West Richland Tavern.

[gearhead73]

Even in his state, Ethan could see the wheels in motion around him. Guys seemed to be coming from every direction, and for a brief instant he thought be in store for an ass-whipping. His condition was getting worse by the second so he asked for the cab and in no time he was on his way home.

 

[1millionsecrets]

Hannah smiled.timidly at him and nodded. She began wiping out the glasses, cleaning them and.cooling them. She closed her eyes softly and leaned on the counter.

 

[feistyphoenix]

Tess breathed a sigh of relief seeing Troy and DJ take control of the situation so she didn't have to. Her section was getting even more thinned out and it was about an hour until close now. She inhaled through her nose and exhaled through her pursed lips, the pain in her legs had migrated up to her thighs now. She was fading fast so she checked on her on her one remaining table, the two guys left playing pool and then she took a seat at an empty booth in the back to roll silverware for tomorrow.

She watched DJ and Alexa awkwardly avoid her, still. Oh well, she rolled her eyes to herself. They probably didn't even realize what she was really mad about, and it wasn't that they had very obviously slept together.

 

[FireyIce]

Jack made his way back into the bar, avoiding being noticed while everyone was helping out Ethan. He sat down at an empty table towards the middle of the bar. In his experience he always found that it was best to hide in plain sight.

After glancing around for a minute he noticed Tess sitting in the corner working on folding the silverware in napkins. With a bit of ease he navigated his way over towards her. He stopped about a table's length in front of her and saw that she was clearly focused on her task at hand. "Hey, Tess, what would you recommend as far as food goes for here?" he asked, knowing that he was probably going to startle her a little bit.

 

[feistyphoenix]

Tess jumped a little when Jack started talking to her. She had been so zoned out in the repetitive nature of her work that she hadn't noticed him approaching.

She flashed him a half smile, "Well anything Hannah cooks is delicious so you're probably safe with everything."

She folded a napkin and kept on rolling the silverware. She slipped off her heels under the table and slowly flexed her ankles and feet trying to make the pain go away, her toes were a little numb.

"Back so soon, Jack? You must have missed me," she teased him.

 

[FireyIce]

He leaned against the table as she asked her question. "It's been a quiet night, not much to do without people causing problems," he said. "Besides, I told you I might stop back soon," he grinned. "Hopefully people were grateful for their free drink?" he inquired.

 

[feistyphoenix]

"Sure were, maybe a little too grateful in some cases," she raised an eyebrow at him,"I knew you'd be back soon I just didn't think it would be this soon," she finished her sentence casually.

 

[FireyIce]

Jack smiled as he turned around and made his way to the bar. About half way he stopped and turned around. "Just a quick question," he asked Tess. "What's the deal with the stripper poles?" he asked. "Do the girls use them or are they just for decoration?"

 

[wombat9966]

Troy came back inside after putting Ethan into his cab. He saw that the bar was practically dead, with only the heaviest of drinkers left and a few pool players. He also noted that their friendly cop Jack was back and talking to Tess.

He made his way back to the bar and sat down grabbing his water again. Looking over at Hannah again he smiled warmly and waited for her to finish serving.

"Looks like another successful night Hannah. Pretty soon we might need to hire more people huh?"

 

[feistyphoenix]

Jack smiled as he turned around and made his way to the bar. About half way he stopped and turned around. "Just a quick question," he asked Tess. "What's the deal with the stripper poles?" he asked. "Do the girls use them or are they just for decoration?"

Tess rolled her eyes,"I have no idea. Last time I checked we weren't a strip club. You won't catch me on one of them, I'd break my neck."

 

[1millionsecrets]

Hannah looked up at him, and wanted to embrace against his broad chest. It had felt like ages since he held her, called her lovely and kissed her. Her mind thought quietly maybe he's changed his mind about her?
Her heart ached in argument as the last drink to be served was received. Her leg ached, but not nearly as badly as Tess' she planned on having her tend the next night.

Hannah sighed gently and nodded, "In order to hire more, more people must apply. Raven not being here is killing us." She sighed softly. "Dammit... I liked that girl too." Her voice shook with a worried aspiration as she began facing the bar, and restocking. Her trip down to the cellar was a quick one, and the boxes were light. When she emerged from the trap door she sighed softly and placed the boxes on the counter. She adjusted herself before she replaced the empty bottles. She then reached up and began unpinning her long hair. It fell about her in a display of grace. Its scent danced around the bar, filling it with pears and strawberries.

