I slipped up.

But it's no big deal. He doesn't even know what I'm talking about.

I clenched my fist under the table. I need to be more careful. "Yeah. They show up for a while before I shut down and they tip pretty well. Any increase in customers is welcome." I paused in order to change the conversation. "Halloween is coming up too so we have to put up some decorations."

"How do you plan to celebrate that? Heading to a party?"

"Nah." I chuckled. "I'll be working the entire night. Halloween is a big event for us. The three of us dress up, Dottie hires two of her friends as extra waiters, Sasha gets his grandmother to help in the kitchen, I have to create new cocktails. It's fun."

Trace whistled lowly and made me look up at him. "That does sound fun... don't you get any sleep?"

I laughed. "No. We don't. The partiers stay till three or four after which we all just relax, eat some leftover food and wait for the sun to come up."

Trace was smiling with me, his green eyes watching me intently. "So how long have you been working here?"

"It's going to be about ten months officially, but I'd say about a year and a half."

"Officially?"

"Yeah. I was jobless before that and used to work there whenever I was needed alongside a part time job waitressing somewhere else. The other bartender quit, then Carl made me a full time offer."

"He sounds like a nice man."

"He is." I sighed. "I just worry about him a bit."

"You're a pretty good bartender, and you're pretty." I rolled my eyes at that. "Other bars would be stupid not to hire you."

"Yeah... I guess my experience would come in handy." I replied slowly, suddenly slightly down about it. I hadn't thought about this in a while.

My eyes shifted to the side as the waitress came back to the table with a cup of coffee. Trace nodded at her in thanks as she placed it down in front of him. I took the few moments of silence to place my head back in the game.

This is a date with a guy I kind of like. He's cute. He's clearly into me. And he's familiar... kind of. It's not been that long— actually, it's going to be almost a year. Whatever, it doesn't matter. Talking with a childhood friend and flirting should be easier than what I'd faced lately. And honestly, I needed something to keep my mind off of work. Trace might just be that something.

"You okay?"

I looked up. "Huh?"

Trace laughed. He placed the cup back down after a sip. "You looked like you're thinking really hard about something."

I grimaced slightly. I think I zoned out for too long. "Might have. It's just... work." The one thing I'm trying not to think about.

"Well, that's explainable." He shrugged. "That's all our lives consist of. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, kind of."

He paused as he cocked his head. "So, I'm right in assuming you're not dating anyone right now?"

I couldn't help a small chuckle at that. "No. I'm not. You aren't either... right?"

"Nope." He smiled. "Would've said yes about two months ago."

I whistled lowly, leaning forward with interest. "Who was it? What happened?"

Trace laughed easily, unbothered by my question. "Isn't talking about an ex bad news on a first date?"

I shrugged. "I don't care. I like to listen."

He paused with the cup halfway to his lips. "You really haven't changed that much, have you?"

"Is that bad?"

"No. Not really... but I remember so many times when we were together that you used to say the same thing."

Together... "Well, you know— old habits and whatever."

He laughed loudly and threw his head back as his green eyes twinkled. "And whatever. Alright, I give in. I'll tell you anything."

I felt my body relax as he started to talk, and I got more into the flow of the conversation. The sun got higher in the sky. It brought out the golden highlights in his curly hair, I could see a scattering of freckles, barely visible. I don't know when it happened but sometime in the middle of all the talking and catching up, our fingers had joined. They were only loosely interlaced... but it still felt nice.

We laughed and chatted easily as we switched between reminiscing and finding out more about each other. At one point I even spotted Antonio watching me from inside the cafe. He had a smile on his face, arms crossed in front of him as he watched me. I waved to him, and he waved back.

I hadn't even realized how much time had passed. He'd long finished his third cup of coffee, and I was on my second croissant. We probably would've ended up there for another an hour or two if my phone hadn't buzzed with my usual alarm to leave for work.

"Oh." I accidentally cut Trace off in the middle of a sentence. "I have to go to work."

He sighed softly. "Some of the worst words I've heard in a while."

I laughed softly at that and reached for my phone to stop the buzzing. "We had to leave at some point. We've been at the table for a while now." I raised my hand to call for the bill.

"Not long enough." His finger traced the rim of his cup, before it moved toward his pocket.

