The bartender from yesterday wrinkled up her nose when I approached her. I couldn’t help but sniff myself subconsciously and hey, I didn’t stink that much, maybe a little but not enough to elicit that reaction.

“You stink of a dog” she said in a disgusted way

“I forgot to take a shower”

A dog?

She took out a set of folded clothes and pushed them towards me. She hesitated before adding a bottle of perfume she took from her pocket.

“Take your time” she pointed at a back door

Half an hour later, after lots of scrubbing and brushing, I got out of the washroom. It was hard to ignore the attention the bar tender was now giving me. Her prolonged gaze made the new clothes I wore feel much tighter than they really were, especially at the most inappropriate of places.

“I thought I was a slim guy…” I tried explaining

“You look awesome” she smiled “more comely than half the women who come in here”

“I feel like you are lying” I faintly smiled

“Dude” she exclaimed “this is going to be fun, can’t wait” she threw her towel on my face

“Have you ever worked in a bar before?” she asked

“Just in a farm”

“*************” she muttered under her breath

“What?”

“Nothing” she smiled, appearing a bit relieved that I hadn’t heard her “you can clean, right?”

“Yeah” I nodded

“You’ll be mostly doing that then…after drunks and guests leave”

“I guess that involves pee and puke” I gulped

“You are already learning” she patted my shoulders with a proud smile

“You will also serve like a waiter, putting drinks on tables and taking out…”

“I know how to serve drinks” I sighed

“Right” she smiled “now let’s talk wages. How much do you want?”

“Huh?” I was slightly perplexed

“How much do you want to be paid?”

“I’m…” I chuckled nervously” I mean, no one has ever asked me that before, how much do I want, you mean daily?”

“Yes” She nodded

“Any amount?”

“Yes”

“Okay. How about a hundred bucks?” I felt like I had termed a very exorbitant price for my amateur waiter services

“Done” she snapped her fingers

“Done?” I widened my eyes, excitement brimming in my heart “really?”

“No dick head” she slapped the back of my head “do I look like I work in a fucking bank?”

“n-no”

“Twenty bucks” she named

“What?”

“You are free to leave if it’s too little” she shrugged

“Okay” I heaved a deep sigh

“Get to work then” she smiled, seemingly happy that I didn’t try to bargain the price “start with the washrooms, drunks do behave like little babies. You are going to enjoy it”

My first day at work went as perfectly normal as it could go. I spilled a couple of drinks, broke a few glasses, offended one narcissistic customer, and got spanked by one older looking woman, the age of my grandmother if she’d be alive. I was actually forced to have a drink with her so that she would give me a tip. By the time evening reached, I was tipsy, tired and I hated my new job. I have never felt more exploited and used in my life. My employer, the night bar-tender, slept through most of it, only waking up when spookier individuals started entering the club. I even spotted one individual with Halloween like vampire teeth, she even licked them, at me. And here I thought that men were supposed to be the sexual predators.

“Here is your pay” the bartender counted twenty dollars “and a tip for your hard work”

“A coin?”

“Be grateful” she tilted her head to the side

“I thought Halloween isn’t due for another two weeks” I aired out my thoughts

“Halloween?” she frowned. She followed my gaze to the woman who was busy eye-effing me “oh, you mean her?”

“Yes, that group has been hungrily staring at me for quite some time now…especially the woman” I whispered

“Told you, you look like a snack” she smugly replied

“She is walking over” I whispered as my hands instantly found work to do below the bar counter

“Unclench your nuts, she is harmless” the bartender chuckled

“Harm…”

“Alexia” the woman came up all excited and lively

“How was the hunt?” the bar-tender asked with the matched same level of excitement

“Fine as always” the woman replied, I could feel her gaze on my face without even looking at her “is he on the menu?”

“I’m afraid not”

“Pity, I would have paid five hundred for a pint of his untainted juice”

Gross

“Yeah, he is not for sale too”

“You have already claimed him for yourself, right? Is that what this is?” the woman chuckled “you cheeky sneaky bitch”

Alexia the bar-tender joined in on the laugher but then a second later, as quick as an eye would blink, her expression changed to a deadly one. Quite the opposite of the lively face I was seeing a while ago, I almost clapped.

“Yeah, he is mine” she replied sternly “got any problem with that?”

“No” the other woman smiled “I mean, we used to share. Why so mean with this one? What’s his name? Introduce me”

“You can address me, I’m right here” I said

“Oh, so you can speak” the woman smiled as she looked right into my eyes. “Glad to know that she isn’t holding your balls for you”

Something about her gaze was eerily disturbing. In addition, her sharp fangs looked real legit close-up, it was spine-chilling. Her make-up artist had to be a real professional.

“You can order a drink or you can back the fuck off” the bar-tender said in a threatening way. I could see her knuckles tightly gripping the edges of the counter, like she was holding herself not to pounce on the other woman.

The woman raised both her hands in mock surrender, a smirk playing on her lips

“Well then, you better hide him before he arrives. He doesn’t like sharing just as much as you, especially if it’s untainted juice. We would like our usual please” she left to their table after that

We watched the lady until she sat with her male friends. And even after that, the staring battle between the two ladies only grew stronger. She only broke contact after I bumped her shoulder.

“What was she talking about? Who is the man who doesn’t like sharing and what the fuck is untainted juice?”  I asked

Alexia remained silent

“Alexia?”

“Never call me that” she snapped “ever”

“Okay, what should I call you then?”

“you don’t get to call me” she retorted “see you tomorrow morning”

“You sure you don’t…”

“ ir lejos en este momento” she snapped in an exotic dialect

“What?” I frowned

“That was Latin for go away right now because clearly, you don’t understand English” she scolded

“Okay, I’m leaving” I sighed

“Straight home, through the back door”