Chapter 13
What do I wear to my new job? Definitely not a trench coat and dress shirt, that’s for sure. Rummaging through my closet, I find a business suit. Hmm, that might be too dressy. I pull out a pair of jeans and the top I bought at Lady Sinners. It goes perfectly with the jeans; it’s oversized and hangs off one shoulder. I grab my open-toed wedges and go into the bathroom to shower.
I stand in front of the bathroom mirror in my matching pink lace bra and panties, blow-drying my hair. With my straightener, I give the ends of my hair just enough curl to add a little volume before putting on my usual minimum amount of makeup.
Checking myself out in the mirror, I think I look good. I walk out of the bathroom holding my shoes and sit on my couch. I fasten the wedges and look at the clock. It’s 3:30 pm; time for me to go.
“Shelly?” I yell through the house.
“Yeah?” She comes out of Mark’s room.
“It’s time for me to go.” I bite my bottom lip in nervousness.
“You’ll do great!” she encourages with a smile. “Just relax and remember: If he tries any funny business, you’re packin’.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t really shoot him!”
“I know, but doesn’t it make you feel like a badass knowing you could?” She winks. “See ya’—and I expect details.”
“Details of what?” My brows rise.
She shrugs. “I don’t know, but you’re spending the evening with that hot piece of man meat. Give me somethin’.”
I bust out laughing. “You are crazy!”
“I know.” She turns, waving over her shoulder, and goes back towards Mark’s room. Making sure I grabbed everything I’ll need, I leave the house, get in my SUV, and head to Stilettos.
I wasn’t lying; Shelly is crazy. She is so much fun, though! I’ve known her for years, ever since I started out as a doctor in the ER and she was a nurse, later getting promoted to head nurse. She stayed on in the ER long after I had left, but when Mark needed a nurse she was the first to come help.
She is a sassy, spunky woman in her early fifties with short blonde hair that’s turning grey and cat-eye glasses that hide her blue eyes. I swear she still thinks she’s in her twenties, but I love her craziness.
I pull up to the empty club, park my Navigator, and walk inside. It’s a different atmosphere when nobody’s here. No music is blaring, the tables are empty, and the lights are on like a normal business—it’s quiet.
“Hey, Sierra,” Dancer welcomes me with a smile from behind the bar.
“Hi, Dancer.” She comes around the bar and meets me on the other side.
“I’ll show you around. Follow me.” I do as she says. “I’m so glad he finally came to his senses and hired you. I think you’re going to work out perfectly. He said he wasn’t going to apologize, but I knew he would.” She opens a door. “Here’s the dressing room.”
“Ah, so you’re the reason he apologized.” I look around the dressing room. It has a wall lined with lockers, a makeup table that goes along another wall with multiple stools in front of it, and a mirror the same length as the table is mounted above it.
“I don’t know if I’m necessarily the reason, but he needed someone to talk some sense into that stubborn head of his and make him see he was wrong.”
“Honestly, I don’t care how it happened, I’m just grateful it did.”
She shuts the door and begins walking again. “Here’s the bathrooms.” She doesn’t need to show me the inside of those. She continues talking as we walk around the club. “Did he tell you what your job involves?”
“No.”
“Basically, you’re in charge of the dancers. Keep them from fighting, keep the drugs out, and if more is going on in the VIP room than just dancing, that’s a big no-no. Here’s the storage room.” She opens the door.
“What do I do if any of that stuff happens?” I look around at the shelves containing supplies and liquor bottles, and over to the side is an ice machine.
“You fire them and tell Hacker.” Well, alrighty then.
My brow cocks. “Won’t he be mad if I just fire someone?”
“Nope, that’s what you’re hired for. These women act like a bunch of toddlers and we need to get control of it. Here’s the VIP room.” My eyes scan the couches, curtains, and dividers separating each piece of furniture. “You will be sharing an office with Hacker and he’s waiting for you now.” She leaves me to go back to the bar, so I go to his office and knock on the door.
“Come in,” Hacker responds to my knocking.
