Page 54 of Another Last Call
Soon, it wasn’t amusing. Soon, I was seeing the girls lean over the bar each time I glanced in that direction, their voices flirty and carefree. Soon, Caleb was shooting that winning smile at them, his eyes glimmering with a wicked gleam that I knew I’d seen before.
Which was fine.
Caleb was single. He could flirt with girls at the bar. I had customers flirt with me all the time. Just because I didn’t believe in flirting back for tips didn’t mean he shouldn’t.
It wasfine.
Until it wasn’t.
It was fine until I was frantically busy picking up all the slack Caleb was leaving on the floor behind him while he dealt with the bachelorette party. Until I had customers sniping at me about how loud the girls were being and how slow it was to get a drink because Caleb was busy chatting with them. As the night wore on, I found it harder and harder to maintain my fragile customer service smile. Each time I passed the bar or picked up a round of drinks, Caleb was flirting with the girls, who were leaning closer and closer to him. Their dresses seemed to ride up higher on their thighs, their necklines pulled lower and lower as the night wore on.
“Oh, come on, Mr. Barkeep,” Bridesmaid One begged as I passed by to grab the bill for one of my tables.
“No way,” Caleb replied, shaking his head as he laughed.
“Come on, please?” the three bridesmaids whined in unison.
“Just one body shot,” Bridesmaid One said.
I felt the hair on my neck stand up.
“No body shots,” I said, turning to them. “I don’t want anyone’s ass touching my bar top.”
“What if we put a napkin down?” asked one of the cousins.
“It’s a hard no,” I said. “I don’t want any of you lying down on my bar.”
Bridesmaid One glanced at Caleb, then back at me. “What if Mr. Barkeep is the one we take the shot off?”
Screeching laughter echoed through the bar. Caleb’s face was turning red, but he caught my eye and shrugged as if he was game.
“No body shots,” I snapped at him, then turned on my heel and walked away.
“Oh no, is that your wife?” I heard one of them ask Caleb.
“No, we’re not together,” I heard him reply.
“Oh, so you’re… unattached?”
I couldn’t hear his response, but I knew I’d gone beyond Resting Bitch Face and was firmly in the territory of Trying Not To Strangle Anyone Face. It took everything in me not to chuck the bill at my table. As soon as they paid, I ground my teeth together and stormed off without a word.
Twenty-Eight
Maggie
Whenlastcallcamearound, I was ready to scream.
Business had slowed to where I’d sent everyone else home besides Caleb. There was no point in people sitting around doing nothing. I cleaned up most of the place myself as Caleb kept entertaining the bachelorette party, my mood darkening more and more each time they laughed.
And they laughed a lot.
It was past time for last call when I glanced over from the table I was wiping to see if Caleb was done yet.
Bridesmaid One was leaning over the bar, nearly crawling on top of it to get as close to him as she could. He was leaning against the bar top, deep in conversation with her about something or the other. Even from across the room, I could see that she had her chest thrust forward. Caleb had that wicked smirk on his face, the one that told me he was about to say something horribly filthy and incredibly sexy.
“Caleb!” I called out, trying not to shout.
Both he and Bridesmaid One jumped, heads whirling to look at me.
