The conversation continued, she still looked a bit pixelated on the screen, the resolution wasn't that good, but it was normal, the distance between them was great. He wanted to talk as much as she could while she was on the call, maybe her day would go better where she was. Maybe better than me.

“So what are you going to do for the rest of the day? It is just that...? My mind was mush, so I had to count the hours on my fingers. "Five?"

“Yes, dinner time. I guess on Saturdays, the businesses here close early, if at all. I'm pretty sure the bars are open until call time, which is like sunrise,” she joked.

I started laughing, which took away my headache, but then again, fuck it. "I wish I was there. We could have gone to the pubs. Wait, there are pubs there, aren't there? She knew that the town she was in was small and a good distance from any major part of Scotland.

"Some, which should be weird, because the town is so small, but they're more like mom-and-pop restaurants where people are going to get torn apart anyway."

“Any cute or handsome boy? It may be unexpected, but maybe you will fall in love there." Even I heard how capricious I sounded and promptly gagged my mouth, which made Daira snort in amusement.

"Hardly. The average age of the population here is about sixty. Though you probably think the B&B owner is cute. He's around our age. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a Michael Phelps-type body."

Well, it was a good way to cheer me up. Living vicariously through her and all that. "Don't you think so?" I felt my slow smile start to spread across my face. But the truth was, it was all for show. I was pretty sure there was something physically wrong with me, since my arousal switch had never been activated. Or at least I hadn't felt it.

Sure, I'd noticed plenty of attractive people, but I'd never felt any hint of desire, no need to go out, to let a man touch me, kiss me, or pleasure me in anything. And he had never mentioned that to Daira. It was this secret that I harbored, not because I was ashamed, but because I really thought there had to be something wrong with me. What twenty-three year old had never felt the slightest flicker of need and lust for a man? What woman my age had never even kissed a man?

So yeah, she was good at acting like she was interested and wanting more details, but it was all very mediocre to me.

“Maybe I should take a trip to Scotland and show my charm to the bed and breakfast guy. He'll fall for my witty sense of humor and stunning good looks"—I teased.

Daira snorted again, but then it turned into a laugh. "Yeah, it's nice and all, but…" she shifted a bit and looked at something out of the camera's field of view.

"That?"

She turned back to me and shrugged. "I don't know. It just comes off as a little weird."

I felt my eyebrows go down. "What do you mean 'weird'? Like what?"

"I don't know. I'm being stupid. He's very nice. He's not Scottish, but I'm not sure where he's from. I can't place his accent or match it to the people here." I noticed her a bit strange.

"I'd comment that he's a sexy foreigner, but if he's making your weird radar go off…"

"No, no. He's harmless. I'm pretty sure it's the different cultures, the language barrier, and the fact that he's in another country for the first time that things seem weird. I'm probably the only one that seems weird to him."

I felt the worry that had been clawing at my back begin to dissipate. She could imagine the culture shock Daira was facing right now.

"But I'm actually going to brave socializing and have dinner in one of those pubs."

I sighed with feigned jealousy. “Eat something exotic. like haggis. Is that considered exotic?

I frowned at the thought of Scottish cuisine. "I don't know, but try anyway and let me know." I laughed when Daira wrinkled her nose.

“I don't know if I'm brave enough to jump right into all this about the kind of variations on Scottish food right now. I was thinking, hoping, that I could get some fries and a cheeseburger first, yes, before trying the local food. "

“Okay, well, try it all for me. Remember, I am living vicariously through you. "

We stayed in the video chat for another five minutes, although I could have stayed there all day. When the call ended and I put my cell phone on the nightstand, I hid under the covers, closed my eyes and prayed to sleep.

Maybe in my dreams I could fly off on some amazing adventure and find out what the hell I was supposed to do with my life.

Enid

If anyone had looked at me as I walked to the tables at Foresta's, the bar where she worked as a waitress, they might have thought I was a fucking social butterfly. They would see a confident girl with a carefree attitude, maybe even assuming I liked the party, always with a smile on her face. I'm sure they'd think I'm a hardcore extrovert.

In truth, being around people exhausted me, not only mentally but also physically and emotionally. It was the worst, I hated it, I'd rather be isolated in my study and staring at the wall than having drinks with strangers. Daira understood that, because she was like me in that sense.

