I sigh.
It is the thought of the opportunity to see Nick more often – he will sometimes drop in to check how I do – pushes me towards the door.
I open it and enter the dark interior. Even in the middle of the day, light barely penetrates through small windows high above the ceiling.
The bar looks completely different without flashing lights and a crowd of people sandwiched by the walls. The high-legged tables are clean and empty, the black floor is polished to a shine, some quiet instrumental music murmurs in the columns, and the only lighting in the whole room is the illuminated display cases with liquors located behind the counter.
Nick said Cash will be here all day, but I’m starting to think that I had to set a specific time. I just don’t know where to look for him.
Slippers quietly click on the heels, I walk around the room, go up to the counter and put out a chair to sit, hoping that Cash is watching the room, since the door is open.
And I almost swallow my tongue when suddenly the owner of the institution sticks himself out from behind the counter.
“You must be Olivia.”
“Holy mother of hell!” I say, clutching my chest to calm my heart.
He is laughing:
– With such a language you will take root here.
If I had not been very dumbfounded, I probably would have objected to his remarks. But instead, I laugh:
“You brought out the worst in me.” What can I say?
Cache is dressed in a black T-shirt, muscular arms are naked, an intricate tattoo is visible on the left side of the chest. I try not to think of him as a guy who looks down on drooling, but that’s exactly what obsessively gets into my head.
Damn it!
He puts his elbows on the bar and leans closer to me:
“That’s because you did not give me the opportunity to bring out the best in you.”
Cash’s voice is low and quiet, eyebrows arched almost like the first night – defiantly and with a hint of obscenity. My pulse quickens.
Good God, he’s even more groovy than I remember!
Somehow I managed to convince myself that he was not as attractive as Nick; of the two guys, bad – he, therefore, I like less. Oh my god, I was wrong!
I am desperately trying to gather my thoughts and this time make a good impression. It is clear that I have only one chance to correct the original.
I politely smile and answer:
“Well, it won’t be difficult if I start working for you.”
The cache leans back and grins wryly:
“Already threatening sexual harassment?”
“No … I … of course not!” I … didn’t mean … actually I wanted to say … – The sound of an airplane falling from the sky is heard in my head; speed increases, the liner crashes into the mountainside … an explosion.
Shut up, Olivia! I beg you, just shut up!
– Do not go back down! It only became interesting!
Gathering air into my chest. It’s easier for me, and at the same time I’m a little annoyed.
He’s teasing me!
“Are you always so mean?”
– Evil? – with an innocent face, asks Kash. – I AM? Nah.
Smiling, he puts his palms on the counter, rises, throws his legs over it and jumps to the floor next to me. I blink for a second in the hope that the look of his biceps and triceps, playing under smooth skin, will not erase forever in my memory. I think I was late because this vision was the last before my eyelids closed.
Damn it!
“Nick said you worked at the bar?”
I open my eyes and see Cache. He looks at me, stands so close that I distinguish a barely noticeable line where the black pupil ends and the almost black iris begins. What a delightful eyes!
Cash’s eyebrows rise – with a hint.
– Sorry? – I do not understand.
– Nothing. I don’t think it matters. If you are always so charming and sexy, no one will care if you get a drink quickly.
From these words I flare slightly. They should not give me pleasure. But they deliver. Very little.
– It’s not a problem.
– What? Your sexuality No, I see it.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” For two years I worked at one of the most popular sports bars in California. So I can stand at the counter and with you.
Cache crosses her arms over her chest and falsely smiles:
– Are you sure?
I feel my back straightening out by itself.
– I’m sure.
“People who come here want to be not only served, but also entertained.” Do you think you can handle it?
What does this mean? I admit to myself that I have no idea, but my mouth is already open.
– No problems.
“Then you won’t mind if I arrange … an audition.”
Cache trails off, in the silence that comes, I feel a chill creep across my back. I clearing my throat and extracting a reserve of courage from the depths of my “I”.
– Listening? And what will it be?
A few seconds, the cache does not respond. It was enough for me to distort everything inside. And so that I remember all the types of listening that I know (a couple of them enthralled me).
Turn on the brain, Liv! He takes too much on himself!
Cache laughs:
– Nothing too creative. I do not want to tempt fate for claims of sexual harassment. Until.
“Are you trying to expose me?”
– Oh, stop it. Do you want to say that you have never worked for a person who likes you? I can bet with girls like you, this happens all the time.
The mouth is ready to crawl out in a silly smile, but I restrain myself. I can’t allow Cache to understand: I am pleased to hear how he admits that he likes me, especially since “pleasant” is an encrypted “gasping with delight”.
– With girls like me? – I ask as calmly as possible.
– Yes, with people like you. “Cache half covers his eyelids, which makes his eyes heavy, half asleep, like in a bedroom, and his voice is like silk sheets on which, in my imagination, he is sleeping. – Naughty, sexy, damn showy. I swear there is no man you can’t circle around your little finger.
Cache