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When I looked over at James, he wasn't smiling. Instead, he was biting his lip and looking at his watch. Finally, he said, "We really need to get groceries right now though. We have absolutely no food in the apartment and I we can't possibly afford to go out to eat right now. Maybe you can show Olivia the place where she can find a job tomorrow?"

Lars waved away James' sentence and started towards the doorway, "Why does she have to go with you to get groceries? You can go get groceries, go home, and then try out the lyrics to that song I gave you. Meanwhile, I can drive Olivia around and help her find a job. Just give me the address to your apartment building, and I can drop her back off there when we're done. What do you think about that? It's like killing a bird with two stones."

James continued to look at me hesitantly. I knew instantly that we were both thinking the same thing. On one hand, it would be a huge time saver if James went to get groceries while Lars helped me find a job. But on the other hand, me going off alone with Lars was rather risky. Like I had stated earlier, James and I barely knew Lars. For all I knew, he could turn out like Ray. Once James was gone, he could run away with me somewhere, and then do whatever he pleased with me.

Sensing our mixed emotions, Lars added, "Why not, guys? There's nothing to lose." Finally, I shrugged and looked up at James, waiting for him to make the final decision. I was still a little reluctant about being left alone with Lars, but I figured I couldn't live in a cloud of paranoia for the rest of my life. Most people in the world weren't like Ray.

"Well...okay," James finally agreed, shoving his hands into his pockets nervously. He walked over to the kitchen table, took a pen and pad of paper from Lars, and began scribbling down the address to our apartment. As he did so, I watched Lars a little closer. He seemed like a nice guy for the most part. He wasn't James, but maybe the two of us could be friends.

"Why don't you come over here around nine tomorrow morning?" Lars suggested as James finished writing down our address. "That way, you can meet Ron. That reminds me, I should probably redo our ad in the paper too. Now, if all goes well and you can sing, we'll just need a lead guitarist. We shouldn't have too hard of a time finding one."

James gave another small smile and added, "Nine sounds fine, but don't count on me being your singer. You haven't even heard me sing yet." Lars waved away James' protests as he started towards the other side of the room, "Yeah, yeah, but I have a good feeling about you. Anyways, you two can head outside. I'm gonna go pull my car out of the garage."

As soon as Lars left, James and I turned to each other. James looked down at me with a look of concern written all over his face, "Are you sure you're okay with this? I wouldn't normally leave you alone with someone, but Lars isn't a complete stranger to us now. Besides, he wouldn't do anything to hurt you. He knows that I would never join the band if he did that. And knowing Lars, there's nothing more important to him than starting this band. But again, if this makes you nervous, we don't have to do this..."

"I'm okay," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "Really, I'm fine. It would be good for me to get out on my own I suppose. I can't live in a little shell for forever you know." James nodded, seeing the truth in my sentence. Finally, he leaned down and nibble my lower lip before turning towards the door. I followed him out and stepped outside. Lars was already in a big, dark blue SUV and was waving to me to jump into the passenger seat next to him.

I gave James one last wave before I hurried across the driveway and slipped into the seat next to Lars. It only took a second before Lars and I had backed out of the driveway and were flying down the street. Lars traveled a lot faster in the car than James. It was clear that he had lived in the city for a long time. For a while, Lars and I just sat in silence. I wasn't very good at starting conversations, and had no idea what to say to this stranger.

After a few minutes, Lars decided to take initiative and start a conversation instead, "So Olivia, tell me about yourself. How long have you known James for? Are you two pretty close?" Those seemed like pretty personal questions to me, but I decided that Lars meant no harm by asking them and was just trying to be friendly.

"Well...I used to live in Downey," I started. "I went to high school there. I met James at the beginning of school last year, but I didn't really become friends with him until six months ago. And yeah, I guess we're pretty close." I figured that I probably should've asked Lars a question to keep the conversation going, but staying silent was just so much easier.

Lars apparently found my last statement funny, because he laughed and commented, "Well, I'd hope you two would be close if you're living and sleeping together." My face turned bright pink. Mumbling a little bit, I managed to say, "We're not sleeping together. We're just...uh...living together to save money." For some reason, it seemed important that Lars knew that the two of us weren't having sex. What that reason was, I did not know.

Lars turned towards me as we pulled into a parking lot, "God, you and James live together, but you're not like his girlfriend or anything? No offense or anything, but that's just kind of creepy!" Not sure what to say to that, I looked away from Lars and stared at my boots instead. Was it really creepy that James and I were living together? I hadn't thought so, but maybe Lars was right. Maybe it was a creepy thing to do. Jerking me out of my thoughts, Lars added, "We're here. You can get out now."

I looked up at the building we were parked outside. The building had a sign flashing in bright pink lights that read, "Tatou Super Club". I slowly got out of Lars' SUV and followed him into the building. He strode into the building confidently and humming a little tune. As we entered the building, my ears were greeted by blasting loud music, colorful lights, and a wide array of people. Lars took my hand and pulled me over to the bar area. He whispered to the man behind the counter and pointed to me. It was too loud in the club to hear what they were saying, so I just smiled and tried to look friendly.

