Summer of Love

Summer rolled around bring the hot weather with it. The trees were fully covered in luscious green leaves and flowers strained toward the light, their petals open wide in vibrant colors. The grass was thick and green like velvet beneath the feet and bumblebees buzzed around happily from flower to flower.

After the band left, I had remained friends with them, receiving a text once in a while just to chat. Right now, they were beginning their tour for their new album. It sure didn’t take long for that to happen. The promotion at the cafe had boosted their sales and popularity. Since the day I had encountered Jordan, I’ve not seen him since. It was rumoured that he had moved out of the country, having been offered a modelling contract. Good for him.

Today was a special day. Chief’s new cafe was opening. The best part was Cian decided to work there. The strange part of it was...Chief bought the place right next to the cafe. Even stranger...she took the wall out and combined the two with only dangling beaded curtains separating the two. So now we had maids on one side, and butlers on the other. It meant double the profit and more customers for the same business. The new side was painted a deep chocolate brown with shiny black round tables and chairs with brown leather seats. The entire place was elegant like a rich person’s ballroom. The very place you would find a butler.

The girls and I stepped inside and awed over the helium filled balloons everywhere for the grand opening. I spotted Cian wiping down some glasses behind a bar for the older customers and felt my heart strain against my ribs. He was dressed in black suit pants and crisp white shirt. Over top he wore a black vest held by three golden buttons. Around his collar he wore a perfect black bow tie. His hair was swept back messily to reveal his eyes. Hot damn.

He looked up when we entered and smiled. Caroline gave a low whistle to tease him and he sent her a wink. She laughed and strode over, leaning on the black marble topped bar.

“This is pretty fancy. You the bartender?” she asked with a grin. Cian gave a nod and continued polishing the glasses. He looked behind a bar and dressed all fancy. I could picture him in some fancy club behind a bar, the atmosphere filled with smoke from fancy, expensive cigarettes in France.

His steel blue eyes met mine and smiled. “What do you think?”

I forced my eyes away from him to sweep the room once more. “It’s very nice. Chief did a wonderful job as always.”

“Thank you, Misa!” I was hugged from behind, nearly making me jump from my skin. “I worked so hard and it’s finally paying off!”

“Business is going to be booming.” Tori looked around slowly and Rita nodded.

Chief checked the clock on the wall and turned to us with a smile. “Alright ladies, it’s time to get dressed!” She ushered us through the hanging beads into our side.

Laughing, we entered the back rooms to change into our uniforms. I fixed my hair and made sure the white ruffled ribbon sat straight. I followed the girls out onto the floor as Chief unlocked the door and flipped the sign. The first customers stepped inside and my day began.

I was impressed with some of the guys Chief had hired for the butler side of the cafe. They were extremely good looking and very polite young men. I couldn’t help but glance at Cian ever so often, watching him behind the bar. He turned on the charm for the older women who came in. He flirted away and I listened to them giggle like school girls with flushed faces under his attention.

Chief walked over and gave me a nudge. She looked worried. “The grand opening is a little crazy, there are so many customers! Misa, could you please dress up and help?” She held up a similar outfit to Cian’s and I blinked.

I accepted the clothes she pushed at me and smiled. “Sure Chief!”

I was excited at the prospect to act as a guy again. I had so much fun the first time. I disappeared into the back to change and pinned up my hair carefully. I gave it a good ruffle to give it that messy look and grinned. I looked pretty good for a butler. I snuck my way into the men’s change room, peering inside. I didn’t want to see any naked guys just yet. When I saw it was clear, I dashed inside and walked through the staff room onto the floor. Cian spotted me right away and lifted an eyebrow. I joined him behind the bar.

“It looks pretty busy. Chief asked me to come over and help.” I grinned and he shook his head with a smile. He couldn’t understand why I liked dressing like a guy so much. Neither did I actually...

I slipped into the easy charm I witnessed in Red and Gage. Judging by the customers, I adjusted my personality to match theirs. Women were so easy to judge characteristically. For the shy girls, I relied on the cute shyness of Travis. For the bold women and girls, I relied on Red and so on. For the cougars and young women, I used Gage. He had a sexuality about him that drew others in. The women loved me. As the day went on, I was requested as a waiter on many accounts. Some of the others working didn’t seem impressed so they upped their charm levels. In the end they had just as much as I was having and drew in more customers. Seems I was a good role model for the new waiters.

When the day came to a close and Chief locked up both doors, I plopped into a chair with a heavy sigh. I was exhausted from all the running around. Chief bounced over happily, her eyes brimming with excitement.

“Oh, Misa you did wonderful today! Thank you so much for helping,” she said honestly. She looked just as worn out as I did.

I smiled and waved my hand dismissively. “It was no problem, Chief. I had a lot of fun.”

One the new employees stared, his green eyes filled with shock. “You’re a girl?”

I smiled and unpinned my hair, shaking my hair out. It fell above my elbows. I needed a trim. All of them registered shock on their faces and I laughed.

“Don’t look so surprised.” I rose and stretched my arms above my head to loosen my tense muscles.

“Seriously? You looked just like a guy!” another exclaimed and Cian rolled his eyes from behind the bar where he washed glasses.

I gave a snort. “It’s not hard to look like one.”
They remained silent, just staring so I turned back to Chief. “Well I’m going to change and head home. I’ll see you in a few days.”

The others had long since left so I was left to change alone. When I exited the kitchen, Cian was dressed and waiting for me. The lights had been turned off and Chief waited at the door, looking tired.

“Have a good evening, guys. Cian, I’ll see you tomorrow. Great job!” she said with a smile as we stepped out into the humid air. She locked the door behind us and disappeared into the shadows to finish closing up.

