Official Bar staff

“Fuck do you mean? I didn’t forget!” Maki protests.

Erik gives her a judgmental look across the couch in her penthouse. “You sure about that?”

“I’m serious! We just started another girl and wanted to get her up to speed with you!”

“I’ve done like 4 shifts!” Erik protests. His count includes the first shift he had alongside Maki, where he spent more time perving than he did learning.

“Yeah, dumbass, she’s doing her fifth tonight, so you’re on the same level. You two will be doing shifts together now.” She looks him up and down. “Is that how you’re styling your hair today?”

He reaches up, gently touching his deceptively close-cut bed hair. “The fuck? What’s wrong with it? I thought it looked good.”

She shrugs. “You’ve had it look better.”

He grabs his phone, flipping the selfie camera on he checks himself out, his head turning. “I mean… I guess I need a cut, but it looks fine!” His voice indignant.

“Sure, buddy.” She says playfully. “Anyway, as I said, you two are working together today, combined shift, I’ll be there but the idea is that you two will be mostly running the bar. Tuesday night you should be safe.”

“Safe?” He asks.

“Busyness-wise.” She shrugs. “IF you’re shit you’re fired.”

Erik gives her a thumbs up in response.

He watches her stand up, her braless breasts jiggling slightly underneath her tee. “Wait, why did you bag out my hair?”

She turns and looks down at him. “We’re taking staff photos.”

“Why?”

“Having hot bartenders is a draw for people, they try and flirt and spend money on drinks. Obviously.”

…

She crosses the room, grabbing a yoghurt pouch from the fridge, she leans on the kitchen bench and looks at Erik. “How are you and Vi?” She probes, trying to see if there’s any doubt in Erik.

She doesn’t know how to feel when Erik starts to gush, overjoyed with the state of the relationship, obviously leaving out the more exciting details of their relationship, but on the surface, they seem to have an almost perfect relationship, which for some reason, a reason she can’t explain, arouses her.

She’s cheating on him. She has to remind herself of that annoying fact. She’s fun, she’s flirty, she’s so hot…. She looks so good when she’s flirting… she’s such a good hang… And it’s such a good time when they do hang.

“Fuck.”

She clears her throat. “Alright, alright, you two are killing it. Must be nice, I’m gonna go shower, and then I’ll meet you downstairs, say hi to Sasha if she’s down there.”

“Who’s that?”

“Who do you think?” She says, putting a hand on her hip.

“Right.” He laughs. “See you soon.”

Erik waits downstairs, talking to the day cleaner about his life, curious to know if he does anything else, it’s a bit interesting, he thinks. He does night classes, studying to be a vet. But he leaves soon, leaving Erik alone, no new girl seems to be coming in, the bar eerily empty. He thinks himself a freak for just sitting here, staring at a wall.

“Where the fuck is my phone?” He asks, patting his pockets. “Oh for-“ He says, realising that he left it upstairs, in Maki’s penthouse.

The elevator dings, stepping back out into the penthouse, he spots his phone, abandoned on the coffee table. He crosses the room and grabs it, he turns and there she stands.

Wrapped in a short bath towel, her eyes fixed on him, a teasing grin on her face. “Just like when we were back at home, hey? Is Sai somewhere around, perving on me too?”

Erik stares back, her slick legs, her deep cleavage, his monkey brain activates. “S-S- Sorry.” He says awkwardly, holding his phone up.

“Convenient.” She sneers, arms crossed below her sizeable breasts, only accentuating her generous chest. “The one time you forget is when I said I was going to shower.”

“I swear.”

“Sure.” She says, shrugging, uncrossing her arms. “Yet, you’re still here, staring. You like what you see or something?”

Erik doesn’t say anything, he just continues staring, and his body has a natural reaction to seeing a girl with large breasts and a curvy frame.

Maki’s eyes dart down and she sneers. “So… You DO like it.”

Erik finally reactivates, blushing and starting to move back to the elevator.

“Bye, stepbro, don’t turn around now.”

Erik stops, the white towel landing next to his feet, looking up at the elevator, the distorted silhouette of her naked body reflecting, not enough to show any details, but enough to tease. The elevator opens, he steps in, not daring to turn around as Maki snickers behind him, her voice cut off by the closing elevator doors.

Maki bites her lower lip, bending over to pick up the discarded towel. “Is fucking Vi rubbing off on me?” She asks herself, laughing. “Whatever. That was fun.”

—-

Maki steps out of the elevator, giving Erik a wink, which Sasha — the new girl, raises an eyebrow at interestedly.

“Hey, boss!” Sasha says, pushing herself off the bar. “Met your step bro.”

Maki smirks. “Clearly. What do you think of him?”

Sasha turns to Erik giving him a long look up and down. “Cutie.”

“Careful.” Maki says, probing for even more information. “He’s taken.”

“Is he?” Sasha says, hands going behind her back. “He didn’t say that. Naturally flirty are you?”

She hops over, bursting with energy. “Don’t worry. Me too, cutie.”

“That’s going to stick, isn’t it?” He asks.

“Oh yeah, I’m never calling you your real name, you’re my work cutie.”

Maki watches the interaction, carefully.

‘THEY’RE SO WEIRD?!’ Her inner voice roars.

Erik would be the kind of guy to usually shut that kind of flirting down. But he’s not. Not even close. It almost even feels like he’s trying to flirt, trying to come across as….

Open.

Maki can’t help that feeling she had. The feeling she had when she watched Vi and Ari on the cameras, stalking their socials.

Are they….

She sucks on her teeth, the two people in front of her seemingly forgetting her existence as they chat, Erik not leaning away from Sasha’s flirtatious lean-ins, accepting the hand on his shoulder.

But Maki can’t seem to rationalise it in her head. Are they just lying about their relationships? Are they both just…. Out of love and cheating? Well, Erik isn’t cheating…. As far as she knows, and of course she’s going to give the benefit of the doubt to her stepbrother.

No. Vi is amazing and fun to be around, but she’s definitely cheating. Erik is just being polite, he’s not really flirting. It’s just… Enjoying the attention.

She claps her hands together, grabbing the attention of the two. “Alright, enough yapping, let’s take these photos and get the night started.

“Photos?” Sasha asks.

“See! You didn’t tell anyone!”

“Whatever!” She replies to Erik, explaining the situation to Sasha, before directing the two to start posing and try to look hot.

“I’m running a business here!”

As she snaps photos of Sasha, Erik stands besides her, arms crossed. “When are you actually going to post these?” He asks.

Maki doesn’t have an answer, she knows posting these means exposing her connection to Erik to Vi. “Uhm… At the start of the next uni semester…”

“So specific.” He remarks.

“Yeah. Well. Ya’ll kids will be on your phones heaps, since you’ll be so sad to be back to studying.”

“Y’all?” He teases with a smirk.