A nervous silence loosens tongues


Harry


The muscles in my arms bulged prominently underneath the white sleeves of my Sex Pistols t-shirt due to the excessive amount of pressure I applied to the rag when cleaning each table in preparation for a timely opening. Hugo and I opened The Dead Poet everyday at five o’clock, but this evening we were running a bit behind schedule. The digital clock on the wall glowed 4:55pm in bright red numbers, and the bar still needed to be restocked with drinks while half of the stools had to be taken down. Our boss was a retired UFC fighter from Liverpool who occasionally dropped by the pub at the end of every month so help was very limited. I had been meaning to post a 'help wanted' flyer on the school bulletin board but just never got around to it.


“Hey mate, can you do me a favor?” I heard Hugo ask, his raspy voice obstructing my focus. My green eyes connected the sound of the thick British accent to the man across the room.

“Whatever your question is, the answer is no,” I replied curtly before drying off the table I just finished wiping with a sheet of bounty.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist, Haz? I was only going to ask you to go down in the cellar to get some more Jack Daniels and Bourbon.” He chuckled.

“I make the drinks. You fetch them, remember?” I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a stool from the table behind me and took it down.

“Sure I do. I guess I thought we could switch things up a bit tonight, but I understand if you don't want to. It’s alright, mate.” Hugo shrugged before walking down into the basement.


His careless attitude left my fists tightly clenched at my sides. He witnessed first hand just how possessive I could be which is why it surprised me to see him flirting with Violet in the first place. I should have never told him about the night we crossed paths. The last time Hugo and I tried to pursue the same girl things got ugly in a matter of months, but I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. When he returned from the basement carrying two bottles in his hands, I was waiting for him on a stool at the bar.


“Show me what you got, Ryker.” I sighed while resting my elbows on the counter.

“You changed your mind really fast,” He observed, cocking an eyebrow whilst setting the bottles down.

“Do you want me to change it again?” I shot back, slightly annoyed. “I thought you were serious about doing this. Don’t tell me I was wrong.”

“No, no, no. You made the right decision. What do you want me to whip up first?” Hugo smirked.

“If you can prepare a Cosmopolitan, you can be the bartender for the whole night.” I grinned when I saw his lips press together in a tight line.

“Okay.” He forced another smile before turning around to search for the ingredients.


A basic recipe consisted of vodka, lime juice, cranberry juice, and an orange flavored liqueur, but I wanted to see how he was going to personalize it. Every bartender leaves their signature mark on a drink whether it is a toothpick with an olive or a cocktail umbrella. Also, the beverage was popular among our female customers, so I needed some reassurance he could take care of them too.

Hugo filled a martini glass with ice before mixing the vodka, cranberry juice, and orange liqueur into a silver cup. The grin stretched farther across my face when I saw him squeeze two wedges of the lime he had just cut into the container and drop them in. But then he mistakenly put the shaker on the bottle, swishing around its contents, before emptying everything into the martini glass. The final appearance of the Cosmo was too watery-looking for my taste.


“Ready?” Hugo asked whilst adding his final decoration, a yellow cocktail umbrella.

“No, because you skipped like two steps. Now it looks all diluted.” I frowned, pointing at the gas bubbles.

“Bullshit. I bet it tastes the same,” he insisted, sliding the glass forward, “try it.”

I shook my head. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let that thing pass through my lips.”

“I didn’t waste seven minutes of my life for this drink to go untasted.” Hugo scoffed.

“You drink it then,” I snapped as I rose from my chair. “I’m going to open the doors and switch on the sign,” I added before weaving through the maze of tables to get to the entrance.


I flipped the white switch next to the front doors and watched the red and blue coloured lights flash on the sign outside, letting our customers know we were ready for business. Then with a steady hand, I pushed open the doors. A girl with reddish brown hair clutching a textbook against her chest stumbled inside and almost lost her footing. But, before she could twist her ankle and plummet to the floor, I grabbed her sides and steadied her back to balance. When those grassy eyes of hers looked up to meet my jaded ones, the frown on my face dispersed into a smile.


“Well, well, well. How did you know I worked here, little red?” I questioned the lady, but no words dared to leave her cherry lips; she was in absolute shock.


