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The neon lights of Club Miraculous poured over the polished wooden countertop as music pulsed through the air. Luka bobbed his head to the music as he wiped down the bar after the most recent round of customers had finished their drinks and returned to the dance floor.
“Um, excuse me.”
A voice cut through the music and Luka looked up into the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. Holy shit. She made the neons look dull. But he could see the tension in her shoulders just as much as he heard the nerves in her voice, raised to be heard over the DJ blaring songs from the small stage in the far corner of the bar. He let an easy smile spread across his face, as though he might ease her tension by relaxing himself enough. Sometimes it worked on overstressed patrons and it was a trick he commonly used to help them relax while they were at the bar.
It seemed to work this time, too, as he watched her shoulders relax and her smile gentled. She took a step closer as he leaned his elbows down on the cleaned bar.
“What can I get you, miss?” He held out his hand to accept the empty glass she held.
She furrowed her brow at the glass in her hand, then glanced over her shoulder to a group of women occupying one of the tall standing tables on the edge of the dance floor. Luka followed her gaze, trying not to oogle her figure in the tight blue halter dress she wore that hugged her curves but flared around her thighs. Her dark hair was pulled into pigtails that accentuated the length of her neck and highlighted the small silver chain necklace hanging from her neck. The navy stilettos on her feet brought her closer to his height, but he still could almost look over her head to see around the bar.
Nope, he didn’t notice any of that. He shifted his focus to the women at the table, noticing a tray at the table that held an assortment of empty glasses. It was his sister’s table, he realized suddenly. Juleka had come with several friends as part of her friend Mylene’s bachelorette party. The bride-to-be herself sported a flower crown that had been hastily assembled by Rose earlier in the night. It was funny, though, this young woman at the bar hadn’t been with the group when Juleka had ordered their first round.
The dark-haired woman turned back to him and huffed in frustration. He noticed that a small ladybug charm hung from the necklace and he smiled to himself.
“Well, I was actually supposed to bring back everyone’s drinks and buy the next round because I showed up late,” the young woman told him, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “But I guess I was in so much of a hurry to leave the table that I forgot the tray. I’ll have to go back for it.”
Before she could turn away, Luka held up a hand, keeping his easy smile in place. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll help you carry the next round out and swap out the trays before I come back. What would you like to order?”
The girl smiled ruefully at him and passed over the glass in her hand. “Well, we each like our own individual drinks, and they decided to give me that order to make my life more difficult, so how about I just give them to you one at a time?”
He leaned back, pretending he didn’t notice her eyes on his arms as he stretched them to push himself back from the bar, set the empty glass in a nearby sink, and reach out for a fresh towel to sling over one shoulder. The music note tattoo on the inside of his left arm rippled a bit as he moved. Mere weeks into his first bartending job he had noticed that he got more tips from female customers if he rolled up the sleeves of his black button-down uniform shirts. It seemed this woman seemed to appreciate the gesture. He secretly hoped her appreciation was for more than just the artsy tattoo.
“Sounds good to me. Who’s up first?”
“Well, it’s Mylene’s bachelorette, so let’s start with her fuzzy navel.”
Luka gathered the peach liqueur and pulled a small jug of orange juice out of the fridge behind him. As he set a small glass on the wood in front of him, he glanced up at the woman and decided to venture into small talk while he mixed.
“Why were you in such a hurry to leave the table? Was it just to get the drinks?”
The woman’s cheeks flushed and she giggled nervously. “Sort of. They teased me about not being able to leave work on time because of the massive crush I have on my boss’s son.” She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and looked to one side, scratching a fingernail on a knot in the wood of the bar as she sat down to wait for the drinks. “He was there at the end of the day today and I waited so long to work up the courage to talk to him that I ended up being late to the party.”
“Did you get the chance to talk to him, at least?”
Both hands came up over her face, then she slammed her palms quickly down on the bar in front of her. “No! I spent too much time trying to hype myself up for it. When I realized I was late for Mylene’s party I just ran out the back door.. Maybe next time I’ll take a bit of liquid courage from here with me.” She smiled ruefully at him and gestured at the tray with Mylene’s drink. “Next up is Juleka--”
“Oh don’t worry, I’ve got this one,” Luka interrupted, quirking up one side of his mouth. “She wants a blackberry margarita, right?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “How did you know?”
The bartender ran a hand through his hair and his smile turned sheepish. “She’s actually my sister. She’s got a solid aesthetic and she’s amazingly loyal to it. Blackberry margarita is one of her favorites.”
Marinette held a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. “Somehow, none of that actually surprises me.”
“Would it surprise you to know I’m actually the one who introduced her to Rose?”
“Wait, really?” The woman leaned forward, resting her chin in her palms as her eyes zeroed in on his. A wide grin stretched across her face and Luka had to stop a dopey smile of his own. God, this girl was something else. There was just something about her that put Luka at ease, and she was ridiculously easy to talk to.
“Yeah, Rose was in a band called Kitty Section with me and Mylene’s fiance Ivan, though those two had just started dating around that time. We decided we wanted another guitarist so I asked Juleka to join us. They hit it off right away and the rest, as they say, is history. I even bet you I can guess Rose’s order, too. Strawberry daiquiri, right?”
“Actually, she’s the DD tonight for Mylene and Juleka so she’s asked for a Shirley Temple and a glass of water to finish off the night.”
Luka reached for the ingredients, spinning bottles and sliding the glasses across the wooden counter. “Ah, that makes sense. I know just how she likes them, too. The more cherry, the better. How my dark, emo-looking sister ended up marrying one of the sweetest and bubbliest humans ever born is beyond me.”
