Page 10 of The Grand Duel

I bring my gaze back to where she sits but can’t help staring beyond her, unable to focus. I shake my head in answer and shrug.

She folds her arms on the desk. “Edna Harrison sent you.”

I hold up the card in my hand, ready for the champagne nap that’s coming.

I’m so tired.

Of it all.

Three years spent chasing a dream, and I’m currently no closer than the day Jovie left London.

“Bar work?” Bronwyn asks.

A tiny spark of hope flares in my chest. I make myself focus on her. “The other stuff isn’t really my thing. No offence.”

“I don’t need bar staff.”

Shit.

She reaches for a diary on her desk and opens it in front of her. “How many nights a week?”

“Seven.”

I think she just smiled.

“Four.” She peers up at me. “For now.”

My eyes widen. “Four nights a week in the bar? You’re giving me a job?” I try to do the math based on the numbers Edna gave me on the pay here at the club.

It was decent, and she was certain it would have gone up.

“You have two weeks to prove to me it’s not a bad idea.”

“Oh my god. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Thank Edna.” She gestures for me to leave. “Request Dan on the door. He’ll figure out getting you set up with a uniform, shifts, and payroll. Are you able to be on the payroll?”

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

“Good.”

Holy shit, it worked. I quickly make my way from the room, feeling like she’s the type to change her mind.

“Lissie,” she calls, and my stomach ties up in knots as I come to a halt.

“Yeah?”

“A broken pair of heels are replaceable. You’ve just got to have the balls to go out and get yourself a better pair.”

I nod, knowing it’s not quite as simple as that.

I slip out of her office and practically float down the corridor, the weight that’s been hanging over my head for the past month slowly lifting.

The Nightingale might not be the job I was looking for, the hours likely to be much different from my old nine to five, but bar work, this place, it’s different forme. Maybe it’s exactly what I need right now.

I will be able to find a place to live.

The drainpipe energy I walked in here with ebbs away in my gut, excitement taking its place.