I raised an eyebrow. "I did say I'll be paying for our date."

He paused in his action, slight embarrassment in his green eyes. "Yeah, but... let me ju-"

"No. I pay, or no second date."

"Now, that's a dangerous threat." He laughed easily, and raised both his hands. "Fine, I give in. You pay today."

"Damn right I do." I replied softly as the waitress came over. I paid by card before I slowly stood up. My legs revelled in the feeling of finally being stretched out.

"How are you heading there?" Trace asked as he pushed the chair back.

"A cab." My eyes were already on my phone, typing in the address of the restaurant. "And you?"

"I have a car. I can drop you off."

"No need. I'm heading in the opposite direction. It'll just make your already long trip back longer."

"I don't mind. I don't want this date to end."

Cheesy, but it did make me stop looking for a cab. Looking up, I nodded once. And tried to hide my smile as I agreed to go with him.

Trace smiled at that as well before he started to walk. I fell into step beside him as he continued from earlier. Slight surprise crossed through me as I felt his hand slide into mine. It was a tentative touch, as if he was unsure how I would respond to it. His long slender fingers loosely meshed with mine as he talked, his eyes moved along the parked cars in search of his.

I nodded blankly at his words. My head also moved to look as I realised I'd turned red. Small gestures... I was a sucker for them as much as I tried to hide it.

Trace bumped into me as he moved to the side. I let go of his hand to move with him towards the luxury sedan parked in front of me.

A low whistle escaped me. "Nice ride."

"Thanks. It's just a rental though. It's cheaper than having to pay for a cab everytime."

"Sounds about right. You do live quite a bit away."

"That. And I love driving." He threw me a smile as he pulled the driver's door open.

I felt quite comfortable with him, like I'd known him all my life. Which is rather weird considering we'd only been at that foster home for only about six or so months. We had gotten quite close at the time from what I remember. And I had met other people I'd grown up with, however it had never been that relaxed with them. Usually the bad experiences each of us had would come up to cloud the experience as we tried to pretend everything was fine in our lives. But it really did seem like everything was fine in Trace's life, maybe mine too...

A grimace crossed my face as I remembered how my life had been recently. The great statement might be a bit too optimistic. Way too optimistic. I seem to be saddled with the problem of handling two rivalling species that s-

"Something wrong?"

Way too much. "Nah. Just remembered I need to stock up soon." I'd zoned out again. We were on the road now.

"Ah, well. Nothing I can say about that." He shrugged. "But I don't think you need to worry about that. You seem fairly on top of your game."

"That's one way to say it. We keep running out of whiskey and gin."

"Wow. That's an odd combination."

"My customers are an odd combination."

Trace snickered, a dimple appearing on the side of his lips. "That sounds fun."

"Uh, yeah- take this left."

"Got it." He paused as he turned the wheel. "Who are these customers? You mentioned them before too."

"Yeah, sorry about that. They occupy the entirety of my night and apparently the entirety of my brain too."

"What?"

"I mean, they come in pretty late." I quickly corrected. "And I sort of worry about that everyday because... you know... late customers are annoying."

"I get it. I used to work at a department store." He nodded understandingly. "So do you know who they are?"

"No. And I don't want to." They still refused to talk to me despite everything I knew right now... which admittedly still wasn't much. They weren't allowed to discuss it with me. Even the angels had gotten mad that day just for knowing about their existence.

"So, are the-"

"Change the subject, Trace." I replied bluntly, slightly irritated at how they'd even managed to indirectly intrude upon my dating life. "I don't want to have to worry about my customers when I'm off duty and on a date."

"Right. Right. Sorry." He did sound apologetic, but that was followed a few minutes of an awkward, tense silence. I was just starting to feel guilty about messing up the mood when he turned onto my street. "Up here, right?"

"Yeah. Not far now."

"Yup. I recognise the store I met you at." He sighed softly. "I don't want you to go. We were having so much fun."

"I know." I really didn't want to leave him. The sluggish feeling in my belly wanted me to stay.

I felt his hand land on mine. He gave it a small squeeze that made my heart flutter. "We always have the second date... right?"

"Yup." I turned to face him, and smiled as he slowed down by the restaurant. "Sorry for getting angry earlier. It's just annoying to have to talk about work even out of work."

