“Kid, you’re late.” Jackson’s half smile let you know that you weren’t fired, at least not yet anyway.

“I’m only a few seconds late, besides, in a lot of locations it would be called fashionably late.”

“Not at the Oasis. Tables six and seven haven’t been helped yet. Beware, they look like potential muffins.”

“Aren’t they all?” you said over her shoulder as she tied her apron around her waist. ‘Muffin’ meant player, and to you a player was the exact type of girl that left you over a year ago for your best friend. You still felt the embarrassment, the humiliation, the degradation, and most of all, the shame for not realizing your girlfriend was cheating on you. Soon after that horrible nightmare, you applied for the position at the Oasis night club where you could be constantly reminded of your ex and their kind, you never wanted to be involved with them again – Muffins.

You are named as ‘night charmer’ at the club. You have this boyish look that can attract both men and women, mostly women. You used to be an out-going person not until the day your girlfriend decided to cheat on you with your own best friend. You turned into a most sarcastic/cold person in the world, turning down all the offers from both men and women.

You and Jackson had become fast friends right from the start. Jackson was married to a nice girl and they had a newborn. He had a lot of insightful wisdom that you soaked up like a sponge. Together, you guys had a lot of fun coming up with the many different types of muffins to suit the types of players that frequented the night club. There were the fruit muffins, kind of sweet but still a player. The corn muffins, who told corny jokes as come-on’s and the nut muffins, just plain nuts.

Occasionally, you’d run into an actual fruitcake.

You made your way over to the first table where two girls sat in their casual dress with freaking high heels. This look is the most common look you had seen in your entire time working at that club and never seemed to go out of style. They were staring out in the crowd of dancers as if they were looking for someone in particular.

“Hi there, what can I get you?” you asked in your usual polite voice raised enough to be heard over the music.

Both of their heads turned at the same time and smiles lit up their faces. You knew immediately that these were typical ‘air-headed’ customers. They would no doubt try to hit on you, and when you ‘politely’ turn them down they would move on to other potential conquests. They would eventually find someone who was willing to dance with them, and if they were lucky, they’d get lucky. It made you sick, and that sick feeling was exactly what you thought you needed to avoid getting into another relationship disaster.

“Well, aren’t you quite handsome?”  The one on the left said, letting her eyes wander you from head to toe.

“Thanks girls, and by the way I’m a girl” you constantly remind your costumers that you aren’t the opposite which some find quite disappointing and others find it interesting.

“Girl, she’s hotter than any guy here. It is okay sweetie, we don’t mind” The other one said to her friend after she winked at you.

Yep, muffins. “You two should be careful because you might dehydrate from all that drooling. Say, I have an idea, why don’t I get you something to drink?”  You kept your casual smile as you issued them sarcasm.

“Cocktail for me, honey.”

“Same here, baby.”

You walked away with their order and gave it to Jackson.

“Was I right?”  He asked.

“Yup, they are new ones. We need a new kind of muffin that describes idiots, Jackson.”  Your eyes drifted to the other table you were about to serve. Yep, that’s right, two more good looking girls, and undoubtedly muffins. You picked up the tray with the drinks and took it over to the first two idiots.

“Baby, you look good to be my girlfriend!”  The ‘baby’ girl/idiot said.  Her friend followed up with, “What time do you get off, honey?”

Never with you, had you thought to yourself. You set the two drinks down and said, “First of all, here are your drinks, and secondly, here’s a little advice: You can’t both try to hit on me at the same time, and more importantly, neither of you should try to hit on me at all.”

You turned away from them and walked to the next table. Hopefully these two muffins wouldn’t be as blatantly stupid.  “Hi, what can I get for you?”  You said in your usual tone.

“How about your number?”  The one with golden brown hair on the right asked.

You had heard that line so many times it wasn’t even funny. You did notice that the girl on the left shook her head and looked down at the table as if she might be embarrassed with the behaviour of her friend.  You replied with your best impression, “Um, I think you might have missed the free brochure available at the door, right next to our bouncer. It lists the lame pick-up lines that died with the dinosaurs.”  You leaned in closer to the girl and added in your regular voice, “By the way, I’ve heard ‘how about your number’ over a thousand times and so has everyone here at the club. You might want to spice it up a bit.”  You stood up straight and smoothed your apron.  “What can I get you girls tonight?”

The other girl looked up into your eyes and said in a calm smooth voice, you weren’t sure if the girl was whispering or you are just being deaf after all the blast music you’ve been listening to in your entire time working there “We’ll just have two Martinis, thanks.”

You were caught off guard at the easiness of this one’s voice and the way her dark eyes pierced yours with an electrical jolt. Your guard were always up because it had to be, but with this girl, you immediately felt that you didn’t need to be processing a come-back. You felt the girl’s dark aura and she felt at ease at the same time. ‘She’s different, not a muffin I guess’ you thought. You turned and walked to the bar.

“Two Martinis.”  You told Jackson.

