Grounded
CHAPTER 5

Gina was running late for work; she had to be at the bar before 7pm, she was working the night shift with Marie her colleague. She threw on her fur jacket and wore a pair of boots, it was a cool evening. She ran to the kitchen; she had left two slices of bread in the toaster, she considered making tea, but it would take a lot of time. She turned the toaster off and placed the bread slices in a plate and hurried over to the dining table.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" her mother, who had been sitting in the living room all the while, watching an opera, asked her.

"I am running late for work; I need to be there before Lydia gets there." Gina replied with her mouth full.

"Who is Lydia, like a boss?" her mother asked sarcastically.

"Well, she is my boss, and she is always on time." Gina replied grabbing the glass of water on the table and gulping down as fast as possible. She grabbed her handbag as soon as she was done and hurried towards the door; "bye mother." She said as she marched along expecting no reply.

"Taxi!" she hailed as soon as she got out of the gate; she might as well learn to get accustomed to being without a car of her own.

"Cadbury's Place." She told the skinny, light complexioned man at the wheel. He nodded his head at her and pressed a button to unlock the doors. He drove off as soon as Gina got in. She sincerely hoped to arrive at the bar before Lydia got to the bar; she peeped into her wristwatch; it was five minutes past seven.

Lydia was the owner of the bar. Gina met her at a party Craig convinced her to attend. Craig had ditched Gina minutes after arriving at the party ground; he went over to his male friends, they soon began a drinking game while Gina sat at a corner like she was lost, she knew no one at the party. In no time, Lydia came along; she was directing some people who were carrying crates of various kinds of alcohol. Her aura and grace were unmatched; Gina began staring at her immediately.

"Where is everyone, we need more hands here." Lydia had said audibly.

Without missing a heartbeat, Gina followed some of the men to the truck where the crates of drinks were been offloaded before they were carried to the party ground. She saw a young woman about her size struggling with one of the crates and offered to help. Once they were done, Gina was already having so much fun; the young woman was such a storyteller and there was a comedy for every short story she told. She found out that the young woman's name was Marie. Marie was no taller that Gina, she seemed brilliant; her English was polished and so were her shoes.

As they sat together chatting and laughing, they shared a drink and began getting to know each other better. The moment Gina told her she wanted a job at a bar, Marie dragged her all the way to Lydia. Lydia had given her a business card and asked her to drop by the bar; Gina did so the following day and got the job.

Lydia was not a woman of too many words; she was patient and kind yet disciplined and stubborn.

Gina alighted from the vehicle and handed the driver his fare; she could see from the short distance that the bar was already full of life. She hurried down to the bar and began looking out for Marie.

Marie waved as soon as she spotted Gina walking towards her. "You're late." Marie said when Gina got to her.

"I know, there is no real excuse, I'd have to replace one to give Lydia though." Gina replied panting.

"Lydia's not here yet. I haven't set eyes on her since last night. Her phone keeps ringing, but she won't pick up." Marie complained as she added some ice cubes into a wine glass.

"Why do you keep calling her then?" Gina asked finally sitting on the bar stool, with gladness in her heart.

"I think something is wrong." Marie replied pouring out a drink into the wine glass "Why would you think that?" Gina asked again almost laughing at her friend.

"I babysit her son. She brings him to my house in the morning and picks him up at 8pm; an hour after I get here for work. This is why I don't work the morning shifts; but I got back from work in the early hours of this morning and he was still at my place. She had not showed up for her son, but I saw her leave the bar last night. That's very unlike her." Marie spoke rapidly in a whisper.

"What!" Gina exclaimed in a low tone; she was in utter shock. First, she was not aware that Lydia had a son; she was also surprised to hear that Marie was his babysitter. She was more stunned by the fact that Marie could even babysit. Marie remained silent, pouring out a different drink into another wine glass. Gina feigned a smile when a customer lifted his hands and waved at her. It was Cassidy; she knew he wanted to place an order.

She walked over to him and could not help but giggle when she saw how much he kept staring at her.

"Lovely evening sir." She said to him and he responded with a quick smile.

"What would you like to have?" she asked him.

"The usual." He replied barely paying attention.

Gina walked away to get him the usual; two bottles of brandy and a cigarette stick.

Cassidy was Gina's special customer; he had a thing for her and would not allow anyone else take his orders. Gina found him strange yet appealing; he was a dark, huge and attractive man. His head was clean-shaven, but he kept a goatee and wore a few accessories; Gina loved all the kinds of chains he wore around his neck on different days. He had never said anything to her other than "the usual" which he said when he needed to place his orders. He rarely smiled or laughed or danced to the music that played from the speakers like many others did, not even a simple body or head movement. He was as still as a big rock; yet Gina found him warm and attractive.

She grabbed an ice bucket as she got to the counter and pushed two bottles of brandy through the broken pieces of ice until the bottles hit the bottom of the bucket. Marie came back to the counter carrying an empty tray; she looked at Gina raising her brows, Gina smiled and moved closer to her.

"So, what are you going to do?" Gina asked searching the shelf for a packet of cigarette.

"I don't know." Marie said handing over a glass of wine to a fat old man who sat at the opposite side of the counter, coughing intensely as he puffed his cigarette.

"Has she done this before?" Gina asked, tearing the cigarette pack open.

"Not exactly. She travelled one time and left her son with me for a week but at least she informed me about it first." Marie replied, showing concern.

"She is an adult; anything could have happened. It could have been an emergency and she just could not inform you. Give her another twenty-four hours, if nothing happens then we'll inform the police." Gina smiled as she concluded, informing Marie that it would be fine.

Marie smiled back and hurried off with a tray in her hands, this time it was full. Gina left the counter with Cassidy's order; he was in the exact same position that Gina had left him in.

The rest of the night was speedy, cloudy, filled with drunkards and dancers. Gina looked over at Cassidy's table, he had gone, she walked over to his table; he kept the money under the ice bucket and a tip for her just beside the bucket. She smiled and picked everything on the table up; he was always a generous man, he never failed to leave her a tip whenever he came around to drink. She ran towards the exit hoping to see him; she checked the parking lot too, there were a handful of people having sex at different spots in the parking lot. A few older men were smoking and chatting loudly, but she could not replace him anywhere. He was gone like the wind; again, she had failed to thank him for the tip as always.