Thread: To Finish the Job {{Soul +&+ The PG}}

Remember me? A dark, soulless voice echoed, distinctively male. Im sure you do. After all, Id hate it if you forgot... But its alright now. Im here to make sure that you never do, that my face will be one you see everywhere . In the darkness, it was clear that a malicious smirk had pulled across the males shadowed features, and without any further warning, he lunged The hour had just turned past midnight as the DJ turned up the music to pump out a new dance beat. For a Friday night, Gold wing, an up-scale night clubs, dance floor was oddly lacking in participants and customers alike. The clear glass bar was relatively populated though, with only a few seats left open for new customers to take up, and that was good enough. Jai? Jai. Hey! A young man dressed in a simple white oxford shirt and black slacks had approached a woman leaning upon one elbow against the back half of the bar-counter. Long golden blonde hair, streaked with bouts of soft brown highlights had created a curtain over her face, shielding her ocean-blue, almond shaped eyes. A black, airy halter-top adorned the upper half of her body, draping down just below the hips of dark, slim fitting jeans. She had dozed off during a lull, and the sudden voice that had hit her ears caused her to physically lurch, a soft gasp escaping her lips as she was immediately ripped awake, and she whipped around to face the man who had approached her, black pumps clicking softly against the tiled floor. Dont! She squeaked reflexively, though when her eyes landed on the man, she blinked, her cheeks instantly flushing as she tried to regain her composure. Oh, Pratt. H-Hi. Whats up? Her words left her mouth quickly, with only a slight stammer of nerves. His eyebrows furrowed gently as he cocked his head curiously, searching her eyes with slight concern. Uh Hey You uh You alright Jam? Jam a pet-name that people who were familiar with her had picked up due to her initials. Yup. She didnt miss a beat, responding quickly and flatly. Whats up? What do you need? Everything okay? Pratt didnt seem very convinced, but he let it go for the time being, instead relaxing in his stance as he glanced around the bar and then back at her. Im taking off. Mel cut me so that I could go home and be more productive. The smug little smirk that spread across his face made it all too obvious. She nodded in response, fighting the urge to roll her eyes as she straightened and looked at him., her eyes shifting in the direction hed pointed for a split second before returning to him. Yeah, sure, no problem. My side of the bars all set all customers ordered, refilled, and tabbed out. So the bar's all yours for the rest of the night. He quickly added, clearly cutting her off from something shed been about to say. Ok, ok, go. Jai spoke with a slight smile. Drive safe, ok? And try not to have too much fun. Youve gotta work tomorrow night too and I expect you to be on your game. Yeah, like you are? Miss dozing off over here? Her eyes diverted from his gaze, and she remained quiet for a split second of hesitation. Just get your ass outta here before I get a bouncer to throw you out. She teased with a slight grin. Pratt grinned, offering her a wink and playful salute as he leaned to grab a jacket from below the counter, then turned and dashed out from behind the bar without another word. She watched him leave, waiting until he disappeared out the clubs front doors before she heaved a long, heavy sigh. The night will be over before you know it, she told herself as her gaze swept over her side of the bar counter, making a note of the customers that had already been served and which ones were going to need to be tended to for refills, her focus hesitating for a long moment on a particular regular by the name of Brandon, offering him the slightest flirty smile. Hearing a stool nearby move, her focus was brought back to her work, and she tilted her head as she watched someone new take up a seat at the far corner. The club was relatively popular, yes, but even on Fridays, Jai knew just about every person that sat at her side of the bar, even if only by their faces, and this guy This guy was new, and he sure as hell didnt look like he quite belonged there. He sat down slowly, lazily, and folded his arms across the surface of the counter, keeping his head down. Only his mussed black hair, about an inch or two in length, she guessed, was visible, aside from the black, hooded sweatshirt that he wore. She couldnt quite place her finger on it, but something about the way he had carried himself, the way he sat so lazily, or perhaps tiredly, the way he looked it screamed of familiarity. And worse than that, what made her tuck her lower lip between her teeth, was the fact that