I shut the door anyhow before moving to sit in the seat Emily had just vacated.
“What’s up, big brother?”I sat back casually in the chair, allowing my feet to rest under Conor’s desk from my side, my ankles crossed.
“I asked you before Aiden was born if you were going to be able to step up here, but Rory…” He shook his head and ran a hand down his face.“Fuck, Rory, I know you do a lot for the place, but I really need you to be more accountable for your time.I can’t fucking rely on you.For your shifts, sure, but this morning?You being late for a fucking meeting with an employee?Regardless of whatever the fuck happened with you two, I need to know that I can count on you for the business side of things.Fuck, Rory, I’d love it if I could cut back another day but I can’t do that if you aren’t going to be reliable.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and feigned indifference.“It was just a review meeting with Emily.Fuck, I already knew we were giving her a raise; what the fuck did you need me here for?”
“To do the fucking review, Rory!”Conor roared.It wasn’t very often that my big brother lost his cool; he was pretty laid back in that regard, but obviously something was stressing the big guy.“If I can’t fucking rely on you to do business ended things when I can’t be here, who the fuck can I rely on?”
“Allow Brenna to buy in,” I shrugged a shoulder, essentially dismissing Conor’s concern.Sure, Brenna never showed an interest in the business side of the bar, but hell, it was her namesake, too.
“Always have an answer, don’t you?Such a fucking smart ass.”Conor leaned forward and shook his head.“Even if Brenna did buy in, she isn’t ready for the business side.Fuck, Stone has more knowledge on this end than she does.But that’s beside the point.When can I count on you, Rory?When are you going to grow the fuck up and be an adult?”
“Woah-ho-ho,” I held my hands up, palms out.“Hold up a second.”I sat up straight and pointed at myself.“Me?Me, grow up.Are you fucking shitting me right now, Conor?Look who’s fucking talking!Up until Mia showed up fucking five months pregnant, you were just the fuck like me!”
“Yeah, and I owned up to my shit and I grew up.You’re fucking twenty-nine years old, Rory.”
“And you were thirty-two!”I couldn’t believe he was pulling this.“Who the hell comes up with ideas for raising our revenue, huh?Yeah, that’s right, fucker.Me,” I said, pointing at my chest.“My ideas have allowed you to work the fucking bar three fucking nights a week and do the cushy thing the other four.”
“I have a family.”
“Yeah, and a woman who won’t marry you.”As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I hit the wrong button.Conor’s face went blank so fucking fast and his eyes closed down.Fuck me.
Conor pushed away from his desk and grabbed his bike keys from the top drawer.“Just grow the fuck up, Rory.”When his voice went from heated to so incredibly cool, I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to get back in my brother’s good graces again.It was going to take a little bit longer than an hour run on his bike.
“Look, Con—”
“I hope I can trust you to open the damn bar on time.”Without another word, Conor stormed out past me, opening the back door and allowing it to slam shut behind him.
Well shit, that didn’t end exactly well.
Emily
When I first started at O’Gallaghers, I would be lying if I said either of the O’Gallagher brothers didn’t scare me.Shoot, Brenna even scared me to a degree.She was all sweet but there was definitely more lurking behind her eyes.
But Conor had changed over the last year, all thanks to his girlfriend.Mia took Conor from the womanizing brute he’d been reputed to being, to the type of guy you could easily go to with your problems.
When I entered his office this morning, he took one look at me and told me to sit.I told him everything from the past eight hours and how I was terrified I was going to get kicked out of my program for failing a test—if I failed one, I only had room to fail one more; two times, and you were out—and he offered me the keys to his truck.It was also a relief to know he had been intending to offer me a raise, minimal as it was, but I knew that it would help.
Then, while he didn’t scold me, he was pretty firm about the fact that had he known I was walking to and from the bar, he would have offeredmethe apartment above the bar, not Rory, because “that fucker already had a place.”Conor also offered to change my hours around so that I would still be on the floor during peak times, but not so incredibly late that it would interfere with my school schedule and studying.These were all things I’d been too terrified to ask, for fear I’d lose my job.There were more senior barmaids on the team, so it made sense to me that they would have first bill for hours, but knowing that Conor had my best interests in mind definitely helped calm some of my trepidations.
With the benefit of Conor’s truck, I managed to get back to my apartment, shower and change, grab my notes and notecards, and fly to the school, where I was then able to cram for an hour before the test.I felt confident going in, and felt even better coming out.
When I returned to O’Gallaghers to thank him, I was surprised to see that Conor’s bike was gone.Was something wrong with Mia?
I entered the pub through the back and waved hello to the weekday cook, Mike, on the floor before heading to Conor’s office to write a note to say ‘thank you.’
When I exited the office, Mike held up a hand as he dropped something in the fryer.“You want something, Em?”
I had nowhere to be and I hadn’t eaten yet today.“Sure, what’s your special today?”The cooks always worked with the menu Rory and Conor thought up, but were allowed an additional special every day.
“Just homemade mini tacos today,” Mike said with a purposeful chuckle.If there was one thing the O’Gallaghers grumbled about with the menu, it was non-American or non-Irish items.
“Ah, deviating from your Cheeseburger Shalaylees.”They were the most delicious thing on the menu; ground beef in a wonton wrapper boat, sprinkled with cheese and dipped in a Guinness barbeque sauce.Whenever Mike brought out the mini tacos—which were nearly the same thing, except with spices and sour cream—Conor went on and on about them and about how if he wanted a Mexican version of his menu, he’d change the name of the place.
But Conor and Rory agreed to give the cooks their menu item and, in all honesty, the main items sold more than the special items.
That, and Conor was a fair guy.
