Come As You Are (Twisted Bard)

2. Olivia

Olivia

I ran the numbers a second time, but they still didn’t make sense. No matter how many times I tried to deal with the books, Illyria was hemorrhaging money, and the bills were starting to pile up. The club my brother had poured his heart and soul into was in danger of going under, and the thought that I was the reason, that I couldn’t manage Illyria well enough, filled me with grief and guilt.

Antonio was the only person in my family to embrace me as I truly was, accepting without question that the younger brother he’d practically raised was, in fact, a sister. He’d helped me transition, hiring me to be the assistant manager at Illyria three years ago so I could have health insurance to cover my medical needs, and weathering my mood swings as my body adjusted to a different hormonal balance. He’d even helped me buy my first bra, dealing with an asshole of a salesclerk at Macy’s then taking me to the Cheesecake Factory afterward to celebrate the milestone over tiramisu.

My brother had known me better than anyone. Including our parents. He’d stood by my side when I came out to them, helped them understand that I’d always been a girl even if my body didn’t reflect my true self. I’d chosen my name from his favorite Shakespeare play to honor him. His death in a car accident two years ago nearly devastated me, which was why I needed Illyria to flourish even though it would have made my life easier if I had sold the club to Sergio Orsino when he’d made an offer the week after Antonio’s death.

With a silent prayer to Antonio for help, I turned back to the computer screen and stared at the dismal numbers as I scrolled through them once again. And once again, they failed to make sense because Illyria was packed almost every night. We had the hottest dancers, the best bartenders, were consistently rated the best of the best in the Castro, and our Yelp ratings and reviews were phenomenal. Or at least all that had been true up until about six months ago.

I stared at the numbers until my vision blurred, recriminations swirling in my head like angry bees, their sting twice as sharp as I thought how disappointed Antonio would be if I failed him and the people who now worked with me. A knock on my office door saved me from myself, and I called for whoever was outside to come in, relieved to find Sebastian opening the door.

Illyria’s lead bartender— my lead bartender was a handsome man who was more than partly responsible for the crowds the club attracted. Six-two, with a chiseled jaw that was always dusted with dark scruff, and mesmerizing hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief, the man had earned the nickname “Bastian the Bastard” because of the broken hearts he left in his wake. I’d had a bit of a crush on him when I was younger, but as he worked his way through Illyria’s regulars and quite a few employees, his reputation turned me off, and I’d stifled any attraction I felt for him.

As a potential boyfriend, Sebastian wasn’t what I was looking for, but as my lead bartender, he was amazing, and I trusted him implicitly, which is why, my stomach tightened with anxiety and a sense of foreboding at the troubled expression on his face.

“Do you have a moment?” Sebastian asked from the doorway. As usual, he didn’t enter my office until I motioned him inside.

“Of course. What do you need?”

He sat in the worn chair in front of my desk just as I had many times when I’d come to speak to Antonio about something that needed his attention. I’d thought being Antonio’s assistant manager had prepared me to take over for him after his death. How foolish I’d been; how little I’d known. Stepping into his shoes had been as unfamiliar and ungainly as me stepping into my mother’s high heels when I was five. No matter how often I had watched either of them, my first steps threatened to land me on my face.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” he said, and I internally groaned, but waved my hand in the air to encourage him to continue.

“Just spit it out,” I said.

Sebastian grimaced. “We’re running through alcohol like we’re comping every other drink.”

While I appreciated my lead bartender for his direct approach, this was one moment I wished he would have prefaced his statement with a bit more dissembling. I struggled to draw in enough breath to ask my next question.

“How?”

Sebastian shook his head, those hazel eyes filled with sympathy. “I don’t know. When I did inventory, we’re much further down than we should be in the storeroom. I’m going to need to place an order with the distributor.”

My gaze shifted from Sebastian to my computer screen. I knew very well, the distributor’s bill was one of the ones I’d been floating as long as I could, but a club could not run without alcohol. “Place the order,” I said.

“We’re also running low on some of our top shelf brands as well.”

I stood and walked to the window that overlooked the club floor where I observed several of my employees setting up for the night. “Do you have any idea who’s responsible?” I asked, hating to think that any of the people below would do such a thing. They’d all been with Antonio for years, had been devastated by his death, and pledged their loyalty to me.

Behind me, Sebastian sighed, a sound that sent a delicate frisson skating up my spine. Although I’d moved beyond my childish crush, I wasn’t immune to Sebastian’s appeal, and understood how so many fell so easily under his spell. I just wasn’t going to be one of them.

“I wish I did,” he said. “Our inventory system is still done by hand, and we weigh the bottles at the beginning and end of each night. Even though we enter it into the computer, we don’t have any tracking to know who takes bottles from the storeroom or how much is being poured. There’s state-of-the-art tech that weighs the bottles on the shelves for us and would allow us to match pours to customer orders as well as monitoring who retrieves new bottles with pass keys for the storeroom.”

“We’ll have to improvise something,” I said. “We can’t afford anything like that.”

“I know.” His voice turned gentle. “I’m sorry, Livvy. I hate to give you news like this, and I hate to think that one of our people is stealing from us. Antonio always treated us like family, and I can’t imagine someone taking advantage of you.”

I turned to face him and saw the truth of his statement in every line of his face and body. “Thank you,” I said.

I was about to tell him to go back to work when my club manager appeared in the doorway. Where Sebastian was akin to a god, Mal had always reminded me of Severus Snape with straight, black hair framing a pale, sharp-featured face. The black turtleneck and jeans he always wore further enhanced the likeness and made him seem as if he was in perpetual mourning, an observation made more apt by the dour expression on his face as he entered my office. It was the same expression Mal wore when he told me my brother was dead, and exactly like that time, he was hesitating.

