Secrets

by Miranda Bailey

  Not that she was looking for a guy, but she was not opposed to having a little bit of fun. She knew she was far from what most men considered beautiful at 5 foot 3, with a big figure, round butt and average sized breasts. If anything she could be considered the girl next door, while Sarah was the prom queen, but Julia found that she really didn’t mind. She got plenty of attention and she wasn’t looking to settle down, so she wasn’t worried about any of it.

  “What do you think is going to happen?” Sarah asked as she joined Julia in the bathroom to start putting on make-up. “There has to be a reason we have to come in early.”

  “I have no idea. John hasn’t said anything, and he’s the general manager so he would know. I have noticed that he hasn’t been at the club as much as he used to be, so something is definitely going on. I suppose we’ll find out when we get there,” Julia said unconcerned. She knew there was no point in sweating over what it could be, as she wasn’t going to be able to change the outcome anyway. That was a philosophy she had adopted years ago, after several setbacks in her life had almost overwhelmed her.

  Less than an hour later Julia and Sarah found themselves sitting on barstools along with the rest of their co-workers, waiting for the meeting to start. John was nowhere to be found, and considering he had called the meeting, they knew they simply had to wait. Julia hated waiting and she hated when someone was late to a meeting they scheduled, which was also very unusual for John who was more punctual than anyone she knew. When John walked in ten minutes later, Julia almost fell off the chair when she saw who he was with.

  That was Mike Allaster. The richest bachelor in town and what most women would call a total hunk. He was tall at 6’3”, with tanned skin and a muscular build. His bright blue eyes could pierce your soul, as it did in many of the pictures she had seen of him, but they could also be incredibly gentle and kind. He was the picture of what you’d call an Alpha male, and he radiated power and dominance. Julia had never met the man, and that was what she had always thought from the videos and pictures she’d seen of him, but seeing him here in person she knew she had only scratched on the surface of the man that was Mike Allaster. When she realized Mike was staring straight at her, she couldn’t quite contain her blush and focused on John as he started the meeting.

  “Thank you all for coming in a bit early. I have an announcement to make, and it’s not easy for me to tell you this so I’m just going to come straight out and say it. I have sold Club Regalia. Due to some family commitments out west I have to move back to my hometown, and I didn’t want to close the club which was my only other option. As you have probably guessed, I have sold the club to Mike. Mike has promised to observe the club before making any changes, to see what he likes and what he doesn’t like, and I know you will all make him feel welcome. Please treat him the way you treat me and I don’t see any problems. Mike is the official owner as of an hour ago, but I will remain the manager here for another week to help with the transition. I know everyone has duties to fulfil before we can open in thirty minutes, so I’ll let you all get to it, but if you have any questions you all know where to find me. Mike, do you have anything to add?”

  “Thank you John. I do not at this moment, but know that I will be observing. John has given me a list of each of your job duties so that I have an idea of who does what, but I will also be speaking to each of you individually. Please don’t hesitate to come to me with any questions or concerns. Club Regalia is the most popular club in town, and I intend to keep it that way. Considering you all have helped make the club what it is, and you understand your customers, I will always listen to your feedback. Let’s have a good night everyone.”

  As soon as they were dismissed Julia turned to Sarah. “That was unexpected.”

  Sarah nodded, and she appeared to be in complete shock. “I wasn’t expecting that at all; John loves Club Regalia. Come on, let’s go get the bar ready for tonight. It’s Friday and we’ll be busy. I need time to process this.”

  Julia and Sarah moved behind the bar, opening liquor bottles and removing caps while making sure everything was within easy reach. They helped move several cases of beer to just behind the bar so that they would be within easy reach to go in the coolers, as the worst thing that could happen was for them to run out of cold beer, and replenished the ice buckets. Finally they added ice scoops and filled the little bowls on the bar with peanuts before switching their comfortable shoes to heels, taking off their jackets and smiling. Two minutes before opening, and they were ready for whatever the night would bring.

  2

  Neither Julia nor Sarah noticed the eyes that followed them throughout the night, as it was a typical busy night at the club and their complete focus was on those they were serving. It was very obvious to anyone who was watching that they enjoyed their work; and that they were good at it. A little too good according to some people, but nobody asked them so the girls remained blissfully unaware of the scrutiny they were under.

  When the last customer of the night had left the club Julia and Sarah started the closing procedures they followed every night. Alcohol had to be locked away, the last of the glasses washed, the bar and all the tables wiped down and cleaned and the tips counted before they were divided amongst all the bartenders. While they were doing that, John had taken the cash registers to the back and was balancing them, with any discrepancies coming straight out of their tips. This had initially frustrated all the bartenders, but they realized they were now more accurate in what they were doing and they rarely had their tips lowered because of a mistake. Occasionally they would actually get a little bit extra as it wasn’t uncommon for someone to tip by not asking for change, and if they were busy whomever took the payment didn’t waste the time trying to get change into one of the jars. Any tips received on credit card payments was also added to the tip total, and once the tips were divided John would be told how much each person received in tips so that it could be recorded accurately on their wage statements.

