The Lies That Define Us

by Micalea Smeltzer

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ari.”

  “I know who you are.” She smiled, removing dirty glasses from the bar and wiping down the shiny wood. “Darren’s filled me in. You’ll be shadowing me for your first week. Less if you get the hang of things sooner.”

  “I’ll leave you two to get started. I have a mountain of paperwork waiting.” Darren smiled briefly at each of us and gave me a pat on the shoulder before leaving.

  “Come around here.” Rebecca waved me around to the back of the bar.

  Once I stood behind it I felt like I’d stepped into a spaceship or something.

  There were so many glasses—some clean, and others dirty—bottles containing alcohol, and a large sink with some kind of odd contraption.

  I felt overwhelmed, but I tried not to show it on the outside. I needed the job, and I had to appear semi-competent.

  Rebecca immediately launched into a spiel about working the bar. It mostly included warnings about some rowdy regular patrons, and not so much on how to actually mix drinks.

  A guy sat down at the bar, and she pointed at him. “Why don’t you take his order?”

  I began to panic. “Um,” I started awkwardly, “when are you going to teach me to mix drinks? If he asks for something like that, I don’t know what to do.” I didn’t really know how to do anything. I didn’t even have a notepad to write anything down.

  Rebecca shook her head sadly. “You’ll get there.”

  Her words made me feel a little better. At least she didn’t look at me like I was crazy for not knowing those things.

  “Forget him. I’m trying to push you off on your own too soon. That’s my bad.” She reached out and tentatively touched my shoulder. “We’ll start with the basics.” I nodded. “First, we need to grab you an apron. Darren was supposed to give me one for you, but he must’ve forgotten.” Turning to the newly-seated man at the bar, she said, “We’ll be back in a minute.”

  He tipped his head at her words.

  “Follow me.” She moved from behind the bar and headed toward Darren’s office.

  I trailed behind her, and we stopped outside his office door. She tapped her knuckles against the door, and he told us to come in.

  “What do you ladies need?” he questioned, a slight irritation in his eyes. He had a phone clutched in his hand, and I hoped we hadn’t interrupted an important phone call.

  “Ari needs an apron.”

  He winced. “Sorry, I forgot to give that to you. It’s there.” He pointed to a long table beside the door.

  “Thanks.” Rebecca grabbed the apron and slipped out, closing the door behind her. “Here you go.”

  She handed it to me, and I tied it around my waist. It was pretty short, half an apron, but it’d get the job done. It was black and had one, long, pouch-like pocket I could use to put things.

  Back behind the bar, Rebecca rifled through a cabinet. “Aha, I knew I stashed some of these in here.” She held out a notepad triumphantly. Plucking a pen from her pocket, she handed that to me as well. “Consider this a first day gift from me.”

  I laughed, accepting the notepad and hot-pink pen.

  “Watch me for a bit, and then I’ll let you try serving a few.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, my relief obvious. I knew by watching her I’d pick up on things faster. Sending me out on my own immediately would have only resulted in disaster.

  “What can I get you today, James?” Rebecca asked the man who was still waiting patiently at the bar.

  “The usual,” he replied with a pleasant smile.

  “Ah, I know your usual, but Ari here does not.” She pointed at me where I stood by her side. “So would you mind saying it so she can write it down?”

  “’Course.” He turned his attention fully to me. He tried not to be obvious about it, but he couldn’t help but look me up and down, his eyes lingering on my breasts. At least he couldn’t see much else since the bar hid my bottom half.

  “I’ll have a Bud Light and the roasted pork barbeque sandwich.”

  My pen scribbled furiously across the page.

  “Any sides?” Rebecca prompted.

  “Nah.” He tapped his fingers against the bar top. “That’s it.”

  “We’ll get this right in.” She winked at him before dragging me over to a computer to enter in the order. “How are you feeling so far?” she asked me when I’d finished putting the order into the system.

