Work Text:
She couldn’t have just said no could she?
It not like she has never turned down anyone before but she is trying to make a new start of it (again) and this place is really nice and she is actually getting paid a decent amount plus tips and she wants this to work and even after just the first day she can already tell this is different, that she could get used to working here and the people here aren’t the typical ones that she has worked with before who just write her off as the stand-offish girl or the cold, bitter blonde.
It has only been her first day and they have all been so welcoming and caring and nice.
She showed up not really sure where she was supposed to go or who to talk to and she was a little nervous and maybe her palms were sweaty but as soon as she walked the first few steps past the crystal glass doors and halfway to the immaculately shiny bar, a tall blonde man came up to her with the nicest, most kind smile she had seen in a while and introduced himself as David and somehow he made all the nerves go away. He somehow already knew she was the new girl, Emma and led her back to the office where Belle, the owner and woman who interviewed and hired her was waiting to get her started.
She signed a few forms and then was passed to Ruby, the dark haired girl with bright red lips and the very short skirt who was now a waitress but used to be one of the two bartenders. She helped Emma learn the ropes of the restaurant and what was needed to be a bartender in a high class place. She wasn’t condescending or snotty, she just said it as it is, that some of the customers had their heads up their own asses and that if you really needed to rip them a new asshole, Belle was usually understanding. Ruby also provided a heavy dose of gossip throughout the training which made Emma feel even more like she belonged. Usually she was always left out on the gossip and the inside jokes.
And then Ruby and her had just talked for a while, preparing the bar portion of the restaurant for opening in a couple hours when a man walked in, or maybe swaggered is a better word. Pitch-black hair, blue as fuck eyes and stubble that George Clooney had nothing on. Ruby had called him Killian when she introduced them but Emma wasn’t sure if she heard her the first time because wow he was very nice to look at and maybe when he looked back Emma saw something that was a little too familiar in his eyes. But then he had to smirk, say “hello love, it’s a pleasure” and kiss her fucking hand when he came around the bar and the spell was broken.
Emma snarked that “wasn’t he such a gentleman” only to be sassed back that “of course darling, always.” She soon found out that Killian would be the one that would take her through her first day, as Ruby would be on her usual tables and Killian was the other full-time bartender for the night.
But it hadn’t been so bad. Killian was nice throughout their shift. When Emma didn’t know what a drink was or when a customers wanted their drink 10 seconds after they ordered it and Emma got flustered, he was there, even when he was with other customers. He would hand her what she needed, or encourage her with a “you got this, Swan,” or would simply put a reassuring hand on her shoulder while he was walking passed her. Yes, he still flirted up a storm with her and every person that came to get a drink (yes, even the men). And at the end of the day when she was barely able to stand on her feet and maybe she should have broken in these new work shoes better, he was there with a shot of rum and a smile that could melt a thousand frozen hearts. “Good day, Swan, we deserve a bit of the good stuff”
And then to make her day even better (or worse, depending how you look at it), the hostess Mary Margaret who she had seen throughout the night and chatted with during her break told her that they usually go to Ruby’s grandma’s diner a few blocks away after work and it would be so lovely if she could come along. And she hadn’t known what to say, that they would want to spend time with her after work was something Emma never experienced, but they all looked so hopeful and when she turned and looked at Killian, well that did it, so she said “sure” and now here she is, in a booth across from Kilian and Belle and sitting next to Mary Margaret who was, at this point, almost sitting in David’s lap. Killian’s foot keeps tapping hers when her attention drifts off because this already feels so much like what she never had growing up and when she looks up he has a soft knowing smile on his face like he knows exactly what she is thinking.
And oh this is nice and Granny’s grilled cheese is the best thing she has ever tasted and everyone keeps trying to steal her onion rings and the hot chocolate with cinnamon makes her eyes burn with unshed tears because oh it feels like warmth of a blanket being put around you by a loved one and the comfort that had just been beyond her reach for so long.
And this is very nice.
They all talk about their days around the restaurant and their lives outside it and just general chatter about the news, celebrities, books and movies. She learns that the other bartender that she hasn’t met yet, Elsa, lives in her same building and that Killian owns a boat with his brother Liam and he has a little nephew named Aiden, who, based on the pictures Killian showed her, might be the cutest kid she has ever seen. The night starts to wind down and soon enough they part ways, Killian offering to walk her home (Swan, I am a gentleman remember) and her reluctantly agreeing.
And on the way home if her stomach flips every time Killian sends her one of his smiles or their hands graze each other once in a while, well she tries not to think about that. This is a very unfamiliar feeling for Emma, immediately feeling like she belongs and feeling so strongly so quickly for someone of the male variety. Sure she is not getting her hopes up quite yet, she has too much bad experience for that but this feeling, this strange feeling of magic that she can feel flowing through her veins, well she is willing to wait it out and see what becomes of it, see if maybe she won’t be disappointed this time. It feels right, right now and Emma is willing, for once, to hope, hope that she has found her family, her home.