  In the end that meant that Julia was usually at the club at least an hour after closing, and to make sure she was still able to walk the next day she immediately switched back to her comfortable shoes the second the doors locked behind the last customer. Every girl who worked there did the same, but this night wasn’t like any other and before Julia had even taken off one shoe, she was stopped by a strong hand on her arm. “Please leave the shoes. Everyone! I expect you to remain professionally dressed even after hours. We have a reputation. If your shoes are not comfortable enough for a full night, wear different shoes. I do not want a customer to see shoes and jackets behind the bar, so all jackets must remain on the coat rack in the staff room and shoes must remain on at all times. It is against workplace policy to be without proper shoes, and part of that workplace policy is a certain dress code for all of you. Ladies, that means no sneakers while on the clock, and until you walk out that door you are on the clock,” Mike said loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Julia reluctantly put her left heel back on, shooting a glance at Sarah who was doing the same, before attempting to continue with closing procedures. “I noticed that glance young lady. I expect respect from all my employees, whether you like something or not,” Mike said sternly.

  Julia couldn’t contain the blush that crept up her cheeks as she looked at Mike, noticing that he didn’t just sound stern, he looked stern. “I apologize sir, that was disrespectful.”

  Mike appeared to accept the apology and let go of her arm before turning to walk to the bouncers and talk to them about something. Julia looked after him before shaking her head as if to clear the fuzz out of it, grabbing the cleaning solution and rag she had put on the bar earlier, and heading towards the nearest table to start cleaning. As she cleaned each table she carried empty glasses to the bar, which Sarah washed as quickly as she could. Julia knew she was being watched, which was making her incredibly nervous, and she did her best to do everything as efficient and quickly as possible. The problem was that she wasn’t used
to doing this in heels, and on tired feet it was making it hard for her to keep her balance when carrying multiple glasses or trays at once.

  To Julia’s absolute horror her worst nightmare came true, and after cleaning off the last table she tripped; sending a tray full of their more expensive cocktail glasses crashing to the ground. She barely caught herself on the next table to prevent from falling on the glass, but she was frozen to her spot, if she didn’t want to spread the glass further through the club by stepping in it. She watched as Sarah and John came rushing forward, carrying a broom and mop, to help her while Mike calmly walked over from where he had been.

  “I imagined an experienced bartender like yourself would be able to carry a tray of empty glasses. Clearly that is not the case. I expect you to practice walking in those heels, even after a long night, so we don’t lose any more glasses on avoidable accidents.”

  “I apologize sir, I have never done that before. I will make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Julia said sincerely. Here was the new boss and she turned into a stumbling idiot who couldn’t even do her basic job duties properly.

  Mike did not respond to her apology and Julia returned to cleaning the tables after they had made sure there wasn’t any glass left on the floor. When they were done for the night and the door had shut behind them, Julia sighed in relief, which causes Sarah to laugh at her. “Come on Julia, let’s head home.”

  “I don’t know what happened to me tonight. Anytime Mike came near I lost every bit of composure I had.”

  “Well he is a good looking man, I could see how that would happen. Let’s get a good drink and discuss everything that is right about him.”

  Julia laughed and slung an arm around Sarah’s shoulder as they walked home. It was about a ten minute walk, and they enjoyed the silence around them as they walked each night. Just before they walked into their apartment building, Julia thought she saw two yellow eyes staring at them from the bushes across the street, but when she looked back again they were gone so she assumed she was imagining things. It had been a long night and it would not surprise her.

  “No man should be allowed to look that good,” Julia said as she accepted the drink Sarah handed her. “And I made a complete fool of myself.”

  “He was watching us all night, I’m pretty sure he’s seen plenty of good things as well. Jared told me he noticed that Mike mostly watched you so obviously you left an impression.”

  Jared was one of the male bartenders, and he always seemed to notice everything around them which made him the go to guy when a male customer was harassing them in any way. “That may be true but I still dropped a tray of empty glasses, and got scolded for wanting to wear sneakers.”

  “Tomorrow is a new day and everything will be fine,” Sarah said reassuringly.

  The next day was definitely a new day, and after arriving at work at the normal time and preparing for the evening wearing heels, Julia felt better about everything. That was until Mike showed up just before opening, wearing tight black jeans and a skin tight black shirt causing Julia’s knees to go weak.

  It was by far the worst night Julia had ever had, and halfway through she was ready to cry. She had messed up several drink orders that normally wouldn’t even have her blinking, she had spilled drinks on customers and she had struggled with giving correct change. She knew Mike had seen all of it, and when he pulled her out from behind the bar she knew she was about to receive a serious scolding.

