CHAPTER (VII)

Ammika had just finished serving a customer his order when her eyes caught sight of a familiar face trying to push through the crowd towards the counter. She almost dropped the bottle she had. Quickly, she placed the bottle under the counter and turned away, busying herself with drying the already dry glasses. Hiram noticed how uneasy she had been from the moment she saw him. All the events that had taken place between Trisha and her came back to him. He honestly felt bad that she had gone through that, especially considering she was only trying to help out.

Ammika had tried the best she could not to look in his direction but she caught him sitting at his usual spot from the corner of her eye.

Neither of them made an effort to get the attention of the other. He just sat there watching her, trying to figure out how to make things right with her after the incident with Trisha, Ammika on the other hand dried the glasses over and over again.

"Ammika." He finally broke the silence but failed to get her attention. "Ammika!" He called again, almost shouting over the music playing.

She turned her head to him and feigned a smile, setting the glass and towel down. She took a few nervous steps and stopped in front of him. "Hey Hiram." She greeted very softly. This threw him off balance for a second. He had expected her to be mad about the whole incident with Trisha, but she didn't seem to be.

"Hey," he replied in the same soft manner. Then quickly went on, "I'm really sorry about the other night."

The genuine concern in his eyes as he said those words moved her but she didn't show. Instead, she put up a plain yet friendly face and replied. "You have nothing to apologize for, it wasn't your fault."

"Are you not mad?" He wanted to know.

She took time to think about her reply. "I really want to be, but what for? What difference would it make? What ever happened happened."

He thought she handled that quite maturely. He couldn't help but smile.

"What?" She asked noticing the grin across his face.

"Nothing Ammika, nothing at all."

"Your smile says otherwise." She went on.

"Don't mind my smile." He returned softly.

"If you insist. What can I get you?"

"A classic Martini will do."

"Coming right up."

Hiram fished his phone out from his pocket as she walked away to get his drink. There was a sigh of relief from him, that had gone much better than he though it would.

"Who were they anyway?" She asked sliding his drink closer to him.

He looked up and met her eyes, how the hell was he going to answer that? Telling her who Callie is was easy, although he suspected she already knew her, Trisha on the other hand, not so much.

"Callie and Trisha. Callie is my-"

"Your sister." She finished.

"Yeah. The other one, Trisha, she's umm…" He hesitated for a second. "She's a friend."

"A friend." She repeated. "Yeah, right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He shot at her.

"Nothing." She replied quickly. The stare he gave her prompted her to going on. "It's just that umm…the way she-"

"I see where you are going Ammika. She is my ex."

"Wow!" She exclaimed after a second or two. "Seemed more like your girlfriend than your ex. She still has feelings for you."

He chuckled. "So I have been told. I have no idea why." He sipped the Martini. "We are just friends. She ought to move on."

"Has she?" She quickly asked, eyeing him. Already having guessed the answer.

"I'm sure she has her reasons for not having moved on." He answered, with a large sip of the drink.

"You're in denial."

"Denial of what Ammika?" He questioned, with a fixed gaze on her.

"That she still has feelings and you are the reason she hasn't-"

He cut in, breaking the eye contact. "Okay! Enough about her already." He demanded, but was very gentle about it. Just like he had always been with her.

She lowkey found that attractive.

"Whatever you say sir." She mocked with a grin which quickly faded away. "What about you, have you moved on?" The eye contact from her intimidated him, but he tried not to show.

"No." He finally answered after what seemed like a full five minutes.

"Is it because of her?"

His eyes quickly shifted to her. He hadn't expected that, that's for sure. "Because of who Ammika? Trisha?"

"Yes, her." She confirmed.

"Why would you think it's because of her?"

She replied with a smirk. "I better tend to the other customers."

He watched her walk away and smiled to himself. What an amusing person she was.

He had known her for a while now, and nearly all the conversations they had had left him with a smile. He liked how things were going, how they were slowly growing into each other, warming up to each other. Casually having serious conversations without feeling uneasy. He liked the way she was able to distract him from all the craziness that was happening in his life, all the school work and issues with his dad and the company. Whenever he was there with her, it was about them and that moment. He loved it.

As he sat in that stool with his Martini, he stole a glance once in a while, watching as she worked the drinks, swiftly yet precisely. She had caught him staring once or twice and he had quickly looked away.

"You two might as well go into the back and fuck. The flirting is killing me." Klara teased and Ammika punched her gently.

"You're an idiot. Shut up." She replied with a laugh.

When she came back, he slid his phone to her. Upon looking at it, she saw his dial pad, with a smile, she lifted her eyes to him. "What's this?"

"Ammika Robinson, can I have your phone number?" He requested.

"Why now?" She asked jokingly, picking up the phone and typing in the digits.

"We've been talking for months now, I figured now was as good a time as any."

She gave the phone back and watched a smile grow on his face as he read the contact name she had opted to. 'Ammie'

He was still looking at the phone when Klara spoke. "Hey you," she greeted and he looked up.

"Hey Klara, how are you doing?"

"Could use a month of sleep," she teased. "But I'm well, can't complain." She went on. "I'm gonna head out now." She told Ammika.

"See you tomorrow Klara." Ammika replied.

"Goodnight Klara." Hiram added.

She and Ammika always took turns when it came to closing up. One of them would stay behind and do some cleaning, clear the broken bottles and try bringing some sense of order to the place before locking up. Tonight was Ammika's turn.

Hiram turned his head to the bar to find it empty. Then he checked the time on his phone; 1:13AM.

"It's pretty late." She commented. "You need to get home and I have a ton left to do. You should-"

Hiram cut in.

"I'll wait."

She went mute for a while. In her silence she eyed him, trying to figure out what game he was playing. She didn't say anything, just gave him a smile and continued to collect the used glasses, putting them in a tray.

"I'll be back shortly, gotta clean these." She told him picking up the tray.

"Need hand?" That came as a surprise to her. "I'm sure you could use an extra pair of hands."

"Why not."