Chapter Thirty

                                    

                                          
Dash:
"Have you bartended before?" I asked Annabelle as we pulled up to the club. 
She smirked before opening her door, this time not waiting for me to open it. She didn't answer my question; she walked into the full-of-colors club. 
She turned as she walked into the empty nightclub. Soon it would be jam-packed. 
"What do you think?" I asked. 
"It's something." She said, still looking at the bright neon yellow room we were walking through. "When you invited me to your nightclub the first night. I imagined something more." She stuttered. "Less colorful." She said. 
I laughed. "Yeah, Happy Days is my less favorite place. But it brings the most in." 
"Seriously?" She looked at me. 
"Seriously."  
It was evident by the first drink she poured she had been a bartender at one point or another. She was one of the tricks bartenders. By her fifth drink, she had the crowd applauding her. I dropped a mug because I watched her and not what I was doing. 
She bent down to help me get the big chunks of glass picked up. 
"I have no clue if I made that last drink correctly," she winced. "I'm a little rusty." She said in the most adorable voice ever. 
"Rusty? You call that being rusty?" I hated to think what she thought my bartending skills were then. 
When we arrived, she walked around the bar, finding where the normal bartenders kept what. I was now wondering if she had a photographic memory. She was beating me for drinks to one. Her tip jar was also fuller than mine. 
She was in her element. 
A guy slid up to the bar after a group of girls had left my side. The one woman had been trying to make eyes with me the whole time, and I kept looking over at Annabelle. She smiled at every customer that came in. I loved seeing her smile this much. I noticed when she turned around a couple of times that her smile would slip, and I would get to see what she was thinking. She was a fantastic actress. It's surprising her commercials took as long as they did that day. 
The man who took the vacated seats looked at the drink menu. When he looked up, his eyes trailed to Annabelle, who was once again flipping a bottle up and catching it behind her back. "Holy shit. When did she start coming here?" He looked at me, waiting for a response. 
"She is a fill-in," I said. 
"I haven't seen her bartending lately. She used to bartend at Wild Willies." 
I nodded, acting as if I knew this. 
"Crazy Suzie Bill," he laughed.
"What can I get you?" I asked. 
He looked back down and then up. "I'll take whatever is on draft."  
He kept watching Annabelle. When some seats opened up, he scooted down by her side more. I wasn't worried we had enough bouncers, and she would be leaving with me tonight. 
The night dragged on. I was going to be exhausted tomorrow. Annabelle looked as if she had caffeine tapped right into her. She didn't look a little exhausted. She kept smiling and pouring. She was up to three full cups of tips. 
The man who recognized her had started doing a live video on his social media. And she answered a couple of questions for him. I would have stepped in, but she handled the attention just fine. She didn't need my help. 
Another man had been squinting at her every time he came up. 
"Don't I know you?" He asked on the last trip up. 
She shook her head No and asked him what she could get him.  
"I know you. I'm sure of it." He said.
She shook her head no. She turned to help his buddy. Who wasn't as drunk. The first guy reached across the bar to grab at her. But before he could, Annabelle had his arm twisted and hitting down on the bar. 
"Do not touch me." She said. It had happened so fast. I didn't even have time to react. Annabelle smiled at him as the guy threw curse words her way as the bouncers removed him. She smiled at the crowd and yelled, "who wants some shots?" 
The crowd went ballistic. 
Who the hell was this, Annabelle? 
Margo was able to pull two bartenders from the other nightclubs and bring them to Happy Days by two in the morning. By this point, Annabelle had four cups full of tips. She grabbed them and shoved them into the purse she brought. The new bartenders stared at the tips in wonder. 
"Thanks for taking over for us," Annabelle said to them as she waved. 
Margo had also sent me the trending list on Twitter. Happy Days was number five on the list. Videos of Annabelle were popping up all over. I was stunned. 
I handed her my phone, and she watched some of the videos. She groaned as we walked out to my car. "I don't get it. I had never gone viral until I met you. And now twice in a matter of weeks." 
I opened her car door for her before she got in. 
"It is all you. I didn't do anything." I put the car in reverse, and something hits me. "You said you were not a nightclub girl when we met." 
She goes quiet, and I wait. "I'm not a nightclub girl. I bartended to pay off college loans as many people do." 
"No, Annabelle, you were thriving tonight." 
She smiled. "I forgot how much fun it could be. The adrenaline from having that many people yell drinks at you." 
It was early morning Sunday; I was thankful she had packed a bag to spend the night. 
"Can I ask what the rest of the date would have been?" She asked.
"You mean if I wouldn't have let you drag me into my club? We were going to take Rufus for a walk and then return to my place and have dinner." 
"It sounds wonderful." 
"Tomorrow night, I supposed," I responded. 
When we got home, I was thinking about Annabelle and how hot she had been bartending. She headed into the house before me. 
I follow her upstairs silently into my bedroom. 
I close the door behind us. She turns around and watches me. I knew it was happening.  By the look on her face, she did too. 
She had done her hair up out of her face in a clip. I walk forward and unclip it. Her hair fell down in waves of curls. 
She was stunning. 
She licks her lips, and I do not wait. I attack them. She moans into me, and I start to take her clothes off. It was hot, and it was rushed. It was everything and more of what I had expected. Soon she is standing in front of me in her black lingerie. 
I push her back until she falls onto my bed. And moments later, I have her pleading my name. "Dash," her voice was filled with pleasure and filled my room. 
I never wanted her to leave. 
She was mine.