As she opened the doors of the closet in the motel, Esme was relieved that she had held onto the simple black dress she had worn the last time she worked as a server in a restaurant. It was plain and to the knee, cut in an A-line, and with small, cupped sleeves. It wasn’t low cut, but it wasn’t high in the neck either, and each time she slipped into it, she felt herself instantly become more professional. It was the kind of dress you could wear day in and day out, and as long as you changed something small to accessorize with, it would always look a little different. It was a capsule wardrobe piece, and it had served her well over the years. As she pulled it over her head and looked back at her reflection, she almost told herself off for even considering throwing it away before she set off on this part of her adventure.

She smoothed some pink blush onto the apples of her cheeks and ran a comb through her hair, before she swept it over one shoulder and pinned it behind her ear with a silver clip. She had no idea what the bar was going to be like inside, but she could only hope she wasn’t going to look too overdone, to make sure she had a back up, she pulled a little V-neck sweater on over the top of her dress and only wore small and simple jewelry. Walking down to the bar was going to be difficult in the snow, and so it was going to have to be a pair of flat ankle boots with some grip. She pulled them on and realized she looked a little strange, but she was going to roll with it. She wasn’t in the city now, and even if she was, she could always say she was trying to look grunge for a while.

She looked up at the clock and grinned. It was almost time for her to go and she was starting to get excited. Whenever she found herself in a new place and about to begin a fresh role, she loved the feeling of anticipation that came along with it. It had started to become addictive.

She pulled on her thick, fur-lined parka, and headed toward the doorway. She flicked off the light as she left and went out into the hall. The motel was always warm and cozy, and each time she set foot into the hallways or her own room, she was beginning to feel more and more at home there. Having been on the road for such a long time, Esme had pretty much seen it all when it came to accommodations, but there was something about this place that was different. It wasn’t just welcoming and homely, it was as if there was another force at play too. As if there could almost be magic within the walls.

She shook out her shoulders and tried not to let her mind wander all over again. She was such a careless daydreamer, and she had a habit of letting her mind run away with her. As she stepped out into the street and walked away from the motel, she felt as if she were in a true fairytale. At night, the town looked even more idyllic, and fairy lights and small fire pits were dotted around the whole of Main Street. Everywhere was filled with laughter, and there was something incredibly special in the air. She couldn’t keep the smile from her face as she walked toward the intersection, and she found herself smiling and saying hello to everyone she passed. It was clear that the happiness was rubbing off on her too.

As she turned the corner and saw The Nowhere Bar, the familiar thump of anticipation rippled through her as she gripped her hands tightly in the pockets of her coat and kept on moving forward. She could feel the boom from the bass underneath her feet, and although it didn’t look as if it were fully open yet, there was a queue of people waiting all down the side of the building, all wanting to get inside.

“Wow,” she whispered to herself. “It sure looks popular.”

She crossed the street and began to walk toward the main door. Out front, there was a tall, muscular man with a greying beard and an aging smile, gripping a clipboard and looking up and down at the crowd that was waiting.

Esme approached him nervously and was just about to open her mouth and speak up to ask him if he could let her inside, when suddenly, a piercing whistle shot through the night air and made her spin around on the spot to see where it had come from.

She had been so focused on the front door and at the crowd and all the people milling around, she had completely missed the set back and practically hidden side entrance. She squinted her eyes and stepped toward it, and then she stopped and smiled.

He was standing there, covered by the shadows, and he was smoking a cigarette and looking back at her. She couldn’t see his face, but she could tell he was grinning. There was an air of menace about him.

“You’re the girl who wants a job,” he said.

And she recognized his voice.

He was the man she had spoken to earlier. The guy with the green eyes. The one who had hidden behind the panel in the door and had given her the chance.

Now here he was hiding again, but this time, in the darkness.

“Hey,” she smiled, as she took another step closer.

She still couldn’t see him, but now the anticipation had turned slightly to nerves. There was something about him, and the fact that she had yet to see his face was making her anxious. She fidgeted nervously with the strap of her handbag and watched as he brought the cigarette up to his lips, and as he took a drag on it, the small glow from the end cast a tiny bit of light onto his features.

She saw dark stubble, and she saw a chiseled jaw.

She swallowed and tried not to look affected.

