"Holden isn't Hitler. He's a really nice guy. And you can't use Hitler in every single argument."
"Just keep sweeping, Drew."
Violet sighed.
"It was a killer punch," she said. "Have you been training?"
I nodded. I'd been training but not hard enough.
Chapter 7
AFTER ALL THE FUSS about the reopening, Alex geared up for the big reveal. Some of the staff were on tenterhooks, Violet especially. He'd set up a meeting time with her for the afternoon and she was freaking out.
I’d come in early to do stock orders and get the bar rosters together. And, okay, because I was a tiny bit curious myself.
Violet kept popping out of her office to the bar in the lead up to the meeting. She couldn’t keep still.
"And another thing, what if I think the bands he booked sucked? I'll have to work with them in the future. Once they've played here once, they'll think they have an 'in' with me."
I got her a Coke and let her rant at me. I knew it was just nerves.
"Actually, I'd kill for a coffee," she said. "I'm going to pop down to the cafe. Do you want one?"
I shook my head. Coffee made me too jumpy. "But if they have those salted caramel muffins, I'll have one of those."
She left. The walk to the shop would work off her nerves, at least.
Some guys in overalls walked into the bar. We had them constantly coming and going and most of the time trekking mud all over the carpet. Since the cleaners didn't come in until after closing, someone had to clean that up. And that someone was mostly me. The noise from upstairs got super annoying too. Buzz saws and drilling and all that. If I didn't have music on downstairs, I'd go nuts.
Alex arrived and sat at the bar.
"So, is this staff meeting thing going to be a regular occurrence?" I asked him. "And, if so, do we get paid for it?"
"You don't, because it doesn't concern you and Violet doesn't because it's part of her job. If I call a general staff meeting, then I'll pay people for coming in. By the way, where is she?"
"She's at the cafe since you weren't due for another fifteen minutes."
"Shit, I should’ve got her to get me a coffee." He took out his phone to text her.
Then he gave me a searching look. I didn't like that. Maybe it was because so many people had been dropping shifts. Or maybe because Drew had broken so many glasses this week. I’d yelled at a few customers but less than usual. There was nothing else I could think of.
Okay, there was also that time I punched Holden King but that had been outside business hours. He couldn't fault me for that. And, if he was going to say anything, he’d have said it by now.
Was I being paranoid? I didn't think so. Alex ran his fingers through his hair in a way that belied his usual confidence. It didn't look good for me.
"Violet shouldn't be long," I said, more to break up the tension.
He was about to say something but then stopped himself. That increased my panic. He wasn't the kind of guy to hold back if he had any kind of issue. Which was fine by me because I didn't have time to second guess the meaning of anyone else's weirdness.
Violet walked in the door with the coffees in her hands. She sat them on the bar and handed me my muffin.
“Is this mine?” Alex asked, picking up one of the coffees. “You asked for a strong black? They never make it strong enough there.”
“Yep.”
Alex nodded toward her office. I'd been hoping they'd discuss it in the bar so that I could eavesdrop. Sure, Violet would fill me in on the details as soon as the meeting was over but that was an extra ten minutes or more I'd have to wait. At least Alex wasn’t sitting there looking like he was about to pass the death sentence on me. That had been some scary shit.
Violet led the way, her shoulders slumped and her feet dragging. As much as I felt sorry for her, it was one night out of her life. If she hated the bands or the night went to shit, it'd be on Alex's head, not hers. She took it all so personal