I smiled as we started down the sidewalk. “Today was something different. Chief was right to join the two like that. We’ll have more business this way and it makes it more unique.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it wasn’t too bad working. I think I have a knack for bartending.”

“It seems like it,” I laughed. “You look good behind that bar.”

He glanced at me with a wolfish grin. “I look good, do I?”

Realizing what I said, I blushed deeply and looked away. He chuckled as we rounded the street lit corner. Crickets sang as we headed into the park to cross the bridge. The shadows were deep but unthreatening as we stepped onto the large arching cobblestoned bridge across the bubbling creek. Stars twinkled overhead and I couldn’t help but sigh at the sight. Summer was lovely during the night.

Cian stared ahead thoughtfully. “Do you remember the last time we were on this bridge?” His voice was quiet and wrapped around me like silk. I shivered in the darkness as I remembered that rainy day last summer.

I stole a glance at him. “Yes, I do.”

He said nothing more about the matter as we continued across the bridge. We crossed the street and I reached out to open the gate when the door flew open. Sara rushed out, out of breath with wide eyes.

“Man, those guys are insane!” she breathed. I lifted an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Cian. He shrugged.

“What are you talking about?” I opened the gate when I heard a loud crash from inside. My eyes flew open and Sara smiled sheepishly.

I didn’t ask questions and simply pushed her out of the way. I stepped into my house and froze in surprise. Travis and Red were arm wrestling on my coffee table. At my entrance, they looked up and Travis’s eyes brightened.

“Misa!” He pulled away from Red’s death grip and rushed over, lifting me in a hug. I wheezed at the force of his grip, the breath leaving my lungs. He set me down and smiled.

Trying to catch my breath, I frowned. “What are you guys doing here?”

Red winked. “We’re in town for our big concert tomorrow night.”

I lifted my brows in surprise. I hadn’t known. “Why didn’t you guys tell me?”

Travis smiled and reached into his shirt pocket. “Gage told us not to say a word. He wanted it to be a surprise.” He pulled out two VIP passes and handed them to me.

I stared down at them in surprise and lifted my head to look at them. “You’re giving me backstage passes?”

Red walked over and shoved his hands in his pockets. He smiled that easy grin. “Yeah, we figured this as a way to pay you back for helping our promotion. We’ve already handed the others out to your friends from work.”

I smiled and tucked the tickets away. “Thanks! I’m actually pretty excited to see you guys perform.”

He chuckled. “We’ll be sure to put on a good show, little lady.”

I laughed. “How old are you guys anyway?”

Red jerked his thumb toward Travis. “Little man here just turned 18 before Christmas. I’m going to be turning 21 next month.”

Travis smiled. “Alexander is 20 and Gage is 22. That’s the reason he’s the leader of the group. Well, that and his awesome vocal skills.” He winked.

I blinked. “Wow...you’re all older than me.” I frowned. “That feels strange.”

Red chuckled and draped his arm around my shoulders, leading me into the living room. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. You can’t be that much younger than us.”

I scoffed. “I’m only going to be 18!”

They both stared at me, surprised.

“Really?” Travis asked, blinking. “You look at least 20 years old!”

I smiled and shook my head. “Nope, I’ll be turning 18...” Awe, damn...I forgot my own birthday!

Sara rolled her eyes. “You’ll be 18 next week, you idiot.” I laughed with embarrassment.

“That’s right, I can’t believe I forgot my own birthday!”

Red shook his head with that smile. “That’s pretty bad.”

I laughed and disappeared into the kitchen. Cian was in there as always making something to eat. He stole a glance at me as I opened the fridge to look for something to drink.

“Hungry?” he asked. I chose to savour a glass of orange juice. I could use the vitamin C.

I shrugged and moved opposite him, fishing for a glass. “What’s on the menu?” I poured myself a glass.”

He looked down at the piled sandwich he was making. “Ham and Swiss sandwich with mayo, lettuce and pickles.”

I paused in the act of sipping my juice and drew my brows together. “Sounds...interesting.”

He nodded and began making another. “Trust me, it’s worth it.” I just nodded and polished off my juice. Boy was I thirsty.

He cut a few slices of Swiss cheese. “So you going to the concert tomorrow?” He added the pickles.

I nodded, folding my arms across my chest. “Well they did get me tickets, and their music isn’t really that bad.” My mouth began to water at the sight of that sandwich.

He bit his lip as he usually did when something bothered him. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

There was something in his voice that rubbed me the wrong way. “Is there something wrong with that?”

He shook his head, slicing the sandwich in half. “Nothing at all.” He set them onto a small plate. Was that sarcasm I detected?

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you sure about that?”

Those penetrating eyes met mine when he turned to hand me my plate. I accepted it without breaking eye contract. He sighed and turned his back to me.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. I was just asking.” The sound of defeat was clear as day and I frowned.

“No seriously...what’s wrong?” I wanted to know what made him seem so down. Did he not want me to go?

“Just leave it alone, Misa.” His tone was snappy with annoyance.

I lifted my eyebrows. With the shake of my head, I took my sandwich out to the dining table and sat down. I toyed with a piece of lettuce peeking out from my sandwich when Travis joined me. Red was entertaining the others in the living room, telling stories about their travels.

He sat down beside me and smiled softly. He seemed to have a knack for picking up the atmosphere changes. He watched me for a few minutes as I picked at my sandwich, frowning the entire time.

“So,” he said, breaking the silence. I lifted my gaze curiously. “What’s up?”

I blinked a few times before sitting back with a sigh. “Ah, it’s nothing serious.” I didn’t know him well enough to tell about Cian or my problems.

He smiled warmly and rested his hand over mine. Damn, he was so cute.

“You know if ever want to talk, I’m always available.” His voice was soft and so warm. He was a person that just made you want to spill your guts about everything.

So I did. I was doomed from the start when he looked at me with those puppy eyes of his anyway.