10. Ten #2
She might have been trained up to the specifications of Vegas—the gambler was always right, within reason—but Tallulah was at her limit. She caught Misty’s hand before the woman could smack her again and gripped it tightly.
“That will be enough of that,” Tallulah gritted out.
Misty’s eyes became the size of saucers. “You don’t tell me what to do.” She jerked her hand away from Tallulah. “I tell you and you”—she turned to face me, landing a hard smack on my cheek before I had a chance to telegraph what was about to happen—“what to do.”
“Holy crap,” Celeste squealed. She sounded gleeful. “I didn’t think she had it in her. And here I thought you were terminally boring, Misty.” She was still cackling when Misty turned and smacked her hard enough to knock her off her stool.
I was still debating how to respond—what could I do here?—when Tallulah took a flying leap and landed on top of Misty. She didn’t hesitate when she wrapped her arm around her neck.
“That will be enough of that,” Tallulah hissed. She was big enough—or, rather, Misty was small enough—that Tallulah had no problem wrestling her to the floor.
“I will kill you!” Misty flailed about like a fish out of water.
Tallulah was done messing around. “You just sit there and look pretty, huh? I think we would all appreciate that.”
Before I could tell her I was all for that outcome, Kyla stepped up and raised her hands above her head. “Everybody stop what you’re doing this very instant!” She was serious, which somehow made the situation funnier.
I froze. Tallulah stopped fighting with Misty. Celeste went wide-eyed, as if she were about to get scolded by the teacher. Only Maisie wasn’t interested in playing the game.
“Yeah, I think we need more drinks.” As if to prove it, Maisie dumped her drink—some pink concoction with a lot of fruit— over Kyla’s head. “Get on that, will you? We’re paying good money to be here.”
With that, Maisie turned on her heel and flounced over to the couches, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
This situation had gone from bad to worse in an instant.
“WHAT HAPPENED?”
Zach sat at his desk, his forehead creased, and stared down an irate Kyla. Our boss—she’d reminded us of her position so many times I’d lost count—was close to losing it in a very unfortunate way.
“They antagonized the clients to the point where they attacked me,” Kyla replied, her chin jutted out and her fury off the charts. She’d changed her clothes, and her hair had dried, but it was sticky from the drink.
I didn’t respond to her charge. I stood there, hands clasped in front of me, and waited. Zach wouldn’t simply take her word about what had happened.
Next to me, hair disheveled, Tallulah crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip. She looked as if she was prepared to go to war.
“You antagonized the clients?” Zach looked at me. “How did you manage that?”
“We didn’t antagonize the clients,” I replied.
“We didn’t,” Tallulah agreed. She was still wound up, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. “They antagonized us.”
“They antagonized you?” Zach looked as if he was going through some sort of ordeal.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Tallulah volunteered.
“No, I’ll tell you what happened,” Kyla snapped. Her dislike for Tallulah was on full display.
Zach made a throat-clearing sound. “Actually, why don’t you tell me what happened, Ronan?”
I was caught off guard. “You want me to tell you?” I darted a quick look at Kyla and found her glowering. I didn’t want to be put in this position.
“Yes,” Zach said. “Keep the story short.”
I filled him in. It didn’t take long. Kyla opened her mouth several times to correct me, but Zach silenced her with a look each and every time.
“Is that it?” he asked when I was finished.
“That’s it,” I confirmed.
He sighed. “Okay, well, you did the right thing telling her to take a break. It’s not as if you can just give her a queen.”
“I was in the middle of telling her that when things turned ugly,” Kyla snapped.
“Except Ronan had already told her that,” Tallulah fired back. “I mean, how stupid do you have to be to think that you can demand a queen at a casino?”
Zach shot Tallulah a quelling look.
“What?” Tallulah countered. “I’m not saying anything that’s not true.”
“You’re not,” Zach readily agreed. “It’s all true. You were right to cut her off too. I just … don’t understand how a five-foot-one actress managed to take you down.”
“Oh, I took her down.” Tallulah fervently shook her head. “I took her down hard.”
Zach’s lips twitched. Was he amused? He steeled his expression when Kyla glowered at him, but I was starting to think he found this funny.
“The situation wasn’t ideal, but it sounds as if the actress was the one out of bounds,” he said to Kyla. “What could they have done differently to change the situation?” He used his most reasonable tone.
“They could have had a softer touch,” Kyla replied without hesitation.
“It doesn’t sound as if they were given that option.”
“Were you there?” Kyla must have realized that she’d said the wrong thing because as soon as Zach’s eyebrow lifted, she adjusted her tone. “I’m sorry.” She held up her hands in capitulation. “It was an ugly scene, though. What happens if that story makes it off the casino grounds?”
“Then I believe the bridal party will be the one that looks bad,” Zach replied, not missing a beat. “I’m not too worried about that.” He flashed a friendly smile, but a warning was in his eyes. He was over this conversation. “It will be fine.”
“But they handled it all wrong,” Kyla insisted.
“I happen to think they handled things correctly.” Zach’s gaze moved pointedly toward Tallulah. “Other than the WWE wrestling, I’m not worried about any fallout. If it comes, I’ll handle it.”
“But…” Kyla wet her lips, disappointment obvious. “Fine,” she said finally. “If you think they handled things correctly, who am I to argue?” She sounded pleasant enough. I could tell a reckoning on this subject was still coming, however.
“Are we done?” Tallulah asked.
“You’re done,” Zach confirmed.
“Great.” She turned on her heel and marched to the door. “I have to see my hairdresser about a bald spot. That bitch might have been tiny, but she had a firm grip.”
I barked a laugh then caught myself when Kyla’s evil glare slid to me. This wasn’t over. At least, not on our end.
No, it was nowhere near over. I found I wasn’t quite as angry with Tallulah as I had been before the incident, however.
How had that even happened?