Marinette flashed that dazzling smile at him again. After almost dropping the bottle in his hand, Luka had to remind himself sternly to focus on mixing the drink. “They’re so cute, though!”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Rose is absolutely my favorite sister, but their dichotomy still cracks me up.” He set the completed Shirley Temple on the tray in front of him, then filled a tall glass with water and added it to the group. If Marinette noticed the three extra cherries in Rose’s drink, she didn’t comment. He did say she was his favorite, afterall.
“Who’s drink is next?”
“Alya. She wanted a peach cosmo.”
One glance out to the table showed him that Alya’s ears must have been burning. She had turned to watch her friend at the bar, possibly wondering what was taking so long. After a second, Rose seemed to lean over and ask her a question, and the auburn-haired woman turned to respond. Luka listed his head to one side as he regarded the woman before him. “What’s she like, your friend Alya? I know Juleka and Rose, obviously, and I’ve heard a lot about Mylene from them recently since the wedding’s coming up, but I don’t know you or Alya at all.”
“Well, for starters, the DJ here is her fiance.”
Eyebrows shot up into the man’s teal-tipped hair. “Wait, she’s the one dating Nino? Damn, I’ve heard him talk about his girlfriend. The way he tells it, she’s ten feet tall and hell on heels. He talks like she’s smarter than Stephen Hawking, Paris’s next star reporter, and the sexiest woman alive.”
The girl before him threw back her head and laughed heartily. Again, Luka had to remind himself not to gawk at the picture she made… talk about hot as hell. Neon lights glanced off her shiny dark hair and pure joy glittered in her eyes as she physically overflowed with mirth. Finally, she caught her breath, though she still had a smile a mile wide. “Yep, to Nino she is all of those things. Let me know if you ever want the truth, though, and I’ll fill you in on all her faults.” She winked mischievously and a handful of butterflies fluttered inside his chest. “She’s my best friend and I’ve watched them be soooo in love for years. They’re finally getting married next year sometime, if they can ever settle on a date.” She looked over her shoulder at her friend, then glanced toward the stage before turning back to the bar. She sighed, resting her chin in one hand and said quietly, “I’m a little jealous to be honest. I’ve been head-over-heels for Adrien for years, but he’s never once seemed to look my way. I’d love to have even a little of the love I’ve seen between Alya and Nino.”
A love like that is hard to get past , Luka thought to himself. She won’t even look twice at me if she’s that far gone for him . The bartender tried hard to keep the wistfulness out of his own voice as he responded, “Well, I don’t know if I can help you in that department, but I can definitely fix you a drink. You’re the last one at the table, so what’ll it be?”
The young woman’s lips twisted and she tilted her head as she considered his question for a moment, gazing at the array of bottles on the wall behind him. “I’m not sure, to be honest. Is there anything you’d recommend?”
Before she had even finished her sentence, Luka was reaching into a cabinet behind him to bring out a special glass he had been thinking about since shortly after she had walked up to the bar. He set it in front of him and leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially. “How about a house special?”
Blue eyes widened in surprise, but she leaned forward until their foreheads were almost touching. Luka did his best to ignore the spike in his heart rate as she whispered back, “What kind of house special are we talking about?”
“A drink of my own design. I hope you like it.”
Luka leaned back suddenly, grabbing all the necessary ingredients, spinning bottles and sliding the glass in front of him back and forth as ingredients were added. Her sharp gaze followed his every movement and he reveled in having her undivided attention for those brief moments. Finally, black cognac settled in the bottom of the short glass and red rum poured over the top rested nicely under the whipped-cream-and-cherry topping. The cup itself was special, too: a short round glass with circles etched into the sides. The red-and-black concoction could be viewed easily through the clear glass of the cup. Rather than setting the glass on the tray, he lifted it and set it right before her. She leaned back, startled out of the hypnotic reverie she had fallen into while she watched him. Her eyes fell to the glass, then moved back up to meet his.
“What is it?”
He leaned forward onto his elbows again. “Can you guess?”
A tentative hand reached out to move the glass around, as though examining it from different angles would reveal the name written on the side. Her thumb ghosted over several of the spots and her opposite hand came up to finger the necklace at her throat. Finally, she smiled. “Is it a Ladybug?”
She was clever as well as gorgeous. Oh man was he in trouble. But damn him if he wasn’t going to enjoy every minute of it.
“Do you want to try it, before you officially decide?”
“No, I trust you.” She lifted the glass and added it to the tray. A shy smile graced her lips and, with a start, he realized he’d gone the entire conversation and still didn’t really know who this woman was, a woman whose eyes glittered with mirth and whose smile shone like gold. He didn’t even know her name. But apparently she trusted him… at least with her drinks.
“You know, I don’t believe I’ve caught your name.” He realized he ought to offer his own first and hurried to add, “I’m Luka, by the way.”
“I’m Marinette.”
He lifted the tray onto one shoulder and began walking around to the front of the bar. “Well, Marinette, let’s get your friends their drinks.”
After leaving the tray of fresh drinks on the table with his sister and her friends and heaving the one with empty glasses onto his shoulder, Luka turned to head back to the bar. On the way, he caught himself humming a new tune and singing some words under his breath, imagining his guitar under his fingers…
“ And I'm just like cellophane, cause she sees right through me. I know she's glitter and gold, and that's just the price I pay when I don't even know her name. She's slipping away…”