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NO ONE KNEW WHAT TO expect when Alex took over the bar. He'd bought out the old owner, Chuck, who'd run up a ton of debts. While Chuck had been a total jerk, he'd been a known quantity. Sure, I'd Alex had been hanging around for a few months, since he'd moved into town, trying to win Violet's affection, but I had no idea what he’d be like as a boss. He was a control freak, that's for sure.
All the staff gathered in the bar. God, I didn't even recognize some of them. Like that guy with the long hair and skinny jeans — did he work with us? I had never seen him in my life. There were a couple of women too but I thought they were the cleaners who came in after hours. Hell, what a shit job that would be. The customers at Trouble weren't the nicest people sometimes. In fact, by the end of the night, I'd say they were more like pigs fighting to get to the trough.
"Who is that guy?" I asked Violet. "Is he new?"
She glanced over at him. "Burke? He works upstairs. He's been here for like six months."
"Huh? He must be the quietest staff member here then."
Then I turned my head because he looked over, obviously knowing that we were talking about him.
For days the talk around the bar had been about what Alex would do. Drew, the busboy, was convinced that work would become a golden paradise with Alex in charge. Drew thought that Alex was the greatest thing ever. I wasn't so sure. A control freak boss didn't make for a comfortable work situation. Chuck had been slack as slack. If the place made money and he didn't catch us giving away free drinks, he was happy.
"He'll be all changes and new ideas for a few months then things will go back to normal," Jackson had said. "That's the way it usually goes."
"Yeah, but what hell will we have to face for those few months."
I sat on the sofa next to Violet waiting for Alex to arrive. We'd grabbed it early and then hadn't moved so no one could steal our places. The sofa was obviously the best place to sit for a meeting because it was comfortable and also in a dark enough corner that Alex wouldn't be able to see our faces well. Sally leaned on the bar. She had on a super short skirt with fishnets and must've spent half the morning doing her makeup. I bet Alex wouldn't even notice her. Because, really, Alex was a bit of a wanker. Wankers never notice girls like Sally, and even though Sally would feel bad about that now, I bet in the not too distant future, she'd be glad of it.
Babs came over with a round of drinks for us. Violet and I would die of dehydration before giving up our seats, with these jackals circling around us.
“Thanks, Babs," I grinned.
"I hope this is good news," she said, lowering herself to the floor. "I was lucky to get this job. I don't want to be looking again."
Mark and the other bar staff had their stools set up in a circle, talking quietly among themselves. I'd bet Mark was going on about how he'd get another job. He always said that but he was still there.
There was one person missing.
"Where's Drew?" I asked.
Violet shrugged. "He'll be around somewhere. He is always super early for work."
“Even earlier when his hero, Alex, is involved. I hope he hasn’t had an accident.”
Alex had five minutes before he was officially late but I figured he'd arrive on time. On cue, the door opened and Alex swept in. He wasn't wearing his usual leather pants. He had on a suit. Not like businessmen wear but a hip-looking suit. Still, it was a suit and that got my hackles up.
He did an introduction for the staff who didn't know him but, after all the fuss over the rock competition between him and Razer, pretty much all the staff knew who he was. You'd have to pretty damn thick to not know.
"Okay, I guess you are wondering what's going to change. I have some plans for this place, nothing for anyone to worry about, just some much-needed improvements. Starting with the band room. The place is going to be closed down for a few weeks while I get in a new sound system and get it fixed up."
Violet gasped. I guess he hadn’t discussed that with her. She'd have to contact the bands she'd booked and cancel them. It'd screw up all her plans and she'd hate that. Violet was not someone who dealt well with screwed-up plans. I wondered if Alex would let the whole Violet picking Razer over him interfere with how he treated her at work. I figured he'd be being Mr. Nice Guy while he thought he still had a chance.
I don't know why I thought that his nice guy act was an act. It just seemed to me that someone couldn't be that in control unless they were scared that they'd go bat-shit if they lost control. But I might've just thought that from watching too much Vampire Diaries.
