"Good morning Lily! Let's get you started." Paula said. Billie had slept well and her coffee pot brewed the perfect cup of coffee that she drank that morning on her little balcony deck, overlooking the desert sunrise. For the first time, in a long time, she felt at peace.
"Your outfit is perfect! I realized I forgot to tell you what to wear but you did great. Here's the menu to study. You bus all your own tables and keep all your tips. It's only me and you and one other girl right now, so you will be BUSY." Paula said. "I will help you today but I need you to be able to take some tables yourself. Can you do this?" Paula asked.
"Yes." Billie said. She waited tables in college and knew she could pull it off, no problem. The lunch crowd was brutal, and Billie had to learn the menu fast, screwing up a few times and driving the kitchen guys a little crazy, but they all managed. The dinner girl came in around 4 and Billie stayed through the dinner rush until around 8. It was along day. She sat at an empty booth and counted her tips. One hundred and eighty dollars. Holy shit! She thought. This was only her first day. Wait til she had some regular customers and didn't screw up as much. Making money like this was going to help her a lot. She walked back to the kitchen and handed the cooks each ten bucks. It wasn't a lot but they had helped her and she was thankful.
"Wow. Thanks. We never get tipped." One of the cooks said.
"I appreciate all your help. You deserve it." Billie said. He was young. Right out of high school, she could tell.
"I'm Justin." He said.
"I'm Lily. Thanks again. See ya tomorrow?" She asked.
"I'll be here." He said, unenthusiastically.
Billie walked back out to the main room. "Girl, you are a bad ass. I'm lucky to have found you. Great job today." Paula said.
"I'm the lucky one. Thank you again for the job. I appreciate it so much." Billie said.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Paula asked.
"I plan on being here everyday." Billie said.
"That's great. I need ya. Oh, and we are closed on Mondays. So you get one day off at least." Paula said. Billie smiled and refilled all her sugars and ketchups and other condiments. After her tables were all cleaned and she helped make some tea and coffee in the back for the night girl, she grabbed her purse and headed out, stopping at the gas station across the street. She bought a pack of smokes and a prepaid cell phone. She felt safer with a cell and knew it would be better than having her old phone anyway.
After the clerk helped her get it activated, she looked at the time. It was nine. "How far is Johnny's from here?" She asked the clerk.
"The bar? About 5 minutes. It's a little over two miles that way. I'm off in like 8 minutes if you want a ride. I live in Cave Creek and drive right by there on my way home." She said.
"That would be awesome." Billie said.
After a few minutes, the clerk showed Billie to her car and headed that way.
"Want a hit?" The girl asked, lighting up a joint.
"No thanks." Billie said. Pot made her paranoid and she already had anxiety with meeting new people, so that would be a terrible idea, she thought.
"Suit yourself." The girl said as she pulled into a small tavern. It was quaint and loud. She could hear the band from outside.
"Thanks again." Billie said.
"Anytime. I'm Hilary, by the way." Then girl said.
"I'm Lily. Nice to meet you." She said.
She walked to the front door and was stopped to show ID and pay a cover. She reluctantly pulled out her drivers license, covering her name as well as she could and held it up, showing the date. She knew the door people rarely paid attention to the name, just the date.
He nodded and took her five bucks and let her in. She looked around to see it was a little crowded.
"Lily! Hey!" A voice yelled. She glanced to the left and saw Abby standing at the bar with another girl and a guy. She walked over to them.
"Guys, this is my new friend, Lily. She's from Illinois and just moved here. Lily this is Amber and Gabriel." Abby said.
Amber was also blonde, a little shorter and heavier than Abby with large eyes and an even larger chest. She seemed a little uptight. Gabriel was beautiful. He was Hispanic, maybe half Hispanic and had long, thick, dark curly hair and a goatee. He was tall and slightly muscular with beautiful brown eyes. His eyes wrinkled when he smiled and the smile lit up his whole face. He was wearing faded, tight jeans and boots with a faded v-neck tee. He had on a few leather and silver necklaces and brackets and wore several rings. He had a scarf of some sort tucked into his back pocket. He reminded her a little of Jack Sparrow but also a little like Chris Cornell. He was definitely a musician. She could tell.
"Nice to meet you." Gabriel said. "Call me Gabe."
Billie smiled and shook his hand.
"Gabe's band is playing next." Abby said.
"The rest of them should be here soon." Amber said, giving the impression that she wasn't fond of them.