Violet held my gaze for a few seconds longer before batting her eyelashes and taking a step backwards. Her bottom lip was pulled back by her teeth as she tucked an estranged piece of hair behind her ear. We were met with our very first 'awkward' silence, but strangely it didn’t feel unnatural at all. I don’t think I needed to exchange words with her to get a sense of what she was really thinking.


After one whole minute of silence, the lady in red finally opened her mouth to speak. “Believe me when I say this Harry. I had no knowledge of this place until five minutes ago.”

“I hope you didn’t come here to study then,” I commented while shifting my focus to the Chemistry book in her hand.


She followed my eyes down to the encyclopedia against her hip and immediately stuffed the textbook inside the black satchel hanging off her shoulder while a light blush tinged her rosy cheeks. The dimples arose in my smile as I chuckled softly. Studying at a bar, Violet’s the only person bold enough to ever do that. I thought to myself. I let her walk past me without another word while I scanned the busy streets of Yorkshire for a female friend of mine. When I realized she would be a no-show, I turned back around, and my sore eyes were met with the unpleasant sight of Violet now interacting with Hugo, drinking the Cosmopolitan he made. He had a dirty smirk plastered over his lips and a hand that was stroking her arm, but she didn’t seem to mind. I, however, did and made that clear by approaching the two of them.


“Mm. That was delicious,” Violet hummed whilst handing Hugo back the empty martini glass.

He was about to say something to her when I coaxed a cough from my lips, seizing their attention. “Mate, we have people that need their orders to be taken. Get into waiter mode and let me work the bar tonight,” I demanded after walking behind the counter.

“Whatever you want, Haz.” He rolled his eyes at me before bidding Violet a simple goodbye, leaving the two of us to ourselves. She returned the gesture with a frown as she watched his long legs stride away to a group of girls in a booth with a notepad and pen.

“What was that all about?” The words left the woman’s mouth almost instantly when she refocused her attention back unto me. I sucked my teeth and shook my head.

“Nothing your pretty mind should be worrying about,” I assured her as I cleaned a few shot glasses. There's never been a night I’ve worked here where someone hasn’t ordered a shot of some kind. “Anyway, there are like five bars on campus, so what was it that attracted you to this--”

“Stop right there. I know what you’re thinking, Harry, but I heard that The Dead Poet has a mean poetry cafe, and I wanted to see it for myself,” She answered while inspecting the center stage.


It was true. Every Saturday night we opened the poetry cafe to all sorts of performers, but our one rule was that they had to do a piece by a dead poet, some tradition Mr. Irwin started when he founded this joint. I hadn’t pegged Violet as the type of girl to be interested in anything other than Shakespearean sonnets, but maybe she’d prove me wrong. I tapped her shoulder to gain her attention once more before licking my lips.


“Do you write?” I inquired.

“A little bit, but you don’t really care about that, now do you? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but the only thing you’re interested in is taking me to your bed, yes?” She raised her eyebrows.

“You’ve got quite the mouth, little red, but if you already know what I want from you, why even bother to ask?” Much to my surprise, Violet lost her voice, so I continued, “I’m taking a huge leap in logic here, but maybe it’s because you actually want someone to lust after you. Yes, that’s it, isn’t it? You crave the attention.”


Before she could articulate some sort of witty response, a few guys approached the bar asking for three Heinekens, so I left her alone to assist the men. They agreed to purchase the beers on their friend’s tab and gave me his credit card to open an account. Once the receipt printed out of the machine, I handed them back his MasterCard and returned to my spot across from Violet. I couldn’t decipher the new found expression on her face, but it wasn’t one of pleasure or pure disgust.


“I should go now,” She spoke aloud more to herself than to anyone else. “I’ve got a test at the end of the week I need to study for,” Violet briefly mentioned as she got down from her chair.

“Will I see you again later tonight at that sorority party?” I had to ask her before she left.

“Unless this party is taking place in my cabin, probably not. Tell Hugo I’ll call him later, would you?” Was the last thing she asked of me before fading out into the crowd of nebby townsmen.


Her request, however, entered through one ear and exited the other. All I cared about now was finding out where her dorm was located.

Notes

Hi guys xx. Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated, but this story is finally getting ready to take off; things are about to get a little crazy. The italicized line at the top is a quote from Jacqueline Carey in case you wanted to know~

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-M