How long until you’re finished? - Mel
Another 2 and a half hours :-( - Naomi
Meet you at Mom’s? - Mel
She sent back a line of emojis that made me giggle. A thumbs up, an exaggerated crying face, and a clock.
My sister could complain all she liked, but I knew the truth. She’d rather have been at the hospital pulling a twelve-hour shift than at home alone. She was fine during the day, but it was the nights alone that she hated the most when my brother-in-law was away on business.
“How would everyone feel about trialing another burlesque night?” I said, kickstarting the staff meeting.
At that moment in time we’d only been hosting our burlesque shows on Saturday nights, but with those nights being at full capacity… it could be smart to introduce a second burlesque night.
I knew that if the plan didn’t work out, we could’ve just as easily downgraded back to one night. But we wouldn’t know if we didn’t at least try.
“I was thinking Wednesday nights could become a midweek ladies’ night. Thoughts?”
While this agenda may have been directed towards my dancers, I’d called everyone in half an hour early for their opinions, and because I had more ideas to discuss with the team.
Nervous and as impatient as ever, I jumped the gun as I paced back and forth. “We can all agree Saturday's numbers have skyrocketed. The feedback we’ve received from female attendees, along with the men, has been exceptional.”
In my mind, it had been a brilliant idea, but even after four years of managing the place, I still questioned every decision I made. I tried my hardest not to let it show through my tough exterior, but deep down the feeling of not being enough still constantly resided in my gut.
“I’d love that.” Frankie was the first one to voice her opinion. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning, because that was Frankie - my cheerleader, my go to girl.
“I could use the money,” someone else chirped.
“I love the idea.” And so on…
The consensus was positive, more so than I’d expected. That was always a good thing.
Without needing to go into any more depth on the subject, I sent the dancers off to get ready with the promise that I’d needle together the details within the next couple of weeks. I didn’t know how the hell I was going to do that, I barely had any free time at the minute, but I felt confident that I would work something out.
I turned back to what staff were left and continued through some concerns that had been voiced, before reiterating about helping each other out. This had become a bit of an issue since hiring Jonas, but I hadn’t wanted to single him out. So, instead, I made it a whole group issue.
“I know most nights are slow, but I need to know that when we’re on a busy peak that you’ll help each other out. It’s happened a few times now where I’ve seen someone at one end of the bar struggling to cater to the demand, and then the other end of the bar is dead quiet. Make sure you’re pitching in to help where you can.”
I paused and turned to each individual, giving them my sternest look - one I had spent years perfecting due to having twin girls.
“I’d hate to start calling people into my office, but I will the next time I see this happening.”
“Any questions?” I paused for a beat, “okay, you’re all dismissed.”
Everyone dispersed. Not everyone was on shift, so I waved goodbye to the few that were heading out.
I grabbed my heavy ass tote and headed to my regular booth. It had the best lighting, and I needed to get the rest of my work done. I wondered for a second if I should’ve ordered Tommy a ‘thank you’ fruit basket for cursing me with busy bookwork.
Prick!
That was part of the reason I hired him as assistant manager. He had people skills, a small amount of management experience, but mainly it was the brain that came on him. He was fucking smart. Way too smart to be working here, but I wouldn’t tell him that.
Of course, he’d have known that already, but in the past he’d said that he didn’t like the expectations that came with being smart.
I’d never been overly close with him so I didn’t know for sure, I could only imagine that growing up he’d had the pressure weighing him down.
I hated that. To think that maybe if he’d been in a different environment, he could’ve achieved more. He could’ve been more.
He was still young, he still had time. Or, he could’ve happily stayed and worked here for the rest of his life. I’d have been down for that.
