Thanks mrnjones *Michelle* for putting me on your "wall" lol your so awesome. Check out her story people! Oh and StRaWbErRy and bck000. and of course everyone loves Canse12's story (she was the first story i read on here so i gotta give her some credit).

This chapter isnt as long as I had originally planned... but i didn't know i was gonna be swamped with meetings. I seriously have had 6 meetings this week! I know i have another one tomorrow... ugh..

anyway, i'll try to get the next chapter up soon! I promise it will start to get interesting soon.

*cue corny music* dun dun dun!!! Drama! dun dun dun!

Anyway, please comment and vote if you like it.

enjoy

Current song: Falling Star - Jet

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Chapter 5

Checking my cell phone the time said 9:54am. Well... better early than late right? Aaron did say 10am sharp. Oops... I need to remember he is my boss now so I shouldn't call him by his first name. Instead address him as... what was it... Mr. Connelly?

I smoothed out my skirt one last time and entered Marciano's, heading straight for the lounge. I hoped I had dressed appropriately in this black skirt and white blouse - classic uniform for any job. Stacy kept assuring me all morning that "it would be fine", along with "break a leg and get his number for me" right when she dropped me off a few minutes ago. She had been ecstatic when I told her what happened yesterday when I came to pick up her car.

One man was behind the counter restocking. There were no customers yet since the lounge didn't open for another hour. Aaron was wiping down a table when I entered. Looking up and noticing me, he smiled and motioned for me to follow him as he walked into the back area. I had to get the little piece of counter that flips open to get behind to where the alcohol was in order to follow him back there. The man behind the counter watched me pass and moved it back down after I was through. The back area wasn't much, just a few cases of various alcohol and another room which apparently was Mr. Connelly's office. I had expected it to be cluttered with paper all over a desk but it was fairly organized. I noticed a diploma hanging on the wall along with two photos of him and the workers. A computer, a few folders, and only one photo was on his desk but I couldn't see of what since it was facing away from me. Mr. Connelly sat behind his small desk, leaning back and putting his legs up. I awkwardly stood there, trying not to make it obvious how I was looking around, until he motioned to the seats and I took one.

"Reconsider my dinner proposition?"

"Does this position depend on it?" If he said he was going to hire me just to get me out to dinner, he doesn't know when to give up.

Mr. Connelly looked a little taken back at this. "No"

"Well then, you sir are hitting on an employee and I still refuse." Ha! See what he has to say to that!

"So let me get this straight. In order for you to go to dinner with me, I need to fire you already? Tsk tsk." Uh oh... this was definitely not what I expected him to do. I didn't want to lose this job before I even started working.

"My answer would still be no." I expected him to tell me to leave now. So I started standing up ready to exit out of the door.

"Woah wait. Where are you going?"

"Um.. leaving? If you hired me just so I would go to dinner with you then you are sadly mistaken."

"Please sit back down sweetheart. That's not why I hired you. Geez girl. So no dinner, ok I get it. Just don't get whats so wrong with me. Not as attractive to you when your sober huh?" He chuckled. I blushed. This man really knew how to get a girl to turn red.

I slowly sat back down and he took his feet off his desk, leaning forward towards me. "Ok down to business. How much did you receive from your last employer?"

Odd... "Mr. Johnson paid me $9.50 an hour." What did this have to do with anything?

"I'll be paying you $15 then, you keep your own tips. You mumbled something about school so I'll have you set on afternoon shifts so you can get your work done in the morning. That work for you?"

Wow... I seriously didn't know what to think of this man. Overpaying me and accommodating to my hours? This surely just couldn't be another attempt for me to go out to dinner with him. It was too much.

"Su..sure." I stuttered.

"Good then. All I need now is your signature right here," He handed me a pen and pointed at a line with a "x". I signed. "And once Brian finishes restocking I'll have him train you."

"Brian?" Oh.. that must have been the guy behind the counter.

Right on cue, a man cleared his throat and knocked on the door frame. It startled me since I wasn't expecting him to be there. "Speak of the devil" I mumbled to myself.

"I'm done restocking boss, now what?"

Mr. Connelly smiled up at him. "Brian this is Emily," he motioned at me. "Emily this is Brian."

Brian smiled down at me and leaned into shake my hand. "Pleased to meet you ma'am."

