“This isn’t quite an intervention, but you are burnt out. Now, sit.”
“Ugh!” I plopped myself back into the cushions while trying to keep my face neutral. “I have stuff to do.”
Grant pinched the bridge of his nose and then slowly dropped his hand. “Answer a question for me, Eli. If Karsyn was working the sort of hours you are, pushing herself, not taking breaks and the like… would you sit by idly and watch her self-destruct?”
I liked his question even less than his tone. No, he had a point that I didn’t want to think about. “I need to stay busy. Karsyn has a very balanced support system. At least now she does.”
Grant waited for me to catch up as the realization hit. I had all of those things too. Kingston and Reed brought additional support. Support I kept balking at instead of accepting. Hadn’t I learned anything last night at my brother’s house?
“I need this job!”
“I’m not firing you, Eli. But I’d like you to take some time away from the bar. Two weeks.”
“I don’t get paid time off, Grant. Coming here is something I need. I’ll go crazy if you ban me from the bar!”
Kingston kissed my temple and his strong but gentle presence eased some of the pinching tension.
“You aren’t banned from the bar. It’s two weeks without working,” Grant repeated.
“I still get to bartend on the weekends.”
“After two weeks, you can bartend Friday night only.”
“Friday and Saturday.”
Grant shot a look at Kingston. Suddenly I realized that he might have had something to do with all of this. Shifting on the couch, I glared at Kingston.
“Was thisyouridea? Are you forcing me to stop working? What then? You want me in your fucking kitchen barefoot and pregnant?”
It was a terribly untrue and gross accusation. My mother used to scream it at my father. I knew it wasn’t right. They were awful parents. Not that I needed memories to remind me. The thought of being pregnant brought an incredible sense of warmth over me. I’d be a much better parent than either of mine ever could have been. My boyfriends, if they wanted, could also be solid parental figures. Leaps and bounds better than my own.
“Don’t throw accusations at me, princess,” he chastised. “I called Grant and we discussed it. I’d never push you to do something you didn’t want to do, unless it was vital for your health.”
“I don’t need a fucking timeout,” I spat.
“Watch your language.”
His calm demeanor kept me from spiraling further. Directing my anger at him when he had been so incredibly wonderful wasn’t productive anyway. One small kiss against my forehead had my body melting into his. His gentle touches brought a huge wave of emotions to churn through my body. Tears poured down my cheeks. I’d been holding in a lot of feelings, and even though my Daddies had been getting me to release a lot of bullshit, it wasn’t all of it. No, it wasn’t even half of it.
Kingston wrapped his arms around me and I sobbed into his chest. “I’m sorry, Sir. I’m sorry, Grant. I’m reallyreallysorry!”
Grant got up from his desk and handed me tissues and a bottle of water.
“Everyone is rooting for you, Eli,” he said plainly. “Do you know that? When you first started working here, you brightened up the entire bar. People are always happy to see you. Your skills had this place running smoothly in under a week!”
“So, lately I’ve been bringing down the mood?”
“No, Eli. It’s not like that. You’re different when you’re bartending. People make an extra point to come in. But you have a tendency to spend extra time doing that instead of the managerial side of things. It’s pushing your working hours into burnout mode.”
I glanced at Kingston who nodded his agreement.
“Grant hired you because he was burning himself out. There’s no reason why you can’t manage the operations at around fifty hours. From what he told me, you’ve already whipped this place into shape.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I did an assessment and hired another bartender,” Grant added. “Lane Wilde has more flexibility and can work almost full time. We’re busy enough to still need you and the other two as backup occasionally. Plus, I’m offering you Friday night which is our busiest. I can stagger the shift so you’re balancing instead of being stressed out.”
“Okay, Grant. I’ll dial back the hours. Add Saturday evening for bartending. I have my clutch of older women who come in for their book club.”
