The Other Side Of The Mirror ---Satine---

[Birdee]

"Well, screw you too, buddy!" Birdee flipped her old boss right off as he tossed her last and final paycheck at her on the street. Evidently, he didn't appreciate her tardiness, or the occasional times Birdee just 'zoned' out, primarily due to the drug of her choice that night. Her customer service skills sucked too, so life as a waitress just didn't work out for the young woman.

Tonight, however, Birdee hadn't had any drugs in her system, but after what felt like ten nights of being hit on by the same perverted old man, followed by a butt grab, his chin was met with a not so subtle plastic tray table she had just dumped some food off at table three. Really, she should be threatening to sue him, and not the other way around. With her getting fired and him getting escorted out of the restaurant, her manager decided that would solve everyone's problem, which could be true. But, her problem now went from making crap money, to having no money for her rent, the gas for her car and finally, her drugs.

"Hated this stupid job anyways!" Birdee patted the pockets in her skirt, pulled the ticket booklet out of one of them and chucked it at the building, before a pen that said the restaurant's name followed the same path and smacked across the building. None of them did any damage, but it made her feel good at that particular time. "Freaking Fantastic." The woman grumbled before both hands pressed to the sides of her head and pushed against the sides of it, before her fingers went through her wavy hair. She dug in her oversized purse to dig around for her car keys, but instead, her chap-stick fell out, along with her wallet and Birdee gasped. She pushed the chap-stick away from her wallet and then snatched the thing off the ground and looked around left and right. It was a sign of things to come, if she didn't find a job sooner than later, the woman believed.

The door to her 1995 aqua colored Volkswagon Jetta creaked open as she pulled the driver's side back one open. Since she didn't have a working washer or drier at the minute, most of her laundry was in the back of her car. They were all clean, because today was Saturday and Sunday wasn't a good day for washing and neither was Friday. Not with the one incident with the person that had put too much laundry detergent in the washer and it bubbled out, the bubbles forming the letters 'g' and 'o.' Birdee had seen it clear as day and decided that she would never come back on a Friday. The following Friday there had been a mugging at just around the time Birdee typically went to the laundry mat, give or take ten or so minutes. On a Sunday, she ran out of dryer sheets and asked to buy one off some random woman. It had cost her a dollar, or so Birdee thought, until she pulled the dried clothing out and saw that in her flustered state of not having a beloved drier sheet, someone had left a pen in the dryer. This interaction cost Birdee around one hundred dollars to replace her bright orange bath towels. A sign, surely. Sunday was also off limits now.

The woman dug around in the dark blue plastic laundry basket and pulled out a sheer black top, and pulled off her dark green polo that sported the restaurants name and logo on the right side of her shirt. Right by her tits. Her manager was probably a pervert too, now that Birdee thought about it. He mostly only had females working for him. Young ones too. The shirt was left on the ground before Birdee pulled the other shirt over her black bra, and pulled her necklaces out from under the material. Her skirt was pulled off next, after she sat in the backseat of the car, and pulled on a pair of dark grey leggings. They covered her *** after she stood up and tugged the leggings on. Feet were once again replaced in her subtle black heels before Birdee shut the door to the back and moved to the driver's seat to start the car. Her plan was to drive around town until she saw something that interested her. Luckily that drive was shorter than she anticipated and soon Birdee was outside a section of clubs and bars. The first one just happened to be picked for its name. With a name like that, how could anyone not go? Birdee paid to park her car in a car park, then crossed the street to The Wonderland Bar, where she hoped at the very least it lived up to its name.

Dressed to the nines:

[Satine]

“It’s taken care of, Boss.”

The squeak of the red latex sticking to the club dance floor was lost beneath the building beats of Bjork’s “Army of Me” firing up. Silver hues resting on Percy shifted enough to catch the movements of the newest d.j. setting up what would be her new work space. It was coming along smoothly and it appeared that she certainly blasting through loud and clear which meant the promising girl fresh from the east coast knew how to make the Wonderland walls vibrate.