  “Pretty good,” I answered honestly.

  “Good,” she nodded, “but I have a lot more I need to teach you.”

  From then on, everything seemed to exist in a blur as I tried to absorb everything she was telling me.

  I soon discovered the thing I found most difficult about being a waitress was carrying a heavily-loaded tray. The other girls balanced it on one hand and made it look effortless. I held my tray in a death grip and then Rebecca had to grab the plates and set them on the table.

  My shift ended at four, and I was exhausted. I’d been on my feet the entire five hours and had been running around like a chicken with its head cut off for most of it.

  I had a newfound respect for servers.

  I thanked Rebecca as I left and stepped outside, expecting to see Ollie or Talia waiting to pick me up.

  Instead, it was Liam.

  He stood outside his Jeep, leaning against the side of it with his arms crossed over his chest. His lips were pursed like he was incredibly displeased by life itself.

  His icy gaze landed on me and he muttered, “’Bout time.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from saying something snarky. As much as I’d have liked to tell him off, I knew it would be wrong of me. He’d given me clothes and a place to stay—that kindness deserved my patience with his prickly personality.

  He opened the driver’s door and slid inside, slamming the door closed a second later.

  I sighed heavily and prepared myself for another silent drive. I climbed into the massive vehicle, and Liam tore out of the parking lot before I could even get the door shut.

  Keep it together, Ari.

  A minute or so later, Liam spoke, his question catching me completely off-guard. “How was your first day?”

  I stared at him like he’d lost his mind.

  “Um…good, I guess?” It came out sounding like a question since I was so taken aback that he’d even asked.

  He nodded at the information, tapping his thumbs against the top of the steering wheel.

  “Cool.”

  And that was that.

  I stared out the window, marveling at the passing scenery of palm trees, cute houses, and people walking on the sidewalk without a care for the world.

  When we made it to his house, Ollie was parked in the driveway. He hopped out as Liam pulled his Jeep into the garage. Without a word, the two of us got out of the car to greet him.

  Ollie was grinning from ear to ear and pointed at us triumphantly. “I have a solution to our problem.”

  “And what’s that?” Liam questioned him, his voice gruff from lack of enthusiasm.

  “A bicycle!” He said it with such glee you would’ve thought he was announcing that he’d discovered a unicorn.

  “A bicycle?” Liam chuckled. “Why am I not surprised?” To me, he said, “Ollie works at a bike store, so…”

  “Hey,” Ollie held up a hand, “it’s still a fan-fucking-tastic idea regardless of whether or not I made a commission.”

  “Commission?” Liam narrowed his eyes on his friend.

  Ollie grinned slowly, revealing all of his teeth. “I charged it to your account.”

  Liam tossed his hands in the air and ground out, “Of course you did.”

  I glanced from Liam to Ollie. “I don’t have to have it. You can return it so Liam gets his money back.”

  Liam opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Ollie.

  “Actually, it was on clearance and non-refundable.”

  I winced and glanced at Liam. “Sorry.�
�

  He waved away my concern. “It’s fine. I don’t have the time to drive you everywhere, so this is a decent idea.”

  Ollie grinned and clapped his hands together. “Did you just say I had a good idea? Think you can repeat that? I didn’t quite hear you loud enough.” Ollie cupped a hand around his ear and leaned forward.

  Liam sneered and turned to head back inside. “I said decent idea, not good.” He flipped Ollie off before the side of the Jeep obscured him.

  Ollie shook his head, his hair flopping around and falling into his eyes. He brushed it away with a sweep of his long fingers and then tossed his thumb over his shoulder.

  “You want to see it?”

  “Sure.” I shrugged and followed him to the back of the van.

  He swung the trunk open, and inside sat a bright yellow bike. He heaved it out and set it on the ground, and I reached out and ran my fingers along the cool metal of the handlebars.

  “Thank you, I love it.” I smiled up at him.

  “I know it’s not a car, but I figured it would do.” He smiled crookedly.

