Page 7 of Fangs and Fudge

“Absolutely.”

“Good. Then you’re stage left lower. Everly can take stage left upper so she’s close if you need anything. Adrian, lower right. Pam, upper right. Thomas, you’re on VIP.

“I have some friends coming in from out of town later. They’re going to help out for a bit just to make sure we don’t have any repeats of last night. I’ll introduce everyone after we close. Any questions?”

We all shook our heads.

“All right. Let’s have a good night.”

CHAPTER TWO

Let’s have a good night.

Sure, Shepard could say that. But he’d stationed Vena way too close to Anchor, which meant I was on double duty, watching to ensure Vena didn’t need help and to ensure she kept her comments, suggestive eyes, or body parts to herself.

With the DJ playing wall-thumping beats, the dance floor swarmed with dancers.

I noticed familiar faces of our regular guests and some that seemed to be looking for evidence of the attack the prior night. Their gazes swept along the black walls that twinkled with lights, the rich purple booths and chairs, and up to the ceiling with the purple accent lighting.

After they couldn’t find anything to gawk at, they turned their attention back to drinks and music.

“Everly.” A dwarf who sat in my section waved me down.

When I stepped over to him and his friends, I asked, “The usual or something different?”

“An Effervescence as usual,” he said. Before I could leave with the order, he touched my arm. “Are you okay? We heard about the attack.”

“Everything is fine.”

“Everything looks fine, but how are you?”

I smiled at him, hoping to put him at ease. “No worse for wear. No injuries. We were lucky Shepard and his crew got everything under control as quickly as they did. Were you here during the attack?”

He shook his head. “We had left a little before then. When I heard the news, I felt terrible about it. If we were here, we would have lent a hand.”

I was glad they hadn’t been. I would have felt guilty if anything had happened.

Patting him on the shoulder, I said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll grab your drinks. Should I order the lamb skewers for you, too?”

He grinned and rubbed his thick hands together. “You know us too well, Everly. Two orders, please.”

“Perfect. I’ll be right back with the drinks.”

As I walked to the bar, I checked on my other tables. I then blocked Anchor’s view of Vena as she bent down to pick up a cocktail napkin she “accidentally” dropped in front of him. He gave me a grateful smile.

After that, I went to the bar to wait for my order and took a moment to catch my breath.

“How’s it going in your section?” Buzz asked as he worked on my drinks.

“Fine. People are checking the place out for evidence of the attack, but with nothing to see, it’s back to business as usual.”

“Good to hear. Shepard will be relieved.”

While I knew Shepard worried about his employees, he always seemed like a rock when it came to the business. I scanned the room for him.

“He’s in the kitchen,” Buzz said, interpreting my search correctly. “Griz got slammed with orders and needed help.”

Back-of-the-house help reminded me of Gunther, the one responsible for washing the dishes at Blur, and I felt guilty. I hadn’t been able to talk to him after he’d gotten whammied by Sierra’s drug concoction this morning.

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