Isabella walked through the kitchen as fast her tennis shoes could carry her. As soon as she was back in the hallway that led to the locker rooms. She pressed her back up against the cool wooden wall, and slowly slid down until she was crouching on the tips of her toes. She was already exhausted, her customer service mask cracking apart as she took a long breath to steady herself. Compared to her old job at that cozy little cafe. Working at The Crimson Hide was like being thrown into the lion dens. The line started to trickle in through the now open double doors and everyone seemed so thirsty. Isabella had mostly watched Alice for the first 45 minutes of service, how she interacted with customers, taking notes on portions so she could make more than one drink at a time. The girl was an expert when it came to her pours, and making drinks, she was an entertainer at heart it seemed. Her smile growing largers as did more tricks with the mixers and glassware. How fast her hands moved as she punched in new drink and food orders, her nails tapping against the tablets they had to put register drinks. Once the hour mark hit, Alice decided that now it was time for Isabella to jump in and help. The crowd had depleted a bit as more people went to the dance floor, but if this large crowd was what they considered a slow paced night. Isabella could only imagine the chaos that might be Friday, let alone Saturday nights. She was the new girl here, and it seemed a lot of the regular customers could tell that. It was hard to keep conversation, and focus on making the basic drinks that she had been assigned so far. Nothing to hard, mostly two or three ingedic drinks, she was also in charge of adding garnist of pineapple, cherries or olives to the drinks that Alice had made.
She had made a few mistakes such as adding the wrong soda or tonic to her drinks. Losing her composer for a moment at a more rude jackass who seemed more interested in getting her number than actually paying for his drink. As well as the usual rookie mistakes that came from being the new girl. However, even then Alice was patient and kind, quick to correct and quick to praise her when she did good. Elizabeth had come by once the crowd had departed to the dance floor, the men seemed more interested in hoping to groove with the minidress and skirt clad woman. Other women wearing tight jeans and shorts moved towards the dance floor as well where the DJ of the night had begun to work his magic. Now they had to watch their screens in case someone ordered a drink to be delivered to the dance floor. They would make the drinks and the girls assigned as servers for the night would go and deliver them. The best and quickest being, Ameko.
She could see the light skinned girl or 21 moving like a rabbit through the tall grass. Her tray held high above her head, and a few times Isabella was worried that she might actually drop the tray from her more reckless movement. Ameko held that tray in such a way that she could bend and move her hands to make them slide left or right, up and down, but not drop them. She was a bit more careful when she had to carry the food items. The flood being a mix of bar and finger food such as crispy fried shrimp and oysters. Fries both regular and a special loaded type that looked delicious, sliders and wings, things that would sustain but not fill people up.
“Are you doing okay, honey?” Isabella took her hand off her face, finding the kind looking Mrs. Carter standing in front of her. In her right hand she held a cup of water, and in her left a red basket that had some fries in them. “I thought I might bring you a small snack, and don’t worry it doesn’t count towards your free meal if you decide to use it.”
Isabella gave a small smile towards the woman as she stood back up to her feet. “Thank you, Mrs. Carter.” The glass felt amazing to her warm hand. “It is a lot busier than I am used to.”
The older woman replied. “A lot of girls learn that, we get a lot of people here even on our slower nights.” She began to walk down towards her office. “Come with me for a second, since I have a moment, I wanna talk to one of our new girls.”
Isabelle took a nibble out of these freshly made fries enjoying the more sweet and spicy seasoning that were on them instead of just regular salt. Now that she was fully instead of the woman’s office, she could see that a laptop rested on the woman’s desk. She had a large chart on the right side of the wall, labeled as losses for the month. The biggest coming from rum sales as they seemed to be missing up to 120 dollars of rum. Nothing big as far as food ingredients from what Isabella could see. Her desk was made of a lighter brown wood that made the floor look darker in comparison. Isabella’s eyes were drawn towards the leather tawse that was connected to a ring on the woman’s pants. The same one that she had seen slap against Zofia’s backside before Alice pulled her out of eyesight. She also had another item that was hanging on a hook just behind a ring of keys. A wooden paddle, black in color with six holes evenly spaced apart.
Mrs. Carter seemed to notice that she was looking at the item in question. “I am guessing part of you thought that what was in our email was still maybe not true, didn’t you, honey?” Isabella cheeks took on a pink hue as she nodded her head. A small chuckle escaped the woman’s lips. “A lot of girl’s make the mistake of thinking that is a joke and then unfortunately learn the hard way that we are a lot more serious in discipline here than other jobs they might have had.”
“Doesn’t it get awkward?” Isabella questioned taking another fries into her mouth, letting it stay in the corner of it like a cigarette. “I mean at the least we are all over 21 years old, and not to assume, some girls might be in their 30s. Isn’t it hard to punish older girls like we are rowdy teenagers?” She sucked that fry into her mouth once she had finished speaking. Not wanting to (as much as she kinda wanted too) risk getting in trouble for talking with food in her mouth. It was not on the list of spankable offenses, but she wanted to be safe.