Before Violet could say anything, there was a huge commotion. Drew bolted through the door, knocking into a table on his way.
"Sorry," he said. "Sorry, sorry."
Alex ignored him and Drew perched himself on the arm of the sofa beside me.
"Downstairs will continue as usual while that happens but we'll definitely need some work done down here too."
He smiled but that didn't reassure me. What was he going to do?
"And, with that, I'm going to appoint a bar manager..."
Now it was me gulping. A manager? An outsider coming in?
"... Carlie, can you come to talk to me privately about that after the meeting?"
Okay, that made me jump. Did he mean I'd be bar manager? He could've been clearer about it. The rest of the meeting passed in a blur while I tried to figure it out. Some talk about the changes and what he expected from staff and all that bunk, I think.
If I was bar manager, would I get more money? More money would be awesome. Being able to eat and buy stuff, those were good things. Maybe I could work fewer hours. That would be even better. I could barely afford rent and living expenses without working insane hours on my current wage.
Finally, he finished up. I lingered around waiting for him.
"Come upstairs so we can talk in private," he said.
I followed him and we sat down. I crossed my legs and leaned on the table but it was a bit wonky so I sat back, laughing nervously.
The situation became strange. Suddenly, I was nervous around Alex. Had I given him too much shit before he bought the place? If I'd known he was going to be my boss, I'd have been less cranky with him. I'd not actually called him a wanker to his face, had I? I had told him a few times that his band totally rocked. That was a good thing.
"Stop bouncing your leg," Alex said. "It makes the table rock."
I hadn't even realized I was doing that. I planted my feet firmly on the ground and tried to smile.
"So, how do you feel about it?" he asked. "The bar manager job?"
My heart jumped. He was offering me the job. Shit, I'd never gotten a promotion before. Working in bars had been my only job and I'd pretty much started on shit pay and stayed there, even when my workload increased.
"Well, since Chuck pretty much had me running the bar anyway, I don't feel like it'd be much more responsibility. I'm happy to do it."
Alex nodded. "Oh, there will be more responsibility. There's the paperwork involved, stock ordering, all that kind of thing. The hardest part, you'll be in charge of staffing. I know the staff are your friends but you will need to make sure they are in line. It might make things a little tense with them, but I'm sure you can do it."
I nodded. I didn't think that would be a problem. I could be a bitch when I needed to be. Didn't Alex know that?
"Let's cut to the most important bit," I said, trying to sound confident but gulping loudly. "How much does it pay?"
I waited for him to say that the pay would be pretty much the same. I'd just get the hard yards without any extra compensation. That's what life had taught me about bosses. I didn't mind about the staffing thing. Violet was my only real friend on staff and I wouldn’t have any authority over her. The others, I had to pull them into line half the time anyway or they'd be slacking off like jerks.
"I want you on as a permanent staff member. The salary won't be that much higher but you'll get all the perks like holidays."
Holy shit, holidays. I had no idea what I'd even do with them. Come into the club and hang out? But a permanent job, that would be sweet. I'd have rights and important shit like that.
"I'm happy with that."
Then he named the salary. When I worked out the annual rate compared to what I made per hour, it was awesome. I wanted to whoop. He'd said it wouldn't be much more. Obviously, he didn't know what I'd been earning, because he was offering me untold riches. A permanent job and more money. Today was a sweet day indeed.
"Alex, you might just be the best boss ever."
He shot me a half-grin. "Don't speak too soon. I'll let the other staff know. We can make this effective immediately."
He got out some papers for me to sign. Once it was all official, I shook his hand.
"You won't regret this." My grin split my face. "I'll be the best bar manager in the universe."
"I wouldn't expect anything less.".
I walked back downstairs. Someone had put that bloody song on. “Rock Princess”.
"Turn that song off. I'm your overlord now and the first rule I'm making is that Holden King is officially banned in this bar."