So being a waitress in a busy city bar was like getting skinned alive. She had been working at Foresta's for a long time and, before that, she was a waitress at another bar. Same old way in regards to my employment, especially when it came to getting manhandled and sexually harassed.

Putting on a fake smile for these drunk assholes who thought they had some sort of right to try to grope and slap me with their big meaty paws was like pulling your teeth without anesthesia.

And then there was Rikard, the owner of Foresta's. I wanted to kick him in the balls more times than I could count because of his sly look on me, his subtle manipulation, and his very clear sexual harassment that he tried to cover up as "playful banter" among his coworkers.

This was insufferable, and that idea was always on my mind: find another job that was better enough and had nothing to do with what I was doing. Although he probably would have found another job easily enough, he wasn't skilled enough to land something he wasn't already doing. And that was defending against punctures in the bars. Also, the waitressing job gave me a good schedule, the tips were awesome to help save for school, and at the end of the day, I had to think about my future and where I was headed.

So here she was, five, sometimes six days a week, waitressing from six at night to two in the morning. Yes, work like this was clearly tiring, but I had been doing it for a long time, probably habit made the shit that this work represented more bearable. And soon the daily work would begin. I could already see some ``characters'' who were on the premises.

"Hello darling".

I put on my tight-lipped, but still friendly, smirk to set the sixth beer down in front of Jake, a Foresta's regular. He was an older man with an angular face, a long, graying, not-too-manicured beard, and sported a long beer belly that hung over his pants because yes, it was almost unmistakable that he'd had excessively drunk too much in the past... and still he persisted with it in the present.

But I put up with it because even though he liked to throw sick and endearment words, he never tried to get over me or touch me, he didn't touch my butt or "adjust" my name tag, which was just above my left breast. He was just hanging around, like one of those creepy old perverts who had nothing to do with their time but gobble down beers as he watched the girls barely drinking age walk in.

"Let me know if you need anything else," I said, but I didn't wait for him to reply, I just turned and headed for my tables, not staying too long at them, especially since it was very clear the guys had too much to drink and he had little or no self-control.

I was at the bar when I heard the loud conversation of the new customers who had just arrived at the place. I didn't have to turn around to know they were young guys, teenagers, probably already drunk from partying, going from bar to bar. But when I looked over my shoulder, it was to confirm what I already knew, and then I groaned, because of course they had chosen a high ceiling at my station.

"Thank you, Alex," I murmured as the bartender placed my drink order on my tray. She had the look of riding hard and enduring the bullshit around her, as if he'd lived a hard life in the city, but still survived. He saw too much with his dark gray eyes, but he had a warm smile and a smart mouth when he disrespected any of us.

``Good luck with that cute group.´´

I gave him a pained, grateful smile, and placed my last order on the table of twenty-somethings celebrating a bachelorette party. I made my way to take the drink order from the obnoxiously rowdy group of guys. I would have to be on top of my game with this group, because I could already smell the liquor coming off of them before I even got to the table. Yeah, bar hopping for sure.

``Good night, boys. What can I start with tonight? Maybe a couple of baskets of breadsticks to soak up the alcohol churning in his bloodstream?'' I put on my trademark fake smile and looked each one of them in the eye, something I forced myself to do when I was feeling a little sluggish. little out of place with drunks. It was a silent way of showing them that he was stronger than he seemed.

They all had that glassy look in their red, bloodshot eyes, a sheen of sweat on their foreheads, and their polo shirts and button-down shirts were wrinkled and askew, as if they'd been pulling and adjusting them all night, they were enveloped in a haze of drunk.

"A round of Irish car bombs."

I looked at the one who ordered. His voice rang out and I forced myself not to wince strangely as it rang in my ears. I had a feeling he would be the one to give me the worst in this fucking order as the night wore on. I called it my drunken sixth sense. And I was usually pretty spot on when it came to these matters.

"Consider it done. Do you want anything else?"

The guy he ordered smiled in such a way that he told me he was thinking of something totally obscene and disgusting that obviously had to do with me. I curled my lip and tried not to roll my eyes. "I'll take your drinks." I turned on my heel but felt them looking at my behind, as if their eyes were fingers reaching out and stroking me. I suppressed a shudder and leaned against the counter after placing my order with Alex. I absently and unnoticed glanced at the clock on the wall, grateful that the night was winding down and passing faster than usual, with only a few more hours left to finish my shift.

