Lu was completely in her element.  She practically flowed from one table to another her focus completely on the task at hand.  She did make more than her share of glances towards Serge as he read his book in the corner booth.  

He looked so very out of place here, but there was a calmness that surrounded him.  He may have been watching her work, but she was doing the same to him.  She watched the way he would occasionally look up and read the room appearing to do nothing more than to take a break from his book.  

Once the chaos in the dining room slowed down, she jumped behind the bar to pick up the overflow there.  It was fortunate that most nights it seemed one area was busier than the other, which kept them from going crazy trying to meet too many demands at once.  

She hadn't been behind the bar long when a particularly drunk patron caught her attention, and not in a good way.  Unfortunately she seemed to catch his attention as well.  It always started the same way.  The drunken attempts at conversation, when that didn't work, they always ALWAYS got more agessive.  Lu did what she always did, she kept her head down and did her best to ignore the increasingly lewd suggestions comning from his mouth.  

The drunk dogged her heels, making it almost impossible for her to do her job.  She narrowly avoided tripping on him more than once.  She was about to call Bill from his office to deal with the situation.  She was more than capable of handling it herself, but policy was that Bill was the one to determine when a patron had crossed a line.  

She stopped short and backed up a few steps as the patron leaned farther over the bar.  She made a face as she started to get more information about his anatomy than she wanted.  It appeared Serge had listened to more than his share of this conversation because suddenly he was there.  

"Oh shit."  Was Lu's only thought as she watched Serge step in and gracefully demand that the guy call it a night.  The situation escalated as the drunk turned his attention to Serge.  It was likely that he could have continued harassing her all night and not gotten violent, but now, now he saw Serge as coming between him and the object of his focus.  

Lu didn't quite know what to think when the first punch was thrown.  She hated bar fights, it usually meant her tips went to shit, and a long night cleaning up.  She didn't need to worry though.  It seemed that despite her fears Serge had this well under control.  

She laughed a little as he told her she was going to need to clean up the bar again because of a little drool.  "Another drink, maybe two and drool would have been the least of my concerns". She joked.  


It took a minute for what was happening to sink in in the people around them, but her coworker rallied and managed to call the cab and let Serge know it was on its way.  Lu just shook her head as the drunk was escorted out of the building.


It seemed to cause a lot of chatter among the regulars, but that wasn't what Lu was listening to.  She was listening to the ladies.  They obviously appreciated not only Serges good looks, but his skills as well.  

It took her a while to get everyone settled back down, but once the beer was once again flowing and Serge had returned to his seat as if nothing had happened, everything was once again back to normal.  

Lu finished what she was doing and made her way to stand next to Serge's table.  Her first instinct was to complain that she was doing just fine and hadn't needed his help.  That was the type of woman she was of course, very independent.    This, however; was not the tactic she chose.  She realized that he likely had made a difficult decision to get involved.  

She rested her hand gently on the edge of the table and waited for him to turn his attention toward her.  "Thank you."  She said quietly.  "I appreciate you handling that for me."  

Her tone said more than mere words ever could. It was hard for her to thank him.  She was so used to handling everything on her own, she didn't quite know what to say or do when someone else stepped in and had her back.   She glanced around the place and decided that the others could handle things on their own for just a minute.  

She slid into the booth across from Serge and leaned back with a sigh.  "I mean it.  I really do appreciate you stepping in."