Page 1 of Topaz

1

Sitting behind the desk in the office of the Roadside Bar in the small town of Turnabout Creek, Montana, Sarah “Topaz” Cardwell scanned the work schedule. Leaning back in the chair she wondered what the hell she was doing here. At twenty-eight years old, she had no future and didn’t see a happy ending to her life. She was a stripper and managed most of the day to day in the bar, but that was about all. No real long term plan, while she performed an important job for the Steel MC she couldn’t help feeling a bit unappreciated most days.

Rubbing her temples, she tried to push through the headache from the music on the other side of the wall. She had to admit it, her day was off, being down on herself hadn’t been her MO for years. Today was different and she knew why. Waking up this morning, her body laid next to a prospect and she didn’t even know his name… real or road. He’d been a warm body at the end of the night, but there had been a time when she required more. Being a Hoez had a certain level of freedom when it came to one’s body. It also came with a certain level of expectation, but still aprospect? There was a difference between loving sex and loving yourself and she might have crossed the line last night.

She hadn’t slept with every man in the MC, but lately she’d been using men to avoid the one she couldn’t get out of her thoughts. No matter how many ways she separated herself from him the fates, magnetism, shit maybe even some twisted plan from the big man… threw him in her path. One she’d shut down years ago for reconstruction. Much like any government works project, the damn thing had gone over budget and deadline and yet a jackass was driving down the middle going ninety, picking off safety cones.

Gathering the calendar for dancers, waitresses and cooks from the stack of papers in front of her, she stood and walked to the board on the wall. Snatching the pin holding the old schedule, she held up the new one and stabbed it through the calendar. The schedule was done for the month now. Everyone could stop bitching at her. The damn thing had been a mix of wanting to pick up extra and a group wanting the same day off to party.

Dreamer and Freaky said they were having a simple quiet ceremony by the creek. What they wanted and the clubs want to party were at odds and those who worked at the Roadside, were betting on a party. Dreamer may be a sweet, mother of the Earth type of girl, but she was marrying a club member and that was a commitment to a family of misfits. Misfits, degenerates and wild animals. All, willing to kill to protect you, but all wanting to celebrate the big things.

Even though the music was blaring in the bar, no one was around. When there was a break in between songs, she heard whistling coming from behind the bar. Walking back there, she found Slug counting bottles and marking an inventory sheet.

“Doing inventory?” she asked the obvious.

“Yeah, Cass wanted me to start keeping track for the club. There’s some inconsistencies with the volume of liquor that is sold, versus consumed. Someone is giving away the booze.”

“More than a heavy pour?” she asked, because she’d been guilty of eyeing a shot when mixing instead of using a jigger in a pinch. “Drunks tend to tip more.”

“I think it’s more than a free round or turning a double into a triple.”

“That is just wrong. I haven’t seen it, but then I don’t concentrate on the bar unless they’re totally swamped and I need to keep a guy happy. I worry more over the Hoez on the stage and the servers. Maybe I can keep an eye on the bartenders as well. I can work the bar into my rotation when I’m watching everything else.”

“I’ll talk to the club. Let them know you’re willing to help.” Slug continued to count the bottles as he moved down the bar. “Really I don’t know what their issue is, maybe they think a bottle has more drinks in it.”

“Doubt it,” Topaz said with a light laugh. “If there’s anything ya’ll know is how many licks to get to the center of thatTootsie Pop.”

“True.”

Swiping a bottle of disinfectant and a towel from the folded stack by the register, Topaz wiped down the bar and tables in the room. It was nearing eleven o’clock when they opened and she liked the place to shine for the early crowd.

The front door opened as Free, Zoe, Zen, Tempest, Lyna, Porsche and Roadkill walked in.

“Hey, Topaz did you get the schedule done?” Roadkill asked as she approached.

“Yeah! Hanging up in the office.” Leaning on the brass rail, she pointed to the women walking toward the office. “Did they whine to you?”

Roadkill was the Prez’s wife which gave her an authority over the women of the club. Maybe it was more of a responsibility. They weren’t far apart in age, but Roadkill was more than an overprotective sister. She was practically a mother to them. Making sure all their needs were met, both physical and mental. Early on, they would have almost daily checks with each other, but more girls came and now, Roadkill was a mother in her own right to little baby Harlow.

With her long golden hair and killer bod, she could easily make money on a pole. Even with the slight droop to her left eye. All the women had baggage in the MC, some physical, most mental. Roadkill wasn’t an exception, but with a nursing degree under her belt, she worked side by side with Red their Prez in the clinic. With just the right gentle to rough touch needed around the club. Reading the patient or person in front of her to be exactly what they needed. A perfect skill for a stripper, adding to her skills being wasted over at the clinic.

“No, they just mentioned you were off and hadn’t done up this month’s schedule. Wondered what was going on with you?” Roadkill put her arm around Topaz’s shoulder and led her a table. “Sit down.” She pointed to a chair.

Topaz sat with Roadkill across from her. “What is going on with you?” Roadkill asked her. “I haven’t seen you for a while. Ever since the New Mexico charter went home, you’ve been MIA.”

“Just working,” she replied.

“You know Dell is sneaking back up here to surprise Dreamer,” Roadkill explained. “Not the whole MC this time, just her and Steel.”

“That’s nice.” Topaz absently fiddled with the sugar and creamer packets to get them lined up in the little container.

“When you first came up from New Mexico, I didn’t know what to think,” Roadkill said. “And well, when Dell and Roxy explained my role, I wanted to lock myself in my room. But then they told me about you. How much you meant to them and how important you were.”

“Me?” Topaz scrunched her face a bit.

“Yep, if Sal wasn’t in the club, you would have been who they trusted to handle shit.”

Roadkill reached across the table and held Topaz’s hand. “You had a great place there, friends, I get it. But it was a place. Here, you’re part of the fabric and I’m not sure what I would do without you here.”

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