After Midnight (a.i.)

24

A/N : extra longgg chapter for y'all

(Cara's POV)

"I need more webs over here!" Jess calls out from the opposing wall, shakily holding herself on the short step ladder.

"Coming!" I shout back, letting the tinsel drop and dangle from the ceiling before I carefully step down my own ladder. My sneakers hit the stable floor and I grab the cardboard box to bring to her.

I hold the box over my head as I thread through the tables, taking account of the few empty glasses and bottles waiting for a refill on my way to her. It was unusually slow for a Saturday night, filled with our normal regulars and a couple of small groups. It was nothing Jess and I couldn't handle, but it was getting extremely slow, so Ari decided to let us decorate the bar for the upcoming Halloween event. We didn't have much else to do and the regulars didn't care, they just kept to themselves and watched, offering a helping hand whenever they could. As long as we kept their drinks full, they didn't care what we did.

Ari rolled in a wagon of miscellaneous boxes filled with a plethora of corresponding party decorations for us to utilize. Halloween was a big holiday for him, he always loved the annual bash he threw for the bar. He especially loved the way Jess and I prettied the place up for the event, claimed he had endless praise about how spooky it was.

He tried to help where he could, mainly standing around and spectating our tinsel hanging skills and critiquing our eyeball-leveling technique, insisting we used a proper level.  Eventually, he got sick of our creative differences and rebranded as our heavy lifter. That's all we really needed from him, anyway. It wasn't that hard to put fake tombstones on a wall.

"Here, take the whole box. I have plenty more." I tell her, setting the box onto the top step in front of her. I wipe my hands on the back of my pants to rid them of the dusty residue, but notice the glimmering purple specks littering my palms.

"How is there still glitter on my hands?" I groan to myself, furiously wiping my palms against my jean shorts. I washed my hands twice and the glitter refuses to budge. I knew I shouldn't have touched those sparkly skulls to put on the bar top.

"Mine are covered too." Jess complains, flashing her green glittered hands before she shoves them into the artificial cobwebs. "Any sign of him yet?"

I glance to the bar to look at the large clock hanging above the bottle display, reading the current time with a sigh. Ten.

"Not yet. I'm not sure when he's coming." I admit to her, fidgeting with the strings of my bracelet on my wrist.

It's not like ten o'clock was late, most people rolled in here closer to midnight anyway. I'm sure he's just with the boys drinking and doing whatever to alter his state of mind. I wouldn't be surprised if he stumbled in here drunk with the rest of the gang.

"If he comes." I hear her mutter under her breath, and I'm not sure if I was supposed to hear that or not. I ignore it, though. I'm really not in the mood for a lecture.

Without a response I stalk back to my assigned wall, scanning my work so far to get a grasp of what else needed to be added. Maybe some more fake spiders?

I prop my foot up in the first step of my ladder with a sigh, shaking my mind clear before climbing up the steps to my previous spot.  Grabbing the staple gun from the top shelf, I return the tinsel to it's temporary spot. Once I'm happy with its location, I secure the shiny strand with a staple along the top of the wall. I continue along the length of the wall until the perimeter was complimented in purple and black tinsel.

"Misty!" My name is called behind me with impatience, pulling my attention to the bar. I see one of our regulars, Joe, sitting on his usual third barstool with his empty glass in the air, salt and pepper stubble surrounding his sloppy smile. "Can you top me off?"