Soft petals and Hard nights

Unpaid... "fees"

(Quick warning one part is a bit nsfw-ish)
Rose felt her feeling of a relief die as quickly as it came as the finely dressed, wide-hipped woman waltz in. If she had walked in at a different time when this woman wasn’t here Rose would’ve been more than happy to help her out, or even show somewhat of her usual chipperness. But no, fate had decided that she waltz in like she owned the joint. Visions of a rugged prince faded away.
She did have an almost gruff and rugged appeal despite her gentlewomanly attire, a large scar that traced over her eye that ran all the way down her cheek, sharp canines in her grin that widened, one glinting rose gold as she was fully in through the door. Her very appearance screamed ‘criminal’. Her narrow deep blue eyes scanned the stiff restaurant as she sighed contently, straightening her jacket with a fluid snap before she strode over to the counter and lifted a finger, to gently ring it. As she pushed down on the button, the bell let out a loud tinkling noise.
The figure clicked her tongue under her breath, a hissing sound before reaching for her breast pocket, fumbling about before giving a small ‘ah’ of satisfaction. She plucked out a fat cigar before chomping down on it. She brought her index finger to the end of the cigar, a blue flame flickered to life on her finger, lighting the cigar. She took a long drag of the cancer stick and exhaled the strange blue smoke. A low growl in her throat as she smirked. “Eyy Ashlea!!” She called jovially, causing an uncharacteristic “eep” from the kitchen.
This made the figure snicker in a way anyone could only describe as sadism, extending her hand in a powerful thrust, causing the doors to fly open from some invisible force. Ash’s yelp approached as she was pulled to the stranger, a dark blue ring like a vice around Ash’s heart, Ash had slammed into the front counter letting out a choked up cry. The cry had made Rose jolt. The absolute nerve of this woman! She took a step to intervene but felt a cold hand grip her shoulder. She looked to the doctor, who shook her head at Rose, forcing her to stand there helplessly.
Ash fell weakly against the surface of the counter, before lifting her head shakily to meet the gaze of the stranger who began to lean in a relaxed manner on the counter. Her smirking face poised at Ash. “Heya old chump!” She began in a loud honeyed voice, that made Rose shutter as she watched. The waitress didn’t like this one bit. “I do believe you owe us a few ehm overdue fees..” The stranger sang, rubbing her fingers together, indicating that Ash had some notes she needed to cough up. “Just because we are-- friend my dear, it doesn’t mean you don't hafta pay. C’mon Ashes, I really don’t wanna cause a scene..” The stranger barked out a laugh. “W-well I- erm…” Ash struggled nervously with her words, quite a contrast to her usual laid back attitude of the dragon hybrid. “You see… Our stock was backed up causing one of the-” “Fee.” The fox demon growled lethally, causing Ash to jolt back. Ash cleared her throat and looked to Rose. “Rosie? W-would you be a dear a-and get the large envelope, out back labeled ‘Tax’ sweetpea?” Ash stammered. “Atta girl,” Ash’s shaking died down a little as she gave a thumbs up to her.
Rose froze in place as she felt the demon woman turn to her. She couldn’t look. She held her breath for a few seconds that felt like forever and gave Ash a curt nod, ignoring the intrigued stares the woman was giving her as she briskly walked through the kitchen door. As Rose fled the room, Ash felt the stares trained back on her. She nervously looked up at her, the lady’s flashed a hint of curiosity.
“Who was that?” She asked in a hushed tone. Ash sighed a sigh of relief, grateful the attention was off of her for once. Her head wouldn’t be further smashed into the counter… for now at least. “That’s the new girl, Ms. Rose.” Ash began, getting some strength back to her voice. She watched as wonder washed over the woman’s face. Ash could see the gears of interest whirring in her brain, almost seeing the immense liking to the girl’s name. Ash continued bravely, hoping to please, let alone distract her immediate punisher. “She began a couple weeks ago, she’s quite popular with the monsters-”
The figure glared, sending Ash a withering look.”Stay put.” Ash chuckled nervously as the fox retreated. “A-Alrighty!” Ash whimpered, counting her blessings as the woman stalked in after Rose. The woman in particular, had never taken a shining to a person as immediate as this, let alone a human, it was quite unnatural. It had her curious. The kitchen was deserted and clean for the most part- messes Ash made to keep Rose busy. The woman’s shoes clacked against the checkered tiles, echoing throughout the kitchen. She paused to glance around the kitchen, that was when he heard soft mutterings coming from the pantry.
It was a soft, femine voice, presumably Rose’s voice. She rounded the corner- bingo. There was the young lady, amongst the dark shelves looming over her that almost seemed to swallow her up. “ ‘Tax, tax, tax--.. Goddammit! This is impossible! Why the hell is Ash even paying this thug??” She sighed. The sound airy to the woman that towered over her from behind. Rose continued her whispering rant until she noticed a shadow leaning to her and glanced back. “Evenin’,” The woman said with a smile, giving her a short bow. Rose shrieked, grabbing the shelves behind her as she reared away. The woman smirked widely, amused by her fear.
You could be civil! You could be civil! Rose thought as she swallowed. “I-I am so sorry ma’am! Was t-there anything I could do for you?” She tried. She was cornering Rose like those fellas down in the west side- She was leaning with an arm against the door, drinking in that nervous look upon the girl’s face. She met the woman’s eyes- she knew what she wanted. “Just taking in Ashlea’s employee of the month-!” Rose offered her a shaky smile. “I… I am so sorry it’s taking so long, it’ll just be a minute!” Rose apologized. “It’s okay doll, take all the time you need. I’ll be here.” Rose offered her another smile and turned and dropped it.
Her face began to turn a light shade of pink as she felt the lady’s eyes trained on her bottom, her smirk wide. It was time for Rose to take a more prompt approach. The girl inhaled deeply, turned and said. “Uhm, You could take a seat outside- I’m sure Ash could show you a seat! A-and I'm sure it’s awfully uncomfortable standing.” “I’m fine here sweetheart! You are too damn polite,” Rose turned again. She was still staring, wasn’t she? Indeed she was, eyes trained on the young lass imagining her figure in lavish things- silk, diamonds… only to dive into much darker territory which included ripping off her work clothes, bending her over, and slamming her into the wall of the pantry.
She definitely liked the second one better.
“Are you free tonight?” The lady blurted out. It was Rose’s turn to laugh. “What makes you think I’m free??” Rose laughed at her. Was she serious? The woman ignored her. “Say, you were free-- would you wanna hang out tonight? We coulllllllllddd get to know each other?” She drawled. She was serious. Rose’s mood immediately plummeted back to earlier, nervousness. She was not ready for this. She was trying to find a way to say this as gently as possible. Words forming only to dissolve to nothingness. By the time she glanced up to meet her gaze, she had disappeared.

