. I know the difference.

I can't tell if I'm flattered or concerned, either way that still doesn't solve my paycheck dilemma that I need to talk to Jane about. I decide to do it in my lunch hour.
When my lunch rolls around I carry myself towards the office. I had realized earlier on that senior Pritchard was not going to be at the bar for a while so I'll just have to deal with Jane. I knock on the door before I am given permission to enter.

"Thank God it's you." Jane sighs as soon as I enter the room and I'm taken aback by his statement. What does he mean?

"Why would you say that?" I struggle to hide the confusion in my tone and face.

"Because fucking Crystal has been visiting me all morning." He sounds about five minutes away from a temper tantrum, and I almost decide not to ask him about my pay again. On the other hand, seeing him so troubled with Crystal nearly kills me because I've been putting up with her for months and I'm nowhere near as frustrated as he is.

"Okay well I just want to let you know that I'm still not satisfied with what my pay is. It's two hundred dollars short and that's not okay. It's borderline illegal." I say firmly hoping he's in a state of mind to negotiate. He stays silent for a moment before standing up and walking towards me. He's not as close as he was last time and I try to ignore that nudge in me wishing he can invade my space like he did the last time.

"Okay, I'll cut you a deal Malia. Keep Crystal away from me and I'll double that missing money." He steps back and takes a seat on the edge of the desk, waiting for me to accept his absurd offer. I find it hilarious that he said that with such assurance as if I'm actually going to accept.

"Don't you have body guards to do that for you?"I inquire, tired of his stupid games. For the entire time he's been here, he's done nothing but stare at me and take my money. Also, be immature.

"Do you see any body guards here miss... Maria?"

"Woah, okay first of all get my name right. It's Malia and why would I do this stupid thing for you?" There's nothing more confusing right now than Jane Pritchard. I'm sure this is not how Darell expected business to run while he was gone.

"How about if I triple that missing salary, how much is it again two hundred? I bet that's not illegal." Jane insists, looking at me from head to toe. It's difficult to decipher if he's checking me out or just being his regular self. As if he hasn't seen me enough today, he had been staring at me for hours.

Six hundred dollars extra on my paycheck sounds like something my bank account would appreciate, and before I know it, I'm making a decision.

"And all I have to do is keep her from you?" I remove the lose curl from my eye to see him clearly.

" Exactly, if you can you get your money. If not you can say bye to it." Jane returns to sit at his desk, still keeping an eye on me.

"Whatever, deal." I roll my eyes and walk out of the office. He's the most immature twenty year old I've ever came across. Getting that six hundred is going to be easy, all I need to do is tell Crystal what's up.

While making my way back to finish my lunch I spot Crystal applying hot-red lipstick over her plump lips. I take this as the perfect opportunity to let her know that baby Pritchard isn't into her at all.

"Hey just to let you know Jane thinks you're annoying and doesn't want you in his office all the time." I announce. I see the confusion in her face before she can say a word and give her a shoulder shrug.

"He likes Latina women okay." She responds as if that's supposed to help her case. No one says that he can't like Latinas but I'm sure the personality of a person matters way more than an ethnicity.

"He doesn't like you though." I respond wishing she would just cry and start leaving him be.

"Not true. You know what , I'm going to ask Jane about that." She utters walking past right me and heading to the office.

Instead of waiting around to see what's going to happen or even stop her, I head back to resume my lunch. I'll get Crystal to stay away from him for a while but now it's just going to take me some time to crack Crystal.

Several hours later, I am now at home in the quietness of my apartment. Something compels me to open my social media, and I know exactly what I'm after. Jane hasn't posted in three days, so lurking has become a guilty pleasure of mine. I pull up my favourite photo of him. The one in Los Angeles where he's sitting with the sun on him. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a thing for him. He's certainly attractive, but there are some boundaries that must not be crossed in business. He's a millionaire now, and he's not looking to date a bartender, let alone an employee of his company.

I scroll up to access another picture but because luck isn't always on my side and it's definitely in my character, I accidentally like one of his pictures. Taking it as a big deal completely flies through the window as there are probably a thousand other people liking his posts at the same time. If he was any regular Joe of course I would be concerned but he's not even going to recognize my page. He wouldn't even care that I liked his picture, I'm an employee.

I drop my phone into my pillow deciding to take a quick nap before I do something productive with my life.

The only thing going through my mind as I drift off into my nap is Jane and his pretty eyes.