Page 91 of Not Fooling Anyone

LEXIE

I clock in,only one minute late, and it’s only by the grace of God that the other bartender on duty tonight is here after me. Sarah can’t yell at me without yelling at both of us, but I can tell she wants to from the way her lips thin.

There’s hardly anyone in here with how early it is, but I still make myself busy prepping garnishes, cutting lemons and limes, and cleaning the long, wooden counter. Sarah eyes me disapprovingly but can’t find fault with anything I’m doing. Why does she put herself on the same shift as me if I annoy her?

Halfway through my time here tonight, I’m still largely bored, mentally calculating how much I need to make this week to pay my bills. At this rate, I won’t break forty dollars for the night. If I’m not getting any weekend shifts and only making seventy-five a week from Marty for doing his accounting work, it’s still not enough, even with the money from the Psych study. I need to find another job.

Maybe I should try something new. Something that’ll have a better chance of availability. What about that diner Ethan and I tried a few weeks ago? Places like that are always hiring, right?

“Hey, doll,” an older guy says, leaning on the counter. “Get me a Bud Light, would you?” He makes the request to my cleavage rather than my face, but as long as he tips, that’s the only thing I care about. Like I told Travis, I’m not really Lexie here. I’m just trying to make money.

Thankfully, another customer approaches after I give the guy his beer, saving me from the supremely awkward ordeal of fending off advances without offense. It’s so much easier outside the bar where I can tell them to fuck off.

I make two tequila sunrises for the woman waiting, watching as she carries them over to a booth on the other side of the room, and then head in the back supply closet to get more grenadine.

I have to unfold the step ladder to reach the bottles on the top shelf, grabbing an extra too so no one has to come back here for it any time soon. I move to exit, pausing as I hear Sarah say, “No. No one calls her that here. Maybe I should start it up again.” What’s she talking about?

She laughs, and I peek around the edge of the doorframe, spotting her on her cell in the manager’s office, her feet up on the desk. So that’s where she disappeared to earlier. Not that I’m complaining. I hate her breathing down my neck out on the floor.

“I still can’t believe the owner hired her. She probably slept with him to get the job. Sexy Lexie strikes again.”

My insides freeze. She knows about that nickname? I thought I’d left it behind in high school.

Wait, she didn’t go there too, did she? Sarah’s a few years older, so I guess it’s possible she could have been a junior or senior I don’t remember. Is that why she hasn’t liked me this whole time?

“All right, I’ve got to get back out there,” she says, taking her feet down from the desk. “Bye, Ash.”

I step out of view as she returns to the front, my heartbeat pulsing in my ears. She didn’t mean Ashley, did she? The same Ashley that helped make my life hell?

Well, getting another job is definitely on the table now. I’ll never get the shifts I want here. If anything, it’s only a matter of time before she tries to have me fired. Why’d I have to pick the one place to work where someone has it out for me?

I wait until my pulse is back to normal before I return to the front, placing the bottles of grenadine underneath the counter.

“Where have you been?” Sarah asks me in a snotty voice, hands on her hips.

Really? After she just made a personal phone call? “Restocking,” I reply calmly. I shouldn’t give her a reason to let me go before I have another job lined up.

“Well, don’t take so long next time. We could have a rush at any moment.”

I survey the nearly empty bar. Mister Bud Light is sitting near the other end watching the game on the one TV we have and a few other customers in the booths on the other side are occupying themselves.

“Won’t happen again,” I tell her, pushing down the sarcastic reply that wants to let loose.

The front door opens, a tall, dark-haired man with familiar green eyes approaching. What’s he doing here?

“I’ve got this one,” Sarah says, practically pushing me out of the way. “Hey, what can I get you?” She smiles, leaning on her elbows over the counter in a practiced technique I have to give her props for. “We’ve got a special on well drinks tonight.”

Joke’s on her. Ethan’s not even old enough to order one. If I remember right from our speed getting-to-know-you conversation at the diner, he doesn’t turn twenty-one for another two months.

He takes a seat at the end of the bar. “Actually, Lexie’s my favorite bartender,” he says, pointing at me. “I’d rather order from her.”

Sarah gives him a tight smile, her interest quickly fading. “Of course.”

She steps back, making a sweeping motion for me to enter the space she was just occupying, and leaves to go terrorize the other bartender.

Ethan glances around, clearly noticing the lack of patrons. “No dancing? I could’ve sworn there was dancing here before.”

“That’s Thursday through Sunday. Monday through Wednesday it’s a regular bar with no cover charge.”

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