She looked at him then a purely innocent expression on her face, "Nearly closed, you wanted to talk?"


Dee overheard Tess and the cop guy as she passed by. "Poles are to help with the shows later on. They were free, and new-ish. Hannah was just trying to help." Her voice was apologetic. She shrugged then walked from them slowly.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa caught Tess looking at her, rolling her eyes, and she winced slightly. Oh well, she'll have a way to make it up to Tess, and maybe she'll talk more. She got the feeling that Tess was mad about a few other things, and she could tell she was in pain.

She looked at the clock, about an hour left of her shift. Good.

With another longingly look at the stage, with the poles and the good dancing space, before turning to her tables, letting them know it was last call, and went up to the bar, gave orders, got drinks and walked back with them, handing them out.

 

[FireyIce]

Jack moved back to the bar and had a seat. "I'll have a glass of scotch, if possible, please," requested Jack. He winked at Alexa as she walked past him while he waited for his drink.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa smirked and winked back as she walked past him and continued serving.

 

[feistyphoenix]

Tess picked up all the silverware she had just rolled and put it back behind the bar where it went. She cashed out her last table and refilled drinks for the two men who were finishing their game of pool. One of them called her honey but by now she was too tired to proposition him and put the effort in. She simply winked and told him to come back and see her again. He nodded as if he would.

She sat down next to Jack at the bar and sighed, "what a very long night."

 

[FireyIce]

"Indeed it was. Probably in different aspects though. Mine probably wasn't as eventful," he stated as he smiled at her. He looked down at her leg. "I saw you rubbing your leg earlier, everything ok?" he asked with a concerned look.

 

[feistyphoenix]

"I'm fine, being in heels all night isn't easy that's all," she leaned back against the high backed bar chair and relaxed waiting for the last 10 minutes of her shift to tick by.

"It was very uneventful actually, but that's fine with me," she said absently.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa finished up with her section, counted up her tips, and while Tess was talking to Jack, slipped into the kitchen.

"Right. . . . let's see if I remember how to do this," she said softly, getting out several pots, pans, a skillet, some meat, noodles, and sauce. "White wine goes best with this, red wine's rubbish anyways. . ."

 

[FireyIce]

Jack finished his drink as they were talking. "So what are you going to do tonight now that you're almost closed up?" he asked as he leaned back in his chair as well.

 

[feistyphoenix]

"Get off my feet for awhile and get a good night's sleep for starters, probably not much else. Why?" She had a sneaking suspicion but wasn't letting on in her tone of voice.

She saw the last two guys from her section heading for the door and one waved her direction, she put a hand up in response,"goodnight guys," she called after them.

Tess turned her attention back to Jack and smiled.

 

[FireyIce]

"Well, I was hoping to get a late dinner, but I know it's almost closing time. There is a small diner down the street if you felt like joining? It'd just be two people or more having a meal, not anything like a date," he offered. "But if not, then no worries."

 

[feistyphoenix]

She considered his offer carefully, on the one hand she was really tired and she knew getting off her feet was paramount but on the other she was pretty hungry and Eric did tell her to make sure she ate regularly.

"I need to change and i'd like to relax a little before, if that's okay with you but sure. Im hungry and going out means I don't have to clean up after," she grinned again.

Tess pulled off her heels and flexed her feet again.

"You can come up if you want," she gestured to the stairs. She figured she might as well offer him a comfortable place to relax in if they were going to be here a bit longer.

 

[FireyIce]

"Why thank you," replied Jack as he got up from the bar. He followed behind her as they headed towards the stairs. "You can let anyone else know that they're invited to come, if you want. I don't want anyone to feel left out," he stated as they started to make their way up the stairs.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa finished making everything and it all looked delicious. She did a quick taste test. "Perfect!" She said, smiling. "You still got it in you, Missy."

Picking up two plates full of spaghetti with meatballs in a vodka sauce, and a bottle of wine with two glasses. Seeing that Jack and Tess were heading up the stairs, she groaned softly and went up the stairs, carefully balancing everything as she went up the stairs.

She knocked on Tess's door. "Hey, anyone want spaghetti?" she asked softly.

 

[raiguy]

DJ saw Alexa cooking, and couldn't help but smile. He hoped things would be okay, figured they'd end up being alright. He started to pack his equipment up, seeing that there were almost no patrons left in the bar. He figured he could get everything set up, and then if Tess wanted to talk, they could talk. Otherwise, he'd talk to her about it all tomorrow, since it was seeming she might be busy with Jack.