Page 59 of Game Changer

I look at the letter lying on the bar, the corner soaking up a drop of water sitting on the surface. How on earth did it come to this? I’ve never been on such a rollercoaster of highs and lows in my life. Almost every peak and trough in my life has had a recurring theme. Buckie. I hate that I’m now questioning my relationship with him because of this. I want to believe this has nothing to do with him and it’s just a coincidence, but I’m not stupid. I know my business is suffering by my association with him.

* * *

Crush is quiet in the late afternoon, and I find Blair and Suzie prepping the stage for the night’s entertainment.

“Hi girls,” I call to them as I head for the stage.

“Hi Zara. How are you?”

“Not great if I’m honest. I’ve just come from Gemini. We’ve had a letter from the council saying there has been underage drinkers in there and that they’re considering a breach of my licence conditions.”

Blair stops what she’s doing and steps down off the stage. “What do they mean underage? Underage drinkers would never be in Gemini.”

I laugh. “Funnily enough Kate said the same. It’s crazy but I know it has to do with that article the other day. I’m so pissed at it all Blair. This should have been an amazing time for me. My businesses are, or were, doing well and Buckie is back in my life. All that is completely overshadowed by nasty gossip. What do they gain from this? I’m not even that interesting.”

“No, but Buckie is. And he’s in the spotlight right now. There’s always going to be someone there ready to rain on your parade.”

“You’re right. Anyway I came here to give you guys a heads up about the licence problems at Gemini and to ask you all to be extra vigilant when it comes to checking for I.D. It doesn’t affect you guys so much, and I will speak to the bar staff separately, but it won’t hurt to have extra eyes on the place. I can’t afford for the rest of my premises to be affected by this.”

Blair rests a reassuring hand on my upper arm. “We’re all right behind you. We won’t let these bastards win.”

“Thanks sweetie.” I give her a smile but inside I want to give up. This shit is going to make me ill if I’m not careful.

I make my way to my office and find a white envelope perched on my keyboard with a bright orange sticky note on it.Zara, Personal, the note reads. I frown at it, a cold feeling of dread rising up my body from my feet. Taking a seat at my desk I lift the envelope and peel off the sticky note revealing my name and the address of the club in the opaque window. I pull the letter that came to Gemini for me out of my bag and compare them. My stomach churns as I note the similarities in the font.

“You have got to be kidding,” I say to thin air.

I open the envelope and pull out the letter. As I read the words printed within it, I can hardly believe what I’m seeing. My eyes fill with tears as I look at all my hard work going up in flames in front of me. I know these won’t be the only letters for me and I pull my phone out of my bag to call my other bars to see if there are any more of these ominous white envelopes waiting to ambush me. My hands are shaking and I’m slowly losing any composure I thought I still had.

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