"Cool." Billie said. She ordered a beer and looked over at Gabe. He watching her as she ordered and took her beer. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Several people came up to him, offering to buy him a drink and chatting with him. Mostly women. He was gorgeous and Billie understood how he would attract so much adoration, especially being in a band. He made a point to walk over to her and chat a little.
"So, why in the hell did you come here?" He asked.
"The bar or the town?" She asked.
"The town." He asked.
"I liked the sound of the name." She said honestly.
"Carefree. Well, I can see that." He said, with a gorgeous smile.
"Are you from here?" She asked.
"Tulsa. But my father is from Spain. My mother is from Oklahoma. White. So I have olive skin and white people dancing skills." He said, jokingly.
"It could be worse." Billie said. "Actually no. The inherited dance skills is the worst outcome possible." She said, with a chuckle, taking a swig of her beer. He nodded and laughed.
"Gabe!" A young man said, reaching out and grabbing Gabe's hand.
"Lily, this is Pete. Pete plays lead guitar." Gabe said. Pete was bald with a long, dark beard and deep set brown eyes. He looked Italian.
"Nice to meet you, Lily." Pete said.
"And this is Ricky, our drummer and his girlfriend, Kelsi." He said, looking at a young couple walking in. Ricky had long, straight hair and sleeved tattoos and Kelsi was a pretty brunette that looked like a cheerleader. Abby walked over and hugged Kelsi.
Another guy showed up and ordered a drink right away.
"This is Tommy. Our bass player." Pete said. Tommy seemed a bit anti social and gave her a wave while paying for his drink.
They all seemed nice and welcoming. Billie felt awkward being an outsider but they all treated her kindly and warmly, making her feel as welcome as possible.
The first band finished their set and the guys went to set up their gear.
"Gabe is a man-whore. He lied to girls and juggles a lot of them. He's not a good guy to date and don't fall victim to his charm. We love him but keep it in the friend zone if you know what I mean." Amber said. Billie hadn't even thought of that. Not only was he probably too young for her, but she was far from ready for anything like that at all. The thought of being with another man made her cringe. She was terrified after what Sean had done to her.
"Gotcha. Thanks." Billie said.
"Pete is cool but super nerdy and chill. He doesn't have many girlfriends and you're not his type. Kelsi and Ricky fight all the time and Tommy stays to himself. But be careful with him, Abby likes him." Amber said. Billie looked at Amber. What was her problem? She thought. "I'm sorry. Am I giving off the "I want to fuck your friends vibe?" Billie asked Amber. Abby turned around and put her hand over her mouth and giggled.
"No. I mean, I am just telling you about them." Amber said dryly.
"Ok, cool. Because I can assure you, I'm not here trying to do that." Billie said, finishing her beer and getting up to order another.
"I got it." Gabe said, walking up to the bar.
"It's ok. You don't have to do that." Billie said.
"I want to. And you are here with us so you have to do the ceremonial pre-show shot with the group. It's tequila. Hope you can handle it." He said, ordering shots and her beer.
"I think I'll make it." She said.
"Good. It's nice having you around, I think." He said, taking the tray of drinks to the table they were all sitting at.
"To the worst band to ever play the best songs." Gabe said.
"To us!" Ricky said. And they all slammed the shots. Billie followed suit and they all high-fived and headed back to the stage.
They began their first set and Billie saw that Gabe was the lead singer and rhythm guitar player. His voice was raspy and a little off keyed but passionate. It was a hard rock band that tried to sound sludgy. Their songs were originals and Billie applauded that about them. They weren't terrible. They weren't great, either but that was just fine with her. She liked being out and listening to music again. It had been too long.
After the show, Billie grabbed her purse and thanked Abby for inviting her.
"This was great. And needed. Thank you so much." Billie said.
"Girl, you are cool as hell. I can't wait to hang out again. Call me, okay?" Abby said, sitting down on Tommy's lap. He looked less than happy about it.
"Hey, walk you to your car?" Gabe asked as he closed the latch on his guitar case.
"Actually, I'm on foot. I don't have a car." Billie said.
"I'll give you a ride then?" Gabe asked. It was late and five mile the walk back to her hotel sounded like no fun at this hour.
"Ok. That would be awesome, actually." Billie said.
"Cool. Let me get my shit." He said.
He came back soon after and walked her to the door. She looked back to see Amber staring at them. Billie waved and blew her a kiss.