“Breathe,” Eve said quietly, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. “You’ve been a natural in front of the camera so far, and you know you’re a great bartender. If there are any bumps, my team will make them disappear before the episode airs, so you’ve got nothing to worry about. We look good when you look good.”
“Thank you,” Josie whispered, reaching up to press her hand over Eve’s.
Eve’s hand slid down her back, making Josie shiver in anticipation, but her fingers merely switched on the mic pack attached to the waistband of Josie’s jeans. They were all wired for the cameras, and it was unnerving to know everything she said for the rest of the night was being recorded.
“Now go on out there so I can open the door,” Eve said.
“Yep.” Josie swallowed again before leaving the stairwell. She ducked behind the bar as Eve crossed to the front door.
“Thought you might need this,” Adam said, sliding a shot glass her way.
She managed a dry laugh. “You know what, I don’t usually drink while I’m working, but this might be exactly what I need right now.” She picked it up and tossed it back, feeling the warmth of whiskey as it coated her esophagus and slid down to her stomach, loosening the knot of tension lodged there.
Eve glanced over at her, and Josie nodded that she was ready. Eve turned to the camera crew, pausing as they assembled around her. Josie watched as she slid into her television persona, her petite frame seeming to grow impossibly taller in her black stilettos as she drew herself up, smoothed her hair over her shoulders, and put her camera-ready smile in place.
The director shouted a few last-minute instructions, and then they were rolling. Eve spoke earnestly into the camera in front of her, introducing the segment as she gestured around the bar. Josie gulped, glad for that shot of whiskey to take the edge off her nerves.
Eve opened the door, pulling it wide as she welcomed the first customers inside. Many of them stopped to shake her hand and speak to her, probably fans of the show. But they were also here for a drink, and before Josie had even adjusted to the idea of the doors being open, the bar had filled with the sounds of laughter and conversation, bodies sliding onto the barstools in front of her.
“Josie!”
She turned at the singsong voice to find her Aunt Cecily standing there, arms outstretched. “Thank you so much for coming,” Josie said as she leaned across the bar for a big hug.
“Aww, I wouldn’t miss your big night,” Cecily said. “Your dad would have been so proud.”
“Thanks.” Josie blinked back tears, peripherally aware of the cameras moving in to capture this family moment. “Can I get you a drink? A White Russian?” It had been her aunt’s favorite for as long as Josie had been mixing drinks.
“Absolutely.” Her aunt slid onto an empty stool, brushing a hand over her silver hair as she looked around the bar. “It looks great, Josie. So different, but sometimes change can be a good thing.”
“I hope so,” Josie said as she combined vodka and Kahlua in a shaker before pouring it into a glass of ice. She bent to take heavy cream out of the fridge beneath the bar, adding a splash to the top of the drink. As she turned to hand it to her aunt, Cecily leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile.
“I’ve never been in a gay bar before,” she said. “Do you think I’ll get hit on by any women tonight?”
Josie grinned, overwhelmed with affection for her aunt. “I don’t know, Aunt Cec. Try flirting with someone and see what happens.”
Her aunt tipped her head back and laughed. “I’ll do that.”
From there, Josie’s night began to blur. She and Adam slid from one end of the bar to the other, mixing drinks while theDo Overteam filmed them in action. To streamline things on opening night, she wasn’t launching her new takeout delivery option until tomorrow, but she had plenty of snack mix on hand for the current crowd. Meanwhile, Eve interviewed customers to get their opinions on the new bar, effortlessly working the room in that black dress.
“Dammit,” Adam muttered, and Josie tore her gaze from Eve to find him cleaning up a beer he’d overfilled. Well, he couldn’t be expected to get through his first full night of bartending without a few mishaps.
The crowd tonight was…odd. Overall, the customers were a lot straighter than Josie had expected. In fact, most people seemed to be here for theDo Overtaping instead of the chance to check out a new gay bar, and maybe that was okay for tonight. But as she watched a woman deliberately knock her drink on the floor before turning toward the cameras with a dramatic shriek, Josie hoped she wasn’t in trouble once the cameras had left.
She hurried out from behind the bar to clean up the mess, as the woman who’d spilled her drink seized her moment of fame, chattering excitedly for the cameras. Behind her, Josie heard a man say, “Excuse me, but I think you poured me a lager instead of a stout.”
“So sorry about that,” Adam said. “I’ll pour you a stout right away. Next one’s on the house.”
Eve glanced over, an “I told you so” in her eyes, and while Josie still didn’t regret hiring Adam, maybe she should have started him out on a quieter night. She kept a smile pasted on her face as she fixed a new martini for the woman who’d spilled hers. Sucking in a breath, Josie turned to greet a woman who’d just taken an empty barstool in front of her. “Hi. What can I get you?”
“You’re Josie, right?” the woman said.
“That’s right,” Josie told her. She didn’t think they’d ever met, but occasionally someone came into the bar who’d watched her videos on YouTube.
“I’m Jules Vega,” she said warmly. “I had the winning bid to name your new kittens.”
“Oh!” A genuine smile spread over Josie’s face. “My theater kittens?”
“That’s right.” Jules nodded. She was about Josie’s age, with long, honey-brown hair. “I’m a Broadway actress and a lifelong theater lover, so I couldn’t resist.”
