Page 94 of Debts and Desires
“That’s a different talk for a different day,” Tyler shuddered, as if disgusted by the thought of his best friend having sex with his stepsister. He more than likely was. “Cassie, you’re goin’ on an extended, unpaid vacation for a little.”
“What?! You can’t do that!”
“I can. I did. Go home. I’ll bring youyourtips later. Sober up.”Sober up?
With a huff, Cassie walked away from him and straight toward me. There was enough space between us that she could’ve gone around. Instead, she came right in my face.
“You’re a lyin’ fuckin’ bitch and I hope you get what’s comin’ to you,” she spat, the smell of alcohol pouring from her. Carter had said she had problems before. Was this what he meant?
When the boys started walking toward us, probably to intervene in the impending catfight, she continued on. But not before shoving her shoulder into me.
“Fat bitch,” she said under her breath. It probably would’vehurt if I wasn’t already numb to the insult. As much as I wanted to, I said nothing. It felt like high school all over again. Tyler’s face was red, filled with both sadness and anger—and a little trace of disgust.
“I’m sorry, Em,” he said, adjusting his glasses.
“It’s okay, Ty,” I smiled. “I’m sorry you have to deal with it all.” He gave a small shrug before turning back to Carter.
“Mystepsister,dude? Really?!” Ty shook his head.
“Like I said, onetime thing. I wasn’t thinkin’. And she’s been mad about it since,” Carter responded. Tyler let out a long sigh.
“I ain’t all that surprised, really.” He blew out a breath “She’s been stress drinkin’ again. So, now I gotta go check Cass didn’t take more shit and then I need to go smoke. Again.” Tyler left us standing there and Carter turned to me.
“You alright?” he asked. I gave a small nod. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that, baby.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s fine.” I smiled. “I’ve heard worse.” Carter’s face contorted into anger once more, like he was ready to fight. He was so protective of me sometimes that it made my heart swell.
Snap out of it.
Clearing my throat, I pulled my hand away and broke our eye contact.
“I hope I didn’t cause any issues between you and Tyler,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself.
“Nah. And if you did, he’ll get the fuck over it.” There was a brief silence. “You wanna get a drink?” I did, but I didn’t want anymore confrontation with Cassie. As if noticing my hesitation, he added, “She should be gone by now.”
“Yeah.” I exhaled sharply and we walked back out to the bar.
Carter was right, Cassie had left. I felt the relief. Well, until I’d inevitably bump into her again.
As the night went on, Tyler let me know that he’d schedule me to perform when Cassie wasn’t there and make sure she didn’t force her way on the schedule like she had tonight. She’d be off for the next week, so I wouldn’t have to worry about running into her anywhere.And apparently, I was going to be performing more in the coming weeks. I smiled.
We decided to stick around for a while longer, ordering a few beers while people came over to introduce themselves and praise our performance. Carter and I sat on the stools at the bar, and Tyler joined us. He had most of the staff working tonight to accommodate the crowd, so he was able to chat with us for a long while. He claimed he was taking the night off, but he’d go check on things and make sure things were going smoothly. Carter called him out on it, but Tyler shot back, “I’ll start taking days off when you do.”
“I have been, dickhead,” Carter replied. Ty looked at me and I nodded.
“It’s true, shockingly.”
“Well I’ll be. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Ty,” one of the bartenders—Ashley, I think—approached. “We’re out of limes.”
“Thanks, Ash,” Tyler responded. Ashley grabbed a few plates and walked away.
“I’ll get ‘em,” Carter said, standing from the stool.
“Nah man, I can,” Tyler started, but Carter ignored him, heading to the back. Tyler sighed and shook his head, smiling. “Asshole.” I snorted at his remark. Ty chugged his beer, then cleaned up the few items Ashley couldn’t carry. “I’m gonna go run this back there too and check on the kitchen staff. I’ll be right back.” I nodded and Tyler left.
It wasn’t long before I felt a presence beside me. I looked over to find a guy around my age, maybe older. He looked me up and down, a kind of slimy smile on his face. His blue eyes seemed glazed over, too. He wore a flannel jacket, dark blue jeans and boots,cleanboots.
