July

I could feel the sweat that rested on my palms soaking into the skin of my cheeks. But I didn't bother to move. Moving meant I would only get hotter and I had finally managed to find a way of standing without feeling like I was in an oven. My elbows rested on the counter, my face resting in my hands with my ankles crossed on the floor beneath me. I had abandoned my shoes long ago; the cool surface of the floor had been a welcome relief to my aching feet.

Usually Auntie M would have thrown a fit seeing me, or indeed any other girl walking around her Diner with their shoes off for this long. But, the evening heat had prevented any customers from visiting. We had hardly had any all day. Chris and Teddy had been by for an ice cream, but they hadn't stayed long. The heat of the Diner had got to them.

We had suggested many times to keep the door open, though there was little breeze outside; we had thought any air that might blow in would be a great advantage. But Auntie M had kept stating that it would make flies feel welcome. She did not want flies on or indeed anywhere near her food.

So, myself and Barb had sweated it out, keeping ourselves hydrated to stop us from fainting. Though I was pretty sure when Barb had stepped outside for her break and a smoke, she had hiked her dress up to her thighs in the hope that they would turn brown. If that was the case, she must have been getting results; she still had yet to reappear. Auntie M herself had been shut in the back room ever since she had given her little fly speech. I was almost certain she had all the windows open and had undressed to her underwear in there.

The bell over the door tinkled for the first time in what felt like an age, but I couldn't help but groan. The bell tinkling meant customers. Customers meant moving. Moving meant getting hot all over again.

But my groan became all the louder when I noticed who it was. Ace looked pretty red in the face. But I wasn't sure if that was due to the heat or if he had drunk himself stupid.

As he seated himself on a stool in front of me, I got a waft of the alcohol that laced his breath.

"Beer." He ordered watching me intently as I stood there, still with my face in my hands.

"Hello to you too." I replied, trying to make myself sound bored. But the truth was, as soon as Ace had stepped inside, something had sparked in me. Something that told me tonight wasn't going to be as boring as I had first thought.

"Beer." He repeated. With a sigh, I reluctantly moved and retrieved him his order.

"I think you've had enough." I opened it for him and set it down in front of him.

"If you really thought that, you wouldn't have given me one." He smirked and lifted the bottle to his lips, just as the bell tinkled again. I groaned again upon seeing it wasn't another Cobra. Now I would really have to move.

The girl was short, but she made up for that with the size of her breasts that were almost falling out of her blouse. And her pants looked as if they would stick to her if she tried to pull them off. How she was wearing so many clothes and had not blacked out from the heat would be a mystery to me.

"One lemonade." She ordered without looking at me. She was too busy staring at Ace as she took the stool next to him; apparently hoping that she would gain his attention if she 'accidently' brushed his shoulder with her arm. But she failed. Ace was far more interested in his beer, though when I looked up from pouring the girls order and over to him, he was focusing on me as if the girl didn't exist.

The girl was casting her gaze around the room, letting her eyes land on Ace every now and again to see if he was looking at her. It didn't take her long to realise he was focused on me. Casually, she slid the sugar pot closer to her, and began to fiddle with it. It was only when I turned my back to her that she moved, as I knew she would.

She gasped and pretended she was sorry, stammering fake apologies as I took in the spilt sugar not only on the counter but behind it as well.

"I am so sorry." One hand covered her chest, almost as if she was mocking me, the other tucking blonde hair behind her ear as I rested the glass of lemonade in front of her.

I smiled my sweetest fake smile at her, hoping to convey to her that I knew what she was up to and that her apologies meant nothing. "It's no problem." I spun on the spot and moved towards the door, but not before looking at Ace who had apparently been waiting for me to catch his eye. He rolled his as if he saw this kind of girl everywhere, and took another gulp of beer.

The door had barely closed behind me when I heard the girl striking up a conversation with him. "You're Ace Merrill, right?" It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I couldn't help but release a scoff too. I had seen this many times in the past; girls practically shoving their chests into the face of not just Ace, but the other Cobras too. It was something I had grown used to. I hadn't really had much of a choice.

Knocking on the door to the back room, I really hoped Auntie M had some form of clothing on. "Auntie M, I need the key to the closet, I'm coming in." I had opened the door by inches, when it was slammed in my face almost catching my nose.