  “It’s great, really. Thanks for this.”

  “Thank Liam.” He chuckled, rolling the bike into the garage. It even had a little woven basket attached to the front.

  “Riiiight.” I nodded.

  Ollie leaned the bike against the wall and headed back to his van. “I’ve gotta go, but I’m sure we’ll see you soon.”

  “Mhm, bye.” I waved as he got in the car.

  I headed inside and straight to the kitchen for a snack. Liam had already disappeared, which didn’t surprise me at all.

  I made my sandwich and carried it upstairs to the room I was staying in. I figured the less he saw of me the better. And it wasn’t like I wanted to be around him anyway.

  Right?

  Liam

  Ari had been living with me for two weeks, and in that two weeks she’d woken up screaming every single night.

  She usually found me in the kitchen, just like that first night, but I never said anything, and she didn’t either. I think she hoped I didn’t hear her night terrors, but in her gut she knew I had to, and that’s why she didn’t say anything.

  Standing by the glass door leading into my backyard, I watched as workers hustled around getting set up for the Fourth of July party.

  It would be the second year I held the party at my house.

  In past years, I’d always celebrated the holiday with my family at the Wentworth Mansion.

  Once I left Virginia, though, I hadn’t wanted to go back.

  I knew my parents and extended family would be upset that I was missing yet another holiday, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

  Willow, my cousin who was more like my unofficial little sister, had already called me five times today. First, to beg me to jump on a plane and get my ass there even if I was late, and when that didn’t work, she just bitched at me. I let her, because I deserved her anger. I hadn’t been too nice to her when she showed up a month ago. My behavior had been unacceptable considering how close we’d always been.

  But Willow, she didn’t know how hard it was for me.

  Yes, her dad was in the same band as mine, but he’d never faced the same ridicule as my father had and in turn me. My dad was the so-called bad boy of the band Willow Creek, which in the media’s eyes automatically made me bad.

  But that wasn’t all there was to the story.

  There was always more, and that’s why you should never judge a book by its cover.

  “What’s going on?”

  I turned away from the window at the sound of Ari’s voice. She stood a few feet behind me in a pair of tiny cotton shorts and a loose shirt that fell off one shoulder exposing the smooth slope of it and golden glow of her skin. On her feet were a pair of fuzzy pink socks. Her dark hair was pulled away from her face in a ponytail, but a few stray pieces fell forward to frame her face.

  I knew I was staring, checking her out without saying a word, but I couldn’t help it.

  I was a guy, and Ari was hot.

  That didn’t mean I was going there, though.

  I didn’t have time for the baggage of a relationship. Not then, and maybe not ever. I’d been burned once, and I had no desire to head back into the fiery pit of the dating world.

  Clearing my throat, I finally answered, “Party. It’s the Fourth of July.”

  Her lips parted, forming a perfect O shape.

  “I didn’t realize.” She shook her head. “I don’t work today, but I’ll stay in my room and out of your way.”

  I winced. I hadn’t been the nicest to Ari. In an effort to distance myself I’d been a downright asshole. It wasn’t much different than my usual persona, but the poor girl did have to live with me.

  “Nah, don’t do that. It’s a party. Join us. Have fun.” I shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was, because I was effectively inviting her into the inner circle I’d spent the last two weeks shoving her out of.

  Her nose wrinkled, and she looked at me curiously. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be in your way.”

  “You won’t be.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  I raised my hands in surrender. “Okay, so maybe I have told you a few times you’ve been in my way, but I’m inviting you, so this is different.”

  “More than a few,” she countered, glaring at me.

  I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “If you don’t want to come, don’t. If you do, then great. Do whatever the fuck you want. I don’t care.”

  I turned away from her and stormed outside to supervise the table set-up. It was really an excuse to get out of the house away from Ari.

  “I want that over there,” I barked at one of the workers.