Jackson was wiping out a glass and looking beyond your shoulder.  “More muffins?”

“Yeah, well, one of them is. The other one may not be.”

“Would that be the one who hasn’t taken her eyes off you since you left the table?”

Your head whirled around to see those y dark eyes on you. You looked back at Jackson and said with a sigh, “Maybe she is a muffin.”

“You like her.”  He said with an accusatory tone.

“What?”

“I think you like her. You look disappointed when you said that she’s a muffin”

“That’s ridiculous. I was just tired of serving these freaking muffins. She’s probably just like all the other girls in this club.”

“Hey, that’s not nice.” You just smiled and took the drinks over to the table.

After you set the drinks down, you looked at the one on the left and asked, “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thanks.”  Her eyes twinkled momentarily then she looked down at her drink.

You left the table and headed to another one that had just filled with several girls. Some of them are trying to hit on you but you just politely turns them down.

“Damn, he’s hot!”  Momo said to Mina.

“What was with that idiotic line, ‘how ‘bout your number’? What are you, twelve? And are you blind or something, that is a she” Mina always knew Momo was a bit forward, but she had to agree with the waiter, Momo needed to spice it up a bit.

“I don’t know, but it was worth a try. Check out those people in the dance floor. I think I’ll try the brunette with the short hair.” Momo drank a few swallows from her mug and got up and left.

Mina sat there for the next hour and watched the attractive waiter that serves them while she nursed her drink. At one point, the music lulled at the same time Jackson called out your name.  (y/n) – a very fitting name.  You have a natural boyish style that doesn’t look too manly. You have short dark brown hair, her legs went on forever and Mina is thinking that you are probably over 170 ,and the black and white long sleeve just add to the your good looks. Your hair became quite messy but you just fix it with her hand, Mina couldn’t see any other guy or girl in the entire club that would surpass your look. She overheard your quick-witted comebacks to other customers which told her that you were intelligent and clever and not to mention funny. So why are you working in a place like this?

It was clear to Mina that most of the people who came to this night club held a certain assumption of someone they expected to come in contact with. Yet, you held your own guard, refused any and all advances, including Momo’s. You were the most interesting person she’d ever met and was absolutely attractive. She was glad Momo convinced her to come here.

“(y/n)” Jackson said looking over your shoulder “you have an admirer. She looks like a nice girl.”

“Dude can’t you see she’s literally glaring at me, how can you describe that as nice?”  You tried to sound convincing.

“Give that girl a break?”

“Come on Jackson, you know everyone comes here willing to walk out with anyone. I’m not the only one they use those stupid lines on. I’m just usually the first. It’s my duty to all humanity to turn them down quickly and harshly.”

“Well, your admirer doesn’t fit the bill. She looks very out of place and uncomfortable and certainly doesn’t act like a muffin. You should give her a try, (y/n).”

“I don’t want to anymore, not since—”

“How long has it been, (y/n)?”

You looked away from Jackson’s concerned glare. You knew what he was trying to do, what he was suggesting, and you also knew he had an amazing sense of intuition about these kind of stuff in general. He wouldn’t push you toward a loser.

“I only want you to be happy, (y/n).  Give this girl a try.”

Give this girl a try to stomp on my heart, yeah right. Still, you’ve been watching the girl in question out of the corner of your eye for the last hour. You watched as she turned down several girls and guys that had approached her only to have her attentions return to you. There was an interesting look in her y eyes, one that you couldn’t quite decipher, but it certainly was not like the other people in the club who all seemed to want to eat you up with chocolate sauce. No, this girl was definitely different, respectful almost. Maybe Jackson could sense that too.

“Jackson, didn’t you see she literally turn them down without even giving them a glance. But if it will get you off my back, I’ll give her a try, she will probably turn me down too, and I’ll bet you it will take less than two minutes.”

“I’ll take that bet. If you asked her out and she said yes, I’ll clean this place, close it and you can go home early. If no, you do all of it”

“I guess I’ll be the one who’s closing down tonight.” You said with a sigh

You walked over to Mina’s table determined to play fair. This would be a fun experiment and no doubt you would fail just like every other person that ever came to the Oasis. But what if the other girl says ‘Yes’?  Don’t get your hopes up, (y/n). You thought. This is just to shut Jackson up, nothing else. Now, if you could just get your heart to stop racing.

“Can I get you anything else?”  You asked as you wiped the moisture rings off Mina’s table top.

“No, I’m good.” She looked at you quickly and then back down at her drink as if she’s trying to hide her blushing face to the other girl standing in front of her.

“Where’s your friend?” You tried to break the silence

Mina motioned in Momo’s direction with her chin.

You turned your head to look.  Then you looked back at her.  “Why aren’t you out there enjoying the evening? Your friend looks like she’s enjoying the dance floor”

“There isn’t anyone that interests me out there. Yeah, she’s a born dancer”

Your brows scrunched together in heavy contemplation. Was that a come-on? Could be. It was obvious that she liked you but that wasn’t a true pick-up line, it was more like bait. You have to step it up a notch if you were going to win the bet.

