“Vessi, let me know if that guy comes back in,” Brad said as I walked past the girls giggling at the bar. He was never without bartender groupies.
“Will do,” I replied, tapping the bar as I walked past.
Business was hopping; therefore, time flew. I only forgot a few orders, and no one grabbed my ass. Best of all, there was no sign of Psycho Guy. The night was good.
“Okay, team, gather ‘round,” Joe said. “It’s time for our nightly meeting.”
The employees groaned as they gathered, like every night.
“Despite what many of you have heard, we are not closing. So, rest easy. We’re stronger than ever. In fact, I’ve hired a new barback. That means Jon will have some help. Jon, your job will remain the same as always. The new bar back will be kind of like your assistant. The difference is you stay behind the bar. The new guy will help you and help the girls out. Plus, you will actually get some much-needed time off.”
“Yes,” Jon, our current bar back of about seven years, hissed in a very pleased tone as he nodded his head. Jon was tall and lanky. Sort of cute, I guess. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He always wore ‘wife beater’ tops that showed off the tattoos on his upper arm. One arm had ‘Semper Fi’. His other arm bore the name of his daughter, Sophie Rayne, and ‘Rest in peace, my sweet baby’ in tiny script under her birth and death dates. She was only three. No one in town ever knew for sure what happened to cause her death. It remained an unsolved mystery.
“He will not be doing it for you, but helping you out,” Joe continued. “I’m sure after tonight you all can appreciate some extra help.”
“Oh, I hope he is to die for,” Myra leaned into me and whispered.
“I hope he isn’t. That’s the last thing you need right now,” I whispered back.
“He'll start tomorrow night. I expect you all to be welcoming and sweet as candy to him,” Joe finished.
“I wonder who he is,” I heard the other waitresses whisper.
“You will all meet him tomorrow night. Well, not you, Vessi, um, you will have tomorrow night off.” Joe’s eyebrows lifted in an amused way, hoping he had surprised me.
“Really? Why?” I asked, shocked.
Joe waved his hands like a cheerleader. “Surprise!” he yelled excitedly. “Mandy is working for you, unless, of course, you need to work.”
“No, no, that’s fine. How are you going to get her to actually show up? Don’t promise and then not deliver,” I teased Joe.
“Oh, I have my ways,” he returned my harassment.
“Thanks, Joe.” I was a little disappointed because I really didn’t want to hang with my sister and her boyfriend. This is going to suck, I thought. I wouldn’t let Joe know that.
“No problem, kid. Okay, get out of here you guys. I appreciate your hard work. Look for a bonus in your mailbox next week.” He regularly handed out gifts. He felt the way to show appreciation was money. I had to admit; he was quite right.
“Um, Joe, can we combine the decoration teams and just have everyone come in on one day instead of two. We’ll get it done in a fraction of the time and everyone will still have a day off,” I offered.
“Ok, enlighten me,” Joe replied.
“Since Sundays are prep days, we could get it done before the deliveries start showing up and be done with it.”
Joe took a few seconds to think about my proposal. He asked if anyone had any objections, which they did by moaning and groaning. That didn’t count since they moaned and groaned over everything.
“Okay, Vessi, we can do that. Okay, everyone, come in at eight on Sunday morning. I'll change the schedule and repost it. Donuts and coffee will be provided. Have a great day.” Most of the staff was halfway out the door before he finished his goodbyes.
Five
After driving Myra home, I headed to my house. I wasn’t looking forward to facing my sister. Maybe she’ll be in bed. Normal people are in bed at this hour, I thought. Of course, my sister had never been normal by any definition of the word.
I was lost in my thoughts, not paying much attention to the road. On a clear night, the night sky was bright, providing enough light for my drive home. This far from town offered little in the way of street lamps. But tonight the night sky was black from clouds covering the moon. It was too dark to see anything other than what was directly in front of my headlights. I brought my attention back to the road. My favorite song came on the radio. I sang along as I focused on driving.
“What the…?” In the dim of my headlights stood what seemed to be the shadow of a person. Letting my foot off the gas, I blinked several times, convinced my eyes were playing tricks on me. Hallucinations aren’t uncommon on a dark drive through the country. As the car drifted closer, the figure turned into a real person in my headlights. My heart skipped a beat. “Why aren’t they moving out of the way?” I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could. My car squealed.
Another set of headlights was headed in my direction in the other lane so I couldn’t swerve to my left, and to my right stood a collection of construction equipment. The road was in the middle of a massive expansion, so both sides of the road were closed off by cones and aligned with big heavy machinery. I was literally between a rock and a hard place. I either had to hit the person, the other car, or the massive machinery. I was flustered as I finally came
