The Weekend Edition

"Agh!" Missie slapped the off button on her alarm clock. Why couldn't she ever remember to turn that damn thing off on Friday night. She'd basically worked from 8am to 3am yesterday, and now her alarm was waking her up at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning. She managed to reset it for noon then laid back down to sleep. Her phone was flashing on her bedside table. She really didn't want to check it, afterall, she shouldn't be awake yet. The responsible side of her was chanting, 'but it could be important'.

She laid there for five minutes before snatching the phone and checking the message. It was a text from Gina. "Need to talk about Thursday night. Call when you can." Missie groaned rolling over. When she'd woken up Friday Tommy was still passed out in her bed. She showered and fixed coffee and he was still asleep. Knowing that he didn't have to be at work until ten o'clock or so, she set her alarm for nine and scribbled a note for him. She'd been surprised not to hear from him, but it was ok. She didn't want him making a big deal out of having sex. She'd been horny and he was sad. It didn't have to mean anything. Maybe Gina got lucky Thursday and wanted to dish. That was probably it. Missie rolled over and went back to sleep. She'd call Gina later, after she'd recharged.

Missie woke up at nearly twelve-thirty. She had 4 hours til she had to clock in for the night. She rolled out of bed, brushing her teeth and snagging a diet coke from the fridge. She logged into her facebook while she dialed Gina. She'd been tagged in a few phone shots from Thursday night. One of the dudes had actually put, "She's touching herself" in the caption box. She rolled her eyes and scrolled back through the news feed.

"About time you drag your ass out of bed." Gina answered, laughing.

"Yeah? Well good morning to you too, friend." Missie spotted some pictures her cousin uploaded from her sorority party and clicked through. "What's going on?"

"You tell me, ho. I hear you had a good time Thursday night."

Missie sighed, "He told you about that, huh?"

"Well yeah. The question is, why didn't you tell me? I didn't know you were still jonesing over Tommy?"

"Is that what he said?" Missie exclaimed. "He came onto me, and it was just sex! I'm not jonesing over anyone."

Gina cackled and Missie knew she'd gotten herself caught in something. "I knew something happened."

Missie dropped her head, inwardly groaning, "Tommy didn't tell you anything did he?"

"Not a damn word. But I knew he was crashing at your place and I figured two young single bodies would find a way into the sack." She laughed. Missie did too. She should've known Tommy wouldn't have told Gina.

"It was just a one time thing, Gina. What happened with you and that guy you were hugged up with?" Missie deflected. Gina began to ramble on about her new friend. She'd caught a ride back with Stacey so they hadn't hooked up, but hey had a date tonight and they may come by the bar.

"That would be cool," Missie said. "I hate to rush off the phone but I need to shower and run some errands before work.

"No problem, girl. I'll talk to you later!" They hung up and Missie threw a load of clothes in the washer before getting into the shower. She got ready in 30 minutes and tossed her make-up bag in her purse.

She hated putting her make-up on so early in the day. She'd run her errands then put on her face before going into work. She had a shirt to exchange and needed to pick up a few bottles of wine for birthday gifts. She'd long ago learned that alcohol made a great present, and was relatively inexpensive.  She ran into a few extra stores to browse while she was out, but she didn't buy anything extra. Next week was payday, she might go back then and see if the cute little dress she'd liked was still on sale.

Once she got to McHale's she quickly fixed her make-up and hurried inside. She wasn't late, but she tried to be a little early to make sure the bar was set up the way she wanted before the dinner crowd came in.

She rushed in and got to work. The regulars came and went. It was getting close to eleven which was when things normally picked up. She saw Gina sweep in and make a beeline for the bar. She was alone.

"Hey!" Missie greeted her.

"Hey. Listen, I'm going to get sick and borrow your car later. I'll come back and pick you up at closing." Gina glanced back towards the door where her date was walking in. "I'll explain later."

Missie just laughed, "Ok." She handed a beer to the guy two stools down, "Three-fifty." She said. the guy handed her a five and winked.