Crimson lined lips with a satin gloss twitched. The petite necromancer was wrapped in the classic black pencil skirt and topped with a white v-neck blouse that was tight enough to be a second skin. The height of the black ankle wrap stilettos was impressive due to the comfort she appeared to have in being solidly perched on their narrow heel base. It gave her an extra six inches to work with when dealing with Percy in her face. The obsidian lengths of waist length hair wrapped in a formed french wrap was held together by two sharp hair pins. A hand confirmed that they were still in place as she brought her attention back to the who just doused the fire he started in the alley.

“I hope so. Your fascination with your blow torch really is inconvenient.” The more she thought about it she realized that was once again a serious understatement. Just what had he not set fire to with it was the real question. “How about the bar upstairs? You get that straightened out?” Sharp click of her steps taking her across the floor towards the d.j station were unheard. “I wanted to get the drink menus switched up for the fall and halloween vibe. We should have the shipment in from the party supplier that I ordered.”

Satine stepped up to the elevated music control center and curled her finger to get the attention of the mohawk sporting Brooklyn transplant. “You need to get your playlist sorted and hand it over to Furious George. He is going to be handling the lights for the next week. Our regular guy will back once the wraps are off his hands.” A quick nod was given. ”Sure thing.” The headphones that had been quickly tugged off leaving a distinct part at the top of the hair do returned exactly where they were resting. She watched the flow of the hands lining up more music and shrugged.

“I thought I was going to be doing the lights?” Percy was on her heels with his trademark whine rising over the music. “I was the one who got blamed for his accident.”
“That was no accident and you know it. Own your ****, Percy.” The squeak producing halt as she spun on her heels was a wise move. “You were the idiot that set him up to pick up that hot plate after your torched the holy hell out of it on purpose. I saw the surveillance feed. You are just damn lucky I was able to smooth it over and pay for it to be brushed off. This place doesn't do business in the dark with no light show.”
“Yes, but…” Percy barely got the words out when they were cut off by the unexpected press of the tips of her sharp crimson painted nails at the cherished latex stretched over his chest. “I won’t be doing the lights then.”
“Now we need to chase down FG. I want to get the decorations up and switch out some stock.” Satine was about to continue on towards the bar when the scent of fresh air rolled in.

Stopping where she was she glanced around Percy. She nodded towards the direction she had been heading and figured that was more than enough of a signal to keep him moving along. Once he was heading where he was expected to go her attention fixed on the entry where a patron would have to appear from to get into the main part of the club. It was pretty early so perhaps it was more of the order she was still expecting. Or maybe not.

[Birdee]

The first thing that hit Birdee when she entered the club was....holy blue! Whoever owned this place loved blue in an excessive amount. Birdee was sure her mom would say it has something to do with the person's mindset-choosing a color in excessive amounts, but Birdee actually thought outside of there being so much blue, that it made the club memorable. How many other clubs were decorated in blue? Not a lot that she could think of off the top of her head.

Birdee looked around to see--not much of anything. Or anyone. A woman with stark black hair was seen, a couple of guys. The song playing, Birdee didn't know, not that she listened to a lot of music. It was good she came now, rather than later, because in under two hours, she was sure this place was going to be filled with people. How she was going to manage a place with hundreds of people in it, over a couple dozens was still a mystery, but with enough of something in her system, Birdee managed to be a half way reasonable employee. If she wasn't zoning out. Or petting people. But thankfully that only happened twice in the last year or so. If people wore shirts that were extremely soft, it was meant to be enjoyed by everyone. Why else wear it?

"Hi." Birdee began, not extending a hand to anyone as she approached the woman who was the last one standing around in the club. She wasn't trying to be rude, but Birdee found it better to not touch people, or integrate herself into their life. It was bad enough her own life was chaotic, she couldn't deal with anyone else's pre-determined fate at this time. Or any other time. "My name is Birdee, and I was hoping, rather wondering if maybe you might need an employee or two..." She started out as she kept her eyes fixed on the raven haired woman. "I'm a really fast learner. Two months ago, I have never busted a table, but I was the best at it before I got--tired of crap. So now, I'm jobless." Probably not a good start to trying to get a job, but points for being truthful?

