Sequel: Acrasia
Status: Da-da-da-da Da-da Done.



Chris waited outside the bar in his car, taking the last couple of minutes left before his shift to be away from crowds. Though it was part of his job to socialize, he never let anyone past simple small talk. Most of the patrons were too drunk to care, anyway. His sister was talking to him on speakerphone, lecturing on and on about why he shouldn't skip out on the celebration dinner his father was hosting for him in two weeks.

"This is a big deal, Chris! It's not eighth grade graduation," she sighed, her annoyance visible through her voice over the phone, "Dad invited every important person in the organization there is."

"None of which I know," he rolled his eyes, "You know how much I hate big parties like that."

"It's going to be elegant and high end, not a drunk high school party. You have to be there, because people will notice if you're not."

"Elegant and high end? Even worse. It means they'll put me in a tuxedo."

"Chris, stop complaining and suck it up," she snapped, "If you're not there, it'll be chaotic and-"

"I have two weeks to think about it," he cut her off, "I have to go."

"Chris, don't you dare hang up!"

He ignored her, hangin up the phone before she could squeeze in another word. All it would do was depress him, anyway.

He heard a tap on this glass of his window, and turned to see a coworker of his bending down next to the window. His name was Alex, and he reminded Chris of a clown with his goofy smile and annoying personality. He was a younger guy, barely even old enough to work at a bar.

Alex said something, but his voice was muffled through the glass. Chris responded by turning up the volume of the music in his car, rock music booming over Alex's already muffled voice. Alex frowned, but the frown was replaced by a clowny smile as he checked the time on his phone and opened the car door, reaching inside and turning the music down.

"You know, I'm sure there is a law against that," Chris mumbled.

"You'll never guess what," Alex ignored him, "They actually hired someone new."

"What? Why?" Chris snapped his head up.

"Who cares," he grinned, "She's a female. You've got to play wingman for me. Please?"

Chris got out and locked the car door, pushing past Alex and through the back door. His boss was in the back of the kitchen, talking to a pretty red headed girl who seemed a little too excited about her new crap job. The chubby boss saw Chris out of the corner of his eye and waved him over. He hesitated, cautiously coming forward. The redhead smiled at him, but it disappeared when he didn't return it.

"Rachel, just follow Chris around and he'll show you the ropes. You'll be on your feet in no time," he patted the girl on the back, his eyes drifting down to where her blouse parted.

Chris almost felt bad for her. Rather than the white button up and long pants he was told to wear, the boss was making the girl wear a tight white blouse and short black shorts. Chris was disgusted with the way the pig looked at her. She was obviously new to the scene, considering she wouldn't scream at him like most city girls.

"I, uh," Chris muttered, not wanting to have to deal with her. His boss leg them alone without another word, leaving the two of them alone.

"Hi!" the girl smiled at him again, "I'm Rachel Warrick."

"Right," he muttered.

"Are you going to tell me your name?"

"Butler. Chris Butler," he lied, using his mother's maiden name.

"You can call me Rae," she stuck out a hand. Chris stared at it for a moment for slowly shaking it.

"Uh, okay," he slowly turned on his heel, heading outside to the bar with Rae closely following behind.

"Jeremy was right," she muttered to herself, as he followed him out into the closed bar.

"Who?" Chris asked.

"No one," she blushed, "A friend of mine met you a couple nights ago. He said-"

"Right," Chris cut her off, not wanting to know what this friend of hers had to say. He just wanted to get her started so she would leave him alone.

"Drink recipes are in there," he pointed to a little black box with notecards, "The bottles are labeled, so a monkey could do it. We open in ten minutes, so just look them over. Don't get awkward when someone asks for a drink. They'll tease you about it because they're drunk. You seem like a nice girl, so close one more button on your shirt and buy longer shorts."

"What?" the girl seemed slightly startled by the last comment.

"You need to learn to stand your ground. Don't let the fat man get his nasty way," he jerked his chin over to his boss, who was yelling at Alex to clean tables faster, "Frank over there is a creep on all levels. Any questions?"

"Wait, that's it?" the girl frowned, "Aren't you going to let me shadow or something? You're just throwing me out there?"

Chris looked at the people beginning to come in and sit down at tables, the night crawlers trickling out of their caves.

♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry for the shorter chapter. It's not always like this, but it's kind of a bridge to get to the next part of the story.


Highway to Hell by AC/DC
Cherry Pie by Warrant