Sitting Pretty

☾︎✯☽︎

I hadn't seen much of Lisa after our outing. From what I was told by the bar manager, she had to catch up with assignments not to forget her internship had been keeping her busy. It was kind of a relief for me because it made avoiding her easier and made me feel less guilty for doing so. I wasn't ready to face her, and I needed time to think and process the way forward in my future interactions with her - something I doubt I would have been able to do if I saw her during my shifts.

"Ollie!" Chaeyoung's voice knocked me out of whatever daze I was in.

"Hmm?" I answered, looking at her.

"You okay?" she asked with a look expressing concern.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" I asked back.

"You seem pretty out of it. You never put that glass down since the shift started," she said.

I looked down at my hands that were holding the glass she was talking about while the other hand was holding a black towel. I didn't realise that I had been wiping the same glass until Chaeyoung pointed it out.

"Oh," I chuckled, suddenly becoming embarrassed. I put the glass away on the shelf that was behind me. "Thanks, Chae."

"What's up? You're usually at the top of your game during our shifts."

"I'm fine... just have a lot going on I guess."

"Is it about you and Lisa?"

I snapped my head toward her with a surprised look on my face. Holy shit! Does she know?

"You know about you and Lisa kissing a while back and people have been talking about it nonstop. I didn't see it for myself so," she shrugged.

"Oh," I replied, feeling relieved. "No, that's old news. I don't care for workplace gossip anyway."

Chaeyoung pressed her lips together and nodded her head slowly. "But like... is there something going on between you and Lisa?"

I feel the tension slowly poison my nerves and the hairs on my neck rise as I swallowed. My throat was too numb and constricted to ever formulate words let alone answer a simple question.

"I'm just curious," she said quickly, already nervous by my reaction - probably because she misread it as though she was making me uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable, but not with her. I was more uncomfortable with the subject concerning my relationship with Lisa than I was with Chaeyoung's question. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"It's quite alright," I answered, finally regaining my will to speak. "And to answer your question, no. Nothing is going on between Lisa and m. I don't date or hook up with work colleagues."

Yet you did exactly what you don't do.

"Oh..." Chaeyoung replied slowly sounding as though she was disappointed.

"Ding, ding, bitches, Mr Worldwide Handsome has arrived," Jin chimed in as he made his appearance. "Did you miss me?"

He cupped his chin with his thumb and forefinger and winked.

"No, we forgot you existed," I answered drily with a deadpanned expression.

Jin rolled his eyes. "Two bottles of champagne are wanted in the VIP room and I'm sending one of you to make the delivery."

"Why aren't you doing it?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I have to make an Angel on the rocks for one of the patrons and she needs it ASAP."

"Ah," I replied, now understanding the situation.

An Angel Shot is kind of like a safe word or a code that patrons use if they ever need any help or feel unsafe in any way within the establishment be it in clubs, restaurants and bars. There are three codes that patrons can use depending on the situation they are in.

If the patrons need someone to escort them to their car, they can order an "Angel Shot straight up or neat".

If they need bartenders to call a cab or an uber for them, they can order an "Angel shot on the rocks or ice".

If the situation requires to have the cops involved, they can order an "Angel shot with a twist, lime or lemon".

We as bartenders and servers must know these codes so that we know how to approach the situation and act accordingly. The safety and well-being of our patron should and always be our priority.

"Is the patron in any trouble?" I asked.

"No, but she did have a little too much to drink. So being the handsome and kind gentleman that I am, I called her an uber." He said.

I rolled my eyes at his boastfulness. "How long till the uber gets here?"

"Last I checked, about five minutes. I may need an extra pair of hands 'cause the lady can barely stand on her feet."

"I'll come with you," Chaeyoung offered.

"Fantastic! That means you have been granted the hour of delivering the champagne to the VIP room," he grinned at me.

"Yay me," I replied sarcastically.

☾︎✯☽︎

The VIP room was just a floor above Pink Venom. It was a bit quieter, even though you could still hear the music playing subtly from downstairs. It had a black leather couch and an expensive black mahogany table in front of it, a small bar at the corner and a small stage with a pole set for the dancers to entertain the guests for the evening.

There was a middle-aged man in the room. He was wearing a designer suit with a black silk button-down shirt and a pair of designer shoes. He had his arm laying over the couch and his legs crossed. There was a woman seated next to him. I couldn't see her face due to her pastel pink hair (which I assumed was a wig) covering most of her side profile. She must have been an escort and the man next to her was definitely rich and probably had a wife and a kid or two wondering where he was. I had seen this way too many times over the years as a bartender, but I choose to mind my own business, let people do what they want and deal with the consequences of their actions and poor decisions.

I walked inside and placed the tray with the bucket that had the two bottles of champagne on the table in front of them. When I looked up from the tray, I felt my body freeze and my heart nearly leapt out through my mouth, the moment I saw that the pinked haired lady was Lisa. She was wearing a long-sleeved crop top with lace sleeves and a mini skirt. Her face was dolled up with pink eyeshadow and red lipstick.

To say that I was surprised to see her was an understatement. There were no words in a thesaurus that could describe what and how I felt seeing her with that man. But one thing I was certain of was, I was confused, and I had so many questions.

What was she doing here?

Why was she here with that man?

Did she also work as an escort?

She seemed embarrassed to see me, especially in the position she was in. I could tell from how her head was down and how she avoided my gaze.

"Pop the bottle of champagne for us, hmm?" the man's voice broke me of my daze of shock. "And pour it into our glasses. Do you want a glass of champagne, luv?"