Page 17 of Shar: A Woman Alone

I can’t hold my giggle at his response, because I don’t wantto imagine any of the brothers running to the toilet every five minutes toempty their bowels. Yuck.

Later, after the stunning meal Lira served up to us all, Ihead out to the strip club. I want to see the place in action on a busy day ofthe week, and Sundays are busy.

Everything is running smoothly. I notice the bar area isspotless and running as it should. The three bartenders I spoke to are workingas a team, and there is a much more confident feel behind the bar with themeven passing bottles to each other.

The servers are looking good in the new outfit of blackpants and t-shirt. I think it will stop some of the grabbing from thecustomers. The stage area where the strippers are dancing looks far cleaner andis showing a shine which it didn’t have previously.

Taking a seat at one of the reserved tables, I look atSharp, who is giving me a strange look! “What?” I can’t help but ask.

“Nothing,” he replies, but he’s still giving me the look!

Trip leans forward and I turn to face him fully, “Lira did agood job in the kitchen, Shar. Are you going to offer her the job? If you are,do you know what hours she’ll work and if she’ll be living at the clubhouse?”

“I will offer her the job as long as Sharp is okay withthat?” I look over at Sharp, and he gives me a nod. “Yeah, she’ll work whateverhours she needs to, but her pay will go on an hourly rate so she may earn moresome weeks than others, but I want her basic pay to stay the same. She liveswith her grandmother, who she looks after, so I can’t see her living at theclubhouse.”

“Okay.” Trip leans back in his seat and he has a look on hisface that I can’t interpret either. Maybe I’m losing my body language andfacial expression skills?

“Sharp, the acts are not particularly drawing a crowd, arethey?” I state, turning to look at him again.

“No, I agree. They are the same old thing all the time. Onceyou’ve seen them, there is nothing to bother with.” Sharp takes another swig ofhis beer before looking at Crack, who is mumbling about needing to seesomething different.

“What about the pole? We could add pole dancing twice aweek. One day during the week, and maybe Saturday nights? Of course, ourdancers would have to be trained. I don’t want to imagine the damage this lotcould do to themselves or customers without proper training.” The look onCrack’s face says it all.

“That would work. It would be better than the boring shitgoing on now,” Runner adds to the conversation. I hadn’t realized he was evenlistening since he’d sat at the table next to Trip.

“Can you bring that up in your next church, Sharp? Also, youneed to decide on whether I can have the go ahead on renovating the apartmentupstairs. Do you want it put up for rental or is it going to be a manager'sresidence so you can give them rent-free accommodation with a lower salary?”Throwing all this at Sharp has him wiping that strange look off his face, and Ihave my own grin of satisfaction.

CHAPTER 8

Sharp

Watching from the sidelines,I can see the changes that Shar is making, and she is like a whirlwind blastingthrough dense woodland.

She has stated that she isn’tgoing to stay here, but I would persuade her to, if I thought I could win theargument. Speaking about wanting to see something of the world, not be tieddown to anyone, flowed from her. I would have given it my best shot if Ithought I could win her over. She’d be the best First Lady the club could have,but I have seen how she studies the land with a faraway look.

Crack walks into my office,taking a seat before looking directly at me. “Atlas is thinking about anotherroad trip, but I’m not sure it’s the right time, with Shar here and working herass off to put things right for us. Her getting her business degree has workedout well for us, and Mia is a fantastic friend and support for Shar. But Idon’t think anything we do will hold Shar here. Not at this time, anyway.”

“I’ve been thinking the samething. Do you think there is anything at all we can do to hold her here?”

Crack grins. “Well, I’veflirted my ass off with her, with no success I might add. So have a few of thebrothers, but it rolls off her and everyone can see she really isn’t interestedin a romantic tie. She is, however, a fantastic friend to all of us.”

“Yeah, I’ve flirted a littlewith her too, but no success either,” sighing because I feel we are letting agem slip through our fingers. “Trip said she has a good business head on hershoulders. Cord and Ryder just keep laughing at how she’s organizing the womenat the strip club.”

“Let’s keep involving her inthings, and get Zara on our side. Maybe she can persuade Shar to hang aroundlong enough for her to feel this is home.” Crack rubs his chin in thought.

“Come on, let’s get to churchbefore the brothers start knocking the office door down.”

Taking my seat in church, Iglance around, making sure everyone is here that should be before I bang myfist on the table, getting everyone’s attention. “Okay, brothers, let’s getthis meeting underway. Officer's report.”

Pen, the club secretary,speaks first. “Everything is running smoothly, Pres. No issues to report.”

Bank taps his knuckles on thetable, gaining attention, “We are running with profit from all the businesses.The garage sale has cleared, and it’s ours. The realtor let me know thismorning that the money cleared with Old Man Seaguard, so he has no comeback nowon the place.”

“Okay. Pen and Bank, hangback after church. I want a word.” An idea has just hatched. It’s a long shot,but worth a try. “Right. That place is a shambles at the moment, so beforeanything gets spent on equipment or tools, I want it stripped of any and allcrap. I want it renovated to a standard fitting a club business. Cord. As ofnow, you’re in charge of that, you’ve done enough construction in the past tocope. The prospects can be your gophers. Get it sorted as soon as you can so wecan see what we need to order.”

Cord looks at me as thoughI’ve grown an extra head or something. “Pres! I don’t know fuck all aboutengines, mechanicals, vehicles or such shit.”

“Cord. You can get thebuilding cleared out, cleaned up, painted, or fixed up where necessary. Tools,just save them all for now. Any hydraulics, air lines, compressors and shit,try ‘em out. If they seem okay, we’ll have them checked out properly later. Ifthere’s anything obviously fucked up, get rid of it. If there’s a majordecision to be made, I’ll make the call. Danny’s always tinkering with that hoghe bought cheap. He probably knows a thing or two that you can tap into.”

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