Life behind the bar at Aphrodite's had proven to be a lot more fun than Scout had originally imagined. After her first incident on the roads here, she told Aaron she'd prefer to start working the day shift, and he thankfully obliged. She was grateful driving at night wouldn't be in the cards for a while, though she was surprised she hadn't run into that Hayden guy yet. 

     The day crowd at the club was a lot busier than she had anticipated, and she ended up making some pretty great tips and meeting a lot of the locals. Sure, it was a strip club, but people from all walks of life usually ended up coming through the club's front doors. Not all of them watched the dancers, a lot of them ended up just hanging around the bar and chatting. 

     In the middle of the day, the dancers all took a break, and most of them would come over to the bar and catch up. Scout was able to get to know Aphrodite's staff, and later learned that there were usually nine dancers that performed throughout the workday and night, but mostly Callie, Cleo, Polly, and Talia hung around for the day shift. 

     Callie seemed to be the leader of the group, and it turns out she was the dancer who had been so helpful to Scout on that very first day. On the unusual days when it was slow, Callie would bring out her guitar and perform for the staff, her melodious voice filling the darkened room ringing clear like a bell.

     It was on one of these days when Callie was performing that Scout hardly even noticed a patron walk through the front doors. She was so engrossed in the song Callie was singing about leaving home and meeting new friends.

     "Beautiful, isn't she?" A voice thundered. Scout was so entranced by the song's relatable lyrics that the voice made her jump. "Sorry for scaring you. Callie has a way of sucking her audience in."

     "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention. What could I get for you?" Scout asked. She looked at the guy in front of her and her breath nearly caught in her throat. He had dark blue eyes and curly blonde hair that rested messily across the crown of his head. 

      "Whatever you're having," he said as he ran his hand through his hair. Scout's first thought was that he must've been drunk to not have noticed that she was standing behind the bar. 

     "Um...I'm working..." she corrected him. The stranger just laughed. 

     "Come on, have a drink with me. You must be new in town, otherwise, I'm sure I would have remembered meeting you." Heat flushed Scout's face. The guy was hot, to be sure. But she wasn't really in the mood to be hit on right now, she was enjoying hanging out with the other girls at the club. 

     "How about a beer? You look like you'd like a beer," she said as she pulled one of the taps down and filled up a glass. She grabbed a cardboard coaster for the guy and put the drink in front of him.

    "So you admit you're looking at me," he said slyly. Scout couldn't help but roll her eyes. Callie had just finished up her song and she noticed the eyes of several of the girls on her and this bold stranger.

     "Listen buddy, you're barking up the wrong tree," she said, hoping that would shut him down. 

     "Oh, I see. You play for the other team, then. Good for you," he said as he held up his pint in mock salute. 

     While Scout had experimented with girls in the past, A) as much as she hated to admit it, she preferred dick and, B) that wasn't any of this guy's business. She walked away from the guy and began to polish off some of the clean glasses in another part of the bar. Very far from this unwelcome guest. 

     Cleo sauntered up to the bar next to Scout and smiled. "Is Zeke bothering you?" 

     "Friend of yours?" Scout asked with a smirk. She couldn't imagine Cleo being associated with the shameless flirt at the other side of the bar. 

     "Please," she said, giggling as Scout chuckled. "While he might not exactly be a friend, everyone in town knows Zeke, whether or not they want to..." It was unlike Cleo to be coy. Out of all of the dancers, Cleo was the gossip, though she much preferred to go by the "storyteller." If anyone wanted to know anything, it seems like everyone in the town went to Cleo.

      That was something that surprised Scout about all of the club's dancers. Aphrodite's wasn't your average strip joint. While some of the townsfolk came around to slip singles to the unbelievably sexy dancers, most came to talk or listen to the girls. 

     Talia often spoke with the guests who were dealing with grief, since she always found a way to make people laugh. Cleo was visited by all the neighborhood gossips who wanted to hear any juicy tidbits about the residents of Orion's Ridge. Lots of folks came to watch Callie sing, that much was obvious, but Scout couldn't figure out what Polly's whole "deal" was. 

    Polly was definitely the most grave of all the dancers. While Callie seemed to be the leader, Polly had some serious "den mother" vibes going on. Whenever Talia was about to drop some gossip, she always checked over her shoulder to make sure Polly wasn't behind her. If the pensive dancer heard her, she would silence Talia instantly by raising one of her manicured, slender fingers to her ruby red lips.

    "Is Zeke like, the mayor or something?" Scout asked, leaning over the counter. Talia shifted in her seat and checked around the two, clearly making sure Polly was distracted. 

      "Something like that. Zeke and his two brothers practically run this town. Their family's kinda like the founders of Orion's Ridge. It feels like they've been here for centuries," she said, laughing to herself. 

      "That's funny, cause he seems so humble," Scout teased, and together, the two girls laughed. 

     Their laughter got a little out of control and caught the attention of their source of amusement across the bar. Zeke's brows furrowed and he swiveled on his stool to face them. "Refill," he said, holding up his empty pint and shaking it in the air. 

     Scout rolled her eyes and grabbed his glass, placing it back under the tap. When she put the refilled drink back in front of him, she smiled sardonically. "Is there anything else I can get for you, your majesty?" She could hear Talia's giggle as the dancer walked back to the stage. 

     Zeke chuckled, and Scout was amazed as his laugh seemed to fill the empty club. She watched as he downed his beer in one go, and when his eyes met hers, they seemed to have darkened.

     "What are you doing here?" He asked.

     "How do you mean? I work here," she retorted. He waved his hand back and forth in disagreement.

     "That's not what I meant. I meant here, in Orion's Ridge. We never get people in from out of town, and you don't exactly...how should I put this? Fit the bill of a local." Scout bristled at his suggestion that she didn't belong when she had been trying her hardest since she got here to make things work and to fit in. She guessed that now, that meant entertaining assholes like this.

     She had let her guard down and believed that she had been making friends. She had a job, sure, but outside of Aphrodite's, what did she have? The answer made her shudder. At least back in Las Patamenas, she had people, but weren't those people the same reason she left?

     Without acknowledging what he said, she took off the apron tied around her waist and threw it on the counter. Lifting up the partition that separated the safety of the bar from the public, she walked towards the doors. "Polly, tell Aaron that I'm taking five," she grumbled as she walked out, Zeke's laugh echoing hauntingly behind her.