Free Starting Fires by Makenzie Smith

tour of the back area. The hallway had a door that led to bathroom on the left and a large storage room on the right. The storage room ran around the back of the building, holding all of his filing cabinets, extra office supplies, and a few boxes of liquor. At the very back of it was an old, comfortable couch with a coffee table in front of it. Back here, I felt completely isolated with him. He stood so close, the heat from his body permeated through my clothes. Gingerly, he placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me to the supply cabinet in the back corner.
    “You should find everything you need in here,” he said as he opened the doors. “Extra printer and receipt paper, pens, markers, paper clips, staples… you get the idea.” I looked up at him and nodded. “Come on, let me show you the system I use.”
    I followed him back into his office and stood behind his chair as he showed me his bookkeeping program. Luckily, I was familiar with the software and it wouldn’t be confusing. “Yeah, I’ve used this one before,” I said, leaning over the back of his chair to analyze the computer screen. “If I have any questions, I’ll let you know.”
    Lucas stood from the chair and turned to face me. “I’ll be at the bar if you need me.” He started to move, so I stepped out of his way, but then he stepped into my way, so I stepped out of his way, and we were doing the awkward side step dance. Both of us nervously laughed. He placed his hands on my waist and slowly moved me to the side. “See you in a bit,” he said. My body tingled as he let one of his hands trail along my hip, across my stomach, and then brush my arm as he walked off.
    I let out a shaky breath before sitting in his chair to organize his receipts. If maintained properly, this should have only taken a few hours because of the size of his business, but with his disorganization, I was inputting data and balancing spreadsheets for nearly four. My eyes were tired and I was almost done, but I couldn’t seem to balance the last month’s invoices. I was rubbing my temples and sighing heavily when Lucas walked into the room.
    “How’s it going? You’ve been in here a while.”
    “I can’t seem to get these numbers straight and it’s giving me a headache, but I’m almost finished.”
    Lucas grabbed a rolling stool and brought it over to the desk. He squeezed in on my right and started looking over what I’d done. “Wow, Marzy. This would have taken me all day.” He turned towards me and smiled. “Thank you.”
    My headache subsiding, I smiled back. “You’re welcome. Now, if I can just figure out where I went wrong.”
    “Go up to the bar and take a break. I’ll find it.” I wouldn’t have minded staying in here with him, but I rose and walked out of the room. Just before I stepped out of his office, I glanced at him over my shoulder. He was staring at my backside again, but quickly brought his eyes to mine. “It should, uh, just take me a minute,” he said nervously. I smiled and left.
    It was a little after five, so the bar had just opened, but no customers had arrived. A younger woman was out stocking supplies. Her hair was short and blonde, and she was wearing a tight, black vest that showed off her stomach and cleavage. Noticing me, she smiled and waved me over.
    Up close, she looked hard. Not ugly, just hard. Like she would punch you in the face without thinking twice about it. She had a studded nose ring and a leopard print tattoo going up her neck. “You must me Marlowe,” she smiled.
    “That’s me,” I shrugged and sat down on one of the stools.
    “I’m Kate,” she reached her hand out to me. As we shook, she asked me if I wanted anything to drink. Not feeling alcohol, I opted for a Coke. “Let me know if you need anything else,” she said as she went back to cutting limes.
    One of the TV screens above the bar was playing a soccer game. I had no clue what was happening, but I watched it with rapt attention. By the time