He nodded, and smiled easily as he stopped the car. "There's no need to apologise for that. I understand."

Slipping a hand into my bag straps, I leaned towards him. "I'll make it up to you." I replied softly, gently pressing my lips against his.

His breath hitched and lips parted slightly after a moment of surprise, but I had already pulled away. A giggle escaped me at the surprise on his face. "See you later, Trace."

"Uh, right." He mumbled slowly as stated blankly up at me. "S-Bye, Ryleigh."

I licked my lips and maintained eye contact with him till I pushed the door open. I could see his eyes linger on that small movement as I stepped out of the car.

Dottie waved at me distractedly as I walked in. I waved back, not to disturb her concentration as she jotted down orders. The smile was still there on my face when Dottie approached me.

"Was that Trace?" She asked, a knowing smile already on her face.

"Yeah." I replied as I turned away from her to pick up the empty bottles. "We met up for breakfast."

"For a date?"

"To catch up." I corrected. There was a short moment of silence before I continued. "And it was a date."

"Yes!" She squealed in excitement. The sound nearly made me jump with three glass bottle in my grip. "Yes! Finally! You're moving on!"

"I already did." I replied dryly as some of my smile faded. "And can you get off my back about sleeping with my ex? It was just a few times."

"'a few times'." She mocked in a high-pitched voice. "Yeah, right."

When I turned back around, she had already moved away with an annoyed look on her face. I know she means well for me but sometimes there's just no one there... and there's some kind of comfort in the familiarity of someone you used to know and their body.

He'd been out of my life for a while now. And with Lou and Mike taking up my nights for the past month, I hadn't even had the energy or time to even think about sex. It just... seemed like so much of a hassle as of now.

Maybe I should take it slow with Trace. It's been ages since I've seen him. While he is familiar to me, it's best to let my feelings stew for a while as I figured it out. I don't want to lead him on, I don't want to be lead on. An extra date or two won't hurt anybody. He is a nice guy... but he's still a stranger for now.

I put my thoughts aside as my first customer of the day took a seat at the bar. Before I knew it, the bar started to fill up. I moved back and forth behind the counter, filled orders, passed over snacks from Sasha's window, and collected payments as I chatted with the regulars. It was a fulfilling few hours of work. The bottom of the tip jar was hidden under loose notes and change.

I waited for a while after the last customer left to breathe a sigh of relief. Dottie finally took a seat on one of the bar stools. Both our eyes turned expectantly to the side door door as we heard the tinkering in the kitchen stop. Sasha emerged moments later with three plates of fried rice. I grimaced as he placed it in front of me. I was still full from breakfast.

"Don't you dare give me that look." Sasha growled as he took a chair from a table. "You're eating it all."

"Uh..." I pushed the fork with one finger, it didn't budge under the weight of the rice. "That's physically impossible for me right now. I had a big breakfast."

"And a delicious one." Dottie swivelled around on the stool to face me behind the bar. She winked, grey eyes twinkled brightly. "Is Trace a good kisser?"

I laughed easily as I saw Sasha perk up with interest as well. "I don't really know. We didn't have a proper kiss."

"First date and no kiss?" Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a fever?"

"No. I don't." I replied, rather annoyed with that. "I did kiss him but I'd rather not make out in a car in public."

"So what?" Dottie took a huge bite. "No tongue?"

I grimaced at her direct question. "It... was just a quick kiss."

"Boring." Sasha chimed in and echoed Dottie's thoughts. "So he didn't kiss you back?"

"He would have if I'd held the kiss for longer." I shifted on my stool and awkwardly rubbed my arms. "I... I figured he was mad so it's best not to force it on him."

"Mad?" Dottie looked up from the plate. "Why? Did you do something?"

"I... snapped at him to shut up because he just kept asking about my customers." I paused for a few moments to let it sink in. "I mean, I don't want to talk about work during a date."

"That makes sense." Sasha agreed. He was nodding when I looked up. "But he von't be mad at that. He vill just be a little... how do you put it...guilty, perhaps? He did push you."

I shrugged as I lazily trailed the fork through the loose grains of rice. "Maybe. I probably shouldn't have snapped though."

"You're in your right to." Dottie comforted me and reached out to pat my arm. "No one likes talking about work."

"Yeah, yeah. Can we stop talking about me?" I mumbled, still a bit disheartened.