--

“How much?”
Ash gulped, previous shaking returned along with the woman. “I-I beg your p-pardon?”Ash swallowed weakly. The cigar hit the ground with a crunch against the woman’s teeth. “How. Much?” “...For??” “THE GIRL YOU DOLT!” The woman seethed, slamming her fist on the counter with a loud thump. “Sam come and sit! Now that you have finished your ‘play-date’ in the kitchen we HAVE to talk about business!” The ‘Sam’ in question turned her head towards the figure that spoke.
She let a few grumbling protests before the figure clicked snappily and pointed to the barstool next to her. Sam let out a huffy sigh and followed suit, dropping the small bartender and joining the melted figure. “Haha! Yeah! Erm- we’ll erm talk about this later??” Ash called a salty grunt being her only response. “It was nice chattin’ with ya!” That was when Rose shuffled out with a large manila envelope with the word “Tax” written sloppily on it in permanent marker.
“Ash!!-” She exclaimed as she noticed her boss laying on the ground. Half praying she wasn’t dead.
“Mmhm?” Ash hummed motionlessly, Rose huffed a sigh of relief. Rose scoped out the cluttered counter. “Where did you want this?” She asked. “Man in the corner’s sweetie, I’m pretty sure you know who it is by now.” Right there and then her blood ran cold. She did not wanna go back over there to meet the crooks again. Her knees would give way and send her right through the window. “I-I can’t-” She trembled.
“Do you want this job doll?” Rose blinked, silent until her boss repeated. “I said, ‘do you want this job’??” “Yes, m-ma’am..” Rose finally replied “Then get going sweetie,” She stared at Ash for a moment and started going.
She needed this job more than anything in this town and no big talking, cigar-smoking, well dress thug was gonna take that away from her.