something about this man, this new customer, sent icy chills crawling up Jais spine. She shook her head to try to dismiss her thoughts, her right hand lifting to tuck her hair back from the side of her face and over the back of her shoulder as she straightened and started for the end of the bar, black, strappy pumps clicking softly against the tile floor. She stopped short when another young man, a regular by the name of Henry, held up his hand and offered her a warm, tipsy, toothy smile, and she couldnt help but to smirk back at him. Jaime! Jai! He called out over the music, using the hand hed flagged her attention with to hold up an emptied rock glass, ice chinking against the walls of it. I need a refill! He slurred as he grinned happily. Jai shook her head and laughed softly under her breath before she nodded and held up one finger, using her free hand to reach behind herself and grab a new bottle of bourbon from the display counter, having memorized the location of every bottle set up there. Alright Henry, she replied. Just gimme one second okay? She didnt wait before she returned her attention to the new guy and approached him, leaning over just slightly against the inner edge of the counter. Hey there, her voice spoke out just loud enough over the music for the man to hear. Welcome to Gold-Wing, my names Jaime. What can I get to start you off for the night? Straight and to the point. Any other day she may have been more animated with her approach, but she was exhausted and far from in a mood to try and be flirtatiously cute. The mans head lifted slowly, eyes about as dark as granite lifting slowly over her body to meet her eyes, and Jai felt the air hitch in her lungs, her heart nearly stopping. Yeah actually, his voice was low, deep, gruff, and a slight smirk pulled across his lips. You can start me off with a rum and coke, add lime. Hed paused just long enough to let the slight, far from smooth comment sink in, his eyes bearing deep into Jais. She just stood there, frozen in her place, unaware of the fact that she had pressed her palm down atop the bar-counter to keep herself balanced. Her eyes were glued to his, unable to look away no matter how desperately she needed to, and it was as if everything in her world had suddenly slammed on the breaks and shattered out of existence. Its not It cant be Theres no way Breathe S-sure. Her voice betrayed her composure, stuttering over the first consonant of her acknowledgement to his order. One moment With a grinding effort, she turned her back to him and strode back over to where Henry sat, all life seemingly having escaped her, leaving her body in a pale, trembling state. With trembling hands, she fought to unscrew the cork from the bottle of bourbon in her hands, feeling eyes on her back and ice in her veins, and she bit down on her bottom lip to try to maintain some semblance of composure. Thoughts were raging through her mind, making it near impossible for her to consciously focus on the bottle she was working so anxiously to open, and just as she was sure shed gotten a good enough grip on the cork to jerk her hand back in an attempt to tug it off, her fingers felt nothing but air, cold air. The bottle slid from her shaking hands as if in slow motion, and conveniently, or rather, inconveniently , the song that had been playing on the speakers ended just as the bottle connected with the tile below and shattered against the floor. All eyes were on her, she could feel it, and it unnerved her even further than she already had been. Her emotions doubled, overwhelming every ounce of her senses to a point where she was on the brink of either complete mental shut-down, or tears, and her gaze fell blankly to the floor beneath her feet as her hands moved to grasp the edge of the counter, desperately clinging onto it to keep herself standing upright. Never, never once, had she ever had trouble here at the club, her sanctuary, and never once had she broken a single thing here, not a glass nor bottle of beer or plate of food, nothing. Shed also never been so tired and anxious during a shift. Of all the days for a hundred firsts to pile up, today was just well, no. There was no day that she ever would have welcomed a hundred first experiences, especially if the vast majority of them were negative and mentally unnerving. She could feel her knees starting to wobble, begging to give out as she leaned to reach for a bar-sweeper that was kept beneath the counter, and her vision was starting to get blurry. That was him, that was him , and she was powerless to do anything about it and with a severe lacking of any way to prove it other than a victim's scarred memories, and she was about to go into a level of panic so high that she was quite literally seconds away from hitting the deck.