“Well it is like we tell y'all. If you wanna act like children we have no problem treating you naughty kids.” Mrs. Carter said. “However, yes it does get a bit awkward but as many girls realize quickly it is better to just get it done and over with. No waiting till service is over to yell at or scream at them for mistakes, no write up systems that we honestly would forget to actually fill out. It also helps a few of our younger girls who might be still thinking like teenages start to be a bit more responsible. Take Ameko and Harper Row for example, both recently turned 21, both didn’t have much as far as discipline goes in their life.”
“Harper is the girl that plays the piano in the other room right?”
“Yep, a bit of a brat when she tries to, used to think because we finally found a pianist for that private room it gave her special treatment, but Mrs. Simmons set her right very quickly.” Mrs. Carter explained. “The point is whether some girls, whether younger or older, like to admit it. This style of ours works a lot better, and it helps us weed out the lazy workers, and provide more for the girls that want to work hard, that might need that in their life, and aren’t gonna just use the opportunities that come from working here. Everyone here, even some that might look lazy, have a great work effort and really do care for this building. Most girls that work in my kitchens end up as private chefs or getting opportunities that I find from my own contacts. A lot of our floor managers often become GM’s for other restaurants, girls go to school and do great things. I am not trying to take credit for their success, I can’t do that. However, hard work without discipline often just leads to laziness.”
“You have no idea.” Isabella thought to herself. “How often do you need to do it?”
“I am sure Mrs. Simmons told you the phrase she sold from me but, we know that some people need a slap on the ass and others a pat on the butt.” Isabella laughed a bit at that. “What made you want to work here?”
“Honestly, I just applied for a bunch of jobs when I left Green Bay before the drive here.” Isabella admitted. “I was surprised that my number one choice emailed me right back.”
“Well we try to be quick and lucky for you. We have had a new spot open for a while. We were lucky to get Ameko, Harper and now yourself, we are back to a full staff.”
“Has it been that hard to find workers?”
“Well thanks to that pandemic way back a lot of places took a big hit, and more people seemed okay with living off unemployment and stimulus checks than to go back to work.” Mrs. Carter explained. “So while we kept most of our staff, by the sheer grace of God. It has been hard to find three new hard workers that understood our more physical way of punishment. So I am grateful that we now have you three girls.”
Isabella smiled as she kept up the conversation with the woman for a few more minutes before having to head back to the floor. A bit more energy in her system after just talking with that kind woman, if she was grateful for her as a worker then she had to go and prove that they made the right choice in hiring her. So once she hit the floor she had her customer service mask but at full power and had a bit more of a pep to her step.
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“Alright Isabella,” Alice said as she stretched her arms over her head for a moment. “Go ahead and wipe down our part of the bar and bring our bottles to panty to be weighed and then you can head out.”
Isabella ran her arm across her damp forehead for a moment. “Really?” Isabella looked at her watch and saw that it was only 11:30. “I’m on schedule till 12:30 I think?”
“Yeah but consider it the new girl's rights, we always let you go an hour earlier.” Alice walked forward and placed a hand on Isabella’s shoulder. “Good work today, I look forward to seeing what you can do tomorrow, I am gonna teach you a few more recipes tomorrow.” Alice looked down at the tablet in her hands. “Also Wednesday and Thursday we are gonna be working as servers so please bring non-slip shoes unless you are feeling a bit daring. We allow accidents but if they can be avoided that is good.”
“Alright,” Isabella walked over to their part of this long bar and took the four bottles that had been using and gave it a quick wipe down with a towel from their sanitizer bucket. She made her way into the back where Mrs. Carter’s kitchen staff were in the process of wiping down their stations and mopping floors. The kitchen stopped serving food at 11:45. She set the bottles on a table listed as end of day weigh-ins. As she made her way towards the back, she felt like she walked into a solid wall. “I’m sorry.”
She stopped speaking as the powerful, and towering, Jakobe Bradley was standing in front of her. “I am sorry about that,” his voice seemed to make her entire body tremble as he adjusted his cane a bit. “Isabella Shields, right?”
“Yes sir, Mr. Bradley.”
“I am glad I got your name right on the first attempt.” He smiled down at her. “I am guessing you are about to head home for the night?”
“Yes sir, I just had to deliver my bottles for weight in and then I was gonna head home. I have to have one of your security guards take me since I might have parked out front instead of in the back.”
He gave a knowing nod of his head. “A common mistake, I was actually getting ready to head home myself. If you want I can give you a ride back to your car if you like.”
“Are you sure that isn’t a problem sir?”
“Of course not, it’s my pleasure to serve. I can meet you outside the locker rooms if you like.” Isabella could only nod her head in reply as the owner and her boss turned around and began to slowly make his way down the hall. His nice dress shoes booming off the wooden floor as he walked. He had a noticeable limb but it was not as bad as in one of the videos she had seen of him.