[Satine]

Satine’s silvery orbs watched the body approach. The glow of body heat proved that her hunter's vision was still in full force. Instantly the club owner felt the alert of human presence increasing flood her system with all the usual warnings and considerations that would come to one with a set of fangs. Not that it was disruptive considering she did in fact own several businesses that put her front and center of the human population during her alert hours. This one making their way towards her was appearing confident and not exactly heading to the bar right off the bat. She had something on her mind and it didn’t take long for what it was to be shared.

While the woman delivered her introduction Satine took the liberties of taking a slow visual once over starting at the top of the females head and working her way down. Once the gray leggings and black shoes were assessed the set of eyes that looked like custom contacts had been applied snapped up to fix on those looking back at her. A job or two. Her head tilted just enough that she was able to glance over the woman’s shoulder toward the direction from which she came from. Either someone was still due to arrive or the one that called herself ‘Birdee’ had more energy than a humming bird. She glanced to Percy who had returned and stood with his mouth open like something should be landing within it anytime soon. A crimson set of fingernails slowly tapped upward beneath his chin.

“It seems you flew into the right place, Ms. Birdee.” Her lips stayed parted as if something was on the tip of her tongue but was taking a little longer than expected to come out.
“Boss?” Percy finally came to his senses and chimed in while hiding his form of a combination security blanket and peacemaker behind his back out of view. “Can I have the key to the back room? I am out of juice and FG is being a total dick about it.”
“It’s on my desk in the cigar box. Make sure you return it.” Satine nodded towards the bar as she stepped sideways a few sharp clicks taking the lead. “Grab a new employee handbook and the usual paperwork for hire. We will be at the bar.”

Satine continued in the straight forward path over the glow of the dance floor beneath them. Hopefully Furious George would get word from Percy the worst secret keeper known to man and he would come out to greet and observe the potential addition to Wonderland. The place was always looking for more help so it wouldn't bea huge suprise that she was looking to hire. Whatever reason Percy's jaw was hitting the floor when he first set eyes on her could be a reason for concern especially since he was asking for the keys to go fill up his blow torch. Satine never wondered why the latex covered fire addict lacked close friends. She was just glad she could count herself among the few he didn't set his hot focus on.

“What can I get you to drink? It is on the house.” She spoke above the fading music that surely would be leading into another song that would have the walls pulsing with a danceable beat.

[Birdee]

Birdee saw the woman look at her and then past her, but Birdee's eyes remained on the woman with red tipped nails and ebony colored hair. Her lips curled up into a smile as the unnamed woman claimed that Birdee had 'flown into the right place.' What that meant though, Birdee had no idea. But a job was a job, was a job, in Birdee's eyes. And she needed a job. At least she was talking to the right person, Birdee silently decided when a man interrupted their piece of business. Birdee's eyes glanced at the guy for a minute before returning to the woman that was running the show.

The mention of a handbook and paper work didn't go amiss. Birdee thought about interrupting the woman to tell her she didn't have all the forms of information needed for filling out application things right on the here and now. Birdee honestly expected a lot of 'not hiring,' or some papers to be filled out and returned when finished. But to get a handbook, maybe meant that Birdee was hired already. Could she actually be that lucky?!

Birdee closed her partially opened lips, and followed after the woman who headed towards the bar, as she told the guy before. Birdee sat in a seat at the bar and then looked at the array of liquor, spirits and beers. "How about a Bee's Knees?" Birdee asked before she went back to her thoughts from a few minutes ago. "Uhm, so I only have a driver's license--and my list of references or contacts is going to be super short." Birdee openly admitted before she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really do the friend thing a lot." She placed both hands on the lip of the bar, eyes on the woman, wondering if she would have to explain herself more.

[Satine]

The drink was not a typical one so the fact it was asked for could say a lot about the one who claimed to have little to no friends to vouch for her character. Satine casually went about mixing the gin, lemon and honey as if she was doing nothing with her unlimited time but that. A black napkin with a cheshire grin slid over the the hard surface and was weighted down with the drink requested.

“You don’t need to worry about making friends here.” The sound of the mixing tumbler hitting the sink behind the necromancer was a minor interruption. “I prefer if the employees actually work. The driver’s license should be fine. I have no need to search your background. If there is something to be concerned about I will deal with it. So far no halos are hanging on the coat racks and I doubt there ever will be.”

