Brontide

Rae's heart was pounding out of her chest and her breath was coming in quick little gasps and her palms were sweaty, but there was a smile on her face and she'd only messed up one drink so far,and she was nearing three hours in on her shift. Sure, Chris was hot, but he was a first-rate douche bag as far as she was concerned. She looked at him, a small smile on as he served a pretty blonde with a 'Just Turned 21!' sash on. She looked down self-consciously at her shorts. She didn't think they were too bad. Maybe her shirt was unbuttoned a little too much earlier, but her shorts were fine. They were the same kind she wore on the summer at the ranch. And she didn't have to worry about Frank right now, anyways. He'd left an hour ago. And you know what? Maybe she would get some good tips tonight. So, she decided, Chris could suck it.

She looked up at a new wave of people coming in and took a deep breath. She wiped her hands on her apron and pasted on a smile, telling herself 'Rachel Anne Warrick, you have wrestled half-ton horses into submission. You can handle a crowd of drunk people'.

It seemed to work, because her performance bordered on almost flawless. She messed up two more drinks and pissed a crowd of girls off, but hey. It was her first day, and by the time she finished, she was patting herself on the back. Anyways, after Chris had taken over the angry group of bachelorettes, everything fell back into place and she was able to work up a rhythm. The night was over before she knew it.

Rachel was wiping down the bar, Chris was doing dishes, and Alex, the other guy working that night, was wiping down tables. She picked up the tip jar.

"Do we divy up the tips?" she asked.

Alex walked up to her and gave her a sloppy grin that reminded her of her old basset hound and took the jar out of her hands, standing unnecessarily close to her. "Yea, we do." He began pulling the cash out of the jar and Chris shook his head, drying a shot glass.

"What?" Alex asked.

"I just don't trust you with the math," he said bluntly. "Give it to the new girl."

Rae tentatively took control of the money situation. She could feel Alex's eyes burning holes into Chris, which just piled on the awkwardness of the situation. There turned out to be seventy-three dollars and an odd amount of change in the jar. She pulled out her phone to do the math, and then handed out the money.

Alex went to go shut off the lights and Chris pulled the keys out of his pocket. "Okay, everyone out," he said gruffly.

They herded out the back door, Rae huddled in her jacket and wishing that she truly had worn something more concealing to her legs. She thought of her scooter ride home and couldn't help but let a pout droop her bottom lip. She then sucked it between her teeth and chided herself for being a baby.

Chris locked up and nodded at Alex and Rae, and then got in his fancy shmancy car and drove away, some sort of hard rock song that sounded vaguely familiar blaring out of the speakers.

"So he's entitled as well as a jerk," Rae murmured.

Alex chuckled. "Unfortunately." He shook his head. "He's okay sometimes. I think we just caught him on a bad day. I heard him fighting with his sister before our shift started."

"Does he fight with her a lot?"

Alex shrugged. "The only reason why I know he has any family at all is because he complains."

"Oh," she said. "Well, goodnight. Or, uhm, good morning?"

Alex laughed. "See ya later." He reached around her in an awkward hug which she didn't really know whether or not to return. She ended up just patting him on the back. The whole thing was just ridiculously awkward.

.::.

"You wanna go get some coffee with me and Marcie later?" Jeremy asked the next day on the phone.

"Yea, Sure." Rachel was curled on the small couch in her dorm. Her canary, Murphy, was perched on her knee and a book was open in her lap.

"You're distracted," he said matter-of-factly. "You're thinking of your hunky barman, aren't you?" She could hear the smirk in his voice.

"No, nothing so normal," she laughed. "I was wondering if Murphy would still sit here like this if I didn't have his wings clipped. Or if he would just fly off and roost on top of my dresser or beat himself to death against the window. Eh, that one's kinda morbid."

"A bit. You, my Dear, are a weirdo."

Rae exhaled. "I know," she said dejectedly. "So coffee..."

.::.

Chris walked behind the bar and looked Rae up and down.

"So you're totally okay with Frank eye-raping you? Like every day?"

Rae shrugged. "Maybe I just don't let those things get to me. As long as he doesn't touch."

Chris looked at her indifferently. "Whatever. But make sure you don't lead Alex on. You'll break his little puppy dog heart."

"Who's dog?" Alex asked.

Chris shook his head. "Nothing. I thought you were off tonight."

Alex nodded. "I was filling in for Nick. But now I'm out." He flashed a peace sign, said "Peace," and left.

Rae snorted, grinning, and turned in time to see a small smirk on Chris's face. It disappeared almost as soon as she saw it, but it was there and it made her smile harder.

"You like him," she said.

He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her. "What?"

"You li-ike him," she teased. "You play the strong silent type, but you're fond of him."

"Don't be absurd."

"Don't deny it." She was still grinning.

"Whatever," Chris said, walking away. Rae started giggling. He glared at her from the position he'd taken behind the bar, but she couldn't stop. It was going to be a fun night.