Showing The Ropes (Raina)

[GAVIN BROOKS]

It didn't seem to matter what Gavin thought about anything. Kevin was going to hire someone for the bar since everyone seemed to just up and disappear after this whole damn darkness thing and it had only gotten worse after the vaccine fiasco. Seriously, they didn't need anymore help, but Kevin was all "I can't work every niiiigghhttt", like a little bitch. Sure, this would allow him some time off too since the two of them were holding down the fort for now and neither could work alone it seemed, but still Gavin wasn't keen on teaching some new guys how to mix drinks. They would be annoying and incompetent and he wasn't feeling it at all.

And then Gavin saw the new hire.

Raina was hot. Hot wasn't even the right word to describe her. She was perfect and sexy and her voice was soft and a little scratchy and he wanted nothing more than to have his way with her right then and there on the bar the first time he'd seen her. He played cool, introducing himself and trying not to stare at her amazing breasts too much. He was still a man, and sort of a dog. Sure he was a perfect gentleman when he needed to be, but let's face it, he didn't have to be. He worked at a bar, he served drinks to beautiful women all the time and he was a flirt. He never treated women like objects and when he had girls spend the night he always made pancakes in the morning. It was his signature move, feed them and then give them a good excuse to get rid of them. It wasn't until things started to lean towards the whole serious thing that he wanted to book it.

Gavin wanted Raina, but he also didn't want there to be any awkwardness if things went south. What if she was the girlfriend type? He didn't want the girlfriend type. Not in the typical sense. He wanted to slip a girl some potion and have his love affair for three days and move on to the next girl to love for three days. That would be tough with Raina though if they were working together. Gavin wasn't a fan of awkward.

The bar was starting to wind down and Kevin had asked Gavin to keep an eye on Raina and the bar while he messed with the money. Gavin obliged promising to restock and wipe everything down. "Hey." He called out to Raina when they were alone. "So, uhh.. how you liking it so far?" He asked, a rag tucked into the waist of his tight jeans, his flannel button down tucked loosely into the pants. He leaned on the counter and looked sideways up at her, his charming, boyish grin slipping over his lips as he watched her. "Get any pervs hitting on yah yet?"

[rainapetrova]

This was it, the first day of her new job. Raina didn't know anything about being a bartender and she sure as hell didn't know anything about alcohol. After confirming that she was, in fact, bipolar, her parents forbid her from doing two things: partying and drinking. Actually, they had forbid her from doing many things, but those were the two that they lectured her most about. Raina had asked around at the hospital and it turned out that alcohol wouldn't be so bad. But after explaining that mood stabilizers were the main reason she wasn't jumping off the walls or jumping off bridges, the doctors had advised she stay away from alcohol. So that was exactly what Raina did. Even when one of the drunk idiots offered her a drink, she simply ignored him and continued on with serving drinks.

Things hadn't been too crazy tonight, but Raina was forced to take her lithium carbonate during a break. This time, it was the depression that was causing problems. One minute, Raina was serving a woman a martini and the next, she felt as if the world had turned upside-down. All she had wanted to do was find a dark corner and curl up into a ball. So, acting entirely on impulse and fear, Raina had told Gavin--who she could only describe as "amazingly sexy"--she was going for her break. And that was when she had taken the mood stabilizer. Raina's doctor had told her that it was to be taken daily and not once had she forgotten to take the medicine. Usually, it worked effectively, but there were still those days when she became too excited or too depressed or both. Which was why she hadn't told anyone at the Jack Kit about being bipolar. If the time came where she had to start taking a few days off every week, Raina would tell them. Otherwise, she planned to keep it a secret.