Isabella quickly went into the locker rooms taking her stuff from the chubbies and introducing herself to a few other girls that worked early morning to close. The Crimson Hide closed at about 4am, not because the party would go till then but because some people like to relax in the early mornings. Isabella found the man leaning against the wall a few feet away from the door.
“Sorry if I took too long.” As much as tried not to, her eyes went down towards his injured leg.
Mr. Bradley seemed to notice her look as he patted his left leg a few times. “I am just fine, Isabella, and again you can just call me Jakobe if you want too.” He chuckled a bit as he then added. “Everyone does, unless they have done something wrong, that is when sir and Mr. Bradley seem to come out of their mouths.” He took a moment to get his balance before they walked towards at a slow pace towards another set of double doors. He pushed one of them open letting in a wave of chilly fresh air and held it open for her.
“Thank you,” Isabella said, ducking underneath his extended arm. “W-Which car is yours?” As she looked over the large parking lot that was back here, to the left she could see Ameko and another girl talking to each other as they took out a cart of trash towards the back.
He led her over to a large black SUV that was the first car in the lot. “This is my car,” he explained as he opened the door for her.
“He certainly is a gentleman.” Isabella thought as she jumped up into the seat, and let him close the door. The simple black exterior of this large was revealed to her, it smelled like the cologne he wore on him. A half drunk water bottle sat in the cup holder and he had another necklace hanging from the mirror. She reached out and took the symbol that was hanging from it. A small golden Christian Cross. Her eyes drifted a bit more and she could see a large leather bible sticking out from an opening under the radio.
The car sank down a bit as the large man climbed inside with a slight grunt of discomfort. He adjusted his mirror a bit and sent a wave towards Ameko who happily waved back towards him. His large car roared quietly to life like a lion yawning, and he turned his attention towards her. “Where did you park?”
“About two blocks down from the club, there was a small back lot that I think is okay.”
“Did the lot overlook a small black bar?” Isabella nodded her head, and the man sucked in his breath. “Then you can expect a ticket to be on your car, that is for parking only for that bar on Sunday. Pain in the ass if you ask me.”
Isabella’s face fell slightly at that. “How much is it gonna be?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he remarked as he slowly backed up and then headed towards the entrance of this lot. “I will pay it since you didn’t know, you are new to the area right?”
“Yes sir, how did you know?”
“It was on your resume.”
“I thought that Mrs. Simmons was the only one that looked at them.”
“She has the final say on who she brings in for her floor staff, but she does run them by me if she needs a second opinion. So I know a bit about you, you're from Green Bay, attended college for two years before you dropped out.” Isabella felt her face fall a bit at that, prompting the man to add. “No judgment if that is what is bothering you.”
She shook her head a few times before sitting up a bit taller in her seat. “No it is fine, just was thinking a bit, it has nothing to do with what you said.”
“You are a bad liar, Isabella.”
Her lips formed a small pout. “I think I can be a pretty good liar sometimes if I chose too.”
“So you are admitting to your employer that you are a good liar?” Isabella looked up at the man and even in the night she could see a playful gimmer in his dark eyes. That look made her blush a bit but still laugh a tiny bit. “What do you think of New Orleans so far?”
“It has a lot more life to it than Green Bay, are you from this city?”
He shook his a bit as he lowered the volume of a jazz song that was starting to play. “I am originally from Chicago, but New Orleans became my home when I got drafted to the former Hornets.”
“You were really good from the highlights I saw.”
He chuckled at that. “I am still pretty good if I do say so myself, as long as the game is three points and I don’t have to run. I can hold my own.”
“Do you miss the NBA?”
“Yes and no, I couldn’t stand playing back to back games in different cities and some of my old teammates still annoy me to this day. However, I would love to be back on the court, not for my own sake but for the fans that used to cheer me on.” As they pulled into a red light, she could see her car from here. The only one in that small lot, and she could see the bright yellow ticket from here. “What made you come to New Orleans? Mrs. Simmons said that you wanted a new start.”
“I just needed something new for a bit, and a way to get away from a few people I let down.”
“Anything serious?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Life often is, but you find with a few good friends you can get through it.”
She only nodded silently choosing to keep her actual reason for coming here a deep secret no one would ever find out. As they pulled into the small lot, she gave the man a small nod of thanks. “Thank you once more, Mr.” She stopped herself for a moment. “Thank you, J-Jakobe.”
“It is my pleasure, I will see you tomorrow at work, and I will be sure to let Mrs. Simmons know that you did very well on your first day.” Isabella hopped out of the car and waved goodbye as the owner drove off. She watched his car drive down before disappear around a corner. She quickly climbed into her own car but just sat there for a few minutes to compose herself.
Cause damn he had just a friendly and kind aura that it was almost hard for a liar like her to sit with him. “And it doesn’t help that you are too hot for your own good.” Isabella added to herself. Now she truly understood those hungry looks from the other girls, but she was sure no one else shared her own hunger. For one of those large hands of his to come down on her backside.
And she wanted that day to come soon.
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