Inky by JB Hartnett Read Free Book Online Page A

worry about Lisa.”
    “I was worried you were gonna be mad.” I said.
    “Because some guy gave you his card? Big deal. It sounds like I need to thank him for taking care of you when you needed it.”
    “Full disclosure…he did sing to me though. We shared a ‘moment’ I guess but it was not only something I didn’t invite or ask for, once that panic attack hit me, Evan…I couldn’t have stopped him if I wanted to.”
    “Inky, you don’t have to explain. I trust you.” He kissed my hand again and slowly put it back to my side. “You better get out there. It was starting to pick up when I came back to find you.”
    “Thanks for being so cool, Evan.” I punched in the code and Evan held open the break room door while I put my purse into a locker and closed it.
    “It’ll be fine, baby. Don’t worry about it, okay?” He pulled me in for a quick kiss as the door closed behind us and went out front.
    ***
    I was happy about two things: The night did go quickly and Lisa was totally cool, like nothing ever happened. Because we were busier than usual, Rusty asked if I could stay longer which was just as well; Ten minutes before last call, I noticed Lisa wasn’t feeling the best.
    She was moving slowly and stopped, crouched in front of the cleaning supplies under the sink.
    “You alright?” I asked.
    “No” She said weakly. “I think I’m coming down with something.”
    “Why don’t you go home? Aimes and I can close up. Just cash out and I’ll do everything else, okay?”
    “I can wait. I didn’t drive anyway. I’ll wait until you and Evan or Aimes and Gus leave. I can last another hour.” She stood up, taking her time.
    “No, Lisa, it’s cool. You’re sick. It’s slowed way down, we already announced last calls for alcohol. Hang on a minute.” I saw Evan shake hands with his roommate, Josh. He said goodbye to him and headed in our direction. I could’ve asked Gus who had camped at Aimes’ section of the bar all night, but I figured they’d want to be alone as soon as possible.
    “Hey baby, what’s going on?” He sauntered over.
    “Can you do me a favor?” I asked.
    “Anything. What can I do for you?” He winked at me.
    “Nothing like that. Well, later. Later, something like that. Can you take Lisa home? She’s sick.” His smiling face turned to concern. My man was a nice guy.
    “No problem.” He leaned in close and said quietly, “Maybe she’ll tell me what’s going on in her love life.”
    “Maybe. Hang here. She’s just taking her drawer back to Rusty and she’ll be out.” I went to find her out the back. When I saw her in the break room, she was holding her head in her hands. “Hey, Evan said he’ll take you now if you want.”
    “Really? That would be great. I’m fading fast over here.”
    “He’s waiting at the bar when you’re ready.” I gave her a sympathetic smile and went back out the front.
    “I’m ready.” She appeared a short time later. “See you when you get home, Ink. Thanks for asking him.”
    “Hope you feel better.” Evan blew me a kiss as they walked away. I turned to go back to finish my cleaning and serve the remaining patrons. I thought she’d already gone but Lisa was still standing there.
    “Hey Ink?” She asked.
    “Yeah?”
    “Sorry I was a bitch this morning. I shouldn’t have doubted you.” As cold and no-nonsense as she could sometimes be, her apology was warm and sincere.
    “It’s okay, Lisa. I understand.” Ours eyes met for a beat before she turned and followed Evan out the backdoor.
    ***
    I finished cleaning her part of the bar. Rusty’s was a pretty big place. The bar had three of everything: three registers, three sinks, three fridges, three sets of taps. We each had our own set of basic spirits: gin, vodka, rum, whiskey and tequila. The only thing we shared was the top shelf liquor but we rarely were under each other’s toes.
    I was closest to the door and hadn’t noticed a man in a suit sitting there.
    “Hey,