"Aww, Ryleigh." Sasha chuckled heavily. "I've never seen her like this."

"Yeah. Me neither." Dottie turned to meet his eye. "Seems like she really likes this dude."

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." I replied tiredly. "Trace is a nice guy. I knew him when I was sixteen, and I'm twenty-six now but for some reason, it feels like it's barely been any time since we were separated."

"I have a few friends like that." Dottie nodded understandingly. "It's always nice to meet up with them."

"Well, I-"

"Shut up, Ryleigh. You're talking too much and not eating enough, and I do not like it." Sasha narrowed his eyes at me.

I grimaced back. "Do I have to eat the full thing? I'm still full, Sasha."

"No excuses, no wastage." He pointed at the plate and narrowed his eyes further. "Eat."

I sighed tiredly. My eye on my plate in despair. "That's a lot of rice." I mumbled to myself before I started with one bite. Maybe if I took long enough to finish this, I could cite the customers as a reason to stop.

I was still eating when Sasha left to take his power nap in the back. All it took was Dottie turning away for a few moments to hide the plate under the counter.

Sasha didn't question me when he returned from his nap, and began preparations for the evening cooking— maybe even part of tomorrow's. He was dedicated to his work. He genuinely loved to cook and showed up at around five or six every morning in order to clean up and begin prep. Our changing everyday specials were, as he claimed, a result of the power naps, preparation and practice.

I still nibbled from the cold plate when Lou walked in. He glanced at me. His usual greeting paused to whistle in surprise. "That's new. I don't think I've ever seen you eating at night."

I frowned at that. "That's not true. I do snack in front of you."

"Peanuts and cookies don't count." He replied easily as he slid onto his seat and shrugged his jacket off. "I mean, eating as in eating some solid food."

"Oh." I glanced down at the almost empty plate. "Yeah, I don't normally eat at night."

"It seems like you barely eat anyway." I looked up as Mike walked in, right on time. "Is there a reason for that?"

"Not really." I pushed off my stool to grab the whiskey and gin bottles. "I eat when I'm hungry and that's it."

"Nothing else before or after?" The stool scraped across the floor as Mike sat down on it.

"I'll munch on small snacks if they're there." Placing their glasses in front of them, I poured out their usuals. "Usually Dottie and Sasha keep handing me something. Sasha always cooks lunch and he makes too much for me. I wasn't hungry because I had a huge breakfast so-there you go-" I paused as I finished pouring out Mike's drink. "So... I've just been trying to finish it."

"Damn." Lou took his first sip and exhaled softly in satisfaction. "You need more than that."

"Yes. You require further sustenance than just some stale food." Mike paused with his glass held to his lips. "And a 'heavy' breakfast more than twelve hours ago."

I shrugged easily, distracted as I tallied up the bills for the day. "I went out for breakfast today. I don't normally eat in the morning."

"Ooh. You went out..." Lou sang, I could hear a note of curiosity in his voice. "Who was the lucky human?"

"I hope it's a human too." Mike mumbled to himself.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not telling. My personal life and my work life are two separate things."

"Not to us." Lou grinned. "Come on, Ryleigh. We're the closest thing to best friends you have!"

I chuckled at that, but quickly hid it as I a customer approached. I waited for the old lady to leave. "You guys aren't my best friends." My head turned to meet their eyes. "More like hostage takers."

"You hurt me so, Ryleigh." Lou winced, a hand on his empty chest. "Come on. Who will we tell?"

"No one, I'm sure." I winked at them. "But I'm still not telling."

"Aw, Ryleigh." Lou whined with his head on the counter. "I want to knoooow!"

I laughed at the whining tone of his voice. "I'm not telling!"

"You're mean."

"You sound like a kid." I glanced at him. His cheek was pressed against the wood as he glared up at me with a fake pout. "Does not knowing who I went out with seriously bother you that much?"

"Yes." His frowned deepened, the twinkle in his eyes got brighter. "Tell me."

"No." I stuck my tongue out at him. "Deal with it."

Lou whined some more at that. I enjoyed the attention while I worked the register. A position of power over him for once was rather different.

A smile crossed my face as I remembered the small kiss I shared with Trace and the surprised look on his face after. I finally had a secret of my own.