“Flank is holding my cab for me out front.” My lips stretched at hearing that. At least she had made one friend. Being honest, everyone loved Flank. He was a father figure of sorts. He’d been working here longer than me and I’d been here seemingly forever.
When I took over from Harry, my old boss, I’d only kept on the staff that I’d trusted. Which, back then, wasn’t many. The club had changed so much since then, most patrons wouldn’t even be able to recognize it as the same place.
A moment of pride took root. And just for a second, I immersed myself in it.
It wasn’t often that I slowed down enough to take in the reality of my surroundings. Usually it only happened when I brought someone new into the club, such as Emilia.
“Stay safe.” I called out after her.
I was alone all of five minutes when I groaned again. Tommy, one of my assistant managers, had updated the books, and then asked poor old me to check them over. I wasn’t sure how I got so lucky with Tommy, but he was a freaking genius. Although I wasn’t a numbers gal, everything seemed to be in order.
I slammed the book shut. As the sound echoed, I looked around. It wasn’t uncommon for me to be the last one to leave, I just felt sorry for Flank. That man didn’t leave until he knew the club was empty and locked up.
Getting up, I moved through the club on complete auto-pilot as I followed the nightly routine, step for step. Back door locked, security system on, chairs on tables, lights off. Then grabbing my bag, I headed out the front door. Sure enough, there was Flank on his stool, a regular sight as he waited for me to close.
The man was the size of a tank, hence his nickname, Flank the tank. Handsome as well. If he wasn’t already married and about twenty-five years my senior, I’d be craving a piece of that action.
“All done, Mel?” He asked, standing from his stool.
I smiled and nodded my head, before he turned to lock the chair in his cupboard and set the alarm. “Yep, all done for the night. I’ll be so glad when Sasha gets back from L.A. I can’t stand all these late nights.”
I’d been covering for Sasha, my other assistant manager, for the past week and a bit. I’d covered the occasional night shift here and there, but I hadn’t done steady nights for years. Not since I first bought the club. And it was fucking hard. Harder than I remembered. I really didn’t know how the woman did it.
Hell! I didn’t know how I used to do it.
I couldn’t wait until she got back and I’d go back to my regular hours. The days couldn’t fly by quick enough.
The worst thing about working nights was that I didn’t finish until about four in the morning most nights. It was hard to be away from the girls for so long, and it had really fucked with my sleep pattern so I wasn’t even able to spend time with them during the day.
Ugh. I felt like I could’ve slept forever, but all I wanted was to be with Ava and Hallie.
Soon! Dear god, it would be soon. Even if I had to get on a plane and drag Sasha back kicking and screaming.
I crossed the road to the twenty-four hour diner. “Have a good night, Flank.”
“Be safe, Mel.” Flank called out after me.
He couldn’t see it but I smiled anyway. It was the small things in life that were the most joyous. The small constants.
When I made the decision to invest my inheritance in buying the club, we shut down and underwent a lot of changes. But Flank? He was there through it all.
While strip clubs usually had a constant turnover of staff, the fact that he’d never wavered made me smile. He was a big part ofWith the Melody, and he’d unknowingly motivated me to step up my game. I wanted to create a safe environment, a community amongst my underlings.
After four years, I felt some semblance of achievement.
I waved over to Sandy as the bell rang above my head. It was closing in on half four, there’d be no point in going home for some shut eye yet.
By six sharp I liked to be at Mom’s ready for the girls waking up. I couldn’t be there when they went to bed but at least I could be there in the mornings.
My mom had been an absolute lifesaver. Not just this week, but she’d been another constant in my life. An unmoving rock since my twin girls were born. I was thankful. I couldn’t have even imagined juggling my life without her.
I wasn’t under any illusion that she didn’t love every second of being a grandmother though. There were some days she couldn’t push me out the door fast enough. Thank fuck for family.
Ours had always been quite small, just my sister Naomi, Mom, and I.
The girls. And that’s how I’d liked it. A part of me was happy to have Ava and Hallie grow up in a similar environment. They’d grow to be each other's closest ally, to be empowered and strong individuals. I only wanted what was best for them, and to me this was it.
Thinking of family, I texted Naomi while Sandy dropped off my coffee and breakfast.
