Page 7 of Waiting on Life
We stood and he hugged me tight. “Night.”
I hastily scribbled a note, found a roll of scotch tape, and applied it to Toby’s door. Inside, I could hear mewing and a bit of whining. Another win for Toby. I adored cats. I went back into our place and closed the door, where I stretched out on the couch and hoped Toby would be willing to hear me out when he got home.
Chapter Three
Toby
“Maybe if I go in and get down on the floor, Waldo will pounce and finish me off,” I muttered as I entered the vestibule of our building. It had been an ugly, ugly day, and I was exhausted. I tried to blot it out, but that wasn’t working. The guys missed Cary, that much was obvious. I fielded as many questions about why he wasn’t there as I did complaints about service. At least now I was home. Fourteen hours on my feet, followed by another four balancing the spreadsheets. Lucky me, I had to be up again in a few hours to start the whole process over. Worse still, I hadn’t had time to put any kind of feelers out there for workers, which meant more of the same until I had someone in and trained.
My stack of mail held nothing but fliers and bills, so I left them in the mailbox, because I was too tired to worry about them right now. I dragged myself up the short flight of stairs that led to the elevator and pressed the button. As I waited for it to come down, I thought about my confrontation with my two wayward—and now one former—employees.
Two days after they’d called off, leaving us in the shits, Scott and Donnie walked in, holding hands, laughing, and having a good time. They came around the side of the bar and headed toward the back.
I stepped out and barred their path, my arms crossed over my chest. “Can I help you?”
“I need to grab my apron,” Donnie said, his head cocked as he looked at me like I was stupid.
“And I have to stock the bar.”
“The bar is done, and your apron isn’t back there anymore. I’ve got your termination paperwork ready to be signed, and once that’s done, you’re out of here and not welcome on the premises anymore.”
It was worth the price of admission to watch their expressions change. Scott’s was disbelieving. Donnie’s was just this side of pissed.
Scott’s eyes went wide. “What? Why?”
I’d heard stupid questions in the past, but this one? Oh, save me from people who think they know it all. “Seriously? You blew off a shift, the both of you, and left Cary to deal with the mess. What the hell did you think would happen when you came back?”
They shared a look, and then Donnie glared at me. “We called.”
“Five minutes before you were supposed to clock in. I get that emergencies happen, but five fucking minutes before you’re both supposed to start? Hell, you should have already been on the floor doing your prep work. No more. I can’t have the two of you working here, because you’re screwing up things for me.”
“This is some bullshit,” Donnie muttered. “No big deal—this job sucked anyway.”
“But….” Scott’s gaze darted from Donnie to me. His voice grew soft as a whisper. “I need this job.”
“We’ll find another one.”
“You might,” I admitted, turning my attention to Scott. “But he’s going to drag you down there too. You were a good server. The people here liked you. But as soon as you met—” I waved a hand, because really, I couldn’t even figure out what to call Donnie. “—this, you changed.”
Donnie stormed over to me and stood with his face level with my chest, then reached out and locked his hand around my wrist. I had to hand it to him, he had balls. Pity he was about to lose them. I was grateful there wasn’t anyone in the bar yet, because shit was about to get ugly. Figuring Donnie had given me permission to retaliate, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, spun him, and shoved him against the bar.
“I get that you think you’re a big man. I understand that all the attention Scott pays you is heady, because you like that power over him. Guess what? When it comes to me, you got jack, little boy. You’re a scared child who needs to get his head out of his ass. Until you do, you’re always going to be a useless piece of shit, dragging down anyone who is in your orbit. Now I want you to turn your ass around and get the hell out of here.”
I let him go and stifled a chuckle when he all but collapsed onto the floor. He got up, doing his best to show he wasn’t afraid of me, but after years of dealing with people, you learn to spot the tic in the eye, the lick of a tongue over dry lips, the catch of a breath. He was fucking terrified.
“Go on now before you piss your pants. I don’t feel like cleaning up any more of your messes.”
“C’mon, Scott. Let’s go.”
Scott’s gaze stayed locked on mine. He was trying to make a decision, and he was silently pleading with me to make it for him. I hadn’t lied. Scott was great as a server, even the times when he’d been behind the bar. He’d just gotten mixed up with this dung heap of a boyfriend.
“You dump him, you stay. You keep him, you go. The choice is that simple. You need to know, though, you’re going to have to get back into my good graces, and that’s not going to be easy.”
Donnie snorted. “What? You gonna make him suck your dick?”
I leveled a glare at the little bastard. I really wanted to throw him out, but I needed Scott to choose where his loyalties lay first. “Why are you still here?”
“Scott?”
