Chapter 6- Bartending Duty

"Well then, enough of the talk. It's time to have fun" he smiled at me

I narrowed my eyes at him, why can't I read anything off his face. I have no idea what he has on his mind. "I thought that talking was the fun part"

"No, that was not fun, besides, people are starting to arrive"

I looked around and the place was in full swing, men were gathering at the stage, shouting and whistling as some woman danced on the stage taking her clothes off, one by one. I can't even think of myself up there.

"Come" he pulled me towards the bar and helped me inside.

"What are we doing here?" I asked

"We're here to help"

"Huh?"

"I'm going to teach you how to be a bartender, or atleast, how to serve drinks that are on the menu"

"Am I going to start juggling Vodka?" I giggled at him

"No, none of those juggling stuff because we don't have time to do that, we're just going to start mixing and shaking"

"Are we going to dance?"

"No, think you can keep up?" He smirked at me, is he challenging me? Nobody challenged Ysabel Crest

"I think, you should step aside and watch a professional"

He laughed and threw an apron at me. "Time for work, I'll show you how to make the drinks and after that, we'll have a competition"

"What kind of competition?" I raised an eyebrow

"The person who can make the most drinks by the end of the night wins. The loser gets to buy lunch tomorrow"

"Deal"

He spent half an hour showing me how to make the drinks on the menu, I had to laugh at the names of the drinks. For example, there was the Shirley temple which was kind of like a strawberry flavored mojitos with an little twist. Next, an Ariana, this time it was yellow, I had to mix gin and vodka, if that even works and some yellow colored island mixer. Another is a queen Elizabeth, it is plum colored, it looks more like shake because of the ice but it packs a punch, its one of the strongest drink on the menu. And then there was the plain beer.

After the demonstration of the last drink, I went to the other side of the bar to tend to the customers. I, Ysabel Crest, was a bartender for a night. My friend is going to go crazy when I tell her what we've been doing tonight.

It was now midnight and there were still a lot of men waiting for the next performer. There were shouting and whistling that could make my ear drums burst anytime now. I looked for Seth and he was nowhere to be found. I still continued making drinks and I went beside the blonde and asked him where Seth was.

"He's gone to the back, there seemed to be a problem"

"What kind of problem?

"The main stripper for the night is missing, she was supposed to be the last one, everyone else performed already"

"Then just tell them the show's over" I told him

"No, the men here are regulars, they know that the performance at midnight is the best"

Seth came back with a frown on his face, he sighed and looked at the blonde beside me. "What are we going to do?" He asked

"I could do it" I blurted out, I didn't realize the words were from my mouth

"No" Seth said firmly

"She could do it" the blonde told him

"No Jay" Seth said again

"Seth, it's just a short performance, I could do it"

He ran a hand through his hair "did you ever strip before?"

"No"

"Do you dance?"

"No"

"Do you know how to do a lap dance?"

"Uhm, no" my cheeks redened at his question

"Do you know what to do?"

"Yes"

"How?"

"I watched women dance at that stage all night"

"Fine, I am never going to bring you here again" he muttered

I laughed at him and chucked my apron in his face. He brought me to the back and let me sit in front of a mirror and someone started to put make up on me. I earned glares from the girls here, am I entering some kind of lion's den?

"Drink this" Seth gave me a shot of Vodka. "You're going to need it"

"Good idea" I told him before downing the glass, the cold liquid turned my throat on fire.

Ten minutes later, I was done. I refused to wear the dress they brought up to me. What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It's not like I'm going to wear the dress any longer.

"Give it up for Belle!" Those were Seth's words and the only words I could comprehend.

I was pushed towards the stage and then I was nervous, maybe I should've asked Seth to bring me another shot. Music started and I to swayed my hips to match the rhythm. Seth was watching me and I can't help but be self conscious. Shit. My body, I've never been confident about my body. I guess now is not the time to be self conscious. I walked towards the stage and dance some more.

