* POUNDING THE JAGER , zane

I'VE BEEN POUNDING THE JAGER

* MY BREATH AND BEHAVIOR ,

HAVE BEEN DRIVING THE PATRONS AWAY

Nell was busy with shaking a martini when she heard her supervisor call over to her over the sound of voices. It was rather crowded tonight, which was very good for her in terms of money. Otherwise, it added stress to everyone on shift. ”Shepherd, can you take over for Jerome tonight?” She lifted her hand to indicate that she’d heard and called back, ”Yeah.” Apparently he hadn’t shown up, but at least she’d be getting his pay for taking over a shift. It just meant that she’d be doing a little extra tonight in terms of covering the bar, but that was all right—she was always worked hard, especially when it was in place of someone else. She wouldn’t have taken the job is she couldn’t work to the best of her abilities. She enjoyed working. Back at Corrosion, it had been a little different. The environment certainly wasn’t the same, as danger seemed to be a bright neon sign hanging above the doors. The step up to Blackjack was something she very much embraced—and hey, it was named after one of her favorite card games. It was a pretty damn good deal.

Though there was one concern, and that was the chance that she could bump into her father while she was working. Sometimes he met up with work associates and other uppercrust folk to discuss whatever rich people talked about, and Nell was waiting for the day he’d step through the doors and see her serving up drinks. You shouldn’t be worried about that, he doesn’t control you. It was true—he had no say in what she did with her life, including her occupation. But if he did know about her being an underage bartender, it would create needless drama between the two just to add onto the heaping pile they already had. Nell would rather not deal with that. There was another person she was almost worried to see around. She was half-concerned about seeing Josh around, too, since it seemed whenever they bumped into each other at bars something had to happen. Not that she would tell him to leave if he did show up while she was working, of course not. He was of legal age, which was more than she could say for herself, and she had no right to do that. Besides, the last time she tried to do anything in terms of stopping him from drinking, it had turned into a big song and dance. Then she thought about his parents—what if they saw her there? Would they tell Josh to stop dating her because she’s working illegally? Nell realized now just how bad it could all turn out to be now that she had a job there, but honestly, bartending was something she was good at, and something that now paid well. She didn’t want to give that up now.

So she mindlessly went about her business, flipping over the rag that would have been ratty at Corrosion, but was actually decently new looking with a few frayed edges. Wiping down the counter, she turned her bright smile up at a finely dressed patron. Nell was surprised she didn’t get more odd looks. She was rather short for her age—for any age—in spite of the heels she wore, and she did have the whole innocent aura going on. But the man simply paid for her drink and said nothing more before walking away. People seemed to mind their own business around here when it came to inocuous bartenders. Gossip was a different story, as it floated around the air just like anywhere else. Just because it was a fancy establishment didn’t mean it was excluded from natural human behavior. Folk dressed in tailored suits and shimmering dresses like to flirt and chat and mix and mingle, just like folk in t-shirts and jeans like to gossip and talk. Nothing changed much, and luckily she didn’t have to worry too much about it as she worked.