Chapter 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.