  “I don’t know what has gotten into you tonight, but you either shape up or you’re done for tonight. You are slowing down everyone and you are an embarrassment to the Club. Your regulars know you are normally better and are assuming a bad night, but those who haven’t been here before will get a bad first impression. As it is, you and I are going to have a serious conversation when the night is over. Now get back out there and pretend you know what you are doing.”

  Julia tried to improve but she was going from bad to worse, and when she dropped a full glass of beer, Mike stepped in again. “Sarah, please cover for her. If you need extra help, call for John to help.”

  Mike took her by the arm and led her to the staff room, sitting her down in a chair and giving her a stern look. “I have no idea what is going on with you tonight, but you need to get it together. I want you to stay here and read this employee handbook. It lists everything that is expected of all employees. When the Club closes, you may walk home with Sarah as I do not want you walking home by yourself in the middle of the night. If you would rather go home now and read this at home, I will walk you home. Either way I want you here at nine in the morning and we’ll be doing some additional training. It is clear that you can be great at what you do, but for some reason you start stumbling around as soon as you know you are being watched. As we are not open on Sundays we will have all day to fine-tune your skills so that on Monday you will do as well as you did yesterday. Any questions?”

  “Why do I feel like I’ve just been given detention?”

  “Because you have. Julia, if you can’t consistently be as good as you were yesterday I will ask you to find employment elsewhere. The bar is the main aspect of this club as everyone who comes here buys a drink. It’s where we make our money. It needs to be perfect. I understand accidents happen, but tonight crossed the line. Now, do you want me to walk you home or are you staying?”

  Embarrassed to be called off the floor, and not wanting to answer questions from her co-workers, Julia stood up and grabbed her coat. “I’ll read at home, but I can walk myself there, thank you.”

  Mike raised an eyebrow at her short, clipped tone before taking his own coat. “I’ll walk you home. You should not be out by yourself in the middle of the night. If something happened I’d never forgive myself. Here is the book, please read it. I think you could be a great asset to this company but I need to see that.”

  And reading is exactly what Julia did, and after Sarah came home and Julia explained what happened, Sarah read it as well just in case there were things she didn’t know. Both girls loved their jobs and were terrified that Mike could just fire them like that. It was well after four in the morning when they finally went to bed, and Julia hoped there would be coffee at training in the morning but she wasn’t getting her hopes up.

  3

  Julia walked into the club promptly at nine, ready to start whatever training Mike had in mind. She knew how to do everything, she just got really nervous around Mike. She found him sitting at one of the tables in the middle, a large pot of coffee in the middle and two empty cups waiting. Julia sat down on the other side of the table as it was clear he expected her to, and waited for him to start talking. Mike poured them both a cup of coffee first, and pushed the sugar and creamer towards her but Julia picked up her cup and inhaled the scent of freshly brewed coffee instead. When she looked up, she noticed Mike smiling at her and almost fell off the stool she was sitting on. Did he have to look that beautiful while smiling?

  “I know you don’t like having to be here, so I figured I could at least provide caffeine to get us through the day. We both had a late night so I have no doubt we both need it.”

  “How do you know I had a late night?”

  Julia thought she saw him lose his composure for a second, before his smile was back on his face so she brushed it off as nothing. “Because everything I’ve heard about you is that you are a very hard worker and you love this job, so I imagine you stayed up and read that handbook. However, I want to get to know you. Tell me about Julia.”

  “Julia isn’t very special. I’m just an average girl with a college degree she is not using, who loves her job and her friends and would do anything to simply stay in that job and with her friends.”

  “There has to be more to you than that.”

  Julia shrugged before sipping her coffee, thinking about what else she could possibly tell him about herself. “I don’t know what else to tell you. I don’t really have any family left, my sister lives on the other side of the country and I never see
her or her kids. I truly love bartending, not because it’s my life’s dream to serve drinks to people, but because I feel that we truly make a difference. The large majority of the people we serve are either out for a party, or simply here to get drunk, but what about that girl that is having her bachelorette party and is making memories for life with her friends? What about the lonely guy at the end of the bar who just broke up with his girlfriend who just needs a distraction? You mentioned the regulars who will know I’m having an off night, but those are the people I do this job for. When it’s quieter, I stop and talk to them for a minute, and sometimes that is exactly what they need to get through whatever it is they are going through. Did you know that last month I stopped someone from committing suicide? One of my regulars decided to stop by for one last drink, preparing to jump off the bridge after leaving, but I made time for him and talked to him, and he told me several weeks later that if it hadn’t been for me taking the time to talk to him, he wouldn’t be here. Yes, we have those who get incredibly drunk and do things they shouldn’t, but they always say alcohol makes us the most honest person. That guy cheating on his girlfriend, he wouldn’t be doing that if there wasn’t something missing already. Part of our job is to make sure they don’t drink and drive. None of that is in that employee handbook you had me read, yet it is the most important thing. You could have a bartender who can serve perfect drinks and follow all procedures to the letter, but can they truly serve your customers? If you think people come to this club as opposed to the one down the street for the music and the alcohol, you are delusional.”