She lets out a gasp, clutching at her, honest to god, pearl necklace. “You can’t say that to me.”
“Can’t handle the truth?”
“This was not the deal, you were-”
“I was supposed to take you on a date,” I cut her off. “They never agreed to it, and I can’t force them. If I go back to them after tonight and tell them it went well they’ll consider meeting you. What can I say? Musicians are assholes.”
“You better tell them we had an amazing night and convince them to court me.” She takes in my outfit and wrinkles her nose. “I can’t believe I have to be seen in public with you.”
I would offer to leave, but I need to keep her here for at least a couple of hours. “Let’s just go eat something, Valerie. We don’t need to talk.”
I walk towards the line of people waiting to be seated and breathe out a sigh of relief when she falls into step next to me, keeping her mouth shut. Small miracles.
The line moves slowly, and Valerie starts tapping her foot against the pavement. Two tall guys are blocking my view, but they soon move to follow whoever is showing them to their table.
“Fucking finally,” Valerie mutters from next to me as we move to the front, waiting for someone to come get us.
“Sorry for the wait-”
My eyes lock with Savvy’s as she steps through the door, and I feel Valerie stiffen next to me. The blood drains from my face as I realize how bad this must look, me being here with someone else.
“Are you going to help us?” Valerie asks in her usual irritated voice before wrapping her arm around my waist and leaning against me. “My boyfriend made the reservations. It’s under Fritz.”
I take a step forward, wanting to get away from Valerie, but she clings to me. “Let go of me,” I hiss, fed up with whatever she’s up to now.
Savvy has a fake smile on her face, refusing to look at me. “Welcome to Gino’s, one second please.”
She turns around and bolts into the restaurant, and I move to follow, almost knocking over a lady stepping outside. She smells like beer and cigarettes, and I hate the look she gives me as I pass her.
“Do you have a reservation?” she calls after me, but I ignore her, along with Valerie, who is shouting at me to get back.
Savvy ran from me once, and I wasn’t around to chase after her; that is not happening tonight.
Savvy
Ireach up for the stack of glasses on the top shelf, biting back a wince as the bruises along my side throb in protest. The cool metal of the glasses presses against my fingertips, but before I can fully grasp them, I sense movement beside me. Todd - the bartender - steps in, his larger frame close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from him.
He doesn’t say anything; he just reaches up effortlessly and takes the glasses from my hands, his gaze flickering down to the dark smudges peeking from beneath my blouse. My stomach twists. I yank my shirt down, forcing a quick smile as if that will erase what he’s already seen, then step back, eager to put space between us.
“Thanks,” I mutter, hurrying out from behind the bar before he can ask me anything.
It’s not the first time he’s noticed my bruises, and I doubt it will be the last time. He’s asked me about them many times, but I always give him a dumb excuse. I’m clumsy. I bumped into a table. My skin bruises easily. Yeah, he wasn’t buying it either, but there wasn’t much he could do if I wasn’t willing to talk about it.
I decided to take five minutes and go outside; the fresh air - at least as fresh as it can be in the middle of the city - helped settle me. There is a lull in the restaurant right now, but it’s Friday, so I just know tonight is going to be busy. My body aches all over, but taking off is not an option; my uncle would never allow it.
Fuck, I hate calling him that, but he insists.
My uncle opened Gino’s - not even his name, by the way; it’s Greg - a few months ago and not so politely asked me to work here. For free. He says it’s the least I could do after he took me in when my dad ended up in a coma after a car crash. At least he lets me keep my tips. Very generous of him. It sucks even more because I know for a fact the money he used to fund this place came directly from my dad's estate, money that was supposed to be used to ensure I was taken care of.
When I mentioned it one night, I got backhanded so hard I almost passed out. Then I was tossed to the floor and repeatedly kicked all over until I passed out. Woke up the next morning on the kitchen floor with a split lip and bruises all over my body. Pretty sure he kept abusing my body for a good amount of time after I was knocked out if the cigarette burns on my arm were any indication. I don’t remember getting those but fuck they hurt the next morning. I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut and just do whatever Greg said after that.
Not that it did me any good.
My mom, who I hadn’t seen since I was five years old, originally volunteered to step up and look after her precious baby. The allowance she would get each month surely had nothing to do with it. She would also have limited access to my trust fund if she could prove any funds used would benefit me in some way. Shockingly, that didn’t last for more than three months. Her boyfriend, a forty-something-eye-year-old junkie named Karl, moved into my childhood home right along with her and proceeded to show me way too much attention for her liking. She called me every version of the word slut she could come up with, including some creative ones I had never heard before.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
I woke up to my mom yelling. She stood in the doorway to my room, looking furious. It took me a second to register the second person in my room; but once I did, I had no idea how I hadn’t noticed him immediately. Karl lay in bed next to me, his lower half covered by my sheets. One of his hands was under my shirt, his thick, disgusting fingers digging into my skin so hard that I wouldn’t be surprised if he drew blood.