“Just tell me,” I said.

“Olivia, I am so sorry. The health inspector finished his inspection. We have a vermin problem that will need to be rectified or we face a fine and possible closure.”

Fortunately, there was a couch in front of the observation window to catch me as my knees gave way. I sat down heavily. We’d been subjected to a surprise inspection this morning after the San Francisco Health Department received a complaint.

“We’ll have to get someone in as quickly as possible,” I said as I mentally added that to the numbers I’d been reviewing. “Can you find someone?” I asked Mal.

“I’ll make it my priority today.” Mal dipped his head to me and left.

A glass of water appeared in front of me, and I looked up at Sebastian’s concerned face surprised that he was still in my office, and more than a little embarrassed that he had been present for Mal’s report. I took the water and sipped it, grateful that Sebastian always seemed to know what I needed. This wasn’t the first time that a small gesture from him had been enough to lessen a tense or uncomfortable moment since Antonio hired him three years before.

Sebastian remained while I got myself under control and tried to formulate a plan for dealing with the latest issues facing my club. While it struck me as odd, his presence was welcome, and I slowly relaxed. At least until Sebastian’s phone buzzed with a phone call. I closed my eyes and prayed for it to be some good news.

“Okay. Yeah. I’ll tell her.” He tucked his phone into his back pocket. “Hey, Liv, Andrew needs you downstairs. Seems he’s got a new boy and wants you to take a look before he hires him.”

I rolled my eyes. Andrew was my lead dancer and in charge of all the go-go boys who worked at Illyria. He was an unrelenting diva. If the dancers weren’t such an integral part of Illyria’s success, and Andrew such an amazing choreographer, I’d have fired him once the club became mine. It was the only disagreement Antonio and I ever had about this place, and somehow, Andrew seemed to know how I felt.

As I made my way down to the dance floor, I was sure he’d already hired this guy without checking with me. We already had enough dancers. In our current financial situation, I couldn’t have him committing our resources without getting my approval, and I fully intended to let him know that.

“Hey, boss,” Andrew said as I descended, Sebastian at my back, my silent guardian, my protector.

I stood tall. My natural height enhanced by the three-inch heels I wore, and channeled Sebastian’s fortitude and calm into my body as I greeted Andrew in return. I succeeded. Mostly. But my resolve faltered as I turned to take in the young man standing by Andrew’s side. While he looked uncomfortable, playing with his fingers and shifting his weight from foot to foot as his awed gaze shifted from place to place.

While I was pleased to see that Illyria’s beauty seemed to affect him as much as it did me—Antonio had modeled the space on the Gilded Age theaters of old—it was his beauty that stunned me. He looked so young I prayed he was over twenty-one, tall and broad, with the kind of body that came from hard work instead of the gym. His dark hair was shaggy, as if it hadn’t been cut in far too long, and his clothes, though clean, looked well-worn. It was his eyes that caught me though. Dark brown and framed by lashes so thick he seemed to be wearing eyeliner. They brushed his sharp cheekbones every time he blinked, and I swore I heard them brush against his creamy skin like an angel’s wing as it fell from grace.

When he turned his attention toward me, I saw the momentary hesitation, the familiar startle, surprise, and then assessment so many people displayed when they met me. His expression turned gentle, and he dipped his head toward me as he murmured, “Ma’am.” I swear, if he’d worn a cowboy hat, he would have raised a hand to its brim in greeting.

In that moment, I knew I would do whatever Andrew asked in order to keep him in my club. But it wouldn’t do to acquiesce so easily.

“I wasn’t aware that we needed another dancer,” I said.

Andrew’s gaze turned foxlike. “I fired Colum last night,” he said without offering an explanation.

“Colum was one of our best dancers,” I said as my brain tried to calculate the potential loss of customers, many of whom had come in just to see Colum.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Andrew said. “He was giving me a lot of attitude and starting to come in late.”

Neither of those things had been brought to my attention, and I made a mental note to look at Colum’s personnel file to see if Andrew had made note of those issues. If he hadn’t, we could be hit with a wrongful termination lawsuit if Colum decided to retaliate.

“In any event, I found this guy here at just the right time,” Andrew continued.

“How did you find him?”

“Mal recommended him.”

That struck me as odd. “Since when does Mal have anything to do with the dancers?”

Andrew shrugged. “I don’t know. He just told me to give the kid a chance.”

I looked at the young man. “Have you danced in a club before?”

“No, ma’am.”

Barely restraining an eye roll, I turned back to Andrew. “I’m going to assume you know what you’re doing.”

“Look at him,” he said. “He’s so pretty, all he has to do is stand there in a thong and body glitter and the boys will eat him up and beg for more.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said and focused on the young man again. He was staring over my shoulder, and I realized he was looking at Sebastian, a delicate blush spreading across his cheeks. Good luck there , I thought. Plenty of men and women hit on Sebastian every week, and he flirted outrageously with all of them, but I’d never seen him hook up with anyone a second time. If this Vee wanted to have some fun, Sebastian would be all over him, but if he wanted more, Bast the Bastard would rear his head and send Vee on his way. Neither Antonio nor I had a policy against employees dating; the only thing either of us cared about was whether the fallout affected the club if it went south.

“Make sure he fills out the paperwork, and drop it in my office before the end of day,” I said as I headed back up the stairs. It was only when I was safely within those four walls and staring at the young man from the window that I realized I’d forgotten to ask his name.