The sound of a door slamming pulled her focus briefly over Birdee’s shoulder towards the direction of her storage closet next to the elevator. The gray topped and bearded sixties flashback adjusted the psychedelic printed bandana wrapped around his large head then moved on to disappear in the elevator.

“We have several spots you can give your talents a try. Most of the employees here do a little of everything. Bartending, running the gaming tables up on the second floor, putting out fires wherever they happen to start, something always needs cleaning and generally making sure people are having a good time and my place isn't going down in flames while they do it.”

The return of Percy meant the sound of latex gripping the flooring beneath was back. A paper bound employee manual landed on the bar next to Birdee as he passed through. A quick reach had the booklet in Satine’s hands thumbing through to the policies section. Her hands flattened it out and pressed firmly to see if she could keep it open where she wanted to focus on.

“Wonderland consists of three business’ serving separate clientele under one roof. Wonderland Bar is the club you see that caters to club goers searching for various forms of entertainment which we offer on the main and second floor. We also have Furious George’s Head Shop which is self explanatory and our own FG runs that. The third business happens to be Madame Wu’s Drycleaning and Massage. Again, self-explanatory.” She looked at Birdee curiously. “Know any masseurs? Send them our way. Just found out two of mine are not coming back.” The manual was nudged towards the woman and her drink. “I pay weekly, extra for shifts you pick up that are not regularly scheduled. The place never closes so its a great chance to pick up money if you need it. I ask that your weapons stay off the clock. You pack any leave them wherever you are coming from. You will be safe once you hit the club doors. So far any questions?”

[Birdee]

Birdee glanced at the clock on the wall behind the woman before her eyes focused on just watching and listening to the woman behind the bar. She trusted her to make the drink right, but it was important to keep eye contact. Especially in situations like these. She watched the woman mix the three elements needed to make 'A Bees Knees,' her eyes focused on the labels of the bottles. Oddly enough, some letters on the brand names seemed to be darker, or more profound than others. Birdee closed her eyes and then glanced down at the ground, her head shaking. "Not now." She said barely above a whisper before her eyes opened and started at her feet. Fingers from both hands rubbed at her eyes, in some form of hope that she could fix things that way, but Birdee knew the only way to fix things was to get pissed, or to get high.

"Okay." Birdee said with a small smile as she looked up again and at the woman's face. Looking anywhere else was going to be dangerous, until she got the drink in her. Or maybe a couple drinks in her. Not that she wanted to look like a lush, but it usually took about three drinks to be able to ignore the 'signs' that were all over the place. The things most people never noticed or seemed to care about. Her shaky hands moved to the glass that was placed on a napkin as she thought about what she might be good at. "I did waitressing before, but that didn't go too well. Someone got a little handsy, and I quit before I had a lawsuit." She said before taking a rather large drink of the mixed drink, followed by another one. The glass was set down and her eyes focused on the clear glass. "This is really good. Thank you." The drink reminded her of back home. It was difficult to get the right amount of lemon for most people. Either too little, or too much, in most cases.

"I don't know any masseurs. Sorry." Birdee looked at the woman, which had been a mistake, because once again there was something sticking out to her. "Your clock is broken. It's stuck on five thirty seven." Birdee said before she could stop herself. Had the clock said that time before? It was hard to remember-but she was almost positive it hadn't. "I don't own any weapons. Unless you count the occasional quick mouth as a potential one. I mind my manners when they're given to me, but I don't do well with being touched. You get one warning and then..." Birdee said with a laugh, hoping to move past the clock that never seemed to inch forward in time. "If you're worried about that, I'm okay with working behind the scenes, doing a little bit of this and that. Washing glasses, getting ice, bringing supplies to the bar. Heck, even cleaning the bathroom isn't off my list of things to do." Birdee looked at the manual and slowly opened the page. Overtime sounded promising and wasn't something she would turn down if it popped up. Drugs and booze were an expensive habit, even if necessary.

