An Unexpected Invitation

The Gossamer gala, the talk of the town and the #1 place to be was tomorrow.  All of the A listers from Burrowgatory were to be there, hosted by the ever prestigious Angora. Of course, all of this meant nothing to Hops, yes, she was to attend the annual event but not as a guest, but as staff member, just the bartender. 

This wasn’t her first time attending the Gala, the years prior being just as big as the last, if anything maybe a bit more luxurious in the following years. This year’s theme was fey and flowers, and the decorations had already started to arrive, beautiful gilded butterflies, draperies of all sorts of mystical colors and you can’t forget they beautiful butterfly themed champagne glasses that were special ordered for this event. Hops gave a sigh as she thought more about the gala, the expensive dresses.. the expensive drinks. They were even to have not just one but three large champagne towers to drink from and she was stuck behind the bar, only to watch. 

She managed to not break many glasses as she prepped her bar, hanging the decorations onto her large bar, placing ribbons and other decorations on the most expensive bottles to draw the patron’s eyes. Her eyes, however, kept finding themselves drifting back onto the large stack of champagne placed nicely next to the assembly of glasses, all being meticulously stacked onto a large round table beside a ladder. The shine of the dark green glass glistened so nicely, the condensation of the cooling alcohol calling to her.. so many people were hustling and bustling and, well, the champagne wouldn’t even be opened until tomorrow evening.. She chewed her thumb nail as she contemplated… the champagne was vintage, of course only the finest booze for Angora, and there were so many bottles.. how could they possibly notice if just one bottle were to turn up missing, surely one bottle wouldn’t be enough to ruin the entire tower. 

She let her mind wander and rationalize the idea of just sneaking off with only one bottle, each reassurance to herself led her one step closer to the crate, and with each step, the desire of that cold bubbly on her tongue grew. It wasn’t until she was right in front of the large number of bottles and her hand on the chilled glass, lifting it out of the ice did someone say something. Oh god, it was her manager and she was caught red handed. “Hops! What do you think you’re doing! Get back to the bar” They scolded her. 

Of course the manager should have known better, known Hops to be the klutz that she was and to yell at her next to so many expensive and delicate items was a huge mistake. The loud snap of the voice pulling Hops out of her alcoholic trance she jumped, her tail whipping around behind her as she turned to face the manager, and hitting the base of the already stacked glass. There she was, hops, standing red handed with a bottle of booze and the sound of glass shattering to the ground as the whole tower fell. It was like slow motion for Hops, the sound of the glass, the expression on her manager’s face twisting to horror as it all came tumbling down. 

As the last glass fell, the shatter echoed in the now dead silent room, all eyes now on hops and the mountain of glass. Fuck. She was frozen, looking down at her feet for only a moment before looking back up and catching sight of her manager about to yell at her when the sound of a crisp clap arose from the other side of the large room. The sound of heels soon followed the slow clapping as the source came into view, it was Angora. 

Hops’ heart sank to her stomach at the sight of the casino owner as she made her approach, hands still gripping the cold bottle before quickly and poorly attempting to hide it behind her back. “That was quite the show Hops.” Angora said with a smile, not quite looking at the bartender as she spoke, walking up to the absolute mess of glass, the sound of crunching under her heels echoing in the large room. 

“I— uh.. it wasn’t-“ Hops stopped hee poor attempt at an excuse, eyes dropping to the floor. “I’m sorry..” 

“Oh, no worries darling, it will simply go on your tab.” 

Angora spoke with such a nonchalant fashion, turning her eyes to the small bun. “I’d say just by what I can see it will only add maybe… 5 more years to your tab?” Hops’ eyes shot up to look at Angora, expression full of shock and fear to which the casino owner laughed. “Oh sweetie don’t look at me like that.” She took a few more steps forward until she was right in front of Hops, leaning in closely, face to face. “I suppose…” she starts, looking down as her face nears the nervous bartender. “If you wanted to pay me back in some other way for this…” She reaches behind hops to take the bottle from her hands. “You could attend the Gala as my date.” She finished her proposition and met eyes with Hops with a smile. 

Hops was stunned at first, not knowing quite what to say before she turned a bright shade of pink and turned her head to look away. “I.. “ She hesitates. “You can say no, I won’t push you into it.” Angora interrupted. “No I just… “ She chews her lower lip in thought before turning back. “I don’t have anything to wear..” She replies softly. “Oh well sweetheart that can be arranged, but that does sound like a yes.” Angora moved so that she was still squarely in font of Hops’ face. 

Hops looked down at the bottle of champagne in the woman’s hand before looking up and nodding. “Yes ma’am.” 

Angor smiled before turning on one of her heels and takes a few steps toward the door she had entered. “Wonderful! And here I was dying over who I’d take with me! “ She turns her head at Hops, making sure she was looking at her before tossing her the dark green bottle. “I’ll pick you up at 8.”