Baby Come Back(9)

He was standing now and started to move towards me. I put my hand up as a sign for him to let it be.

“Gina wait -” he called after me. I didn’t look back as I headed out of the restaurant. It wasn’t until I reached the sidewalk out front that I remembered Tristan had picked me up in his car.

Fuck! Now I had to traipse the four blocks back to Jo Anna’s in the freaking dark. I’d take my chances with the perverts and street thugs before I’d go back inside and look like an idiot in front of Tristan.

I ignored the shout-outs and whistles I received on the way to Jo Anna’s. She was out when I got there which was fine. I didn’t feel like explaining my foul mood to anyone.

I flounced down the on couch and took my new boots off which had pinched the hell out of my feet during the walk home. My cell phone chimed. It was Tylar.

“Hey girlfriend,” I said, trying to sound cheerful.

“Gina?”

“Uhh yes, Tylar. That is who you called, isn’t it?”

“I was thinking my call would go to voice mail. I was going to leave you a message. You’re home already?”

“Apparently so,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“Are you alone?”

“Right again,” I answered.

“So I’m getting the vibe that you would prefer not to talk about it, right?”

“You’re three for three, girlfriend. What’s up?”

“Uh . . . well. Never mind. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Tylar, for Chrissake - you called for a reason so you think you might want to let me in on it?”

“I just had some good news I wanted to share with you, that’s all. It can wait for when you’re in a better mood.”

“Better tell me now; this mood is going nowhere anytime soon.”

“I’m pregnant! Your baby is going to have a younger cousin!”

“Excellent.”





CHAPTER 5




It had been several weeks since I had started working back at the club. Tristan hadn’t fled the scene as of yet. I had no indication that he was looking to hire a co-manager to take his place either. We managed to avoid each other at work during our overlapping shifts. We continued to discuss business issues politely. I continued watching Sunny in my peripheral vision.

Tristan had moved her to the restaurant which caused a lot of whiney-pooing on her part for the first couple of days. She was now enjoying the bigger tips that came with it so the whining had stopped. She still had googly eyes for Tristan; he appeared not to notice or if he did, failed to react.

Tylar had called me the previous evening. She was going to stop by the club after her initial visit with her OB/GYN in town this afternoon. She was tickled to death that we were pregnant at the same time. I tried to be enthusiastic about it, but it was different for me than it was for her. I didn’t think she got that.

I went into the office where Tristan was figuring payroll. I needed to get the cash drawer for the upstairs bar out of the safe. My baby bump was starting to show a bit. I felt weird being around him because I knew that he had noticed. I had caught him watching me a couple of times; he had hurriedly looked away. I felt some comfort in knowing that at the very least, I distracted him.

I was surprised when I entered the office to see Sunny sitting on the corner of his desk as he was flipping through the time cards.

“Come on Tristan, please? Give me one of Abby’s shifts next weekend. I need to work more weekend doubles so that I can afford that new car.”

Tristan didn’t look up from what he was doing.

“I told you Sunny, I’m not going to arbitrarily pull shifts from another waitress because you need to buy a car that you obviously can’t afford.”

(Hah, bitch! Told you now, didn’t he? Get your ass off of his desk!)

Sunny looked over at me as I went over to the safe and started dialing in the combination. She looked back over at Tristan. I saw her lean over so that he was provided an ample view of her cleavage when and if he bothered to look up.

“But she clocked in late three times last week. Don’t you believe in punishing bad girls?” she asked, taking a seductive tone.

The combination to the f*cking safe was not working. I started pounding on the steel door with my fist while my other hand was trying to turn the steel handle. It would not budge. The noise brought their attention to me.

Tristan was immediately over at my side.

“Gina, let me,” he said, gently brushing my hand aside as he turned the dial to the proper combination. He turned the latch and the door to the safe opened easily for him.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, not looking at him. I pulled the cash drawer marked ‘Upstairs East’ from the safe.

“Do you want me to carry that upstairs for you, Gina?”

(Okay - so now he is starting to treat me like a f*cking invalid.)

“Thanks but I’m good, Tristan.”

Sunny was still lounging on the corner of his desk.

“What time do you go on the clock, Sunny?”

She immediately stiffened and got an attitude. She turned her face up as if snubbing me.

“Five,” she answered.

“Then why are you in the office? This is not the employee lounge. Tristan is running payroll and the door outside does say ‘Authorized Personnel.’ That would not be you.”