Step-Lover || Zack Merrick

I went back to the coffee shop the next couple of days in hopes that maybe Zack came back from tour early or something. Each day I would buy myself a coffee and sit in the corner near the window, facing out towards the rest of the shop. He never came and even though I knew he wouldn't be there, I always found myself disappointed.
"Going to the shop again?" My mom asked as I grabbed my coat and started for the door.
"No, not today." I shrugged, looking down at my feet. "That place sucks anyways. I was thinking of maybe trying to get myself a job. You know...to save up fora new house."
My mother nodded, looking down sadly at the kitchen counter. She always got this way when I mentioned my leaving because, even though she won't admit it, she definitely likes having me around. She was so upset when I left in the first place that I was sure it was just a cover up when she sounded disappointed when I told her I was coming back. Apparently, I was right.
"So, I'll be back later." I left without another word, not wanting to make the moment anymore awkward than it already was.
I found a newspaper on one of the tables in the coffee shop the day before and starting flipping through it randomly. There were a couple of places looking for new employees nearby my mom’s house and I figured it couldn't hurt to go check them out.
The first was a barber shop. When I pulled up to the building I didn't even bother getting out of the car. Right besides the door there was an enormous garbage can filled to the brim with wrappers and rotting food from the restaurant next door. A flock of birds had settled around it and were slowly picking at the food remains, eyeing my car suspiciously.
I backed out slowly, knowing that even if I did get the job here, I still wouldn't make any money. By the look of this dump they probably never got any customers.
The next place on the list was on one of the more busy streets in town so it seemed a little more promising. A secretary for some business that sells insurance. The idea of a desk job didn't really excite me but it seemedthat it probably paid more than any of the other jobs.
I got out of the car and straightened my shirt. I walked through the sliding glass doors and made my way over to the desk labeled 'Main'.
"Hi." I held up the newspaper I had brought along with me. "I'm here to see about a secretary job?"
The woman behind the desk nodded and handed me a form to fill out. I sat down in a comfy grey chair in the waiting area and filled it out. I had already filled out about half the sheet when I realized the bold print on the bottom of the page.
JOB REQUIRMENTS:
Four Year College Degree.
Experience with Insurance.
You need a college degree to answer the phone? What is this world coming to?
I stared at it for about half a minute before standing up and walking back out the front door without a word to the receptionist. First of all, I haven't been to college, since for my last job I just went to a fashion school and I had never worked with any type of insurance in my life.
My last hope was the one I really didn't want. The job was listed as 'Restaurant Bar Attendant" at a place called 'Strippy's". So basically it was a bar tending job at a strip club.
When I walked into the bar I was surprised to see that it was slightly more conservative than I had thought. I was imagining a bar beside a bunch of tables facing a stage covered in barely clothes females so when I saw that the place was more or less set up like a library/coffee shop I was slightly confused as to whether or not I was in the right place.
"Can I help you miss?" A boy about my age came up beside me carrying an empty tray and a pad of paper.
"Yes, actually. I'm here about a bar tending job?" I asked nervously. He was very good looking and it intimidated me. His style reminded me a lot of Zack's except this boy was wearing a dirty white apron. His dark hair was long and in his eyes, falling just above the silver lip piercing on his upper lip.
"Right, right." He grinned. "Come with me to the back. We're just setting up for lunch but someone else will cover for me."
I nodded politely and followed him behind the bar and down a small hallway. We ended in a back lounge area where the boy left his tray, notebook, and apron. He then led me a little farther down the hallway into a small office where he gestured for me to have a seat.
"I'm Alex. I'm the manager here." He gave me a pearly white toothed smile before going over to his desk and taking a seat. "Your name is?"
"Candelin. Bodis." I replied with a smile of my own. I nervously played with the hem of my shirt.
"Nice to meet you Candelin." He said as he pulled out a form from a desk drawer. "I'm just going to ask you to fill this out and while you do I'll ask you some questions. Oh, and I need to see your license. Just to make sure you’re old enough."
I nodded and pulled out my wallet and handed him my license. He looked over it quickly and handed it back to me.
I started to fill out the paper as he spoke. "First of all, have you ever had any experience as a bar tender or working in a restaurant?"
"Um, not really..." I said slowly, concentrating on the form in front of me. "I mean, unless you count handing out drinks at parties and stuff. I do a lot of that."
He let out a small laugh before moving on to the next question. "Are you aware of the dress code here? Or have you never been here before?"
"No, I just moved here actually." I answered sheepishly.
"Well, this place kind of has a reputation. Kind of like...I don't know. Hooters. Their girls wear tight shirts and short shorts. Our girls wear tight jeans and tight t-shirts with our logo on them. You seem to have the tight jean thing going on already. That's what I mean." He said gesturing to my skinny jeans. "Nothing too revealing, but we do like to put on a good show."
"I thought this was like a strip club or something."
Alex laughed. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. But that's only on Tuesdays. From eleven to two. Otherwise, we're just a place for people to have a couple of drinks, listen to music, and hang. Well, except on Fridays which are days that we book bands and this place basically turns into a night club. Which brings me to my next question." He studied me as he spoke. "We need a bar tender for Friday nights, which is what you would be doing. Do you think you could handle the rush? Or do you think you'd be better with a job on another night?"
"Rush?" I asked stupidly.
"The rush of customers. Fridays are one of the busiest days we have besides Saturday. Would you be up to it?" He asked again.
"Yeah. I guess. I mean, if you taught me what to do and stuff..." I paused to sign my name on the bottom of the form. "I just have one question. How much does this job pay?"
Alex smiled and took the form from me. "That depends on how much alcohol you sell. So, dress pretty because people buy more when they like the bar tender." He winked and signed the form under my signature.
"So, do I have the job then?" I asked nervously.
"Yeah. You start tomorrow. I'll show you around so you'll be ready for Friday." He said as he tucked the paper in a drawer. "I need to call the band that's playing here on Friday so I'll see you tomorrow. Alright?"
"Yeah, yeah sure thing." I grinned at him and shook his hand excitedly. "Thanks so much. See you tomorrow Alex."
I left the office beaming. I waved happily to a couple of random people sitting at the tables and left.
The ride home was a semi-happy blur of trees and cars. I arrived at home to see my mother's car parked in the driveway.
"Hey mom. What are you doing home? I thought you had to work?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, no I don't work on Wednesdays." She smiled up at me. "How was the job hunting?"
"Good actually. Considering I got a job." I grinned to myself and took a seat at the kitchen table.
She looked up from the magazine she was reading at the counter. "Where?"
"Well, it's that place Strippy's on Main Street. But it's really not as bad as it sounds." I smiled up at her apprehensively.
"Isn't that a strip club?" She asked scornfully.
"Only on Tuesdays." I laughed slightly at her expression. "But it's fine, really. I'll only be working on Fridays and I'm going to try for Saturdays too. I mean, how much money can one measly day pay?"
My mother let out a long breath and looked back down at her magazine. "I really want to say something but I won't. You're old enough to make your own decisions. If you want to work at Strippy's then go right ahead."
"Thanks mom." I rolled my eyes and smiled. "I'm going to go to my room. I have some things to do."
She dismissed me with a nod of her head and I left the room and made my way down to the basement. It was now my temporary bedroom until I got my own house or apartment again. I sat down on the pull out couch that doubled as my bed and started to fool around with my cell phone.
It started to vibrate just as I went to change the background picture.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey, Candelin? It's Zack."