I open the door and walk inside, shutting the door behind me. I look around the room. It’s cleaner than the last time I was here, and now there’s another desk. “Hey,” I say shyly.
“Hey,” he repeats.
“Dancer showed me around and told me what I’ll be doing.” I stand there awkwardly.
“Good. I got the desk for you since we’ll be sharing an office, and you don’t have to knock. Here’s a spare key; Dancer, you, and I are the only ones that have one, so if you need in here and I’m not around…”
I take the key he holds out for me. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to do all this.”
He types on his computer. “It’s fine; I should have cleaned up a while ago. Sit, get comfortable.”
My brows pull down; he keeps glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. I set my purse on top of the desk and notice an envelope with my name on the front. I open it, pull the check out, and my eyes widen in shock. “What is this?”
“Call it a sign-on bonus.” My head snaps in his direction. He’s concentrating hard on whatever he sees on that monitor.
“For $25,000!” I screech.
He shrugs his shoulder. “You need money. I have it.”
“Hacker, I can’t take this!” I hold it out for him to take back.
He sits back in his chair and crosses his arms. “Don’t be difficult. Take the check, pay what you gotta pay, and be fuckin’ happy.”
“Hacker...” I huff, but he interrupts.
His eyes stare into mine, daring me. “End of discussion.” He uses a tone that says not to push him.
“Fine. Thank you!” I shove the check in my purse. Inside I’m doing a freaking happy dance, though I’m concerned it’s going to cost me something later. I sit at my new desk quietly, biting the inside of my cheek, and tapping my fingers on the top of the desk. Without even thinking, I blurt, “At least let me buy you a drink or dinner; something.”
“You drink free here, and no, it doesn’t work that way with me. If we were doin’ dinner, I’d be the one askin’ and you sure as fuck wouldn’t be buyin’.” My mouth gapes open at his response. “Close the mouth, Red, before it starts looking tempting,” he teases with a grin. I know he just said that to get a rise out of me, but it doesn’t stop my mouth flopping open and closed like a fish.
I point my thumb behind me towards the door. “I think I’m going to go see if any dancers are here yet.”
“Good idea.” He chuckles.
I stand in the dressing room with Dancer. “Listen up, ladies!” she yells over the talking. The women stop getting undressed, half of them already naked, all turning towards Dancer and me. “This is Sierra; Hacker has hired her to be your new manager. Considering the shit that’s been going on, she will be watching you all. She has the authority to fire each and every one of you, so if you want to keep your job here, you all better start acting right. You ladies better show her respect!”
“Hi!” I wave to them, but they ignore me and go about what they were doing—except one.
She’s short, with dark curly hair. “Hi, I’m Hannah. It’s nice to meet you.” She holds her hand out for me to shake. It’s kind of ironic; she’s so soft-spoken and polite, yet she’s standing here naked in front of me with no shame on her young face.
I take her hand in mine. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I smile.
She mimics my smile. “Don’t worry about the others, it takes them a minute to warm up to new people.”
“Thanks.”
Hannah walks away to finish getting ready. Dancer addresses the women once again. “Alright, ladies, doors are now open, and customers are showing up. Have a good night!” She leads me out of the dressing room just as the music begins booming throughout the club. “Don’t let Hannah fool you. She’s a super sweet girl, but if you get on her bad side or she gets pissed she will be ready to fight and cut a bitch. I’ll introduce you to the DJ now that he’s here.” Wow, I didn’t expect that from the sweet girl I just met.
We walk over towards the entrance to a closed off section. She opens the door, we step inside, and a young man stands behind a table. He has long dark hair pulled into a man-bun and one arm is covered with tattoos. He’s dancing around to the beat of the song he’s playing. He looks like he thoroughly enjoys his job.
“Shad.” He stops to look at Dancer. Oh, my, he’s handsome with his full beard and moustache, olive toned skin, and bright blue eyes. But way too young for me; I’m not a cougar.
“What’s up, Dancer.” He gives her a flirtatious smile.
I glance at Dancer, but she’s not reciprocating. “I wanted to introduce you to the new house manager. This is Sierra; she’s been hired on to watch over the dancers.” I still find it ironic that her name is Dancer, but she doesn’t dance here.
