Page 37 of Wicked and Wild

Hershift had started out badly with a big bunch of rowdy college students from the nearby university.Theysat inHanna’sstation and ordered multiple appetizers, then bickered over the bill which she’d had to split nine ways.Almostnone of them left a tip, so she wound up with five dollars and fifty cents for about two hours of work, because they stayed so long.

Itwas a disappointing start to a long shift and it didn’t get any better from there.Hernext few customers were either no or low tippers, which madeHannawonder if she was going to be able to make her rent that month.Ithad doubled recently, causing her to pick up as many extra shifts as she could, in order to afford the crappy little studio apartment on the bad side ofTampa, not far fromBuschGardens.

Shewould have asked if she could stay with her big sister,Samantha, for a while, butSamwas currently living out of her van so she could travel to various haunted locations for her ghost hunting show.Also, she’d just gotten into what seemed like a pretty serious relationship with aWulvenKindredWarriorwho had been assigned to be herProtector.Sonow they were traveling together andHannacouldn’t stand being a third wheel.

Shecould always go up to theMotherShipand stay with herAuntLunaand theKindredWarriorshe was married to, of course.Butwhenever she saw the two of them together, they seemed so totally in love thatHannawas sure she would just be in the way.Hernew uncle was aBeastKindrednamedBruinand he seemed completely devoted to her aunt in every way.

Hannawishedshecould find aKindredWarriorwho would fall in love with her.Thebig aliens who had come from beyond the stars to protectEarthyears ago were 95% male due to a genetic anomaly.Asa result, they valued females highly and treated them like queens.

Butshe was sure that anyKindredshe met would just think she was crazy—like all the human guys she’d tried to date before she’d given up dating for good.AndlikeMr.Harvey, her manager—now herex-manager, she supposed—and like the male customer she’d accidentally poured coffee on.

Shehadn’t meant to do it—honestly, she hadn’t—even though hehadbeen provoking her.Previousto the coffee incident, she’d just finished with a horrible customer—a woman who had eaten all but two bites of herDenveromelet meal with a side of hash browns, bacon, and blueberry pancakes with extra whipped cream—and then declared that it was all “disgusting” and she wasn’t going to pay for any of it.

Hannahad been forced to getMr.Harveyinvolved in the matter—which he absolutely hated, since he preferred to sit in the back room and look at porn on his phone all night.Hehad ended up comping the woman’s meal and while she left with a triumphant smile on her face—and aLiarImpclinging to her shoulder like a pet bat—he’d turned toHannaand growled,

“You’dbetter not fucking bother me for the rest of the night!Andthe price of that woman’s order is coming out ofyourtips!”

“But…but how is that fair?”Hannahad protested. “It’snot my fault she didn’t want to pay!”

“Youshould have given her better service,”Mr.Harveysnapped. “Thenmaybe she wouldn’t have complained!”

Thenhe had stormed away, presumably going to resume his porn scrolling in the back room.

Atthat point,Hannahad been wishing she could just go home.Shefelt like crying—almost all the money she’d made so far that night was going to go to pay for the nasty customer’s meal!Whatwas even the point of her being there?

Shefelt tears stinging her eyelids and she didn’t want to break down in the middle of the dining area.Turningquickly, she went to the bathroom to blow her nose and put some cold water on her face.

Herhand hovered over the knob of the employee’s only restroom…and then she passed it by and went to the ladies room for customers instead.She’dlearned the hard way her first day on the job not to go into the employee bathroom.Itlooked like an empty room with just a sink, toilet, and hand dryer to anyone else.OnlyHannacould see the dead man sitting on its single toilet, staring vacantly at the wall.

Shethought he might have been one of the short order cooks at one time and he’d died of a heart attack in there, but she didn’t know for sure because he never talked.Hejust sat there, gray and silent, with his pants around his ankles as he stared at nothing.

Hannawas used to dealing with dead people—she’d been seeing them all her life—but some were definitely creepier than others.Soshe went to the ladies room where no one had died.

Aftersplashing water on her face and blotting her eyes, she walked out again to find that the hostess had seated two older men at one of her booths.Puttingon her best professional smile, she brought them some menus and said,

“Hi,I’mHannaandI’llbe taking care of you tonight.WhatcanIget for you?”

“Well, you canstartby bringing that fine ass over here, honey,” one of the men—a biker-looking guy in a black leather jacket said, eyeing her.

Hannafelt her smile freeze on her face as she saw aLustImppoke its pointed snout out of the collar of the man’s jacket and give her a lascivious grin.

“Sexybitch,”it whispered in the man’s ear.“Lookat those nice big tits!Betshe shaves her pussy—wouldn’t you like to get a good look between her legs?Betshe can suck cock too—look at that mouth!Ohyeah—love to have those sweet pink lips wrapped around your cock-meat!”

Hannafelt sick but she tried not to show it.Shecould tell that the customer had been drinking—the harsh scent of whiskey drifted off him whenever he opened his mouth—which only made him more susceptible to theImp’ssuggestions.

Hiscompanion, thankfully, was more drunk than he was anddidn’tseem to have aLustImpattached to him, thoughHannawouldn’t have been surprised to see aGluttonyImp—which was the kind that urged every kind of overindulgence and excess from gambling to smoking to overeating and drinking to excess.

“Howabout some coffee?” she suggested, hoping to sober the two of them up. “That’salways a good starter.”

“Suuure…coffee’s nicsh,” the really drunk man slurred.

“Ilike my coffee likeIlike my women—hot and in pretty white cups!” the other customer declared, leering at the neckline ofHanna’swaitressing uniform, where a tiny bit of her white lace bra was visible.

Hannawas quick to tug her uniform top up to cover the lace as she turned and went for the pot of coffee and two cups.Shewas already sure that she wasn’t going to be getting a good tip from these two unless she was willing to flirt with them—which she definitely wasnot.Still, she had to at least do her best to get them served in a timely fashion—she would just have to be professional and ignore the crude come-ons from the customer with theLustImpclinging to him.

Whenshe came back with the coffee pot in one hand and two white china mugs in the other, the really drunk man was asleep with his head on the table.

“Seemslike your friend must be really tired,”Hannasaid politely, putting down the mugs. “ShouldIpour him a cup anyway, in case he wakes up?”

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