Free TheOneandOnly by Tori Carson Page A

clearly.
    As Sean opened the door to the arboretum, Michelle stopped
dead in her tracks. Three servers were standing around talking, a common enough
sight, except they were only wearing waist-high aprons. If it weren’t for
Sean’s arm around her waist, she’d have probably have run back to his office
and hid for the rest of the night.
    “Good evening. I’d like you to meet our new bartender,
Michelle,” Sean greeted his serving staff.
    Michelle kept her eyes on their faces. She was so
embarrassed and knowing her face was as red as a beet didn’t help any either. She
reached out to the girl closest to Sean and they shook hands.
    “Hi, I’m Chrissy. It’s so good to meet you. We were all
wondering if we were going to have to take turns working behind the bar.”
    “I’m Ethan. It’s nice to meet you. If you need any help,
just give a holler. It’s pretty busy for the first couple of hours, then
everyone heads off to enjoy themselves. It picks up again around elevenish.
I’ve tended bar before, so if you need help just let me know.”
    “Great. Thank you.” The music suddenly started playing—a
driving beat vibrated through the ground and the lights dimmed.
    Sean pointed toward the last server. She looked as if she’d
been sucking on a lemon. It didn’t take much to figure out she was one of the
ladies Dana had been talking about.
    “Michelle, this is Stella. Stella, please welcome Michelle.”
    “Welcome.” Stella replied in a tone that spoke volumes.
Michelle caught Stella’s eyes taking in Sean’s arm around her. Stella gazed for
few moments at Michelle’s collar then gave her a once-over. Michelle noticed
Stella’s eyes pausing at her knees.
    “I look forward to working with all of you.” She pulled out
of Sean’s arms and took refuge behind the bar. As she did whenever she was
nervous, she started cleaning. The cleanliness of her apartment was the best
barometer of her stress level. Clean apartment, high stress. Messy apartment,
low stress. Funny how that worked.
    Sean took a seat at the far end of the bar. “Come here,
honey.”
    Michelle took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she
turned to face him. His arms were laid across the bar with his hands beckoning
her to come to him. She was powerless to ignore him. Right now, with her world
sliding off its axis, his touch was her only steadying force. Flashing him a
smile she really didn’t feel, she dropped her hands in his.
    “Remember to breathe, honey. You can do this, and if you
need a break, turn it over to Ethan and relax in the office. I’d prefer you
didn’t go roaming around just yet.”
    A real smile lit her face and she gave him an honest chuckle.
“Oh, no worries there. I can’t tell you how grateful I am the bar is close to
the exit.”
    As soon as the doors were opened, people began pouring in as
if the club were a shopping mall on the day after Thanksgiving. The next hour
or so flew by. Most of the members were very kind. She just had to remember to
look them in the eye and glance nowhere else.
    The only person who worried her was the man sitting at the
opposite end of the bar from Sean. He’d been there since they’d opened. She
hadn’t had the chance to speak much to him, but he wasn’t wearing a wristband
and she wasn’t sure what that meant. There were so many questions she hadn’t
thought to ask. She couldn’t wait until she had a few minutes alone with Sean.
    Michelle glanced at him over her shoulder. He’d been
greeting members as they came in, and chatting with a few. He looked relaxed—lucky
him. She doubted she’d ever be comfortable working here. Seven more months until
she graduated—she couldn’t see herself working here that long. She chuckled to
herself, not sure she wanted to work seven more hours in this environment.
    Stella made her way to Sean. Michelle stopped what she was
doing and watched as Stella kneeled before him with her hands behind her back.
Michelle’s stomach turned over,