His eyes and that smile move to me, and he holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you, pretty lady.” Ah, he’s a flirt with everyone, but I’m almost positive he is into Dancer.
“Nice to meet you, Shad.” I shake his hand.
“Alright, let’s go, Sierra. I have to get behind the bar. Have a good night, Shad.”
“You ladies do the same.” He turns back to his job and begins dancing to the beat again.
When Dancer shuts the door, I say, “I think he likes you.” I laugh a little.
“He’s like that with everyone.” She rolls her eyes. “I don’t have time for playboys.” I walk with her to the bar. “What would you like to drink?”
“Do you have wine?”
“Sure do. One glass of chardonnay coming up, and a whiskey for Hacker.”
She finishes up with our drinks and passes them over to me. “Have a good night, Sierra. If you need anything or have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. And I’m happy you’re here.” She gives me a smile.
I mirror her dazzling smile. “Thank you!” I take the glasses and go back to the office, giving Hacker his whiskey.
The rest of the night I split my time between walking around Stilettos, helping the dancers in the dressing room if they need anything, and being in the office with Hacker. Nothing else was really said between us, but he would occasionally look up from his computer and ask if I was doing okay.
My first night went surprisingly well, and some of the ladies warmed up to me. I had no issues with any of them and I didn’t have to fire anyone. I say that’s a success. I’m exhausted, though, and my bed is calling my name. A huge hulk of a man named Gus, one of the bouncers, walks me to my SUV. I get in and head for home so I can get some sleep.
Monday afternoon, I finish early at the clinic. I have errands to run, and one of those is depositing the check from Hacker into my bank account. Once I am home, I relieve the caregiver and go into my home office. Pulling out the past due bills, I begin calling numbers and paying some of them off. I then write out checks for Shelly and the other two caregivers. I’m grateful that Hacker has helped me the way he has, and things are beginning to look up. I haven’t felt this stress-free in a long time.
Going out to the garage, I look around at the space full of Mark’s stuff from his house. His old furniture, kitchen appliances, boxes of memories, Kyra’s stuff he could never part with. I open one; it has a photo album inside. Taking it in the house, I sit at the dining room table and begin flipping through the pages.
“Hey, Sisi.” Mark’s voice makes me jump.
I quickly swipe a tear away from my cheek before turning around. I give him a smile. “Hey. Come sit.”
He takes the chair right next to mine. “What are you doing?”
“I found this in the garage.” I flip another page.
Mark points to the photo. “Do you remember that day?”
I laugh. “Yeah, I think I was fourteen and you were twelve. It was Christmas morning, Mom made a huge breakfast, but we just wanted to open our presents.”
Mark laughs. “She was so mad at us. Made us sit there and eat everything that was on our plates.”
I join in on the laughter. “Probably why we look so miserable in the photo.” We do look miserable, like we are both about to vomit right there.
We go through more photos, laughing, crying, and remembering when everything was easy, when we had no worries.
“Sisi, I don’t want Cash to see me get worse. I don’t want you or him having to deal with that.” Mark smiles, but tears well in his eyes.
“Mark…” I whisper, but he cuts me off.
“Listen, I know I’m getting worse. Today is a good day, but I don’t have too many left. Some days I don’t understand why Cash isn’t a baby anymore. I can’t remember moving in here with you or why. And I forget my wife is dead. I don’t want to be a burden anymore.” His smile is sad. I hate this!
“You’re not a burden!” I wipe the tears away that are sliding down my cheeks. “We’re not talking about this anymore.” It’s too hard; I can’t deal with this discussion right now. “Shelly will be here soon, and I have to get ready to go.”
“Sisi, we have to talk about this,” he pleads.
“Not right now. I can’t, I’m sorry.” I can’t bear the thought of putting him in a nursing home. He’ll be locked in a unit with one small hallway, he won’t be able to go outside, and I’m terrified that he won’t properly be taken care of like he is here with me.
I stand from the table, walk to my room, and the sobs start racking through me. Why did this have to happen to him?