?I could hear the optimism beaming through the floorboards, a promise of better days ahead, even if it lasted only sixty seconds as the ball made its slow descent toward midnight.
And there I was, alone, with those very same promises of better, brighter days ahead of me, too.?
And yet, I’d never felt more trapped in the past.?
After midnight, I could hear the quiet lull of the bar as it cleared out, and Sutton stumbled her way upstairs to say goodnight. I was on the couch with Pickle, watching the aftermath of New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Litter, lingering couples, and smiling faces peppered the screen.?
“Are you sure everything’s okay?” She sat down on the loveseat across from me, pouting sympathetically.?
“I’m sure. It would have been nice to kiss my fiancé happy New Year, though,” I lied.?
“He just walked in. Kasey’s showing the newbies how to close the register, and there’s a few of them cleaning up. I’m sure he’ll make his way up here soon.”?
I nodded, playing with the hem of my dress.?
Sutton sighed and stood on her long, lean legs. She reached forward and kissed me on the top of my head. “Happy New Year, Magnolia.”?
“Happy New Year, Sutton.”?
I nodded off on the couch at some point, watching the city workers in New York scramble to get the square back in one piece before the morning sun rose. I could feel the stillness of the bar below me, and I sat up to check the clock—2:00 a.m.?
“I should go check on things down there, huh?” I scratched Pickle’s head, and she purred loudly, scrunching herself up tighter in her little calico ball.?
The smell of cigar smoke smacked me in the face as I made my way down the stairs. As I got closer, I could hear soft music and murmuring coming from the green room.
Slowly, I opened the door to the bar from the back hallway and slipped into the barroom. I tiptoed through the sea of empty cups, bottles, napkins, and stubbed out cigarette butts that littered the floor.?
I thought Kasey had the new team cleaning up??
From the other side of the green room door, I heard her voice and that telltale shrill giggle of hers followed by a deep moan and a groggy response from a man.?
So, instead of cleaning up, she was getting lucky in my green room. I thought about running back up the stairs and firing her in the morning, but my gut told me to kick in the door and call her out on her shit right then and there.?
When I opened the door, the sound that came out of my mouth was almost guttural, animal like. I hurled myself forward and grabbed Kasey by the back of her head, flinging her away from the couch and onto the floor from the kneeling position I found her in.?
Sitting on the couch, eyes slanted, still feigning pleasure with a half-lit cigar in between his fingers, Dane growled, and instead of apologizing or even acknowledging me, his eyes fell to Kasey.
“What thefuckis happening?” My voice was shrill and uncontrollable, and from her spot on the floor, Kasey laughed.?
“What’s it look like, sweetheart? I was giving Dane here a New Year’s kiss,” she toyed, scrambling to her feet when I lunged at her.?
“Are you kidding me, Dane?” My breath picked up speed as I crossed my arms over my chest, a current of shock and disbelief threatening to knock me over where I stood.?
“Oh, whatever, Magnolia. I’m only guilty of the very same thing you are, aren’t I? Sleeping with someone else? At least Kasey’s not your sister.”?
My mind was reeling. Every time Dane left town to go to trial, Kasey mysteriously disappeared. Whenever I couldn’t find her, I couldn’t find him, either.?
This had been going on right under my nose for a long time, I suspected.?
What a damn fool I was.?
I flew into my office and opened the safe, making sure that Kasey had deposited the cash from the night into the drop box. If she was capable of putting my fiancé’s penis in her mouth, she was capable of stealing from me.?
Dane followed me in and closed the door, cigar still dangling between his fingers. He took a drag and slowly moved to the chair on the opposite side of my desk, his eyes trained on me the entire time.?
I took a seat, too, and poured us both a drink, even though I could tell he was already beyond drunk. It didn’t excuse his behavior, though. He couldn’t have been drunk every time he slept with Kasey.?
“Kasey? Really, Dane. Of all the people in Savannah…”?
