I can envision the frown she’s wearing now. She worries about her big sister too much. “I get why you had to move away. It just sucks that you guys aren’t here anymore.”
“Not like you’ll be there much longer. Just a couple more weeks and you’ll be spreading your own wings. Besides, you’ll come to visit right? Once we get a little more settled?”
“Of course, I will. He’s got a birthday coming up in a couple of months. I wouldn’t miss that for the world. Just make sure it’s on a weekend.”
“I will do my best,” I say with a wide grin at the thought of her visiting my new home. “Hopefully we’ll see you before then. If nothing else, we’ll Skype in the next couple of days. You know how he loves that.”
Exiting the highway, I pay close attention to the street names, looking for my turn.
“And I love seeing straight up his nose every time you walk away from the iPad. By the way, you need to clean your ceiling fans. I forgot to tell you that last time we talked.”
“I do not,” I say with a giggle. “I just moved in. They’re fine.”
“I don’t know. I got a very long and close up view of them. It was a lot of fun to watch them spin while listening to Paw Patrol in the background.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll pay closer attention next time.”
Finding the parking lot to Frui Vita, I pull in and take a space under a light in the middle.
“I don’t mind just sitting there with him,” she adds. “I just prefer to watch him, not your ceiling.”
“You’re a good auntie, Nic-Nic.”
“And you’re a good mom, KK.”
Turning off my car, I grab my purse and toss my keys inside. “As much as I want to talk to you more, I just got to my new job so I need to go.”
Nicole gasps. “You got a job? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it happened yesterday. Don’t get all excited. I’m working at a bar. But I like the owner and the waitress seems really nice so I don’t want to be late on my first day.”
“I’m so happy for you. Call me when you can so you can tell me all about it. Maybe you’ll meet a hunky customer and fall in love.”
I snort a laugh. “In my experience, a bar is the last place I want to meet someone. But thanks for the good vibes. Go finish packing, baby sister. You have a dorm to move into.”
“Will do. Love you.”
“I love you, too.”
We disconnect and I take a deep breath.
It’s not my dream job, but it’s gainful employment. Time to make a good impression.
SEVEN
Paul
Firing Desiree wasn’t as dramatic as I thought it would be. At first, she denied my claims of her drinking copious amounts on the job but the more I insisted I knew the truth, the less weight her rebuttals held. Finally, she admitted she’d done a couple of stints in rehab and apologized for her behavior.
It made me kind of sad to find out she has a serious problem with alcohol. It also made me question how deeply rooted the addiction is if she decided to work here. Did she think she could handle it or was it just a great way to have access to all the free booze she wanted?
I’m not sure, but it’s also not something I can dwell on. I offered to help her find another rehab, but she didn’t take me up on it. One thing I’ve learned from working in this industry as long as I have, you can’t help an alcoholic. You can support one in their journey to health, but they have to do the work. The best way I could assist her in getting better is by taking her job away.
Of course, that means I have to man the bar for a while as I train my newest employee. I’m going to have longer hours while I keep up with all the office duties as well, but I’m hoping it’ll be a quick and easy transition.
Tammy eases up to the counter and places her tray on top. “What time is my new co-worker showing up?”
I glance at the clock behind me. “Probably in the next few minutes. I told her to be here by six so I could get her started before we get busy.” Leaning onto my elbow, I ask Tammy the same question I’ve tossed out a few times already. “Are you sure you don’t want to bartend instead of waitress?”
Tammy holds up her hands and backs away, like the idea of being behind a bar is repulsive. “Not a chance. I am too old to try and memorize recipes and lord knows I don’t like people enough to have to stand here and listen to their sob stories.”
“Are you sure?” I smirk at her. “You don’t seem like the kind of woman who could pass up on all the juicy gossip.”
“Juicy is one thing. Droning on and on about the same problems everybody else has irks me. Do you really think you want an irritated me trying to keep those customers happy?”
She makes sense. “Well played, Tammy. I will concede your point and leave you be.”
“Thank you,” she says with a quick nod. “Now if you don’t mind, Jimmy would like an Old Fashioned and Dwayne has decided to upgrade to a Dos Equis instead of his usual Coors Light.”
I snicker at her candor while I grab a fresh glass to make Jimmy’s Old Fashioned. “Wow. Dwayne must be having a rough night.”
“Like I said, droning on about the same old shit. Notice I was able to happily walk away to talk to you instead.”
“I get it.” I pop the top on the beer bottle and hand the drinks over to her. “Here you go. Good luck getting in and out quickly and without rolling your eyes.”
She walks away just as the door opens and a woman I assume is my newest bartender walks in. She looks vaguely familiar from the reception last week, but again, I wasn’t paying much attention.
Now that I’m not busy and she’s looking around the room, I can take a small amount of time to really look at her. She’s beautiful. Dark hair falls down to the middle of her back. Long, lithe body with what appears to be even longer legs. Her body type alone means all the dancing jobs on her application make complete sense. It also has me wondering why she wants to work at a place like this.
I already know the answer. She told me on the phone—she needs the job. I’m just unclear why she’s not still in her previous line of work. Her entire employment history was in Houston, so I assume she moved to the San Antonio area recently. Still, that doesn’t answer all the questions running through my brain.
And I have a ton. Why did she move here? Does she like the area? Is she single?
Her assessment complete, she turns, her eyes finding mine, and smiles. I swear it hits me straight in the gut.
This is going to be a problem.
I’m already at half-mast in my pants and we’ve barely met. Nope. Can’t happen. Not only am I at least a decade older than her, but I also need to keep my head down and remember that I’m the boss. Always. I will not fraternize with the staff and set that kind of example. I want this to be a classy place and getting a reputation for sleeping with my employees isn’t the way to do that. This place will not fail because I can’t keep it in my pants.
Still, as she practically glides up to the counter, I recognize this is going to take some very strong willpower on my part to hold these self-imposed boundaries.
“You’re Paul, right?”