"Here you go, doll."

I gave Alex a grateful smile and carried the tray to the table, set down his drinks and mumbled "Enjoy it" but just as I was turning to leave, I felt a thick palm slam into my behind with such force that it unnerved me. completely. That feeling moved up my back and wrapped around my throat. It didn't feel good at all.

I slowly turned around, the one who touched me was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at his friends, the other three were smiling and almost patting each other on the back, almost trying to say to each other "Excellent friend, good job".

“Hey, how about you hang out with us after your shift?” He leaned forward, his warm, yeasty breath wafting over me and making my stomach turn. He didn't wait for me to respond before he extended his hand. as if he was about to wrap a hand around my wrist and pull me closer.

I didn't see myself doing it, didn't even realize he'd done it until I had his wrist in my hand and squeezed as hard as I could. He wasn't strong by any means, but I felt a pang of pleasure from his grimace and the way he jerked free, but it was also clear that he didn't want to look like a fagot in front of his friends. This was going to turn into something bad for everyone, especially me.

"Hey, keep your fucking slimy hands to yourself before I go behind the bar, take the hammer that's kept there for such occasions and use it against your fingers." It was all barking and no biting, because he could never bear to do something that violent, but this little piece of jerk didn't need to know that. I also had no idea if there was a hammer back there, probably not even a knife, but the threat sounded good in my head, so I told him like that.

I looked into his eyes and made sure he could see all the pure poison and fire seeping from every single pore in my body, made sure he could feel how serious I was right now. I was at the end of my rope tonight, and him putting his hands on me had pushed me over the edge.

“Damn stupid crazy bitch,” he complained, his friends muttering similar “sweethearts,” but they left, angrily throwing cash on the table to pay for their drinks and nearly tripping out of the bar. What a damn stupid, after all they were young immature and drunk.

I felt the customers staring at me, but they'd had enough, so exhausted from this shit and feeling like I was on my last legs. I grabbed the money and headed for the bar, not looking at anyone or anything, my attention firmly planted on my feet.

"Enid, can I come to my office for a moment?"

I gritted my teeth as Rikard called out to me and I narrowed my eyes at him. He didn't bother to wait for her to answer before turning and walking to the back.

I placed my tray on top of the counter, and Alex gave me an understanding smile.

“Rita, can you watch my tables for a minute?” He asked the other waitress, and she nodded and waved before moving on to her new customer.

With a frustrated exhale and hoping to get this shit over with, I headed for Rikard's office. He was already sitting behind his cheap desk, acting like a king who was at court with me.

"He close the door please."

My fingers tightened in my palm before loosening and I did what I was sure to do, because God doesn't want me to.

For a second I stood there by the door, the little bit of space between him and me not far enough for my liking. He stared at me with his dark eyes that always seemed bloodshot, as if he'd been inhaling shots here just to deal with life.

"We need to talk about something; your attitude," he finally said, and I felt my mouth go slack. As if legitimate, my lips parted, and I felt my jaw drop at what he had just said.

I shook my head slowly, blinked a few times, and finally asked, "Ehh…excuse me?"

He leaned back in his chair, the fake leather making a sickening creak as his weight settled further.

“With clients, that's what I mean. You have an unpleasant attitude towards them. "

I opened and closed my mouth. Then I repeated the action, because I was really speechless.

"I saw how you spoke to that young man who just entered with his group of friends." She clasped her hands over her protruding belly and drummed her fingers.

Slowly my shock gave way to annoyance, then anger. I felt him bubble up, so sick and tired of this shit. My cup is running over the brim.

"Oh, you mean the stop with the four jerks who said disgusting things to me?" I crossed my arms over his chest and dared to take a step toward Rikard.

"You mean the idiot who sexually assaulted me and put his hands on my body without my consent?" I took another step forward and felt my anger contort my face. I saw Rikard's eyes light up slightly, and then he shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable with this side of me. "Those customers, Rikard?" She was a woman taking control and I was finally done with the fucking shit that men threw at her on a daily basis. Yes, that was me at the time.

