Intermission - Diana’s day shift.

Diana hadn’t worked a wide variety of jobs, thankfully due to the fact she’d been lucky enough to keep almost all of them until she decided to leave of her own accord. If there was something she’d noticed, however, was the culture disparity between day and night shifts. It was like everyone had their own idea of how things should be done and believed the other shift did them wrong.

This was Diana’s second day experiencing the day shift at the bar and she was somewhat disappointed. It wasn’t like the place was a disaster. Luke always made sure to hire competent people. But the atmosphere of the place was not just different, but way too casual. The part-timers here seemed to come from working at a sports bar. A lot of their work was also very inefficient, slow and worst of all, loud.

Despite being an inappropriate flirt, Dylan was quick, highly competent and had good communication with the team. Oliver, of course, was incredibly quick on his feet. A customer was rarely waiting more than a couple of minutes, and if there was any task that either Diana and Dylan were too busy to do, Oliver would fill in without even needing to tell him. The day shift, however, seemed to believe their customers would wait for them as much as they needed to so long as the end result was good. And to be fair, it was. The group here was meticulous… but that wasn’t enough. They needed to both serve good drinks and serve them quickly, elegantly and respectfully. That was the atmosphere Luke Allen wanted for this place.

She hopped on her car, more tired than any other night despite the quantity of customers being lower than even the slowest nights. She knew she needed to fix things, but… she was afraid.

She had full authority on any and all matters regarding the bar. If she called Luke and told him she wanted to replace every single employee, he would let her do it. She had full power to put her foot down and demand her co-workers changed how they did things… but that would make her hated yet again. Like always.

Before, Diana would’ve told herself that she wasn’t at work to make friends and would do what was necessary to properly perform her tasks. But by now she understood that was the mentality that got her so… isolated. She had done it to herself.

…

What would Oliver do?

By the time she realized it, she had arrived home. Not her old house, but Oliver’s house. She parked her car outside the garage. Her legs felt heavy as she stepped out, her heart and mind troubled.

The front door opened before she even reached it. Red came out jumping and began to run circles around her while sniffing her legs and sometimes even hitting her with his aggressively wagging tail. Diana couldn’t help but smile, kneel down and pet her good boy.

“I thought he’d get used to the house quickly since he’s been fine on weekends,” Oliver said, looking at them from the doorway. “But he’s been missing you all day, apparently. At least since we got back.”

“That I was out during the day likely doesn’t help,” Diana said, scratching Red behind the ear one last time before standing up.

Oliver stepped out of the way to let her inside, but even before she knew what she was doing, Diana reached out, grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards her, hugging him hard and sucking in a breath. Like always, Oliver understood immediately. He hugged her back without saying anything. He rubbed her back and gave her a comforting kiss on the cheek.

It was only at times like these that Diana really didn’t like being taller than him. She wanted to hide her face in his chest, but the height difference made even hiding in his shoulder a little awkward.

“I want a drink…” she muttered.

Oliver held her hand, squeezed it, kissed it, then led her to the bar on the first floor.

“What do you want?” he asked, stepping behind the counter.

“No, let me. You’re in the middle of making dinner, right? I can smell it.”

“I’ve got pasta cooking and that’ll be there for the next 15 minutes,” he said with a reassuring smile. “Let me make you something for once.”

Diana smiled and let out a heavy, tired sigh before she sat down at a stool by the counter. She looked at the rack behind Oliver, nearly full. Diana had brought everything she had at home and Maria had gifted them quite a few bottles of liquor. Not all of what they had here was full, but it was more than enough to make most of the classics.

“Give me a negroni,” she said.

She watched Oliver work with pride swelling in her chest. The way he moved now was nothing like it was in the beginning. He was smooth, quick, from the way he picked up bottles to how he handled the jigger. He stopped for a moment before he began stirring the mixed drink with the ice, however. He took a deep breath, then began. His eyes seemed to be looking beyond the drink itself, past even the ice inside. When he was done, he poured the finished negroni into a glass and garnished it with a freshly cut orange peel.

“If you feel anything unpleasant, I’ll make you a normal one,” he said.

Diana licked her lips in excitement. This was a cocktail made with magic. Not only was she excited to taste it, but it was even more exciting that Oliver deemed it worthy of serving to someone. He’d been against it since the harmless incident at her previous house some months back.

She tasted it carefully, wetting her lips on the cold drink before she took a sip. Her excitement faded, and in its place… a familiar sort of calmness washed over her. She took another sip and felt her body relax to the point she had to stretch and move her shoulders to keep herself from melting.

She grinned and looked at her boyfriend. “It’s… like the afterglow of an orgasm,” she said bluntly.

Oliver let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Then it’s a success.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’ve been trying to get an effect that’s… sexual in nature because that’s what I’m good at, but I didn’t want it to cause arousal because testing that can be… tricky. I still think it needs work, but…I think we can call it a success, don’t you think?”

Purely as a negroni, it certainly passed the quality test. Diana would’ve chosen another brand of vermouth, would’ve used more ice and wouldn’t have stirred as long, but it was still something they could serve at the bar. The lingering effect it had, though… It put it on another level, or perhaps another category entirely.

She took another sip, a bigger one this time. She felt her body warming up, and not from the alcohol. She felt a lingering, relaxing pleasure that coursed through her body from head to toes, and especially between her legs. It really was like the afterglow of a nice little climax.

“How was work?” he asked her, now finally letting his worry show.

Diana gently shook the glass in her hand, wanting to hear the ice clicking. She smiled. “I’ll tell you over dinner. With everyone else.”

Oliver smiled. “Okay.”

Diana’s chest felt warm, and this time it wasn’t from the drink or its effect on her.

Coming home from work to dinner with the people she loved… It was exactly what she’d been missing in her life.

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