[Satine]

“No one will be touching you here because that is one of the few rules we enforce. I have cut fingers off for less.” A slow building smile appeared that rarely formed over her lips. “You won’t be selling your skin. There are other places for that if it becomes your thing. We have enough going on within these walls to keep everyone happy. If not then we have a few places with a little extra offered that caters to those creatures that require a little slap time to get some happy out of them.” She shrugged her shoulders. “With their permission of course.”

Satine wiped the surface of the counter where she spotted the residue of something left behind that managed to be missed in clean up. The music shifted to something starting with a dark downbeat. Her mood was improving considerably with it. The reappearance of FG glowing like a slow moving sun with limbs distracted her. Thanks to her ability to see a human and potential dead person walking against the dark club canvas made it possible to discover the septuagenarian carrying some paper bags through the dance floor towards the lounge and gift shop. This in turn reminded her that there would be a few extra requirements that would be expected of any employee. This would include Birdee if she was choosing to give it a full effort.

“Wonderland is open to all.” She wasn’t how aware Birdee was that there were vampires and humans having pissing contests over the fate of the world. Satine wasn’t interested in appealing to any particular personal view Birdee may have either. She could be one of those fanatics that wanted to file down all the fangs in the world and still wouldn’t matter. She would deal with her based on her actions when or if the time came. For now a final reminder on the finer details of what would be expected of her came to light. “That means it doesn’t matter if you are a people person or have your head stuck on ruling the world with a single bite. I pay those I hire to show up on time and leave their judgements at the door. Politics aren’t welcome. We aren’t backing anyone’s agenda and I don’t want it brought in here.”

Opening the cabinet beneath the bar made it easy to retrieve a bar apron. It appeared that would be the next step to getting Birdee into the swing of things as a potential employee. There was no need for a uniform to be handed out because everyone that worked within Wonderland came to work looking like they were one of the patrons. The last thing she wanted to see was everyone looking like the person standing next to them. Satine spent her whole life looking like the reflection in a mirror that supposedly didn’t exist. What did it get her besides the shitload of issues she still was working on? The neatly folded plain black apron was set on the counter and the doors to the cabinet not in view closed with a tap of her shoe.

“If you are game you can start anytime and see how it feels to you. I am introducing a new d.j. So I will be running the bar tonight. Serving drinks should be a great place for you to start.” A black and white menu covered with a unique design in the layout and font slid towards the woman. “Here is what we specialize in but are open to mixing up what the customer wants if we have it. You keep your tips at the end of the night and if it isn’t the job for you just turn in the apron and we will call it good.”

Satine stood still figuring this was where Birdee owned up on her voiced interest level at doing whatever was needed to get paid. It would mean that Percy would be free to hand upstairs and likely few less fires to put out over the course of a typical night. That was never a bad deal in her book.

[Birdee]

Birdee was relieved that there would be no contact from the patrons and the staff, at least not during working hours. It wasn't that Birdee had a problem with being touched; in the sense an occasional shoulder grazing past hers, a foot being stepped on by someone else, but it opened the doors to so many other problems. Filtering other people's life from her own was not something she wanted to do. It was difficult enough ignoring things like a clock that never moved off a specific time, letters that struck out, words being repeated time and time again in a variety of ways. Allowing anyone else in her life begged the question; was the 'message' for her, or for them? Sometimes it drove her crazy trying to decipher the signs and implications for her own life. No need to try and do it for others. So if the other woman saw relief on her face, that was the reason why. Though Satine would probably not realize that, not knowing squat about Birdee.

The owner of the place went on to talk about how the bar was open to all. Such a broad statement, as to what 'all' was. All, in terms of sexuality? All, in type of gender? Species? It wasn't something Birdee wanted to delve into, so she just nodded her head. All, meant all in her mind until she heard otherwise from someone else. "Got it. No opinions here." It was true on multiple fronts. Birdee didn't care who was running the government because it didn't seem to her that if Jo Blow was running the show, or Mary fix-it, she never noticed or saw the difference in the world. To her, any form of real power just seemed like a point of prestige than anything of real significance. And the whole vampire thing she wasn't touching. She had no opinion, good or bad of them, but there were some odd scenarios that seemed to be linked to them. But, again, since it didn't really phase or affect her at this time and maybe never, she didn't care.