She ran her long, manicured fingernails through her hair and smiled at him, waiting for him to say something more. He exhaled a plume of smoke into the night air and then took a step forward and finally came out into the light of the streetlamp. He was leading with his big, strong-looking hand, but Esme was intrigued now, and she knew she wasn’t going to be able to tear her eyes away from his face.

She had never been caught off guard by a man before, but as she stood there and looked up at him, she knew her mouth was gaping open and her eyes must have been as wide as flying saucers.

She couldn’t stop looking at him.

He was dark and mean looking, with a pair of thick, black eyebrows, a strong profile and a rugged charm. His green eyes pierced through the night and held her in place all over again, and Esme found herself, once again, completely lost for words.

“I…” she managed to whisper, before she clamped her mouth shut.

All she could hear was the wild beating of her heart.

When she had spoken with him earlier in the day, she hadn’t imagined anything. He had been a pair of eyes, and that was it. A damned amazing pair of eyes, but just that, all the same.

She hadn’t been able to conjure up a mystery man, but now she didn’t have to. He was standing right in front of her, and he was frightening to look at because of the power he exuded, but he was also sexy as hell.

She bit her bottom lip nervously and looked out toward the crowd. She knew he was watching her, and she could tell he was finding her reaction amusing.

He must be used to this, she thought as she tried to stop herself from rolling her eyes and cringing. He must be used to women turning to mush at the mere sight of him.

She took a deep breath and pulled herself together.

“Big crowd?” she said as she steadied herself to look back into his eyes.

“Sure is,” he said as he took another drag on his smoke. “We have a band playing tonight.”

She nodded her head and smiled.

“Have you worked somewhere like this before?” he asked her as he cocked his head to one side.

She hadn’t, but she had served drinks before, so she nodded her head anyway.

He smiled back at her mischievously.

“Doors open at ten,” he said. “Normally, we’re open all day, but with tonight being such a big event we decided to close up to prepare.”

She couldn’t stop looking at him.

And he knew it.

“I’m Zeke,” he said as he finally managed to slip his big, rough hand into hers and he shook it with such force it made her whole body tremble.

“Esme,” she smiled, trying not to speak too breathlessly.

“Welcome to The Nowhere Bar, Esme,” he said as he flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground and stomped it out with the heel of his boot. “Come on inside.”

He stepped back into the shadows and opened the metal fire door with a click as he held it back so she could walk in ahead of him.

Esme could just about see in front of her, but not knowing the venue, she was feeling a little nervous and she reached out and let her fingertips skim along the wall for balance and a sense of where she was.

Zeke stopped and groped around on the wall, and with a flick, he turned on a low, buzzing overhead light that gave off a harsh and false glow.

She followed behind him, and found herself staring up at his broad shoulders. From the back, he looked even bigger, and she felt a rush of excitement when she realized he was wearing an incredibly cool, battered and old leather jacket.

His jeans were black and ripped at the knees, and he had a tattoo creeping out of the wrist of his jacket and down onto the top of his hand, but she couldn’t make out what it was. If she had seen him in an alley on a dark night, she would have felt intimidated. Hell, she felt intimidated in that moment and she knew who he was, but it was intimidated in a good way.

She could tell he could easily be the best kind of trouble.

He stopped at the end of the corridor and looked over his shoulder at her and locked his eyes in on hers. She smiled weakly and just wished she wasn’t so easy to read. It must have been written all over her that she found something sexy about him, and it was embarrassing to think he was probably lapping it all up and would go and tell everyone else in the bar that night.

He pushed open a door and it led them into a big, open room. Esme’s mouth gaped open as she looked up and around, and she caught sight of the sheer size of the place. It was like nothing she could have prepared herself for, and it was awe inspiring. The roof was as high as the ceiling of the fourth floor, and it was open and vast, each floor had a wooden balcony that looked out over the ground below, where there was a stage set right at the front of the room. In the corners and all along the outskirts of the room were booths and tables, with a big, wooden bar all along the side wall. Neon signs were glowing in small alcoves, and the atmosphere inside the place was both rustic and grimy. It was as if a little piece of backstreet city life had found its way to Lost Creek and was hidden away within the walls of The Nowhere Bar.

