Page 2 of Watch Her Bleed
“How long have you been here?”
“Since opening,” I say as I retrieve the wine from the ice.
“Do you always work a double?” he asks. I glance up at him as I pour wine for the men to my left.
“Most days,” I say as I turn to him. My hands are unsteady. As I start to pour, I can sense it the very moment I am about to drop the bottle. Everything seems to move in slow motion as the bottle slips from my hand and comes crashing down on the table. A glass tips over in the process and splashes all over the front of the man’s shirt. He instantly stands when wine floods the table, onto the floor. I try to retrieve the bottle but drop it again. I gasp when I see the front of his shirt is now drenched in red wine. I start to panic so I grab the napkin and make a weak attempt at cleaning up the mess I made of his shirt.
“Oh my God. I am so sorry,” I say, panic-fondling this random man.
“It’s okay,” he says.
“No, I’ll talk to my manager. I..”
“Aurora,” he says softly as he puts his hand on top of mine, flattening my hand against his muscular abdomen. “It’s okay, tesoruccia.” I make the mistake of looking up at him and he is smiling softly at me. I can’t tell if he is amused or impressed that I just felt him up in the middle of this restaurant.
“Fuck,” I say as I pull my hand away and take a step back.
“You are shaking,” he says.
“I am so so sorry,” I say again, wide-eyed.
“Are you…” he starts to ask.
“L-let me g-get my manager,” I stutter out before turning and hustling back to the kitchen.
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” I chant to myself as I get to the kitchen.
“What happened?” Maria asks.
“I just dumped a thirty-four hundred dollar bottle of wine on some man, then panicked and felt him up with a napkin,” I say.
“I’ll go clean it up. Have you eaten?” she asks.
“No. Not since before I got here,” I say as I start to sway. “Fuck. I need to sit,”
“Alan. Get her something sugary to drink before she passes out,” Maria says to one of the servers.
“What did you do?” Robert snaps at me as he flies around the corner.
“I dropped a bottle of wine,” I say weakly.
“This is your fault for not letting her take a break,” Maria says firmly. Maria is the shift manager and his girlfriend. She’s the one who defends me when Robert becomes too much of a dick.
“You better pray to God he’s not mad,” Robert snaps.
“I’ll handle him,” Maria says. “Eat something, Aurora.”
“Here, sweetie,” Alan says as he hands me a glass of juice. I drink from my cup while Robert stares daggers into me. Maria is gone for a few minutes. When she returns she has the bottle and glass in her hand.
“He wants to talk to you,” Maria says to Robert.
“Fuck,” I groan.
“This is coming out of your pay if I have to comp this,” Robert says as he walks out of the kitchen.
“I hope I get this job tomorrow because he’s going to fucking fire me,” I say.
“He’s not mad at you. He’s mad at Robert,” Maria says as she gets my glucose meter out of my bag.