"No you're not. One second baby." Judging by the panic in her voice, Auntie M had very few clothes on, if any.

I leant against the wall opposite the door, folded my arms and waited, the sounds of giggling could be heard coming from behind the door in front of me. But it was not just a feminine voice that abruptly cut the giggles short. A deep masculine voice was mumbling something I couldn't hear. I was pretty sure I didn't want to hear.

The door opened a crack to reveal an eye that belonged to Auntie M. She looked around what very little of the corridor she could see and only when her gaze landed on me, did she open the door a little more to show her whole face; covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

"Have you got a man back there Auntie M?" I didn't bother to hide the disgust in my voice. Not the disgust of someone who thought sex was wrong, just the disgust that it was happening in the back room of a Diner.

"Don't know what you're talking about baby." I raised an eyebrow at her. She faltered and opted for something along the lines of the truth. "So what if I have?"

"You practically throw a temper tantrum when one of us walks around bare foot out there, and you're having sex in the back room."

"Precisely, I'm in the back room this time, therefore there is no nee-"

"This time?" I hissed, cutting her off. "What do you mean this time? Have you had sex out there in the Diner?"

She studied my face for a moment as if calculating if she could get away with lying to me. She obviously saw I was not in the mood to be fooled with.

"It was just one time. I cleaned the counter afterwar-"

"I think I've heard enough, can I just have the key to the closet please?" Through what very little of the gap she had made, she reached her hand though handing over the keys. "Keep it down in there." I told her before moving away. I shook my head as I unlocked the closet door, hearing the other door shut and lock behind me as whoever she had back there chuckled.

With the dust pan and brush in my free hand, I walked back into the Diner, but the stools were empty. Maybe the girls plan had worked after all. Her Lemonade looked as if it hadn't been touched, but there were three empty beer bottles beside it. He had clearly helped himself after my departure. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"She got a man back there?" A voice rumbled behind me as I crouched down and began to sweep. Maybe the girl hadn't been so lucky. I looked up to find Ace, leaning against the counter, beer bottle to his lips and eyes only half open.

"I really think you've had enough to drink by now."

"Then why don't you take it off me?" He slurred suggestively. I had no intentions of getting any closer to him while he was in that state.

Instead I continued to sweep the sugar grains off the floor, standing to clean up the counter when I deemed the floor clean enough.

I shuddered now just looking at the counter. Note to self, never lean on this again. I could only hope she had cleaned it thoroughly.

"You know." Ace started inching closer to me as I emptied the pan into the bin. "You're a tease. You've always been a tease."

"Is that so?"

"Mmmhm. Can I get another beer?" He didn't wait for me to reply, just went to retrieve another one. That was when I moved over and reached for his wrist, wrapping my hand tightly around it, stopping his movements.

"You've really had enough now."

"You don't know that." He sneered and tried to move again but he wobbled dangerously, causing me to dash forward and wrap my free arm around his waist to try to keep him steady. We were silent for a moment as I tried to catch my balance.

"You want me to take you home?" I murmured.

"Usually you gotta buy me dinner first." He snorted as if his words were the funniest thing in the world.

"Ok, I'm taking you home." Where was Eyeball when I needed him? He should be the one doing this.

I moved him round to seat him on a bench, making sure he was comfortable before moving back to the counter and tidying things away.

After locking away the dust pan and brush I turned to the door. "Auntie M I'm going." My shout was met with silence. "I'll make sure to lock up the front door." Still nothing. "I'm going to spend all your money on a new counter."

"Go home baby." She shouted back to me.

"Goodnight. And for god's sake please don't do it on the counter again." I walked away before she could reply, slipping my shoes on as I entered the Diner again.

"Ace." I gently shook his shoulder to gain his attention.

"Mmm?"

"Come on, I'm walking you home." I pulled him up from the bench moving his arm so it was around my shoulder, my arm so it was once more around his waist.

Locking up was difficult. He had gained rather a tight hold of me and wasn't willing to let me move more than a foot away from him. But eventually we were on our way.

To anyone watching, we probably both looked a little drunk. Ace was swinging dangerously on the pavement to test me to see if I would let go, but because I didn't, I would end up moving with him, not wanting him to get hurt, my grip tightened with every sway he made.

It was too damn hot for this.