Page 87 of The CEO's Revenge

I don’t know if he’s joking or not when he says that. He doesn’t laugh and I’m glad I didn’t.

“How old are you?” He looks me up and down as he asks me the question and I can see the look in his eye. It’s the same look Dan used to give me when my mom wasn’t home.

I don’t think Larry is the sort of man who is worried about following the law, but this is my last hope and I’m not going to blow it with honesty. I swallow hard. “Eighteen,” I lie.

Larry’s smiling at me now, a smile that makes me want to shrink away from him. The look on his face takes away any guilt I might have felt about lying to him.

“Have you worked in a bar before, sweet cheeks?” he asks.

I can’t lie about that. Two minutes behind that bar and he’ll know I don’t know the first thing about bar tending.

“No. But I’m a fast learner,” I say.

“Nah, I ain’t got time to be teaching you nothin’,” he says. “Can you put on a pretty smile and carry a tray?”

I nod and do my best to smile at him.

He laughs and shakes his head. “You’ll need to do a lot better than that kid. The regulars here like their waitresses smiling and happy as a pig in shit… and showing a little cleavage. You get me?”

I get him alright. I nod, forcing my smile to be wider, showing more teeth.

“That’s better. If you work here, you’ll be working late most nights. Definitely weekend nights. You ok with that?”

I nod again. It’s not like I have any sort of social life, anyway.

“And there’ll be none of this bleeding heart feminism bullshit. Our regulars like a joke and sometimes, those jokes could be seen as offensive. Your job is to laugh at them and not get your panties in a twist. Clear?”

It’s clear. If I work here, I’ll have to accept all of the pervy comments thrown my way and any groping without complaint and with a smile on my face. But at least here, I’ll be able to leave when my shift is over.

I nod again. “Sure. It’s all said in fun right?”

“That’s the spirit. No snowflakes in this establishment.” Larry grins. “One more question. Can you start right now? One of my waitresses called in sick today and I think you can see we’re kind of short staffed tonight.”

My eyes widen, trying to take his words in. Wow, I got a job.! I actually freaking did it. The smile on my face is genuine this time as I nod vigorously.

Larry laughs. “You’ll be working around twenty hours a week, maybe more. The pay is rubbish, but smile like that honey, and you’ll make a king’s ransom in tips.”

Crappy hours, bad pay, horrible customers, and a lecherous boss. It sounds like hell on earth, but it’s a job. A life saver! I can do this for a few months. I am certain it won’t be half as bad as living with Dan.

“Wait here,” Larry says, pushing his heavy body upright.

He leaves the office and I take a moment to compose myself a little bit. I can’t let myself seem too thrilled about this. Larry will think something strange is up if I do.

“Greg. Greg. Get out here,” I hear him yelling.

He comes back into the office a few minutes later with the bartender I spoke to when I first came in.

“Greg. Amelia. Amelia. Greg. Amelia’s starting as a waitress tonight. Get her the right uniform and show her where everything is. Ten minutes,” Larry says.

I get to my feet as Greg rushes me out of the office.

“Don’t I need to fill out any paperwork or sign anything?” I ask.

Larry shakes his head and he and Greg laugh. It seems like lying about my age had really been totally unnecessary. Larry and employment laws seem to be living in different worlds. I shrug. I remind myself this is not a bad thing.Just suck it up, Amelia. You need the money. Badly.

I follow Greg down the grubby hallway into what I assume is the staff room. It’s reasonably clean and there are lockers which must be a good sign.

“Grab locker two,” Greg says.

---