by Alison Mello
“Oh come on, sweet thang, you have a great ass.”
“I don’t care how great my ass is. Keep your hands to yourself or I’ll break your fingers.”
“Aren’t you feisty tonight?”
“No, I’m not feisty. I’m also not your grope toy to put your hands on whenever you want. I’m a lady and I damn well deserve to be treated that way.”
He’s hammered and I can tell he’s getting pissed, so I walk away before it gets any further out of control. When I get to the liquor room, I text Logan.
Skyler: Are you serious about giving me a job?
I get an instant response.
Logan: Yes.
Skyler: I’m over this place. These guys are pigs. I’m giving my notice tonight.
Logan: Do you need me to come down there?
Skyler: No it’s fine, I’m going to stay behind the bar and have Meg do the chasing the rest of the night.
Logan: Call me if you need me.
Skyler: Will do xoxo.
I get back to the bar and let Meg know I’m done running for the night because if one more guy puts their hands on my ass I’m going to quit and she’ll be on her own. She tells me not to sweat it, that she has my back.
The rest of the night went pretty smoothly. Megan had to do a few runs to the back and things started to quiet down around midnight, so we were able to get almost everything cleaned up. I tell Meg that I have to go see Mitch and I’ll be back in a few minutes to help her finish cleaning up.
I knock on my boss’s office door.
“Enter!” he shouts, like he always does.
“Hey, Mitch, I need a minute.”
“What’s up, Sky? I have to finish this report for the owner tomorrow.”
“I’m giving you my two weeks’ notice.”
He looks up. “Are you serious?”
“I am. I have been given an offer to work a bar in a club setting, and I’m going to take it.”
“I heard about your rich club boyfriend. Does this have to do with him?”
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not. You’ll be missed around here.”
“Mitch, the only thing these guys are going to miss is putting their hands on my ass, and I’m tired of it. I’m not some plaything for these guys to get off on. I’ll finish the two weeks unless you find a replacement for me sooner. Thanks for the two years here.”
I walk out and head back to the bar to let Meg know that I gave my notice and that I’m done in two weeks unless Mitch hires someone sooner. I told her I was going to work the club with Logan. We have everything cleaned up and Meg lets Mitch know we were leaving. I meet her at the back and tell her to go ahead, that I’m hitting the ladies room and then heading home.
“I’ll see you next weekend, Meg.”
“See ya, Sky. Congrats on the club gig. It’ll definitely be better than here.”
I walk into the bathroom, do my thing, wash my hands, and step outside. I dial Logan’s number and he answers as I’m shoved from behind. I drop my phone and scream.
“What’s up, Sky? What, all of a sudden you have a boyfriend and so we have to keep our hands to ourselves?”
“Fuck you!” It’s the guy from earlier, and I don’t even know this asshole’s name. I go to pick up my phone and he shoves me again. “What is your problem? You’re drunk. Go home.”
He picks me up and slams me against the wall. He grips me by the face. “My problem is you. I see guys grabbing that fine ass of yours all the time, telling you how hot you are, and you flirt with them. Then when I do it you make me look like a fool in front of my boys.”
“You are a fool!” I scream, trying to get away from him. He backhands me, and the pain brings instant tears to my eyes. I’m a fool. Why did I tell Meg to leave? We both know we should never walk out alone.
He picks me back up again and says, “You’re going to learn what happens when you make Billy look like a fool in front of his friends.” He hits me again. At this point all I can do is pray that either Logan can hear what’s going on or Mitch comes walking out to save me. My face is swelling from his attack. I start to fall forward and he slams me to the wall again, knocking the wind out of me. When I start to cough, he laughs.
“Oh I got something you can choke on, you bitch.” He lets go of me to undo his pants, and I lift my knee, ramming it into his balls.
“Choke on that, you fucker!” I run to snatch up my phone but I’m not quick enough. He grabs my ankle and I fall to the ground, screaming for help.
A car comes screeching to a halt, two men jump out of it, and Billy goes flying backward.
I’m sitting on the ground crying with one eye swollen shut. I can’t see what’s going on through my tears. I hear grunting, and then Logan is at my side.
“It’s okay, baby, I got you.” I hear sirens and can see the blue lights flashing. “She needs an ambulance!” Logan shouts to them.
“There’s one on the way,” an officer replies. “Should be right behind us.”
The officers run over to Billy, who is on the ground pretty messed up. Jonah is standing with Logan. The cop looks at us. “Ma’am, did you do this to him?”
“I rammed my knee into his balls and then couldn’t stop kicking,” I say through tears. I know it was Jonah who beat him up, but I don’t want him getting in trouble after he came to my rescue. “I got away and fell here when I found my phone.”
“It’s okay, baby,” Logan says soothingly. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Chapter 7
Logan
My phone rings and I’m happy to see Skyler’s face pop up. I know it’s probably cheesy but I made the picture she sent me of her blowing me a kiss her contact picture so I see it every time she calls. I answer the phone, “Hey, Sky!”
She doesn’t respond. Something isn’t right because I can hear noise in the background.
