hate that little swipe she takes at me every time we meet up. One month of working together and she thinks I’m as bad as my father. I’d get rid of her too if this was my place, but not because she’s shitty behind the bar. She isn’t. In fact, she’s been known to be damn good sometimes and the customers love her.
I’d get rid of her because she insists on calling me that little name.
“Maya, how great to see you again,” I coo, obviously not happy to see her. “Taking half-hour breaks now? Seems pretty early in the night. Boyfriend couldn’t wait?”
And that’s my swipe back at her. I know her boyfriend broke up with her last month. My father had to babysit her weepy ass for a week because she couldn’t keep it together. Yours truly got to fill in for her then too and got to have the privilege of seeing how kind the great Stefan March could be to someone who isn’t me.
Maya’s green eyes open wide at my insult. “Fuck you, Cade! Get out of my way. This is my bar tonight.”
Taking a fifty from my final customer, I head toward the register and get him his change. When he kindly leaves me a ten for a tip, I pocket that and look over at her.
“Then act like it so I don’t have to come in here and clean up your fucking mess. You used to be good behind the bar. Maybe you could try to be that again.”
Before she can clap back with some attempt at a witty retort, I slide around the edge of the bar and head into the crowd. Not two steps toward the stairs, I see my father wave me over toward him as he stands outside his office.
So much for getting away unscathed.
By the time I reach him, my stomach’s in a knot and I’m preemptively hating the conversation we’re about to have. He gives me a scowl and heads into the office with me following.
“I see you and Maya haven’t made up. I thought you two would have been able to get past what happened last summer by now. It’s been nearly a year,” he says as he walks over to his chair behind his desk.
“Well, she’s the same person she was, and I’m the same person I was, and the problem is still there, so I don’t know why you would think we’d get past anything by now, Dad.”
He leans back in his chair and takes a deep breath in. After he lets it out so slowly that I’m wondering if he’s counting back from ten before he explodes, he points at the chair in front of his desk.
“Take a seat, Cade. No need to stand.”
I prefer to stand because standing is one step closer to walking, which is what I want to do at this moment. After a great time with Hailey and a decent time working the bar, the last thing I want tonight is to sit here in this office and listen to another one of my father’s lectures.
But I do as he says because it’s easier than fighting him. I know how to pick my battles, and whether or not I bother to sit isn’t one worth anything.
“You looked good out there. As soon as you got behind the bar, things started working a hundred times better. Those two took your guidance, and the customers love you,” he says with a broad smile.
I think this is his way of complimenting me. That’s not a bad thing, but I have a sense he might be going for the compliment sandwich thing tonight, so that means what’s coming next won’t be so wonderful.
“It’s not rocket science, Dad. You smile, you flirt, you pour drinks. People pay you, and if you’ve made them feel good, they give you some money to take home. As for Frick and Frack out there, they might be better at one of the other bars. Maybe the back bar that gets less traffic. Or even better, the second floor bar away from the bathrooms. Maya has no customer skills whatsoever, but people seem to tolerate her. I still don’t know why.”
He sighs again, this time letting the air out in a rush. “Your mother was always an incredible bartender too, and she never wanted to do that either. I guess you take after her.”
Well, this might not be horrible after all. Usually when he brings my mother into the conversation, he’s