Working Hard or Hardly Working (Open)

[Kadence McAvoy]

Another night at work. That was life, working, paying bills and sleeping. Well, that's how it was for Kadence. She slept during the day which left very little time for anything else. But she was okay with that. Her job was what she lived for now and the social life would come later. Heck, her job was practically all the socializing she needed. She met knew people every day, flirted with anyone that wanted to flirt and made some interesting friends. That being said, she couldn't say it was better than the free time she had at home. Nick always kept her occupied.

As she wiped down the unpopulated counter space, she glanced around taking the scene in. There was always so much to see when she was working. Dates, hook-ups, office drinks, many different things happening all at once. This was different than working at the House. There, more people were focused on the dancing and performing than they were on socializing. It was still a great atmosphere. Everyone that thought working as a bartender was a waste of time truly didn't understand what it was like working as one. They were missing out on a party every night and getting paid for it. People even bought her drinks! But being the working girl she was, she never really drank them, that was what the spit bottle was for.

As she looked around the bar, she watched her co-worker helping out two people that were in the midst of just meeting. People watching always had fascinated her. Watching people pick each other up for one night stands. Watching people drink their sorrows away. There was always something to watch. She went back to re-stocking the alcohol and doing actual work until someone came up to her side of the bar. Man, her boy Van was popular today.

[Niko Gallo]

Niko wasn't much of a drinker or partier, not in the way that his older brother Eric professed to be. He didn't really understand getting wasted at an underage party just "because", mostly because the goal of that always seemed to be hooking up, and that idea never really appealed to him. He liked learning about people more than the idea of sleeping with them; he unsurprisingly didn't keep girlfriends for very long. If that was the reason why, hey, more power to them. They deserved someone who could take care of them completely, and he just wasn't that guy. Not that he felt bad about it - he totally wished them all well and good luck. Water off a duck, as his Babba said.

Still, when it finally hit him that he was 21 and he could drink legally in the states, the Greek decided, 'hey, why not go out to a bar and meet some folks?' It wasn't the only place he had, but working for Mr. Bernstein could be hectic, even with Damien leading him around.So... he hadn't much time to himself. So, right after he clocked off and gave Callie a call to see how she was doing, Niko meandered his way to Pilot Ridge's homey Club District.

After checking out a few places and deciding they were too crowded or rowdy or loud, he settled on one that seemed to have a slightly calmer air about it and walked in, loosening his tie and the top button of his dress shirt (dark blue today, to match the patterns on his black vest), his jacket carried over the crook of his other arm. Since he was fresh from work, Niko was a little more trussed up than he usually was comfortable with, but the suits he'd finally bought were really comfortable and he'd stopped noticing once the weather cooled.

Sidling up to the bar where a pretty blonde girl stood behind the counter, Niko flashed a grin at her and smoothed back his hair out of habit. It was starting to get longer again, but at least he shaved today. "Hey pretty lady," he called out just loud enough to be heard over the music and the crowd at the other end of the bar. "Got any Ouzo?"

He wouldn't be surprised if the Greek liquor wasn't served here; it was a surprisingly high alcohol content for what was technically a liqueur, and a lot of people stateside weren't fond of licorice. But it might be an odd enough request to get her attention. At least he hadn't asked for mead. "If not, I'm up for something new."

[Kadence McAvoy]

Kadence had just turned back from restocking the shelves when a man came up to the bar and offered her a smile. He was cute, well cute enough she guessed, ya know, for being a guy. She was allowed to look of course, luckily enough Nick wasn't nearly as over-bearing as Mason had been about other guys. Sure, he was a bit possessive, but she didn't have much room to be upset about it since she was much the same. And she felt they both had a right to be. She didn't want anyone else outside of Nick and she liked to think that he was thinking the same way. But as stated, looking and admiring looks was not something that would cause a problem for her, after all, it was kind of inevitable.

She had gotten good at being able to hear over the crowd and music. Everyone said she'd go deaf, yet her hearing was actually really good all things considered. He ordered Ouzo and she nodded, surprisingly enough they actually did have it. Her boss was one of those types that had a little of everything because everyone had different tastes. Clearly this guy liked the taste of bitter, cough syrupy alcohol. Kadence wasn't going to judge though. For all she knew he could actually be Greek and would have grown up with the stuff. Still. Just the smell of it caused her stomach to churn. This guy had to have quite the tolerance level to put up with that junk.

