After Midnight (a.i.)

30

"Cara, what do you think?" Luke calls from the stage to catch my frazzled attention. I glance over to find his sheepish grin as he proposes his metallic blue guitar to me. Under the stage lights, I can see the oversized fuzzy spider he attached at the base with pride. Calum rolls his eyes beside the blond boy.

"Very festive." I respond with a quick laugh, appeasing his modified instrument before I return to my schedule. The boys were here setting the stage for tomorrow night and as manager, Ari wanted me to ensure everything went smoothly and we were as prepared as possible for this weekend. Although, I know he just wanted me to keep an eye on the so called 'deviants' and make sure they're not stealing any of the inventory. He made sure to single out Michael.

Luke was here early this morning with me to help ease my nerves, assisting with any impulsive project or trivial task I threw at him to ensure the night goes well. I think he could sense my high anxiety for this weekend. Mostly I wanted to prove to Ari that he made the right decision of trusting me to be manager, but also to myself that I was capable of this. I've worked hard for this position, I needed to show that I've truly earned it.

My intricate focus to detail while planning this event have been a great distraction to keep my mind busy from the invasive encounter the other night. It spooked me a lot, I was still very on edge with the whole situation. I haven't said anything about it, part of me felt I was overreacting to a creepy patron and that it was no big deal. I think I was starting to convince myself that was the reality of it, that it was nothing more than an older man trying to fulfill a fantasy with a younger bartender.

I was very close to accepting that fate, but the unwarranted nickname kept throwing me for a loop and raising my petrified suspicion of this man's intentions. The same nickname I was called by that unknown number, still a complete mystery. The same name that's only soothing to my mind when it came from Ashton.

The more I thought about it, none of the dots connected. None of it made any sense, but it didn't feel coincidental. It was too weird for this to be an accidental occurrence. I just couldn't wrap my head around this whole situation until it made any sense. No matter how hard I thought, dug deep into my brain for any spark of clarity, it never came. It remained a murky blur that ingrained itself in the depths of my mind to invoke every ounce of fear I had. I felt completely in the dark without a sliver of light to guide me to the answer. Nothing was adding up, and I was terrified of the unknown.

As impossible as it felt, I couldn't let myself drown in the depths of ambiguity. I'd drive myself mad if I fried my brain with it all, I had to push forward. I had other things to worry about.

Ashton's POV

"Stop fucking moving." Nova scoffs, harshly kicking my shin as I sat in front of her. My arm vibrated with her intricate movements, buzzing under the permanent impulse I needed to ease my mind.

"Not my fault you're heavy handed." I snip at her, shutting my eyes as she drags the needle down my bicep to continue her outline. I'm not really sure what she was putting on my skin, I didn't have any idea when I came in here and she wanted some more practice so I let her pick whatever she wanted. She knows what I like, and I'm probably putting too much faith in her but I couldn't care less. I needed the distraction.

"I'm doing this for free, asshole." Her eyes roll with annoyance from behind me. I involuntarily hiss when she purposely adds pressure to the gun to prick my skin harshly. She snickers at my pain when I glance over my shoulder to glare at her.

"Fucker." I mutter, readjusting my arm that she just willfully punctured. I couldn't really complain, though. She was giving me free tattoos in exchange for some skin to practice on. She's been tattooing for a couple of years, just recently started on her own, and I've always been her test dummy to try out new techniques and designs she's mocked up. I was the first person she gave a colored tattoo to. As irritating as she can be, it was pretty funny to see her light up at the red heart she inked onto my wrist.