Path of the Vampire forum

Jesse didn’t pay Charlie to idly talk to customers, but the relationships with clientele were what built a place’s reputation. Chitchat and banter were part of the bartender’s trade. And—her brain sputtered like an engine out of fuel as the thought dissipated, giving way to blankness. She was forced to reevaluate the thought all of a sudden, taken aback. This woman’s ties, whatever they were, to Jesse, and by extension this business, had facilitated the conversation, but the faux familiarity that had ensued was now burst like a bubble. The realisation that she didn’t know this person’s name perplexed her. It wasn’t just that, but the answer given too. A fellow compatriot of sorts (as compatriotic as the English and Scottish could be, anyway).

“England?” she asked rhetorically, brows inching towards her hairline. To avoid stifling the moment with her momentary awkwardness, Charlie turned her attention to the dishwasher. She gingerly pushed the door down the rest of the way, allowing for the remaining steam to clear. This time she would use a cloth to protect her fingers from the heated glasses.

Multitasking had never been a problem, though people engaged in conversation with her when she divided her attention reacted a range of different ways. The stranger’s concern interrupted the process of formulating an answer, but Charlie waved it off with practiced ease.

“Not at all—” she cut herself off before admitting she was on autopilot, not wanting to dismiss their interaction. “I’m on a working holiday visa. I was in Australia before, doing the same thing. Found a job here and, well, I guess I’ll be sticking around for a while…”

Jesse knew she was a backpacker and would eventually leave, but they’d come to the unspoken agreement that they’d cross that bridge when the time came. Charlie had stayed in Darwin for a whole year too, and was wise enough now to know better than turn her nose up at a good thing for the sake of covering more ground. There was no telling she’d find another job wherever she went to next. It had taken long enough to find one here, and she’d been lucky. Sure, she wanted to travel, but perhaps she could use Harper Rock as her base and snag a few more days off here and there once the snow gave way to green lawns.

“What do you do?”

Charlie deftly retrieved the glassware from the dishwasher, the ease with which she put everything in its correct place indicative of her experience, both with her duties and this particular bar. The answer to questions about home and that other place she’d temporarily (could two years count as temporary?) called home came in the form of a faint smile. It wasn’t the best setting to delve into that kind of conversation, though she might be inclined to share considering how easy it was to speak with this woman.

It was Charlie’s turn to look impressed. Wide-set blue eyes widened considerably before her brow dipped, visibly speculative. 1…2…3…5! Five businesses? How— Her mouth twisted into a contemplative mess of cracked lips. She physically tried to restrain herself, but it was to no avail. After setting down the last of pint glasses along the underside of the counter, she tossed the towel over her shoulder and leaned on her hands, fingers curling under the aluminum awning.

“Five businesses? How old are you?”

Colour her impressed, jealous, curious, and a touch disbelieving.

25.

—It was a hard pill fact to swallow, but one she could stomach with a wee bit (and much needed) detachment. It was commendable to own five—fine, four—businesses regardless of one’s age, but the fact that this woman was merely a year older than she was… it was a myriad of things. For starters, it was intimidating, regardless of whether she’d received help from her fiancé to set things up. (Charlie might have secretly relished the idea of knocking the other’s success down a few notches by speculating how lent money made things easier, but she refused to give into such dark thoughts. Dark side, the Sith, and all. Girls compete women empower, her mind reprimanded.)

It made her successes pale in comparison, though she sobered up immediately. People didn’t start out with the same advantages; every path walked was different. Whatever this person’s story was, it was different to hers, and thus not comparable to Charlie’s. In her own right, Charlie had accomplished a fair share of things that many people never had the courage or ability to face, let alone overcome. There was no point in feeling threatened. Clearly the blonde across from her had her life together in a way that Charlie didn’t, but it was one she didn’t particularly want either.

“I can’t fathom anyone wanting to eat ice cream in this weather! But it’s pretty damn good stuff, isn’t it? What’s the summer like in these parts?”

“You ever been to Scotland, mate? I believe summer last year was on a Thursday,” she replied with a chuckle, pushing off the aluminium counter. It’d been two summers since she’d left home, though some things never changed. In fact, if her Facebook feed was anything to go by, nothing back home had changed.

“And the year before that on a Tuesday, mid-June sometime.”

A customer materialised a few stools down—and his group of friends, she then noticed. Charlie was happy the bartop wasn’t particularly long. It was manageable on her own, though she wished her co-worker came back from clearing glassware on the floor. She searched the crowd to see whether he’d emerged from the parkour area downstairs, where glassware wasn’t permitted but always found its way there. It was a safety hazard she’d mentioned to Jesse, but there was not much she could do about it if there were only two people rostered on for the night shift…

Charlie found her coworker out on the floor, chatting someone up while balancing a column of dirty glasses against his broad chest. The guy was un-*******-believable. Sure, she’d been drawn to his charm too at first, but this was just… She stuck her fingers between her lips and let out a loud whistle over the music, successfully drawing his attention. Once the hint dropped, she returned her attention to the blonde.

“I’ll get these gentlemen over there sorted. Do you want me to make you another while I’m at it?”

“Charlie,” she replied over the music, already stepping away. Raking her hands through her hair, she shot a friendly look at the blonde before zeroing in her attention on the three men waiting for service.

“What can I get you lads?”

By the looks of them, they’d just had a go at the parkour course downstairs. Intuitively, she shifted towards the taps. Their order was as predictable as she’d imagined. Reaching below for a chilled jug, she simultaneously set three piled-up glasses before them on the countertop. The beer jug soon followed, the head rounded nicely atop without spilling.

Bills were exchanged, two purple tens for a blue five. $15 jugs were a pretty good deal, yeah, though on Tuesdays jugs were only $10 before 11PM. She made sure to mention it as they walked away, never one to miss the opportunity to sell their brand.

It was one of the simplest transactions a bartender could make. As much as she enjoyed tending bar, the intricate cocktails some patrons regularly asked for were not a perk. Some bartenders lived for the opportunity to show off, and Tom, her co-worker this shift, was one of them. As if on cue, the man himself appeared with all of the dirty glasses.

“Set them down over there, I’ll do it. You take care of incoming…” she told him, voice dropping as another group reached the counter. The perks of being duty manager was shucking off annoying customers onto someone else. Offering the large group a perfunctory smile, Charlie followed Tom to where she’d been standing earlier, next to the sink and dishwasher. He was out of her way as soon as he’d put the glassware down.