I removed the pins on my hair and let my hair flow freely. I danced to the music and with the pole in the middle of the stage. I dipped myself with the help of the pole and got back up, then I started to tug on the zipper on the side of my dress. Men shouted much louder this time. I proceeded to removing my dress, leaving my black lace bra and thong on me. Men started to throw money in my direction. This is so not a good idea.

Seth's mouth hung open as I danced on stage, my eyes were locked on his for the rest of my performance. When I left the stage, men were louder than the last time. Seth hugged me as soon as I got to the back. Woah!

"You were amazing" he whispered in my ear

"Thanks, I don't have the best body out there though"

"No, you were the best out there" we let go of each other

"Are you calling me a stripper Mister Morgan" I smirked at him

"Never Miss Crest" he smirked back, "now go get dressed, I don't want people to see you like that ever again"

"Deal Mister Morgan, but my dress is still on stage"

"Come with me?" He said

We went further to the back to where I assumed the manager's office is.

"Where is the owner? I haven't been introduced to him yet"

"He went to Florida to look manage his new strip club"

"Ohh"

"Come" he led us inside the small and quaint office. There was a table, three chairs, one for the manager, two for guests. There were drawers, files, I assume.

"Here" he held up a strapless black dress.

"Is that one of your exes?" I joked

When didn't respond. Oh God! "It is, isn't it?" I slapped his arm

"What? It's not like she used it, I was supposed to give this to her as a gift but it never made it to her"

"Okay" I smiled at him and started to get dressed. It matched my five inch heels perfectly. I didn't want to know more of his exes, sounds like I'm running but I'm not, I'm trying to protect myself.

"Ready to get of here?" He asked

"Sure, what about the rest of the customers?"

"Jay will take care of them, aftrer the last performance, men would start to leave"

"Okay then"

We went out of the strip club and found myself shivering. I forgot I was in a strapless dress. "Here" he put his coat on me again.

"Thanks. I won by the way" I told him with a huge grin on my face

"Huh?"

"you know, the competition"

"Right, I guess that means we'll see each other tomorrow"

"What? Tired of me yet?"

"Never" we walked back to the restaurant and found his car where he left it.

"Why do I always end up in your car?" I asked with a playful smile on my lips

He looked at me and smiled back, "because, you are a woman who is unable to take herself home"

"Shut up" I muttered, why do I always end up drinking when Seth is involved. Maybe I've become an alcoholic. I counted how many times I've been dnk the past week and... Two. Wow. Plus this one, maybe I am becoming an alcoholic. We can't have an alcoholic nurse now, can we?

"What are you thinking about?" He asked

"Look at the road Seth, I don't want to become the patient"

"Fine, so tomorrow, I want you to meet someone"

"Ohh?"

"Yeah, I hope you haven't forgotten about our deal"

"No, not at all"

"Okay, so she's kind of rich and works as a model for a living"

"A model?" How do I compete with that? Why would I even think of competing with that, we're friends, nothing more.

"Yeah, she has a great personality in front of me but I want to know how she is with my friends"

"Friends?"

"Friend, you"

"Uh-huh"

"Ysabel, please tell me if you don't want to do this. I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want to" he looked sincere

"No, I'm fine. I was just not expecting a model"

"What? Am I not allowed to marry a model?"

"That's not what I meant, isn't models too focused on their career and don't want to have children because they destroy their bodies?"

"That's why you're befriending her. To see if she fits the description in my list"

"Okay, okay"

"We're here" I got out of his car and went up to my apartment. Great! I am goin to meet his first prospect tomorrow. I just wish I won't punch her in tyhe gut for putting her arms on Seth. Over protective much?

-----BETTER-----THAN-----DREAMS-----BETTER-----THAN-----DREAMS-----

A/N

HEY GUYS,

I hope you like the chapter, we're finally getting into the plot.

Please, Vote!!

-G