“Do you mind if I sit down for a minute?  I’m (y/n), by the way.”

Mina lost her breath somewhere between her toes and nose as she nodded her approval. She took a sip of her drink and inhaled slowly trying to get a hold of her excitement. Your perfume scent hit her nose stealing her breath once again.

“I’m Mina.” She didn’t know what else to add, so she said nothing.

Her silence made you feel uneasy, and as if you were intruding her personal space. Normally, you would have excused yourself but you wanted to go home early so you pressed on. “Mina, you don’t seem like the kind of girl I see here on a regular basis.”

“I don’t do the club thing. Momo, my friend, pulled me along tonight.”

“Well, if you don’t frequent clubs, what do you usually do with your weekends?”

Mina took another sip and looked down at the table, “I teach ballet and sometimes sports dance. I’m not really into this kind of genre. My friend is just too persistent and asked me to come with her here.”

“Oh, you guys are quite opposite, how did you guys met?” you asked.

“We met at a dance competition, she’s doing an urban dance and I was doing ballet and that girl is very friendly, she basically befriends all the competitors in that competition but I’m the only one who can tolerate her stupidity. Ever since then, we always hangout and she also help me managing my dance classes.” She cleared and asked you to further the conversation “What about you, (y/n)?  Do you like working in a place like this?”

“A place like this?”  Your eyes narrowed slightly.

She realized how offensive her question could be taken so she reiterated with, “What I mean to say is, you seem like a very intelligent person and from what I’m seeing, there seems to be a shortage of brainwaves flowing through this place, both male and female. Anyways, you kind of stand out, as if you don’t belong here.”

Should you tell her about your past?  What did you have to lose?  Besides, you still hadn’t made a pass at her or asked her out, so the bet was undecided, as of yet, and time was running out.

“About a year ago, I was in a relationship with this girl. I was high on life and love, but low on IQ, otherwise I would have realized my girlfriend and best friend were cheating on me.  In a really messed up way, working here helps me deal with that, if that makes any sense.”  You hadn’t ever openly admitted that before and were shocked at the amount of inner peace and hope of closure it brought you.

“It does make sense, actually. Every girl here probably reminds you of your ex and her stupid ways. She wasn’t thinking about you when she cheated on you with your best friend, she was only thinking about one thing; the same one thing all of these people are after. By saying sarcastic remarks on everyone that comes on to you, I think you’re just protecting your heart from being broken further. So, by working here, surrounded by one-tracked minds and lust-hunger bimbos, you feel in control of your emotions and your life.”

“Wow! You’re good, Ms. Mina.  That’s quite deep, first time I heard something sensible from a costumer”

“Unfortunately, it tends to shoo away people, they think I’m a little too nosy about their life, kind of like right now.”

“I’m not bothered at all. I think you just tend to voice out what you really want to say.”

“Have you ever faced your ex and told her how much she hurt you?”

“No.”  She said quietly.

Mina reached across the table and laid her hand over yours. “It wasn’t your fault, (y/n). She made the error. She turned her back on you. It’s her loss not yours. The girl is a fool and probably slaps herself in reality that she will never going to get you back. I know I would.”

You looked at Mina with your mouth half-way open not knowing what to say or how to react. You haven’t been in a situation like this where a girl was sensitive enough to understand your feelings. Then again, you were constantly surrounded by morons who viewed you as a piece of meat.

You and Mina silent staring match was interrupted by Momo.

“Hey, Mina, I’m heading out. See you later.” Momo winked and pulled the short brunette girl closer to her side which had arms around her shoulder. Neither Mina nor you acknowledged her. “Hey,” She snapped her fingers in front of Mina’s face “Get a room, you two.”  With that, she left with her companion.

Mina cleared and looked down at your clasped hands on the table. She looked up at you who had closed your mouth and was now smiling brightly at her.

“I’m sorry, (y/n).  I should go.” She stood up, pulling out her wallet to pay for the drinks. She was so close to being able to ask you out, so close, but Momo had to kill the moment. Mina decided right there she wasn’t going to let you slip away without a fight. She would come again some other night and see you again.

You stood up next to Mina straightening your apron and looked up to her beautiful body to her dark eyes and then to her lips. It really had been a long time since you felt the unmistakable jolt of exhilaration and expectation. It felt very good. You watched Mina open as if she was about to say something.

“Would you want to go out with me sometime?”  The question loomed in the air.

You stood talking to the mystery girl. Mina handed you a piece of paper that has her digits on it and you accepted it with a smile after she accepted your offer. Then you turned and headed toward Jackson putting her sad face trying to trick him. Jackson had a really high hope on this one but he guess his friend still needs more time to think to be with in a relationship again. You deserved a nice girl for once.

“Looks like you’re closing tonight.” You said with a smile.

The End