When Satine mentioned how she was going to be bartending alongside the owner, Birdee's eyes couldn't help but not only double, but triple in size, her pupils immediately dilating in the fight or flight response. "I'm free for a few hours." Birdee chirped up, before she took the apron with shaky hands. "I've never done this before." Birdee admitted to the woman as she secured the apron around her waist and then grabbed the offered menu. Some of the drinks she had never heard of, but the basics she had. "You might lose money tonight, instead of make some." Birdee said with a nervous laugh. What had she just gotten herself into, and why hadn't she decided to take something tonight?

[Satine]

The glow of a distant body entering the club hooked Satine’s attention. The night was just starting and there was the slow building wave of heat and blood flowing through the doors one after the other. The eyes of the living were wide searching the interior of the too blue building with a hunger for the escape it never failed to offer. These were the ones she made sure found whatever they were looking for. The lost souls that were sick but committed more so than most could ever be at the lives they lead. Their life expectancy was iffy and short compared to those with icy veins. So while they lasted she was providing what they wanted. Saving them was not on her shoulders and left to the countless shelters and programs that O’ Canada promised to facilitate.

The reliable customer pool was quickly forming with the rising beat of the music shaking the walls. As always one in particular stood out to her and had her moving from where she stood. The dark stick figure with a compromising dull glow of thermal heat looked rough. Disheveled, twitching like he had been wasting away in no mand’s land before he arrived. He was fading each time she discovered him entering the club. From the looks of it this particular night he was all but knocking on death’s door.

Serg, or ‘Q-tip’ as most called him, once again was off the streets and in the house. Silver orbs followed the shock of unusually white troll hair that stood up more than those on the big screen playing in local theaters. He was the poster child of why the US's own Nancy begged through her husband’s term in the big house to just say no to drugs. Serg obviously missed those messages. He ate pills, licked up lines and shot up the full rainbow of toxic and habit forming drugs like most kids did their before school morning cereal. He once claimed his mother traded him to a dealer for a new pipe and single rock to get through an unbearable night. Satine didn't doubt it was true. Legend had it that Q-tip was on the streets swapped back and forth through the various gangs as a toy, something to kick around and chew on when he couldn't serve any of their other needs.

Her brow hooked as his weaving and directionless path guided him to the room to the left that the dancers were warming up on the ceiling high poles. Sadly he was like a wingless fly. For the most part harmless and limited to only what he could crawl on with little effort and as long as he didn’t get his plagued paws on anyone he was tolerable.

Once sickly Serg was out of view the business owner and stand in bartender went to work. She didn’t have to wait for his order. He had a taste for the cold and loaded venous concoction she was already whipping up. A shot of cold but human hard to find AB thanks to the one of a kind and on site donor Furious George. A little dash of cool necromancer swirled in with a lanced fingertip and the not to be missed crystal sprinkle of Flakka shimmering in a decent amount on the surface of a room temperature Zombie. The venous swirl of red through orange was claimed to cure all his problems at once. It far was more likely the Flakka was what turned him into the emaciated Incredible Hulk that the police randomly were called to chase down in the streets. Serg’s Cap’n Crunch gave him the super power to run like the wind bare as the day he was born beneath the moon. How he had not ended up a vampire happy meal while he did it was an on goiing mystery.

"I think you will be surprised what you get in tips tonight. First customer and challenge. That would be Q-tip’s go-go juice. He will appear in the twilight zone when you approach him so just slip the drink into his hand and don’t waste time on chatting. Oh, wait.” Satine pulled the drink back from where she had nudged it towards Birdee. “I forgot his snack.” A small plastic sword was plucked out of tray that was sectioned to contained numerous garnishes and holders. The sharp tip was skewered through a slick white ball of lychee that had a blueberry snuggling into the hollowed out middle. A teaspoon lifted and drizzled cherry preserves over it. “Can’t forget to give him the mad eye.” She winked and slid the glass back towards her promising new hire. “Good luck. If he gets out of hand tell him that Alice is in a mood.”