The bar was heaving with suited bodies and loud drum and bass music. Annette strained to hear orders shouted by a fat red-faced man who looked like he should pack in the alcohol and sleep soundly. It was the fourth time the man had come up to the bar to order drinks for him and his friends and it was not eleven o' clock yet. This would definitely be a problem as the bar closed by three on Fridays, so she made a mental note to inform David, or the other male bartender Alex to keep an eye on him. As before, he ordered five Heinekens and two straight whiskeys. Seeing as there were only four of them, Annette was sure one of the lagers was for him as well as the whiskeys. She shook her head to herself as saw him down them straight the moment he sat with his friends. She turned round to get more orders tended to and immediately felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle as the door to the bar opened to let three men in. She immediately heard the hush that descended on everyone.
It lasted about a second then continued immediately, this time on a higher scale than before. The guys were posturing in a macho way and the girls were giggling and curling strands of their hair or pouting sexily as the men walked towards a full table. Annette smirked to herself disbelievingly. Did they actually expect to get a table in a bar this packed? However, to her amazement, the men who were sat there, quietly got up and moved to stand with the rest of the crowd. Annette almost gasped in surprise. This was truly stunning. No one ever gave up their seats, especially if they were not booked in advance, or paid for so it was a 'come-first, sit-till-the-end' unwritten rule. She looked at the men who stood up again, this time closely, and saw that they had a bit of a glazed look in their eyes. She narrowed her own eyes wondering if this was merely as a result of over drinking or if they had been threatened to move. Hot or not, no bullying was to be condoned in this bar. She looked back at the new comers and her gaze widened for one of them was staring at her intently. She quickly averted her gaze and proceeded to serve as many people as possible without looking back there.
All three of them were truly gorgeous. Two of them were twins with matching cropped dark hair, large topaz coloured eyes and cheekbones to die for. They were also rather tall about six four, give or take an inch, and had bodies as honed as granite. She acknowledged their gorgeousness but she could not very well say she was attracted to them as they looked a bit too muscular for her, like bodybuilders. It was the third one who made her uneasy, and not in an unpleasant way. He was tall too, probably the same height as the others, and in any case, far taller than her five six height. But instead of being as muscular as his friends, he was more lean and wiry, like a runner or a swimmer. He had long wavy golden blond hair which swept the neck line of his shirt and those eyes, God those eyes. As they had stared at her so piercingly, for that second she had felt that she could drown in that green gaze. She could not tell if his eyes were all green or more hazel as he was too far, but they definitely looked purely green, eyes that she could stare at all night long....
Annette shook herself hard and resumed serving drinks. She saw Melissa sidle over to her and whisper under her breath excitedly, 'Oh my God! Eye Candy!' Annette stared back at her shocked. This was the first time Melissa had said anything to her that did not include a slur or a sly dig. She had to be overly excited about the new comers or maybe she had been tipping some liquor down her throat on the sly as it was forbidden for them to drink whilst working. Not that that stopped quite a few of them, Annette included. Sometimes, of course.
There was a lull in orders and she looked at her wrist watch. Ah, time for the party-boppers to move to the basement and shake what the good Lord gave them. She sighed to herself and rubbed her aching wrists. Suddenly, she felt Melissa vibrate to attention next to her and squeak in an unnaturally high voice, 'What would you like to drink?' She looked up and saw that the twins were at the bar. One of them stared at her and something must have been in her gaze because his eyes clouded with, was that disbelief? And his nostrils flared before he looked back at Melissa. As her attention was occupied and there did not seem to be anyone clamouring for drinks, she mimed the sign of going outside to David and grabbed her coat. She did not see the third man's gaze follow her. All she could think of at that moment was her naughty vice, Marlboro Lights.
Once she got outside she lit a stick and inhaled deeply. One of the many perks of healing instantly; she was safe from lung cancer and could go through as many packs as she wanted. Olivia envied her for this as she had given up smoking claiming she did not want to die young, but Annette had no such qualms of dying anytime soon. Not from smoking anyway. She was so lost in her non-guilty pleasure that she jumped and shrieked rather loudly, dropping her cigarette when she heard a deliciously husky voice whisper, 'You do realise cigarettes kill don't you?'
She whirled round to see the third man from the bar staring at her from underneath hooded eyelids. She was so shocked she answered without thinking, 'Not me it won't.'
The man's eyes widened a bit at this and she gasped inwardly thinking, stupid git why on earth did you say that? She slowly shook out another stick as the one she had been smoking had fallen into a puddle and she bent to look for her lighter but a lighter emerged in front of her, cupped in the man's long fingered hands.
'Oh,' she whispered shakily then quickly cleared her throat. 'Err, thanks.' Ye gods, he was much fitter up close. She felt a curl of desire whip its way down her belly to her nether regions.
As if the man had noticed this as well, his nostrils flared widely and he narrowed his gaze at her. He smiled slowly at her then brought out a pack of Camels. She narrowed her own gaze at him and said accusingly, 'Yet you berate me for smoking. Hypocritical, no?'
He chuckled softly at this, 'I never berated you, I just asked if you were aware of the consequences of smoking.'
She noticed that he had an American drawl, sort of like the cast of Gossip Girl, all elite and Upper East Side. 'Hmm, well are you aware of the consequences of smoking then, or you just don't care?'
'Like you, not me it won't.' He repeated her words back to her.
She scowled at him. Was he mocking her? Ah well, see how he felt ten or twenty years down the line when he wheezed from a hospital bed, a tube dangling from his rather perfect throat. If the powers-that-be could just be on her side at that fateful moment, she was word perfect on what she was going to say to him, 'Now do you believe me when I say not me it won't?' and she would laugh sarcastically and...
He gave a little chuckle and she raised her head up quickly and stared at him. He seemed to be laughing at her. Had she thought out loud? No she didn't think so. What was the smug American laughing at? Smug, sexy American, she thought rather dreamily and quickly snapped out of it as she saw his gaze narrow then fall on her lips. She licked them nervously and dragged quickly on her cigarette before stubbing it out. 'Err, was really nice meeting you, Mr...err, anyway, have to go back in. Duty calls.' She chirped and made to go round him back to the bar.
He, quick as lightning, snaked out an arm and grabbed hers. 'You never told me your name.' He said softly.
