Page 11 of Scarred King
8
The bouncer at the entrance recognizes me and this time doesn’t bother with a physical check. He opens the large door for me, and I slip in.
The girls are already sitting around the tables with some men. Some are new, but some I recognize from last night. A beautiful girl with flowing, dark blonde hair is serving them drinks. She’s wearing short shorts and a transparent tank-top. I shake my head in disappointment.
“Elena, you’re back.” Charlie shouts from the bar and I look at him surprised. I go to the bar and he leans forward to whisper. “Every time they bring me one of the strippers to fill in, it makes me think of quitting.”
“Fill in?” I ask, not understanding him.
“Liam said you wouldn’t be back.” He jerks his head toward the round table, where Scarface is sitting with a man I haven’t seen before.
“He was wrong.” I answer sharply. “So tell the stripper to get the hell out of my kingdom.”
Charlie bursts out laughing as the girl reaches the counter. “Linda, you’re off,” he tells her, his tone hard.
She sighs in relief, and clicks on her high heels towards the door on the left and disappears behind it.
I put my bag down behind the counter and go over to the first table. When I return to Charlie, Scarface is sitting on the barstool, drumming his fingers on the bar. The man who was previously sitting with him, passes him by, puts down an envelope in front of him, and leaves.
“What are you doing here?” he asks angrily, and I am surprised to see that the beastly side has taken over his face, leaving no trace of the angelic side.
“Working,” I answer calmly as I arrange napkins in three ruler-straight stacks on the counter.
“We agreed you wouldn’t come back.” He pulls a napkin out of the middle pile and rolls it up in his hand.
“You agreed.” I replace the napkin he took with another, and recreate the symmetry I need. “I did a good job last night, so you don’t have any reason to fire me.”
“Fine, I’m not in the mood to argue with you.” He raises his voice. “Get the hell out of here now.”
“No!” I cross my arms over my chest and he jumps off the stool and stands in front of me. Suddenly, red lights start flashing in the room and he glances at Charlie. The background music changes to something fast and catchy. The blonde girl and the twins start dancing sensually between the tables.
“What’s going on?” I ask in confusion.
“Stall them!” Scarface orders.
“Who?” I ask, glancing nervously to the sides.
“Elena, don’t let them go upstairs until I come back down.”
“Who?” I ask again, but he’s already gone up the staircase.
I don’t even have a chance to ask Charlie what the hell Liam is talking about when two men come in. The bouncer from the entrance follows them and when Charlie nods in his direction, he disappears behind the door again.
The two men are wearing jeans and polo shirts, they look just like all the other men who came here last night and tonight. One is very short with glasses; the other is tall and thin. They look around and walk over to Charlie. “Where’s Liam?” the tall one asks, and I think I hear a hint of embarrassment in his voice.
“I’m sure you have a warrant to show me,” Charlie says firmly with a question in his voice. The short man with glasses squeezes through the bar stools and waves the paper in his hand. As Charlie takes hold of the paper, I rise on my tiptoes and take a picture in my head.
“I see….” Charlie mumbles and looks to be at a loss.
“May I offer you a drink?” I ask. They're both looking at me now.
“I haven’t seen you here before.” The tall one narrows his eyes at me. “Are you new?”
“Yes,” I answer and feel relieved that he’s talking to me. Now I can stall him like I was told to.
“Student?” he asks and glances at the staircase.
“Yes. Physics,” I proudly answer.