“Wow,” she said as she looked up to the ceiling. The room felt cavernous, and now she could finally appreciate why so many people were queuing to try and get in.

“Not what you expected?” Zeke asked with a raised brow.

“I don’t even know what I expected,” she laughed to herself. “But this is pretty impressive.”

“We’ve had the building a long time,” he smiled as he began to walk toward the bar. “It’s a bit of a town treasure, if you know what I mean?”

Esme nodded her head as her wide eyes continued to scan the space around her. Each time she focused on one particular section of the room she found herself engrossed in something else, a punchy quote from Shakespeare lit up in neon, or an Elk’s head mounted on a wall. It was such a juxtaposition, but it worked.

“Okay,” Zeke said as he leaned against the bar and looked across at her with a wry smile on his face. “I’m not so sure you’ll hack it down here on your own tonight,” he gave a half laugh. “I mean, you saw how busy we’re going to be.”

Esme crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows.

“Never underestimate a woman,” she said with a grin.

Zeke’s own eyes flashed wickedly. She had no idea how it had happened, but their meeting had been charged with energy since the second they had seen each other in the alleyway. She had thought he was loving every second of watching her turn into a doe-eyed girl with an infatuation, but the more time that was passing between them, the more she could see he was giving her back all the right signals.

He cocked his head to the side.

“So very, very confident,” he said as he bit his bottom lip and held her eyes sternly with his.

She shrugged and looked down demurely. Her heart was racing and she felt a little dizzy. He was driving her wild, but she could tell he was trouble. She took a deep breath before she looked back to him.

“What would you like me to do?” she asked him seriously, trying to regain her composure.

He looked at her just as sternly, as if the spell had been broken and they had both realized how inappropriate they were being, and then he scratched the back of his neck and whistled out lowly.

“Tend the bar?” he asked her. “Like I said, we’re going to be rammed, so I’m going to get a couple of the other girls to come down and help out.”

Esme nodded and felt a small wave of relief. Even though she had acted confident, she was pretty sure that when it came down to it, she would have royally fucked it up if she didn’t have a bit of guidance.

Zeke started to walk toward the bar and she followed behind him. Outside, past the main doors, she could hear the roaring of the crowd and then behind her, she heard the sound of a guitar.

“Sound check,” Zeke said as he looked at her over his shoulder. “Things are about to get pretty loud.”

He raised his eyebrows and she laughed.

“Hey, Zeke!” a man’s voice cut through the empty space from somewhere up above. “What time do you want me to throw open the doors?”

Zeke looked down at the watch on his wrist and sighed.

“I guess now is as good a time as any,” he called back.

Esme looked up toward the stage and saw the band shrugging their shoulders as if they didn’t care either way.

“You guys going to be long?” Zeke asked them, but they all shook their heads.

“We’ve already checked,” someone that Esme could only assume was the lead singer because of his place on the stage said. “We were just messing around.”

Zeke nodded his head and the band slinked off stage. They all looked in their early twenties, and they were all wearing black leather and had matching black hair cuts.

“Who are they?” she asked as she looked up at Zeke with wide eyes.

“Local kids,” he said with a shrug. “But the crowds love them, and they always sell the place out.”

“That’s fantastic,” she grinned. She liked to hear stories like that, it made her feel even more connected to her new little town.

“Okay, so doors are about to open. I’ll send Stacey down to help you on this bar. Normally, on a night like tonight, we’d have two girls down here, but I need a couple upstairs too. A lot of the crowd goes up there when we have a band on, they like the better view.”

He turned and started to walk away, but then he stopped and looked back over his shoulder at her.

“Thanks for your help, Esme,” he smiled.

She smiled back, and her heart fluttered. 

“Well, thank you for giving me a chance,” she said.

He nodded slowly, before he turned and started to walk toward a staircase at the side of the stage and disappeared out of sight.

“Holy fucking shit,” she whispered as she turned toward the bar and gripped the counter top. “You know how to get yourselves into some crazy situations.”

Suddenly, the noise from outside on the street was inside the building, and she moved quickly to hide behind the bar and wait it out for Stacey, whoever and wherever she may be.

It was her first night in Lost Creek, and already, she had been thrown in at the deep end.

It was a good thing she loved a challenge.