Enemies

I told Nicole about the hair, and the entire house got involved. I have no idea how it even started, but she didn’t like rainbow. Dent overheard, asked what was happening, and he wanted pink hair. Wyatt said purple. Noel had no comment. Nacho wanted fire red hair. Mia and Lisa didn’t say anything at first, then commented if I had to change my hair, jet black would be the way to go.

I hated all the suggestions.

I didn’t even want to change my hair, but Nicole brought a friend to my room that night. She was a hair stylist and she had a light blue in her hair. I fell in love, or I fell in love with it to be a temporary solution because eventually people would move on about Stone and me. So the next day, Joe didn’t recognize me. I took that as being successful.

Cammie trained me the first night, but the Quail liked to keep their menu simple. It was relatively easy, just had to make sure to remember all the rules, but no one recognized me. My blue hair had been pulled up in a braid, and by the end of the first night a couple ‘regulars’ as Cammie told me, were already calling me Blue.

From the job standpoint, the Quail only had a few key drink options for people to order, and the bartenders did the drinks. We could grab a beer or do the tap, but mixed drinks were all the bartenders.

I was ready to go with doing my own thing my second night, and the tips were nice.

The main challenge was walking home after the shift, but I’d walked it the day before and found a shortcut that cut through two blocks. It was a middle alley, so I really only had to walk two blocks, and that alley connected to ours, so it was almost two-and-a-half blocks that I shaved off.

My housemates knew I’d taken a job at the Quail, but none thought about how I got there and back. They knew I didn’t have a car. I didn’t want to rely on anyone for a ride because that wasn’t feasible long-term, but I knew they wouldn’t want me walking that late at night. During the day was a different story, but waiting until after closing, after cleaning after closing, and I knew it’d be around two thirty or maybe some mornings it would inch closer to three in the morning when I’d be walking home.

I’d worry about that more later. The first night was fine. The second night was fine.

The third.

Fourth.

Because I was working almost every night. I’d asked for the most shifts as possible, and Joe said I was a good worker. See. Hard working and I didn’t complain, I knew he’d be happy that he’d hired me back.

My big snag happened the following Saturday.

“I’m what?”

Joe had called me into his office and he didn’t look up. He pointed to the door. “Jer’s waiting for you out back. We’re doing concessions for the game today or doing one of the concessions. I gotta figure out if I want you in the box or the beer stands.”

“But why? We don’t do concessions there.”

He looked up, dropping his pen. His eyebrows were pinched together. “Not that it’s your business, but yeah. I actually run some of the booths over there. But it’s Homecoming today and they asked for us to man a second booth. You and a few of the other girls are going over with Jer. It’s easy work. Go. Have fun. Be a part of the festivities.” He frowned. “Don’t you room with half the football team?”

I flushed. The group had started to drop in after practices for a burger. Joe took notice, especially when other people came with them. The Quail did fine already, but they’d gotten busier since Wyatt, Noel, Nacho, Dent, and a few of the other guys were becoming regulars.

“I room with their girlfriends.”

He snorted, tossing some papers onto his desk and standing up. “Same difference. Think of it this way, now you can say you were there to support them.”

That wasn’t that bad of an idea.

“But it also doesn’t matter because I’m the boss. As long as you work here, you’re doing what I say.” He started walking toward me around his desk, shooing me in front of him. “Go, my employee. Go and do my bidding.” He leaned close behind me since I’d turned for the door, and whispered, “Go and do your job!”

He reached over me, swinging the door wide for me, and he followed me down the hallway.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this, but like he said, I didn’t have much choice.

Cammie saw me coming and flashed me a smile. “Heya. You and me, we’re doing the concession thing together.”

I relaxed slightly then.

