Stress.

I did as I told Diana I would. I went to the kitchen and warned the staff there about the guy who had a bit too much to drink and had gotten violent. I did the same with the guys at security, and I was a bit relieved to see that everyone was of the same mind. Since the customers hadn’t done anything wrong YET, and the fight had been avoided, the best thing to do was to keep them distracted and relaxed.

After doing that, I began making my way back to the bar, but with my mouth dry, I stopped by the break room to get a bottle of water. I… could barely drink from how knotted my throat felt. I started to come down from the adrenaline rush and felt myself weaken. I had to go back to Diana, but… I had to give myself a minute.

I breathed deeply, trying to calm my racing heart, and tightly gripped my knee as if doing that would **** my legs to stop shaking. A dull headache also began to hit me.

We’d had a few troublesome customers before, but nothing too big. A few insults thrown here and there, some flirting taken a step too far, nothing that was too hard to handle. This, however…

I had to stop Diana from intervening, not because I didn’t think she could handle it or anything, but because… I felt the danger to my very core.

Reading emotions here, at work, comes way easier to me than anywhere else. The lascivious atmosphere seems to compliment my powers. It’s because of that that I could tell. The ****, the jealousy, the lust and a naturally aggressive personality mixed together and boiled over for both of those men. When they stood up, they did so fully intending to hurt the other.

I don’t know if Diana could’ve stopped them before anything happened. It’s very possible that she could’ve. But the idea of her putting herself at risk there… I had to do it myself, even if I didn’t know what I was doing, but if someone had to be between those two when things went south, it had to be me.

I don’t know how I managed it. I was able to say the right things in the right ways and managed to distract those guys from their anger towards each other. It was pure, dumb luck.

I barely drank ¼ of the water bottle, but it was enough. I took another deep breath and got on my feet, forcing strength to my weak legs. I couldn’t waste time here. Diana was holding the fort alone.

I went back to the bar and saw that everything was normal. The quiet atmosphere had returned, but there was still a lingering awkwardness from everyone.

“Everything okay?” Diana asked me.

I nodded, then went over to each and every table to apologize for the scene, hoping my reassurance that everything was fine would let our customers go back to enjoying their night peacefully.

“No need for apologies, young man,” one of the men at the cubicle told me. They were a group of four, two men and two women. “You handled that excellently.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said with a bow. ”Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, we’ll be retiring for the night. I think we’re due another kind of excitement now,” the man said, grinning and winking at me.

The group of four left together, giving us more space to breathe. The other tables also said they were grateful for the way I handled things, and I had to stop myself from admitting that I got lucky.

I went back behind the counter to clean things, and was almost startled when I saw my classmates there. I had almost forgotten about them…

“I’m really sorry about the scene there,” I told them. “Do you need anything?”

“Forget about us. How are you doing?” Steven asked me. “Everything alright?”

I sighed, **** a smile and nodded. “Yes. Security is keeping an eye on the man in the restaurant, so they’ll stop him if he tries anything again. Please, don’t worry.”

“Oliver,” Diana said, approaching me. “Take a break. Things are calming down here. I can manage.”

I shook my head. “I think I’d rather keep myself busy.”

“Of course you would.” Diana sighed and shook her head. “Fine. Stay here, then. Wash the dishes and pour drinks. I’ll wait tables for a while.”

I nodded. She clearly wanted to give me some space, and I appreciated it. And doing the dishes did give me some time to talk to my classmates.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Eric asked me.

“You saw that, right? Nothing happened. It’s the best outcome we could’ve hoped for. It’s best for everyone if we put it behind us.”

“Right, let’s not keep bringing it up,” Ruby said. “Instead, let me tell you that you were right. Diana’s cocktails are something else.”

This time, my lips curled into a genuine smile. “Aren’t they? I don’t like drinking much, but it’s hard to say no to her cocktails.”

“I always thought it was just a fancier, more expensive way to get drunk,” Steven said. “But you really don’t get this taste from those canned cocktails.”

“Ugh, you drink those?” Luna asked with a disgusted face. “I’ve had them twice and they gave me the worst hangovers ever.”

“They’re fine, but it’ll be hard to go back to those after this.”

“I think that’s the first alcoholic drink I ever had, only it came in a glass bottle instead of a can,” I told them. I remember it was at Thomas’ house, that time when we got together with Ben and Kevin.

“I don’t remember what my first drink was, and I will not elaborate,” Luna said.

That got a good laugh out of all of us, and I for one really needed it.

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