“Sky!” I yell into the phone, and that’s when I hear her scream. It sounds like she’s screaming for help. I instantly snatch my keys, race to Jonah, and grab him on the run.
“Jonah, come with me!”
I give the keys to the club to Shane and tell him to lock up once the staff is gone. “I’m coming, baby!” I shout into the phone.
“What’s up?” Jonah asks when we arrive at my car. I hand him my phone and tell him to listen. We can hear someone yelling at Skyler. I fly to Dugan’s, thankful that my club isn’t that far away. We leave the phone on speaker and Jonah is cracking his knuckles.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” he says.
“Jonah, call 911 from your phone and tell them there is an attack happening behind Dugan’s.”
He does as I requested and hangs up as we approach the scene. He runs out of the car before I have even come to a complete stop. He’s pounding the guy with such anger. I run over and get a few kicks in then I spot Skyler on the ground crying. I run to her and scoop her into my arms. We hear the siren and I look up to see Jonah is by my side. I shout to the cops that we need an ambulance and that’s when I realize it’s John. He tells me not to worry, an ambulance is on the way.
I have played this scene over in my head all night as I sit here and watch Skyler sleep. I’m sick to my stomach that some fucker put his hands on my girl and over something so stupid as her telling him to keep his hands to himself. At the same time I’m pissed she walked out of that slimy bar alone. She works in a bar. How can she not be thinking about her safety? Fuck. How is she so under my skin already?
Sadie knocks on the door lightly and I tell her to come in.
“Sky’s sound asleep. The doctor sedated her so she can rest.”
A tear runs down Sadie’s face at the sight of her best friend lying in a hospital bed.
“She’s going to be fine, Sadie. She’s bruised up, but as long as she doesn’t have a concussion from her head hitting the wall I’ll be taking her to my place to recover today.”
“How are you?” she asks, sensing my frustration.
“I was scared, and I’m pissed she would walk out of the bar at that time of night by herself. She could have been hurt much worse.”
Jonah walks in then, and I say, “Thanks for everything yesterday.”
“No problem,” he responds. “I got your back.” He takes a seat next to me. “Have you gotten any sleep?”
“No. Every time I start to nod off I hear that phone call in my head. The doctor said she should be waking up anytime now.”
Jonah nods. “I went back by the club last night to help Shane get everything squared away. He asked me what happened to Troy. I told him he was gone and you would update everyone as soon as you could but not to say anything. I explained that we ran out because Sky was being attacked. He said to tell you he hopes she’s okay and not to stress about the club.”
“That’s cool. I’m offering him Troy’s job anyway so no big deal. I need to call a staff meeting to update everyone on what is going on. Sky is supposed to be coming to replace Shane behind the bar but I have to see when she’ll be up for it. She gave her two weeks’ notice to Dugan’s last night, though I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to want to go back there now.”
“Skyler’s pretty strong, Logan. She may want to so she can get over it. See what she says when the time comes.”
We talk about the club and other stuff for a bit longer, and I notice Skyler starting to stir. She’s mumbling and thrashing, then her eyes fly open.
Right at her side, I tell her, “You’re okay, baby, relax. You’re in the hospital and no one is going to hurt you.”
She takes a few deep breaths then realizes Sadie is here, and Jonah too. “Hey what are you guys doing here?” she asks.
“Waiting for you to wake up,” Sadie replies. “How are you doing?”
“I’m a bit bruised up but I’ll be fine.” Skyler tries to sound nonchalant but she pretty much fails.
“I called Meg. She’s going to visit you later, and she feels bad that she left ahead of you. She says this is her fault and that she should have waited.”
“It’s not her fault. I told her to go ahead and that I was going to be on the phone with Logan anyway. I wasn’t expecting the asshole I chewed out earlier to be waiting for me out back.” She looks at me. “Where is he, by the way?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “He’s here somewhere but they wouldn’t tell me for fear I’ll kill the bastard for putting his hands on you.”
“I thought someone else was going to take care of that last night.” She looks at Jonah. “You were a bit crazy.”
“I was pissed is what I was. When I saw him on the ground and you trying to crawl away I lost it.”
There is a knock on the door. It’s a police officer.
“Ma’am, can I ask you a few questions?” Skyler nods, and Sadie and Jonah back up to give him a little room. “Can you tell me what happened last night?”
“I was working the bar. I went to get some beer from the back when the same guy who attacked me grabbed my ass. I spun around and told him to keep his hands to himself. We had some back and forth words and I knew he was trashed so I dropped it and walked away. When we made last call he came up for another drink and I cut him off. I told him he had had enough and asked him if I could get him a cab home. He yelled at me and stumbled out the door.” She takes a deep breath and continues with her story, adding in that once he dropped to the ground from her kicking him in the nuts she continued kicking him until she stumbled away to look for her phone.
“You messed him up pretty good,” the officer said to her with a hint of pride. “He doesn’t remember anything from last night. He had no idea why he woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed. We’ll formally charge him with assault as soon as we can get him released from here. Since he can’t remember anything, hopefully he’ll plead out and that will be the end of it for you.”