Gavin had been extremely helpful with teaching her how to mix drinks and interact with the customers. She had learned a lot on her first day, which actually surprised her. If she were to be perfectly honest, Raina had found it difficult to focus on listening to Gavin instead of watching him. He really was gorgeous. And sexy. And a total hunk. God, why was she such an idiot? Every time she met a guy like Gavin, Raina instantly became attracted to them. She blamed it partly on being bipolar--which she knew wasn't the true cause--and partly on being a woman. But the true culprit was Raina herself. It was like little baby Cupid was shooting arrow after arrow at her, with each of those love arrows striking her right in the heart. How else could she explain having six ex-boyfriends in total? Well, four of them had dumped her because she hadn't cared who they spoke to or flirted with. The other two had been dumped by her, although Raina felt like her most recent boyfriend had read her mind before she even told him.

Now that everyone was gone and the night was over, Raina and Gavin were the only ones left in the bar. She was sure that Kevin, the man who had hired her, was somewhere in the back, but she wasn't about to go look for him. A voice, Gavin's voice, called out to her and Raina turned around, leaning against the edge of the counter. Normally, she wouldn't have done such a thing because she risked dirtying her clothes, but the counter had been cleaned thoroughly. Her jeans and lace top, which many of the more drunken men had complimented, were safe. "So, uhh.. how you liking it so far?" Raina smiled and tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear, immediately regretting the action. Had he seen the scar? They were on both her wrists and the last thing she wanted was for someone asking her where they had come from. "It's pretty cool. I've never done something like this before, but it's definitely a fun experience."

"Get any pervs hitting on yah yet?" She looked down at Gavin and returned the grin. "There were a few guys, but I think the alcohol neutralized their attempts at flirting." Raina played with her bracelet for a few moments before speaking again. "So, um, how long have you been working here for? Thanks for helping me, by the way. You were really good." She didn't know what she was thinking, only that she wasn't thinking. There was bipolar Raina and then there was normal Raina, the one who sometimes said the stupidest things to people. She didn't know which one was worse.

[GAVIN BROOKS]

"It's pretty cool. I've never done something like this before, but it's definitely a fun experience." He smiled, not noticing her wrists at all. His eyes were on her sweet face. She looked a lot younger than she was and if she'd strolled in and asked for a drink he would have second glanced her ID. Twenty four seemed to old for this vixen, but it was a good thing in Gavin's book because he could feel less dirty think she was hot. If she was only a couple years younger, that wasn't so bad. Seven or eight? That was cradle robbing and just sort of weird. Just knowing the girl he was sleeping with hadn't hit puberty when he could legally vote bothered him.

"There were a few guys, but I think the alcohol neutralized their attempts at flirting." He laughed and nodded. "Yeah, it'll do that. Wait till this place picks up again, you'll really have a run for your money then." He teased knowing some of the regulars might try and eat her alive. Really it was lucky she started now when it was quiet. It gave him plenty of time to answer questions and help her learn some of the drinks, plus it didn't bog him down from his own work since there wasn't much as it was. He could run the bar single handedly these days.

"So, um, how long have you been working here for? Thanks for helping me, by the way. You were really good." He had to fight the urge to make a comment about how she didn't know how good he was yet. He didn't need to offend the new girl so soon, plus it was in poor taste. Had it been Chey or Nicole he would have said in a heartbeat, but Raina was new. Plus she didn't seem the slutty type like some of his other girl friends. "Awe, it's no problem. And about a year." He explained reaching for a glass and filling it with coke from the tap, taking a sip and sliding the glass on the bar. "I needed a change of pace. I was going down all the right roads; money, success, stable relationship that was leading me down the aisle, but it was too much. I wasn't ready. My fiance was ready, but me? I just needed to step back and reassess the situation. I know, sounds like I'm a slacker and in some ways I sort of am now, but I never really had the opportunity before. So.. I'm waiting a few years, having my fun now and then I can worry about being a grown up. For now I like working here and hanging out with pretty little things like you." His smile was sweet, obviously meaning it more as a compliment than flirting. He chuckled a little and looked down at the bar. "Guess you didn't really ask for the life story, but... well I'm an upfront sorta man." He picked up his coke and looked back at her. "So what's your story, kid?" He asked, sipping his drink and watching her.