Chapter One

Silver

Silver looked at the massive building in front of her, the buzzing crowd around causing her ears to ring and a small headache begin to throb behind her eyelids. She never was able to deal with a lot of noise or people, and why she felt working in a bar was suitable for her, she’ll never be able to explain.

The pay was good though and at this point she just really wanted something to support herself, so she’ll deal with her phobia in silence.

Flattening down her shirt, she pushed her glasses higher up on her nose, saying hello to Erik, the giant of a bouncer that stood just outside the building, guarding the place.

She made her way into the bar. The booming sound of the music, giving her a sensation that her heart was beating in her throat, making her swallow a few times in order to adjust. No matter how many times she walked through the doors of the bar, she never got used to the scenario. She’d never understand why the music was so loud or why the people in it thought it was fun to drink until they got drunk off their faces then indulge in weird things, like making out in public or laughing obnoxiously loud.

The bar was packed full of people as always, drinking and talking, and the temperature was already causing her to break out into a sweat.

The Blue Phoenix, was the most popular bar in the area. It offered a variety of drinks and cocktails that were simply to die for.

The Elites as well as the simple college students had offers for them. It was usually always packed to the brim especially on the weekend nights like these.

Silver made her way to the back, where she could put her things in a locker meant for the employees. She put an apron around her waist, getting ready for another night waiting the tables and dealing with all forms of humans.

Her job wasn’t a fun one, she was sure of that. Sending a silent prayer that the night goes well and she didn’t have to get through any drama trying to fend off the disgusting men that were always trying to grope her when she served their tables. She pushed her bag and home keys into a locker, before closing it shut and turning the key in the lock, slipping that into her apron for safe keeping.

Silver was what could only be described as a Belle. She was one of those faces that just seemed to stick into anyone’s memory and create such a beautiful image in their minds. With Mocha colored skin thanks to her African American origins, and black curly hair with little bangs that fell to her eyes; eyes that were a striking emerald green, and although protected by her large circular frames they couldn’t be hidden at all. She was a head turner and the men always seemed to be trying to get her attention.

Silver was thankful that the manager at the Blue Phoenix was a good one and that he always kept an eye on his employees, coming to the rescue each time any group of people started to misbehave or harass her or her coworkers.

The security especially always had his eyes out for her, Erik spent a ridiculous amount of time teasing her small stature. Silver was really small compared to anybody, her friends/coworkers always tried to protect her whenever they could, so she barely had to worry about being harassed, she just didn’t enjoy the scene that came with it.

Pulling her full, curly hair into a band and out of her face she turned around and prepared to leave the room. Running into a hard wall. Silver took a step back, moving her glasses up her nose once to prevent it from falling and rubbing her head to ease the slight pain that came with the impact. She looked up to see that she had hit her coworker.

“Hi Shortie! Didn’t see you there.” Ethan said. She flashed her pearly whites at him. Hitting his arm playfully.

“Don’t call me Short. You meanie. How are you?” She laughed softly, while Ethan chuckled along with her.

“Oh! I’m alright, you know another fun night, mixing drinks, talking to strangers about their lives and watching everyone slowly get drunk. Phew! I lead such an interesting life.” Silver bursts out into laughter, her eyes crinkling slightly. Everyone knew what a dramatic Ethan could be and it was fun to be honest, watching him perform his theatrics all the time.

“Okay drama queen, you should head back out before Tom comes for your head.” Smiling lightly at him, she stretched out to pat his shoulders and walked past him, into the corridors that lead to the bar. Taking a deep breath, as the sound of the music seemed to get louder in her ears. She had no idea how anyone could really enjoy this, it felt like torture to her sensitive ears. Making her head become fuzzy from the volume of it.

Silver was a very shy person and around people that she wasn’t familiar with, she always seemed to shrink on herself, wanting to disappear in unfavorable settings. Around her friends and people that she knew though, it was a different story entirely. She became such a lively person, smiling and joking around as much as she could.

Just as she rounded the corner into the bar, a group of powerful looking men shuffled in, causing Silver’ heart to beat even faster. The bar went quiet save for the music blasting around. The men didn’t seem to notice though, it felt like this kind of attention, they were used to getting. The aura that came off the men was enough to make her weak in the knees. She never had been great at dealing with intimidating presence; and knowing that she would have to wait their table caused a small bead of sweat to start to form on her forehead. She wished this once though that Jenna wasn’t sick, she would have pleaded with all she had to make her wait the table.

She wiped her palms against her apron to rid them of sweat and took several breaths in to try and steady her racing heart. Holding the pencil and pad in her small hands even tighter she walked up to the men that had settled in the far end of the room. Away from most of the noise and attention.

Forcing her feet to work with her, she pushed her way through the tables, becoming more and more flustered the closer she got to their table. Feeling her breath and heart rate quicken. She hoped she didn’t mess up or do something stupid like stutter or mess up the order. She could see the men having a conversation that her little ears couldn’t quite grab. Clearing her throat slightly she said in a small voice. “Hi, my name is Silver. I’ll be your waitress for today. What can I get for you?”

Silver was surprised at how her voice barely shook. Thankful too. It took a lot of composure on her end though because these men before her, she could just tell that they weren’t to be messed with. She kept her head slightly bowed in submission refusing to meet any of their eyes. Their presence commanding all forms of respect from her.

One of the men raised his head slightly, taking a moment to take her appearance in, he hummed softly in appreciation and addressed her with a deep voice. “Bring us tonight’s special.” He replied her curtly, turning his attention back to the conversation at the table.

Silver hurried away, thankful that she was away from the suffocating presence of the men. Each of the men stood at 6’2 the least. Making them all stand a good foot over her tiny frame. They could snap her into two if they wished. The thought alone did nothing to calm her already racing heart. While Ethan prepared the drinks, she couldn’t help but watch the men and notice how immersed they seemed to be in their conversation. One of the men in particular stood out to Silver. There seemed to be a lot of power pouring out of him and it made Silver shiver lightly. His handsome features though seemed to draw her in, and when he turned his head in her direction, the ocean blue of his eyes caused her to release a soft gasp.