"Brian, I want you to show Emily around, show her some of the things we need done. She's our new waitress."

Brian looked at Aaron in confusion. "Boss, we don't have any waitresses....."

Aaron grinned and looked at me. "She's our first. I'll be talking to Mariano about it shortly. Now go you two, you got a lot to learn in the next..." he looked at his clock, "43 minutes Ms Hamilton." Ushering me out of the office, I followed Brian back to the lounge.

I stopped once we were out by the counter. "Um.. Brian? Did I just miss something? You two are joking about no other waitresses right?"

He looked about as confused as I was. "No ma'am... it's usually just the boss and a couple of us guys serving and cleaning. Sometimes the girls from the restaurant come to help but we don't have any of our own."

I was under the impression that the lounge was part of the restaurant and I pointed this out to Brian.

"Well...see... it is and it isn't. The lounge was originally just a bar but Mariano, the owner of the restaurant made a deal with Mr. Connelly and so it became a part of the restaurant. Mr Connelly owns and manages the lounge and its proceeds while Mariano has control of the restaurant. Mr. Connelly just has to make sure his place is up with Mariano's high standards and split some bills. All the waitresses are really Mariano's girls, so you're our first real one." He timidly smiled.

I. Am. The. Only. Waitress? I must have looked scared because Brian suddenly tried to reassure me that it would be okay. That the job wouldn't be too hard.

Besides the fact of figuring out I would be only girl busting tables on this side, I also realized some other important things. Didn't Brian just say Connelly owned the lounge? Oh my gosh. I thought he had just been the manager. Oh no, he was much more. No wonder he had the power to hire me on the spot. Aaron really didn't need to give me this position, especially since it was clear he was going out of his way to help me, but it made me wonder why he was doing this. It definitely had to be more than just dinner.

I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. It was really impressive that Aaron owned and managed such a good business, especially since he only looked to be about 25. Obviously the lounge made good income and I knew it was respectable.

Brian dragged me away from my revelations and started showing me around and what needed to be done. He had been right, nothing too hard. Serve drinks to whatever table a customer orders too and wipe it down after they leave. No biggie right?

Mr. Connelly met up with Brian and I right before it was officially opening time. He had already added my name to the employee calender just outside his office and told me to go check in. When I returned back to the front, he said my outfit was acceptable for the first day, handed me a makeshift name tag, and went back to his office. That left Brian and I behind the counter talking while waiting for people to enter and order.

It was quiet for the first half hour, once a waitress from the restaurant picked up an order for a customer, but no one had entered on our side. Brian was in the mist of showing me how to make a few drinks when a petite blonde walked up. She was actually quite pretty, curls flowing down her shoulders, just the right make up lightly applied, tight purple top, denim skirt, and silver heels. Smiling up at her, Brian said to her "He's in the back." She made her way behind the counter and right into Aaron's office, shutting the door behind her.

Oh boy. Guess Stacy wasn't going to be able to have his number now. I felt slightly disgusted at how he wouldn't give up on asking me to dinner and then see this young beauty flounce into his office.

I reminded myself that this is a professional workplace, so I blew it off and focused on doing my job. Few customers came and I easily served them. It wasn't until it had begun to get darker, around about 5pm, that the lounge become really busy. I almost had a hard time keeping up, but Brian helped as much as he could while he wasn't making drinks. Another worker came, his name was Jason, and he began working behind the counter too. I guess Brian must have given him the low down on me because during my break Jason came up and introduced himself, also offering to help with whatever I needed.

By the time I got off work at 7pm, the lounge was getting busy. Being my first day, the guys were impressed that I had survived my whole 8 hours. They saw the frightened look on my face when they jokingly mentioned how this was nothing compared to the later crowd. Clocking out, I departed home with a hug from both Brian and Jason, saying I'd see them tomorrow.

I had texted Stacy to pick me up and she was waiting outside on the street when I finally walked out. Getting in the car she gave me a look over. "You look bad girl."

"I'm so exhausted Stace. Mind dropping me off home?"

"Sure, but first..." She held out her hand.

"Sorry, no number. He wouldn't stop asking me to dinner and not long later a blonde strutted into his office. He's off limits."

Stacy made a disgusted sound and put the car in gear. "What a pig. Hit on you when he's taken. If he wasn't your boss, then you should have told the girl."

I shrugged and watched the streetlights fly by as she drove me home.