Skyler thanks the officer and he leaves as the nurse is bringing in her breakfast tray with scrambled eggs, oatmeal, juice, and coffee. She tells us the doctor will be in soon to let us know when Skyler can go home.
Skyler eats, making funny faces.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” I ask.
“This stuff smells and tastes like shit. Please tell me you’ll get me something better to eat as soon as we leave here.”
I chuckle and kiss the top of her head. “You got it. Anything you want, you name it.”
She pushes the tray away. “Anything. I don’t care if you cook. I can’t eat this.”
The doctor walks in as I’m telling her I’ll make her something when we get home.
“Ah, the talk of going home. Are you in a hurry to leave us, Miss Jones?” the doctor asks and Skyler nods. He laughs. “Everyone is always in a hurry to leave. It’s a good thing for you that you only have a minor concussion, and as long as this good man promises to look after you I can release you within the hour.”
“Trust me, doc, she’s not leaving my side for a few days. We are both off from now until Wednesday.”
“Good to hear. I’ll write it up and the nurse will be in with your discharge orders, the most important of which is if you get any headaches or if you feel dizzy you must come right back in, all right?”
We both agree. “Good!” the doctor says, and he leaves the room.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Sadie gushes. “We need to get going, but please listen to Logan and get better, because I’d be really disappointed if I had to ask someone else to be my maid of honor.”
Skyler hugs her. “I’d be honored to be your maid of honor.”
“No more stupid stunts like this, Skyler. Never leave another club by yourself!” Sadie yells.
“Don’t worry, Sadie,” I say. “We’ll be having a discussion about that when we get home.”
“I promise,” Skyler says. “I got too comfortable. It’ll never happen again!”
***
Skyler
I’m at Logan’s and resting on the couch. He won’t let me up to help him with whatever he’s making in the kitchen. I’m not sure what it is but it smells heavenly. It’s already after lunchtime so I’m starving, and I lay here hoping it’s something filling. The doctor said I have to take it easy today and tomorrow, and then Tuesday I can get up and do more things and move around before I have to go to work on Wednesday. I know Logan’s worried about me going back to Dugan’s, though he hasn’t said anything yet. To be honest, I’m not sure I want to go in. I also know he’s pissed at me for leaving alone, and I don’t know how to bring it up. He showed his dominant side in the hospital and it made me a bit nervous.
Logan comes over with a TV tray and a glass of milk, then heads back to the kitchen to make me a plate. He returns with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, grapes, and some chicken noodle soup.
“Thank you so much, Logan. I’m starving!”
He shows me his handsome smile. “It’s my pleasure, Skyler.”
He sits down beside me and I lean on him while I eat. We decide to watch a movie so he goes onto his On Demand and chooses something for us to watch. After I finish eating I can feel my eyes getting heavy, and I doze off.
I awake a short time later to Logan sitting across from me with his laptop on his lap and he looks deep in thought.
“What are you working on, honey?” I ask him.
“You’re awake. Are you hungry?” he asks.
“No. I’m still a bit tired. I’m going to rest.” He continues typing for a minute then says, “I offered Shane the assistant manager position and he accepted. Now I need to bring you in and get you on the schedule, so I’m working some stuff out as far as who will work when. He covered a lot of shifts as head bartender, but I’m not going to promote a new head bartender right away. I’m going to have Shane manage it.”
“That sounds like a good idea. What nights do you want me to work?”
“Friday and Saturday for sure. I’ll have you behind the main bar on Friday and the second bar on Saturday. I’m thinking I may make one of the other bartenders a runner o
n one night and put you on Thursdays as well.”
“Okay,” is all I manage this time, and I drift off again.
***
Logan
It’s so hard to sit here and work while I watch Skyler sleep. I’ve done more analyzing of how I feel for her than getting work done, but I don’t want her to know that because I don’t want to scare her. I’m not sure how but this woman has managed to get under my skin and quickly. I’ve never felt so strongly about a woman in such a short period of time, and it’s a bit scary. The anger and rage I felt when I realized she was being attacked is like nothing I have ever felt before. I’ve never been a huge romantic or believed in love at first sight crap. I’ve only been seeing her a short time and I know I’m falling for her. Though I’m not convinced she’s falling for me. I know she’s happy, and I’m confident she cares about me, but is she falling for me the way I am her?
I shake my thoughts off and get back to work because I need to work out the new schedule and email everyone to call a meeting announcing the changes at the club. I email everyone and tell them to meet me at the club Tuesday night at 6:30 for a quick meeting, letting them all know that they will be paid for their time. I’ll announce that Skyler will be working the bar and singing on the opening night of the singles night. Jonah is now my head bouncer and will be in charge of scheduling, hiring and firing the bouncing staff, and if they have any issues they need to go to him. What I still need to figure out is what I want Shane’s responsibilities to be. Troy was only assistant manager because I kept him on from the old club. Now I know why the club was going down the tubes when I took it over.
I work on my laptop for about another hour working out Shane’s responsibilities and adding the new singles night to the website of upcoming events. I’ve ordered the posters for outside and contacted the radio stations I want to promote on. Now I need to put this aside and start making us some dinner.