to the bartender to manually order the beers for my original booth.
“My tablet isn’t working,” I said. The bartender was one of the club prospects. He wore a leather cut, but no patch. And he stared at me like I’d grown a third eye.
“Give it to me,” he said. He turned it, clicked a box, then showed me how to enter the drinks I’d missed.
“I tried that,” I whispered. But now we were far too busy for it to make any difference. I had to move. Fast.
I tried to remember everything Lori had already taught me. But it pretty much went out the window. I now had six tables in her section.
“You better get back out there,” Shannon said. “Unless you can’t hack it. Lori’s stuck in the back.”
Panic rose in my chest. Three of the tables were staring straight at me. The noise from the bar pounded between my ears. A second later, the driving beat of the band’s bass player slammed into my head. Sweat poured down my back.
I couldn’t do this. What the hell was I even thinking? They were right. Everyone was right. I should just get on that bus and head straight back to Connecticut.
Then something happened. Anger rose right along with the panic. They wanted me to quit. My parents. My so-called friends back east who told me I was crazy for leaving. Shannon and Lori.
“No,” I shouted to no one. No. I wasn’t giving up.
The bartender had my drinks on a tray. I took them. I plastered a smile on my face, and I headed back into the crowd.
“I’m new here, guys,” I said when I reached the center of Lori’s section. “You wanna help me out and give me a warm, wolf welcome?”
My original table of four let out a howl together. “We got you, sweetheart,” he said.
“Okay,” I said. “My Jedi master seems to have disappeared. So it’s just us, okay? I’ll make sure you all have a great time tonight.”
They were laughing. But with me, not at me. Though my hands still shook, I managed to get to every table and input their drinks.
I don’t know what happened, but when the bartender trayed them all, I remembered where each and every one went. The tablet quit on me again. But these guys were hungry. I had the distinct feeling if I didn’t get them some food, they’d try to eat me.
So, I put the tablet in my apron and memorized every food order the old-fashioned way. I headed back to the kitchen and swung open the door.
“Listen up,” I said. “This stupid thing won’t work. But I’ve got six orders, and I’m ready to call them back. Does that work?”
One of the cooks was a big, burly guy with silvery hair. He broke into a laugh and slid a pad of paper down the counter.
“You write it honey, I’ll cook it.”
And then he did.
Everything was a blur after that. My feet went numb. My back, shoulders, neck, everything felt battered and bruised. But I got through the next two hours without missing an order or a drink.
Finally, as I brought out my last tray of appetizers, I saw Lori leaning against one of the booths, chatting up the customers sitting there.
“There you are,” she said. “You’ve got six tables ready to cash out. Where are their bills?”
“I haven’t had time,” I said. “Your tablet stopped working.”
She frowned. “If you don’t enter it into the point of sale, we don’t get paid. What, is the bar supposed to take your word for it?”
“Yes,” I hissed.
“Did you write it down at least?”
“No,” I said. “It’s all in my head.”
“Unbelievable,” she said. “You might as well have given everything away for free.”
She stepped away from the table and grabbed me by the arm. I followed her into the dimly lit hallway by the breakroom.
“Listen,” she said. “If you cost me all those sales ... you have no business here.”
I jerked my arm away from her. “You listen. I don’t know what kind of game you and Shannon are running. You don’t like me. I get that. But I’ve been busting my ass for the last two hours saving yours. I know what everybody ordered and drank. You input it.”
“If even one of those guys disputes the charges …” she said.
“They won’t. Now, you’ve had your fun. If you want to get paid, I suggest you stop getting in my way and start doing your job and helping me out.”
I jammed a finger into