Seriously, I was very upset. It seemed that my boss, as a whole macho person, was on the side of the idiots with whom I had a problem. I stared at him for a moment, he was a man with a horrible expression, and what accentuated his appearance in a bad way was the reddishness that made his eyes, he looked like a demon that had come from hell itself. But really the one who felt all the attitude of a devil was me at that moment, the vein in my temple almost exploded from all the rage I had, how is it possible that I am on the side of those stupids if I just saw everything ? Everything was clear, two options were being considered at the table: Either he was the most macho guy in the world or stupid that if he could have had the opportunity he would have done the same to me. I made a small face, making fun of how stupid my boss looked, trying to explain that the situation he saw outside was my fault or something. For a moment I turned around from how upset I was, he immediately replied.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" He said he in a contemptible tone of voice. I immediately realized that the door was poorly closed. A very perceptible excuse, but the fool he had as a boss was not going to notice, but what he did notice is some stupid men barely out of their teens, drunk and with less manners than a pig in a box. pigsty, of course, he saw that very well.

"I saw that the door is ajar, I'm just going to close it" I closed the door, and released it with a pose of total mockery towards the jerk who was there. He got angrier, but I don't think that even for that reason his anger surpassed the rage that ran through my veins. He suddenly began to look at me and I realized that he was not going to be lenient with me, his gaze was very penetrating, the direction of his eyes from time to time went up and down, and he believed that I didn't realize it. He was a total pig and jerk. My anger grew by every second that he was in that office.

His dark bushy brows were lowered, and she stood up, walking around his desk before leaning against him. He crossed his arms over his chest, a very rude position, perhaps to appear intimidating to me, but in reality he seemed like just a jerk, just like the jerks who wanted to go overboard with me just now. Yeah, he was a complete jerk.

"You can't talk to customers like that, this is a serious establishment, can you imagine someone finding out about these types of incidents? I wouldn't want any of those guys to go and tell someone about what happened," he said in a in such a despot manner and without consideration towards me, didn't he realize everything?

I mocked and shook my head, all the nonsense that this guy was spitting out of his mouth couldn't be possible "Wait a minute, Rikard, are you serious now? Are you going to side with those stupid people? Evaluate the situation for a moment, Is it okay to come here and work among these idiots, let them touch me, and I'm the one you're telling to follow the rules?" I shook my head, knowing that the professional relationship between me and Foresta, or rather, the relationship work between me and Rikard had come to an end. And the truth was that I didn't give a shit, it was a job where there was a lot of abuse from clients, I was good at the functions I had there, but the place sucked at what I did. regards clientele.

She was tired of this shit, and Rikard too. He acted like he was the nice guy, but in reality behind that clean-cut image was a slimy pervert who tried to manipulate anyone he came in contact with. And if he could take advantage of that he did it immediately.

"You are exaggerating and taking this out of context" He replied, as if what I said was something extreme and out of place, the only out of place was himself

I felt my eyes swell at his sleazy voice, as if I really believed the shit that had just come out of his stinking mouth and filthy pervert lips. I took off my apron and threw it at him aggressively, the heavy cotton fabric smacking into his chest before he could even catch it. It was very liberating to resign, to unload all that bad energy accumulated with your boss, the idiot felt great, rather, my ex-boss.

"Yes, well, the truth, everything that has happened and the reaction you've had doesn't surprise me. That you defended the imbeciles that annoy us day after day. A predator stays with his own, right?" He narrowed his eyes and pushed away from the desk. "Fuck this place, fuck these customers and above all" I took a deep breath to make what I was going to say sound louder "Fuck you, Rikard." I turned around and walked out of that stupid bar, I kinda hated leaving Rita alone for the rest of the night and having to put up with all the stupid clientele that came regularly, I was mad at myself for not being stronger in many ways, but I had to start thinking about myself from now on. I felt from that moment, as if a force was growing inside me, I didn't care about drunk idiots, or Rikard's idiot, it was just that force inside me waking me up, as a sign of a sudden, but necessary change in my life. life.

I had to start worrying about what I wanted and what made me happy. That was the decision he had made. And on that path that I was walking on, it was not the direction in which I should go if I wanted to find happiness for myself.