After a few minutes, Lars slapped me on the shoulder and grinned, "There you go, girl! You've just got yourself a job. You'll help Marty serve drinks here. Your hours are going to be eight in the morning to eight at night. You get paid at the end of the week." I blinked and looked over at Marty. There was something familiar about him. He was tall with light blonde hair and blue eyes. Scrutinizing him closer, I could tell that he reminded me of someone, even though I hadn't met him before.

Figuring I should stop staring at Marty before I lost my newly acquired job, I turned to Lars and thanked him, "Well, thanks a bunch for this. Um, can you pick me up at eight and bring me to the apartment?" Lars gave me a condescendingly look, "God, you have a lot to learn about the city, girl! Haven't you heard of the bus?" My blank look told him that I had never taken a bus before. Rolling his eyes, Lars gave in, "Oh, fine, I'll come pick you up in a few hours. See you then!"

Lars disappeared through the crowd of people and I was left all alone with the strange Marty. There was something I didn't like about Marty, but I was just going to have to learn to ignore it. Suddenly, I was able to realize what it was that I didn't like about Marty. Marty had a freakish resemblance to Ray. They shared the same hair, smile, and eyes. A shiver ran down my spine as I headed towards Marty behind the counter. If I wanted this job, I was going to have to learn to get over my fears. Pushing them aside, I smiled and held out a hand towards Marty, "Hey, thanks for the job. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to work with you."

~ ~ ~ ~

To my surprise, the rest of the day passed by very quickly. I had been nervous that Marty would be a replica of Ray, but after working with him for just five minutes, I found him to be completely the opposite. Marty was very helpful and showed me where all the different drinks were located. He showed me how to fix margaritas and daiquiris, so by the end of the day, I was helping people with their drinks without Marty's help.

When Marty glanced towards the clock and said I was done for the day, I was surprised. The time had certainly flown by. After thanking Marty for the job and his help, I headed towards the door of the club, hoping Lars hadn't forgotten his promise to pick me up. It took me a good five minutes just to make my way to the door. The club seemed to be getting busier and busier as the night progressed. That made sense though I supposed. Most people did go to clubs at night.

Once I reached the door, I pushed it open with my shoulder and stepped outside. The night air was cool and goose bumps formed on my arms. Shivering slightly in the cold, I glanced around for Lars. To my relief, he was standing by the entrance, smoking a cigarette and looking bored. When he saw me, he smiled and motioned towards the SUV that he had parked only a few meters away. I followed him to it and leapt into the passenger seat.

Lars revved up the engine, pulled out of the parking lot, and started down the road. When we reached the highway, he turned to me and asked, "How did you like your job?" I grinned at Lars sincerely and gave him a little hug, "I loved my job! It was great. I met a lot of people, got to talk to a lot of people, learned how to make all kinds of drinks, and I got paid to do all that. It's awesome. Besides, Marty is really nice. We're already great friends."

Lars looked a little caught off guard by my sudden hug, but he quickly shook off his surprise as we rode through a green light, "I was pretty sure you'd like Marty. He's a real nice guy. You two should have a drink together after work or something." I frowned at that, but didn't say anything. Lars apparently didn't know that I was James' girlfriend. Oh well, maybe it was better if he didn't know about that though. He might just tease me about it. Who knew?

Only a few minutes later, Lars pulled up to the apartment building. It loomed tall and monstrous in the dark, placing the SUV into shadows. Lars motioned at the building, "Is this it?" I nodded and started getting out of the car. Lars continued, "Well, it was nice to meet you, Olivia. Make sure James is at my house tomorrow by nine! I don't have time for slackers!" I let out a little laugh and waved to Lars as he revved the car back up and drove away.

I hurried through the apartment's lobby, rode up the elevator, and then pounded on our apartment door. It was only now that I was realizing just how tired I was. The job working as the bartender's assistant had been fun, but it had been a lot of work. Luckily, James didn't make me wait at the door. As soon as I had finished knocking, the door swung open and James popped his head out. He sighed with relief when he saw it was me and opened the door wider. I stepped inside, shut the door behind me, and collapsed with exhaustion on the couch. The smell of some sort of food drifted through the air. Mm, it sure smelled good!

"How was your day?" James asked as he went to check on whatever it was that he was cooking in the kitchen. Even though I was tired, I replied enthusiastically, "It was great, actually! Lars was really nice and he found me a nice, high-paying job." I popped my feet up on the other side of the couch and leaned into its softness. It was the perfect remedy for sore bones.

James, who was clattering around noisily in the kitchen, asked, "So what are you working as and where are you working?" I rolled my eyes at all his questions, but replied, "I'm working at this place called the Tatou Super Club. I'm working with the bartender, Marty. He's really nice. He helped me learn how to-"

James cut off my sentence, abandoned whatever he was doing, and came back into the living room with a shocked expression on his face, "You're working at a club? Like a strip club?"