100 Days With Mr Romero

CHICAGO

Emma had just finished talking to Sam on the phone. He told her he would be coming to the bar where she works tonight. Lately, Emma and Sam had been hanging out and going out on what she wouldn’t necessarily consider as dates. She even introduced him to literature and he sometimes joined her to work out in the gym. He had informed her that his father had fully recovered and there was no bad blood between them. Emma was glad. Sometimes, Emma will call Sam and his voice will sound shaky and other times normal. Other times he will look tense and suddenly act cold and the next minute, he is burning around with energy. He will always blame it on his mood swings and Emma never further asked about the details because she wouldn’t want to invade in his privacy. However, one fact kept bothering Emma. Sam never told her what he does for a living other than mentioning to her that he was a businessman. One day she tried to inquire more about his work, Sam brushed it off and she never asked again. Tonight Sam, will be showing up at the bar to drink and have a chit chat with her.

Emma was seating in the bar comfortably. She was gorgeously dressed in her bar attendant uniform. It was her shift period. There were less customers around as the day was still young. She was reading a book. While she was reading, she kept looking at her wrist watch because the club general manager had informed her that Austin Mc. Bryan will hit their club at exactly 7pm and she knew what it meant. In her few months of service as a bar attendant, she knew how important it was to maintain mutual relationship with customers and Austin Mc. Bryan she knew was a top customer. Whenever, Mc Bryan showed up in their club, regular people will exit the club for he was regarded as a VIP. Emma never liked the idea of people being asked to leave because a VIP wanted to hang out but it wasn’t Gideon’s club after all and she had no say. The business must go on and she needed her pay. She took a glance at her watch one more time, it was seven minutes to 7pm. She closed the book and sterilized her hand. Any moment from now, Mc. Bryan will show up and she needed to give all her attention to his service.

The General manger walked in and Emma greeted him. He walked in with a young man of about twenty years. “This is Larry. ” he said to Emma pointing to the man. Emma looked at Larry and knew he was new. She had never seen him around before. He was dressed in their uniform. “Larry Meet Emma. ” the General manager said. “Hi. Emma. ” Larry said nodding. “Hello. ” she replied waving. “So Emma, ” continued the General manager. “Larry will be your assistant tonight. ” “He is new. ” he quickly added. Emma stared at the General manager in confusion. “I will be needing all the guys on duty tonight. ” he said. “All? ” asked Emma. “Yes. But they will be back in about two hours. ” the general manager said. “There is a gala at the tourism center and our club got hired to serve drinks there. It came at a short notice and the event is pretty large so I’ll be leaving with all the guys right away. ” he said. Emma nodded and said “Okay. ” “So Larry just got hired this morning and he will assist you in serving Mc. Bryan. ” he told her. “Okay then. ” she said. The general manger then turned to Larry and said “Emma will brief you and your first task tonight will determine whether you will work here or not. ” Larry nodded. “Brief him. ” the general manger said then went away with the four bar attendants on duty except for Emma.

“Now listen. ” began Emma in a matter of fact voice. “Any moment from now, Austin Mc. Bryan will be walking in. He is a tough guy but don’t you worry okay? ” she told Larry with a smile and he nodded. Larry immediately reminded her of her cousin Peter who lived with her parents. “Relax and be yourself. ” she told Larry. “Stay sharp and follow my lead. ” she added. Larry nodded yet again and Emma wondered whether his neck might ache. Suddenly, Austin Mc. Bryan walked in with his crew and the few people around began to exit the club. They had been earlier informed that Mc. Bryan will be coming. “Welcome Sir.” Emma greeted him with a smile and ushered him to the VIP lounge while his boys crashed on the seats around. Mc. Bryan came with a lot of people today Emma thought. “Larry. ” she called out. “Take his guy’s orders. I’ll speak to their boss and know what he wants. ” she said and she and Larry swung to action. In a few minutes, Larry was serving the guys under Emma’s supervision and guidelines. She had served Mc. Bryan.

Sam immediately walked in but Emma wasn’t around. She had gone to the rest room and left Larry in-charge at the moment. She came back from the rest room and saw Sam exchanging pleasantries with Mc. Bryan in the VIP lounge. She was surprised because they seemed to be well acquainted with each other. Mc. Bryan is a business tycoon and Sam claims to be one too so probably they know each other she thought and walked away. Sam didn’t see her pass. “I need some Vodka. ” screamed Mc Bryan from the VIP lounge. “I can handle it. ” Larry told Emma when she made the move to respond to Mc. Bryan’s call. “Are You sure about this? ” she asked. Larry nodded and pulled a bottle of Vodka. Emma was watching Larry as he walked into the VIP lounge. Mc. Bryan lifted his glass for Larry to pour some drink into it then one of his boys from behind screamed in excitement which frightened Larry a bit and he was already spilling Vodka on Mc. Bryan. Emma quickly rushed to the spot and before she could intervene, Sam had landed a slap on Larry which sent him crashing on the floor. “What is wrong with you? ” a surprised Emma growled at Sam then moved to Larry’s side. “How dare you Sam. Who the hell do you think you are? ” she screamed at him. “I am the owner of this damn club and I will not tolerate any misconduct. ” Sam screamed back while Emma moved backwards in surprise.