Simone took a clean rag and wiped a wet spot on the wood bar. “That’s what they all say.”
“Why do you think Sensors are better for a job like this?”
“The owner wants more like you, but I do just fine. Also, a Mage is pretty useless at spiking drinks.”
Simone cracked open a beer bottle and handed it to an older man in an expensive suit. “It’s always a pleasure seeing you, Mr. Crawford. Let me know if you need anything else.” The gentleman tipped his head and carried his beer across the room.
“He didn’t pay you,” I said. “Why didn’t you open a tab?”
“That’s Mr. Crawford. You don’t ever ask him to pay.” She pointed to a laminated menu on the bar. “Memorize the prices.”
A woman sidled up. “I’ll have the same.”
I popped off the lid and set her beer on a napkin. “Why doesn’t he pay?” I asked Simone, returning to our conversation.
“The owner has a short list of VIP customers. I’ll keep an eye out and show you who they are. The why is none of our business. Good luck, and wear something cooler. It gets hot back here.”
Cooler? Was she kidding? I was practically naked in these nothing shorts and corset.
A burly man slid a few bills across the bar. “Vodka neat.”
After serving him, I put the money in the till and realized I had no pockets for tips. “Simone?” I waved a few bills.
Many human bars divided the tips, so I wasn’t sure of the protocol. Simone gestured under the bar, where I found two black boxes. One had a decorative S by the slot, so I put my money in the one beside it that had no name or letter.
When I stood up, I nearly howled with laughter.
Claude set a serving tray on the bar and dazzled me with his shimmering torso. “One screwdriver and a pint.”
I leaned across the bar and admired his gold shorts. “Where do you keep your tips?”
Placing his hands on the bar, he gave me a curt look. “The red box with my initials.”
When I glanced underneath the bar, I spotted five boxes on a different shelf—each a different color and labeled with monograms.
“Can I get an Angel’s Kiss?” A bald man with crisp blue eyes gave me an impatient look.
“What the hell’s that?” I murmured to Claude.
Simone appeared and filled a glass with a red liquid before swirling her finger inside. After serving the man, she pointed to a row of colorful bottles on a lower shelf behind us. Each had a label with an unusual name. “Most people order the standard drinks, but if you get something you haven’t heard of, find the bottle behind you and fill a glass. Then give it to me. I’ll give it back to you, and we split the tip since I did half the work.”
“Are you kidding me?”
She shrugged and walked away. “That’s why we have a high turnaround with your kind.”
“That’s bullshit,” I muttered.
Claude frowned, and the cloth tied around his eyes did nothing to conceal his disapproval. “Do you really care?”
“We need to pretend we don’t know each other.”
Claude took the drinks with a reluctant sigh and swaggered across the room to a sectional. Two men wanted to slip money into his shorts, but Claude collected his tips and walked off. He had the same light tattoo as me, only his was on his lower back. Probably so customers could admire his body without the distraction.
At least he wasn’t one of the dancers.
Eight hours into my shift, I wanted to rip off my corset and dive into a swimming pool. Did the air vents even work? I hadn’t noticed. When the club got busier, I was constantly on the move. As it turned out, most people ordered Sensor-spiked drinks. The majority of the bottles behind me were vodka. Nothing special, someone had just added color to brighten them up. Selling spiked bottles was illegal, so that meant handing over every single glass to either Simone or Rena. It cut my tips in half—not that I should have cared since this wasn’t my real job, but it was the principle of the thing.
Clearly there was a hierarchy among workers, which placed bartenders at the top of the food chain and Flynn’s crew at the bottom. I hadn’t met the manager yet—apparently she kept busy on the upper floors. And I was still trying to get used to handlers leading customers around by a leash as if they were