  The guy’s fear-filled eyes lifted to meet mine and he hurried to correct his wrong.

  For a brief second I felt bad for my harshness. I knew my intensity and rash demeanor was off-putting, and I used it to my advantage to keep people away. I’d been doing it for so long that it had become second nature.

  I paced around the backyard, checking out everything that had been set up so far. There were a few tables for sitting and one long one where food would be placed. All the exciting stuff was being set up on the beach. My yard wasn’t big enough for a real party.

  I tipped my head at the guy I’d yelled at, hoping that it counted as some sort of an apology, and headed inside to make breakfast.

  I was surprised, although I shouldn’t have been, to find Ari already making breakfast. The past two weeks she’d made almost all of our meals—at least, if she wasn’t working.

  “Let me do that.” I stepped up behind her.

  She jumped, and a gasp tumbled from her lips. She turned around so fast that our bodies collided, and we both went tumbling to the floor like a pair of bowling pins.

  I caught the brunt of our fall, but her knee smacked against the floor, and she hissed between her teeth.

  “You okay?” I asked, holding onto her arms.

  She nodded her head quickly, ducking her head to hide her gaze. She scurried out of my hold and quickly stood. I stared up at her from where I was still sprawled on the floor. She was jumpy, her eyes darting around the room.

  “You need to stop sneaking up on me,” she finally muttered and returned to stirring the eggs.

  I shook my head, completely confused by her. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

  Straightening her shoulders, she said, “You can toast the bread.”

  I nodded, fighting the urge to smile as I gathered myself from the floor and then moved to grab the bread from the drawer.

  Ari had gradually become more comfortable, growing a bit of a backbone and biting back when I snapped at her, just as she had the moment before. Don’t get me wrong, there were still those times when she just about jumped out of her skin—like when I surprised her just then, but I’d seen enough to know that she was no harmless kitten. Nah. She had teeth and claws and wasn’t afraid to use them. When she remem
bered she had them, that is.

  I stuck the bread in the toaster and pushed the button down. Turning my back to it, I stretched my arms behind me to rest on the counter.

  “Where are you from, exactly?” I questioned her.

  Her awe of the ocean and palm trees was enough to tell me she wasn’t from California. She glanced up from what she was doing, her lips parted in surprise. A dark curl fell over her forehead, and she blew it away with a puff of air.

  “I thought we didn’t talk about personal things.” Her eyes were steel. Unyielding.

  “We don’t.” I tilted my head to the side. “But I don’t consider where you’re from that personal. Now your bra size, that’s personal, but I’m guessing a B-cup.” I eyed her chest.

  “You’re unbelievable,” she cried, grabbing the nearest item she could get ahold of—a dishrag, as it turned out—and slinging it at my head. There was that fire again.

  I caught it easily and clenched my teeth to contain the laughter that wanted to escape.

  “Easy, Tiger,” I jested.

  She bristled even more at that.

  I really shouldn’t try to rile her up, but it is too intoxicating to resist.

  Her ponytail was coming loose, and little pieces of hair floated around her head.

  With a huff, she turned away from me and slid the cooked eggs onto plates.

  “I should spit in yours,” she hissed, venom coating her words.

  My lips twitched. “We both know you won’t do it.”

  Her shoulders sagged, and she glanced at me over her shoulder, her blue eyes softening. “I know.”

  She grabbed the plates and turned around. “Toast?” She nodded at the toaster.

  “Yes, ma’am.” I mock-saluted her.

  She rolled her eyes and set the plates down on the bar before taking a seat on one of the stools.

  I grabbed our toast and buttered them before joining her.

  “Here you go, Tiger.” I handed her a piece.

  She took it, flicking her head to the side to rid a piece of hair from her eyes. “Tiger?”

  “It’s nothing.” I shrugged, shoveling food into my mouth.

  “Of course not,” she muttered, pushing her eggs around her plate. Finally, she speared a bit and took a small bite. “Stop watching me.”