I liked Cammie. She was one of those types of girls who’s beautiful in a natural way, but not flashy. Mia was flashy. She could’ve been on a runway for Victoria’s Secret, but Cammie was just as beautiful, just in a more understated way. She was also one of the lead workers for the Quail. Most of the regulars had a crush on her with her caramel-colored curls, freckles, and bright sapphire blue eyes. And I didn’t think they were alone. She had a boyfriend at another college, but I had a feeling the moment she was single, Joe himself would be throwing his hat in the ring. He tended to blush when she was around, and get all grrr if a regular was too touchy-feely with her. The bouncers were protective of her, too. They were protective of all the girls, but it was more with Cammie. She was kinda the Quail’s sweetheart, and when she worked, all eyes were on her, or most eyes, and I liked that. I really liked that. Helped me stay under the radar even with the guys coming to eat here now that I was working here, too.

“I’m hoping to talk Joe into letting us work the boxes. They tip way better than the beer stand.”

“That’s where we’d be going?”

She nodded, helping carry out a few bags to the van. I took one and followed behind.

She said over her shoulder, “Yeah. All the hoity-toity people are up in the boxes. They give a twenty-dollar tip for us refilling a beer. Such easy money. We’d be lucky to get twenty for the whole night in the beer stand.”

See. Smart and nice. Not many others would bring me along for that type of job.

“Thanks, Cammie.” I handed off my bag to Jer, who was waiting by the van.

He tossed it in, then said to me, “You’re in your blacks tonight.”

Blacks meant we were wearing the Quail’s more formal uniform. Black skirt. White button-down shirt. They resembled a private school uniform, something I’m sure was the point.

Cammie heard. “Serious?”

He nodded. “You ain’t working the beer stands. Joe’s already ahead of you.”

“Nice!” She held her hand up, giving him a high five and turning to me. A wide smile on her face. “Tips for two weeks here we come.” Her grin turned slightly goofy at me. “And thank God he’s sending you. I don’t think I could do a full night in the box with Moore.”

If Cammie was the sweetheart of the Quail, Moore was the opposite. Catty. Bitchy. Jealous. She was all of those things, and I’d been able to mostly avoid her, but I knew that time was coming to an end. I heard she had a mission to get into Dent’s pants, and it was only a matter of time before she figured out how I knew them. So far she just thought one of them had a crush on me, that was the reason they kept coming when I was on shift.

“Okay, girls.” Jer shut the door, going around to the driver’s side. “Grab your uniforms. We gotta go. Boss wants us in the boxes before the ticketholders get there.”

The game was in an hour.

We needed to curtail it out of there, but after changing in the back, Cammie grabbed me. “Sit.” She went to work on me then.

“What are you doing?”

“Sex brings more tips. If you and I both look sexy, that means more money.”

She was loosening my shirt. Nothing was showing, but there was a good swell of cleavage showing. She stepped back, studying me, frowning. Her hands went to my hair and she was redoing the ponytail I’d put it in for the night. Going around me, I was slightly impressed at how quick she worked. Not a lot of girls were braid-savvy, but she had put my blue hair in a loose, reverse French braid. It was meant to look sexily rumpled, and when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I almost whistled to myself.

“Damn. You could do hair for a living.”

She grinned, sitting next to me and tugging on a different pair of shoes. “I’ve got six little sisters and a single mom who works three jobs. Hair duty was like an assembly line in the mornings before school.” She finished, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. “Ready to go and make some moolah?”

God, was I.

Going over, Jer pulled up to the stadium, and we were waved in to go toward the back employee parking area. A bunch of buses were back there, too. Hopping out, Jer told us, “Hold up.” He opened the back door. “I need help carrying all this inside.”

It took six different trips, maneuvering through all the people, even going through the back way and I was sweating up a storm. So was Cammie. She flashed me a smile once we were done, wiping some sweat from her forehead. “There’s a bathroom up there we can use to clean up a bit.”

I nodded. Sounded good to me.

“Okay.” Jer was coming back, holding out two thick, black packets. He handed one to each of us. “Cammie will tell you the pricing, but you guys are your own cash registers up there.”

She took hers, frowning. “You’re not the bartender up there?”

He shook his head. “Nah. I’m running the beer down here tonight. Another guy’s up there, but you’ll do fine.”

Cammie’s frown was telling me otherwise.