After pouring it, she set it in front of him. "Boss man doesn't like going without the international stuff. Seeing as how we tend to get some people from many different places," She smiled and went back to cleaning up her station, glancing over at her co-worker when she noticed things were slowing down. It was time for a new crowd to enter. The work crowd. They were over the first teenage rush, though she knew in a few hours there would be another teenage rush of kids trying to slip in using fake IDs. Her and Van had gotten really good at catching them though, it was something they were constantly betting on.

She finished up her re-arranging and leaned against the counter. This was probably the slowest time of day and seeing as how there was nothing else to do, she just kind of stood there, looking around.

[Niko Gallo]

If there was one thing Niko was reminded of frequently (especially by women), it was that he was attractive. He didn't really think of it in that perspective, but believed people when they said he was charming or cute simply because he'd been hearing it for most of his teenage (and now adult) life. He was very comfortable in how attractive he looked and did his best to keep it up... when he was working. Most times, he'd rather have just thrown on an old band shirt and a pair of jeans to go sketching some truly beautiful works of art; ones that would be around and stay beautiful long after he'd left Pilot Ridge again.

He was surprised that the liquor he'd asked for was not only in stock, but specifically carried. It made him laugh a little, and the brunette beamed a smile at the bartender in response. With a lift of his glass in salute, Niko replied with, "Is iyían!" before overturning the liquid into his mouth. It was strong - very strong - and the taste of black licorice filled his throat and mouth with a natural sweetness that kept on long after the liquid itself was gone.

With a sigh of contentment, the Greek put the glass back down (upright - he knew better that to stain the countertop) and gave the girl a smile. "Never gets old," he told her, smiling. He hadn't even noticed the bar had slowed down at all. "How long have you been tending bar?"

Hey, people were interesting. As interesting as architecture, even.

[Kadence McAvoy]

Kadence was a perfectionist when it came to her own appearance. Thanks to past boyfriends (or rather, past boyfriend) she was really insecure about her looks so she tried to make sure that there was nothing that anyone could dock her on. Her hair was always perfect, her teeth whitened and straight as possible, her clothes always very crisp and fresh. She was pretty obsessive when it came to her own looks because she had been told so many degrading things when she dated Mason that it messed with her head and screwed up her self-image.

She leaned back against the bar again after filling his shot glass and pursed her lips. It was turning out to be a really slow night, even with the change in groups. Sometimes, bartending wasn't nearly as fun on the slow nights because even when you could people watch, if there weren't many people there it took away from the entertainment. So she glanced back over to her bar mate and noticed that he too was having a bit of a slow down. She was going to have to see that she talked to him about how he managed to get all of the people tonight. Usually it was her that was the popular one.

When the guy spoke, she looked back at him and shrugged, "Bout a year. I worked as a waitress before since they wouldn't let me serve alcohol until I was of the legal age." Because clearly that was going to keep her from drinking right? No. She didn't drink nearly as much on her own because working at a bar Van often slipped her some drinks during the work hour (nothing that got her schnockered, but enough to keep her fun) and once she became a bartender, people constantly bought her drinks. "How about you? You're part of the office guy crowd, where you work?"

She had seen enough people come and go to categorize them by now.

[Niko Gallo]

Girls always seemed to look pretty... pretty much no matter what they did. Well, aside from Callie, but she was his sister and he could tease her if he wanted! (Still the most gorgeous Greek in all of Pilot Ridge.) The young clerk really didn't have any idea just how much work went into girls getting dressed up to go places, mostly because he didn't think about it. I mean, they didn't have to shave their faces to put make-up on, so... eh, whatever. Life's great mysteries.

Bartending and waitressing were actually pretty cool gigs, in Niko's opinion. You got to talk to people all the time, eat amazing food, and hang out with some pretty chill people. Granted, this came from a guy who'd only worked in a kitchen in a family restaurant for a month back in Greece, but hey - it was still pretty cool work. Still, when the pretty blonde asked him about office work, the Greek looked to her and then his clothes for a sec before laughing. He didn't even realize... well, he supposed he did work in an office, and did look business-y.

"I'm just an intern, really," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I mean, I don't have the schooling for really working for my boss, but he seems to like me okay. It's Bernstein & Adams firm, just up the way." Gesturing about in the direction he'd come from on the street, Niko added, "They're a civil law group, but really, I only file papers and run errands"

Still loads of fun and great work. And he got paid for it.