"Keep the change, sugar." Missie smiled and Gina bit her lip. Once the older man walked away they giggled.

"Good crowd." Gina commented. Her date had slid in beside her.

"Hey, Missie right?" He stuck out his hand and Missie shook it, smiling.

"That's me. Sorry, I don't remember you're name."

"John." He smiled and put an arm around Gina's shoulders. she saw the displeasure on her friends face just before Gina excused herself to the restroom, leaving John at the bar with Missie. Luckily a couple of college kids walked up just then.

"Excuse me, John." She slid down to get their drink orders and wondered what about this guy had Gina so turned off, but she knew she'd find out before the night was over.

Missie stayed busy and about twenty minutes and two trips to the bathroom later Gina made a semi-production of asking for Missie's car keys so she could go to her mother's nearby because she was getting sick. John was clearly disappointed, saying he call her tomorrow, and he walked her to the car. Missie was surprised when he came back into the bar five minutes later.

"I hate that she is so sick. I hope she feels better before tomorrow." John watched while she mixed a round of shots.

"What's tomorrow?" Missie asked.

"My nephew's birthday party. I wanted her to come meet my brother and his wife." Missie stopped just short whipping around and asking 'What?!'. Instead she just nodded and swapped shots for a debit card.

"You wanna start a tab?" She asked the girl buying the round. She nodded and Missie went about jotting the order down and paperclipping it to the card and sliding it under the cash drawer. John stuck around trying to make small talk, but luckily they were pretty busy and she was able to avoid anymore true conversation. He left around midnight and Missie was buzzing. She tried to help the waitresses out some, as the tables were busier than her bar tonight.

Around one the crowd thinned some, but a group of about ten men came in, loud and obnoxious. It was easy to tell they'd probably be the ones to close the place down. she thought she recognized a few of them as friends of Stacey's. They sat in the big corner booth and flirted with their waitress, a new girl named Shelly. Missie tried to feel bad for her, but tonight would be as good a night as any to really learn the ropes.

She unloaded a rack of glasses that had come from the back and she when turned back around, she was surprised to see Mike.

"Hey, Missie." He smiled. He really was a good looking guy.

"Hey, how are you doing?" She asked.

"Pretty good. I was going to call you tomorrow," He nodded toward the back booth, "but on the way over one of the guys told me you worked here, so I figure I'm in luck." He winked.

Usually Missie hated guys who winked, but she figured she'd make an exception. "Why is that?" She teased.

"Cause now I get to ask you out in person." Smiling, she held up a finger for him to hold that thought and stepped down to wait on the couple that just walked up. Mike settled himself on a stool to wait while she fixed their drinks.

She was taking their money when she saw Tommy in the corner. Tucked beside him in the booth was Kendra. He saw Missie and casually lifted a hand in acknowledgment. Kendra saw her too and waved, smiling.

Missie smiled back and lifted a hand. She was glad he hadn't told her about the other night, and clearly if Kendra was smiling he hadn't. She went back down to where Mike sat at the end of the bar.

"About this date you're going to ask me on?" She grinned. Mike laughed and suggested they grab sushi Sunday night. Missie agreed and scribbled her address on a napkin for him. He stayed and flirted for a few minutes, but the bar started to fill up again and he joined his friends in the corner, promising to say bye before he left.

Missie finished the rest of the shift without any issue and Gina showed back up five minutes til closing. She passed Tommy and Kendra and stopped to speak to them on her way to the bar. Missie turned as her friend sauntered up to take a stool.

"Well, that didn't last long." She remarked, nodding her head back towards the couple. Missie just shrugged. The crowd of guys with Mike began making their way towards the door waving as they left. Mike trailed behind and gave her a little wave.

"Seven o'clock?" He pointed at her.

"Seven." She agreed and waved to him. When they'd cleared out Gina was leaning against the bar laughing.

"You'll have to fill me in on that one." She smiled. Missie tossed the bar towel over her shoulder and leaned against the back counter.

"Only after you tell me about Mr. Family Man." Both of the girls erupted into laughter and filled each other in on the evening while Missie cleaned up and closed down.