“Lose my ass. Get ready to learn how to run a bar, Kane. And make sure the Mustang is ready because I am.”
I looked up to see them both staring down at me, Stefan with his new kinder look and Kane with a look that made me think Elliot might have had the right idea but the wrong brother.
MY RETURN to Club X turned out to be even better than I imagined. Whatever Stefan said to Mika worked because she practically avoided me like I had the plague and when she was forced to be around me, she made every effort to be civil. It looked at times like she wanted to bite through steel, but she remained polite, if cool. Cool was fine with me, though.
Lola’s new position as head bartender suited her, and I liked to think that I might have had something to do with her getting the recognition she deserved. As for me, I liked working with her and most of the other staff¸ and even Stefan had begun to grow on me. Not like he did for Lola, but at least I didn’t despise him anymore.
The night for the private party with the Seventies theme rolled around, and I showed up at work in my Daisy Duke costume, impressed I still fit into cutoff shorts I’d worn in my freshman year in college six long years before. A bunch of the girls had said they were coming dressed as Charlie’s Angels, so at least I wouldn’t look like one in a line of Farrah Fawcett clones. Nearly everyone had arrived already, so I took my place behind the front bar with Lola and hoped Stefan would assign me there for the party.
Lola looked me up and down and giggled. “I’d know those shorts anywhere! You’re Daisy Duke from that Dukes of Hazzard show, aren’t you? I love it!”
“Yeah, I figured since so many people would naturally go to the Charlie’s Angels look that I’d do something different.” Twirling around, I looked down at my shorts and said, “You don’t think they’re too short, do you? I mean, it is Club X but I’m not dancing.”
“They’re perfect. You have a good body, so you can carry them off. What do you think of my costume?”
Lola wore a dark wig tied into ponytails right below her ears with red ribbons, and her costume included a red tank top and blue shorts that resembled hot pants. I knew exactly who she was, but I couldn’t remember what TV show she was from. “Her name is Maryann, but what show was she on?”
“Gilligan’s Island! The guy at the costume place told me it would be perfect.”
“Definitely. We look perfect together up here. Let’s hope Stefan thinks so too.”
“I think he will. I asked him to put you up here whenever you’re on.”
She was too sweet. “You know as head bartender I think you could just tell him you want that, Lola.”
Shrugging, she smiled. “I know, but he’s so used to telling us what to do. I don’t want to give him a hassle.”
Behind her, Stefan walked up to the bar looking at a stack of papers and chimed in, “A hassle about what? Don’t tell me it has anything to do with this party because I’m already fed up with this Seventies shit. Between the disco ball and the DJ with his music, I can’t wait to get back to the present once tonight is over.”
“Do you like our costumes?” Lola asked quietly, obviously hoping for some validation from him.
Looking up, he studied her and then me and smiled. “I have no idea what you two are supposed to be, but I like what I see. As long as it works with the theme and Marshall that freak is happy, I’m happy.”
Lola beamed her pleasure at hearing Stefan was happy, but he just walked away, preoccupied with his paperwork. She so wanted him to like her, but from everything I’d seen, if he had been with her already, it was just to play.
The party began around nine, and I could tell immediately that the birthday boy liked to party hard. He and his friends downed glass after glass of top shelf scotch and cognac, tipping Lola and me like they had the ability to print money themselves. After just a few hours, my rent and all my utilities were covered.
The party raged on for hours, with some of my favorite oldies songs blasting through the room, and when regular members joined in to celebrate Halloween, Club X came alive like I’d never seen it before. The bar and dance floor were packed with people all in costumes, most of them far more revealing than mine or Lola’s, and the place had a sexual vibe to it usually reserved for the upper floors.
Even the ruler of the fantasy area came down to party, and while Lola handled a group of members dressed in togas who only wanted to talk about the orgy they’d love us to join, Kane hung out on my end of the bar waiting to talk to me. When I finally got to him nearly a half hour later, he offered me a tour of the upper floors.
“I thought maybe you’d like to come upstairs and see how crazy Club X gets on this, the wildest night of the year.”
Kane’s suggestion surprised me, but my curiosity got the best of me and I agreed. “I can’t do it until the crowd dies down, though. Will the offer be open later?”
“Any time. Just come up to the fifth floor. I’ll be there.”
I smiled at the chance to finally get a look at the fantasy area of the club, but Stefan had seen Kane’s visit too and quickly pushed his way through the crowd to find out why he’d been there. Yelling over the crowds, he leaned over the bar and said in my ear, “What did Kane want?”
I stopped pouring a glass of cognac and looked at him in confusion. “Just to offer to let me see the top floors. That’s all. I think I might go up if the crowd thins out down here later.”
“I need you down here, Shay. Lola can’t handle the entire front bar by herself.”
Was he losing his mind? “I wouldn’t leave her alone to handle everything, Stefan. If it doesn’t slow down, I’ll just go up another night. It’s okay. It’s a standing offer.”
My willingness to be a good employee didn’t make him any happier, and he stormed off toward his office without saying another word. The crowd didn’t slow down until nearly two in the morning, but when I had the chance, I told Lola I’d only be gone for a few minutes and hurried upstairs, too curious not to take the opportunity to check out the fantasy area of the club.
Kane stood at a counter at the top of the stairs watching the costumed crowds as they filed past him down the hallway. Far more serious looking than he ever was with me, he seemed as hard as a statue so no one stepped out of line in front of him. I stopped at his perch and with a smile said, “I only have a few minutes, but maybe a mini-tour can happen?”