Jer kept on, “Close out after the game or when the box clears out. Joe said that’s up to you, and come down to the beer. I’ll give you a ride back. We’ll be closed before you guys anyway, so I’ll probably head up to help you guys close out, or I’ll be waiting in the van. Check your phones. I’ll send word after the game. Joe wants you both back at the Quail for the rush tonight. It’ll be nuts.”

Cammie nodded, and I didn’t tell her until we were going up a back stairway, “I didn’t know it was even Homecoming this weekend.” I felt stupid about it. I should’ve known that much.

She laughed, getting to the third floor and opening the door. She held it for me. “I’m not surprised, but that’s what I like about you. Some of the guys call you Blue Daze, did you know that?”

She was walking down the hallway, so I was just going with her. “Blue Daze?”

“Yeah, cause you’re always in a daze. You’re like half here, half not here.”

It’d been a week of working at the Quail. Between classes and work, my days were full this past week. So I got it, but she didn’t know that I preferred it that way. I didn’t want to admit it, but it hurt not seeing Stone, and he’d been my self-medicating way to get through everything else. So yeah, the last week, I’d taken on this zombie-way of lifestyle. I got up. Went to classes. Ate lunch. Studied if I had free time before work, then went to work. I studied any free time I had, but Joe had told me firmly that I needed one full day off from working. That’d be on Sundays, so I already had plans to study the entire day.

Being called Blue Daze, I wasn’t too shocked by it. I think I preferred it. They hadn’t called me Dusty since the first night. It’d been Blue ever since.

“This is us.” She nodded to a door.

A bunch of security people were standing outside. Recognizing our uniforms, the guy opened the door for us, a radio in his other hand.

The entire room was busy, but not with the ticketholders yet. Staff was rushing around, cleaning, carrying food to the back kitchenette area and putting out table coverings. A guy was behind the bar and waved us over. “You girls are the servers?”

Cammie took lead, speaking for me, “We are. How many will be in here?”

“It’ll be fucking packed.” He was eyeing both of us, slightly concerned. “You both done boxes before?”

Cammie frowned back. “We load up the trays and walk ’em around. We’re not in charge of getting the food, right?”

“Yeah. No, you’re not.” He motioned to the kitchenette area. It was being turned into a buffet. “You guys have to watch the food. When a dish gets half empty, let me know. I’ll call down for more to be brought up. Mixed drink orders go through me, too. As for shots or beer,” he motioned to the fridge behind him, under the counter, and the tap. “You guys can pour that stuff yourself. You know pricing?”

“Eight, ten, twelve for the beers.” Cammie was half-telling me at the same time. “Bottles are…”

“Twelve.”

She whistled. “Homecoming inflation rate?”

He grinned. “Pretty much. Shots are five even.”

“Five?”

He shrugged. “They’re getting the cheap shit here, but they don’t need to know it. Oh, and we’re only offering these types of shots. Nothing else. We’re a box suite, not a fully functioning bar.” He slid over a piece of paper, and taking it, I saw it was a cheat sheet for what we offered and the prices.

I tucked mine into my pocket.

“No.” He reached behind, grabbing some black aprons to tie around our waist. “Use these.”

They were short, but they would blend in with the skirts. I tied mine on, put the cheat sheet in there, the money on the inside pocket, along with a small pad of paper and a couple of pens. My phone went in the other pocket.

“We good to go?”

Cammie glanced to me. I nodded, and she spoke for both of us. “Load up the first trays. We’re doing champagne?”

“Yep.” He reached around, then swung right back. His hand extended. “I’m Ben, by the way.”

Cammie laughed, shaking his hand. “I’m Cammie and this is Blue.” She gestured to me.

He laughed, shaking my hand, too. “That’ll be easy to remember.” He went back to filling the first glasses when he said, “Oh. These are high rollers, so stay extremely professional. No flirting. Nothing like that. The team’s new GM asked for these guys to come as a personal favor to the team.”

Cammie nodded. “Who is it?”

He was back to filling the glasses when he said, almost casually, “The local Kings. Some of their star players and family. And their coach.”

Cammie’s eyes whipped to mine, but I’d heard. Every. Word.

My life flashed in front of my eyes because this news, well, consider it like a bomb dropped and it just exploded at my feet.