Pivot
DAPHNE
I woke up thinking about him, his eyes, his power. It was easy to get lost in the memories.
So easy, in fact, that I may have just been listening to a contractor talk for the last five minutes and haven’t actually heard a damn word he’s said.
I glance over at Audrey who is, thank god, making notes on her iPad.
I need to get my head out of the gutter and into the game.
I’m a business owner now, and that comes with a certain level of responsibility.
I tune out all the background noise as I watch Denny inspect the bar, the sounds of summer rain that had mixed so well with my unsavory thoughts.
Denny’s sweet, although I probably wouldn’t have picked him out unless Audrey recommended him.
She said grandpa hired him frequently before my parents took over; he knows this place, knows the clientele, and most importantly, he already gets along with the staff.
“A lot of these floorboards got rot runnin’ through ‘em.” He lifts his foot, peeling the sole of his shoe off one particularly sticky floorboard with a grimace. “Not to mention whatever that is.”
“Yeah, so actually… what is that?” I ask.
“Who knows,” Audrey sighs. “All I can tell you is no matter how often we mop, it’s back like that by the end of the night.”
“Maybe there’s something hiding under the floor boards!” Violet calls from her favorite booth. “Ooh, do you think someone got killed? Is it like The Telltale Heart?”
“Slick reference, kiddo. I might even prefer that to what we got.” Denny sighs. “Pulling up the floor boards is probably for the best… unless you’re attached to termites and rot.”
I grimace, shaking my head.
“Is anyone?”
“I’m thinking cedar for the floor,” Audrey cuts in, passing me her tablet.
She’s shown several sketches before, ideas for her vision of the bar. The centerpiece of the whole thing is a big tribute to grandpa, with his favorite Gibson guitar hanging on the wall for everyone to see. It’ll be right beside a big neon sign, one she finished designing and ordered yesterday.
“Looks good to me. You know the drill.”
She grins.
“Take the company card and go crazy?”
“Atta girl.”
After we managed to figure out our PR for the Frankie situation, Hux and I started to refocus on the bar, tallying up exactly how much this is going to cost. We’ve been on the phone with accountants, creditors, collectors, the extremely useful and concrete answer we’ve gotten is ‘A lot.’
Denny wanders around, testing the lights.
Some of them are fine. Most of them buzz, flicker, and pop.
“Your folks never got around to changing the wiring, huh?”
“I guess not. Why— how long has it been like this?” I ask.
“Since I started working here,” Audrey cuts in. “It was always a little bad, but nothing to really write home about until we had an electrical fire last year. Your folks brought Denny in to do some patch-up work, but…”
“But what?” I ask.
Danny flashes me an awkward smile.
“They weren’t sure about some of the more extensive repairs, so we decided to put in stop-gap measures instead.”
I don’t blame them, they were overwhelmed running this place, caring for Joe, and trying to enjoy their retirement. They probably didn’t know what they were doing…
Just like me.
All I can do is try to hire the best people for the job, and hope they can explain things to me like I’m a toddler.
“Okay, well, no more stop-gaps. I’d really like to get everything up to…” I turn to Audrey. “Code? Is that a thing people say?”
She nudges me with her elbow.
“Look at you, getting the lingo down.”
Denny clears his throat.
“Before your grandpa left we talked about some more major re-wiring, so I already have it all on paper. Came to the conclusion that shutting the place down for a bit was the right call, just to make sure it gets done right. You okay with that?”
“Wait, like the whole building?” I ask.
“‘Fraid so,” Denny replies. “I can get my electrician in early as this coming Monday. The work shouldn’t last longer than a couple weeks.”
“Sure, yeah that’s great, I just— What about the apartment upstairs?”
“Oh…” He scratches his head, frowning a little. “Yeah, that’s right. Old building so it’s all tied up in the same wiring. We’d have to do some work up there too, and of course there’d be no power for a chunk of time.”
I sigh, turning to Audrey with the best smile I can muster.
“Can you catch me up on what else needs to be done in a couple minutes? I just need to make a quick call.”
“Take your time. I’m taking notes.”
The apartment above The Hi-Dive has kind of been my fortress of solitude since I got here. No press, no cameras, and best of all, Violet hasn’t had to deal with any of the typical bullshit we get in New York.
I had to start grocery shopping in the middle of the night so people wouldn’t recognize me, and I’ve stuck to that habit for most of my life.
Even stepping outside to get coffee becomes an exercise in logistics, and while the last couple of weeks in Emerald Bay have given me a glimpse of the privacy I used to have, HotGoss and the rest of them all know exactly where to find me if anything big were to come out.
I slip into the back office and dial my mom’s number.
It rings for a ridiculously long time.
“Come on, mom—“
“Hellooooo?” She sings.
It sounds like she’s already had a couple of drinks.
“Mom! I have a problem!”
“A problem? What kind of problem?”
“The bar needs to be re-wired. Completely. Which is fine, don’t worry about that, but what it means is we won’t have electricity. Up in the apartment I mean. Do you still leave that key under the rock in the garden? I was hoping we could stay at your place while you’re—”
“Oh… baby, we stopped doing that years ago.” She chuckles.
“You’re not around to sneak into the house anymore, and your father always thought the spare key was a terrible idea.
You know, we saw a true crime documentary about this guy who walked right into people’s houses and killed them! The world’s gone crazy!”
“Shit, okay.”
I really wish she’d stop watching those shows.
“Why can’t you stay in a hotel?”
“I was hoping for something that felt a little more homey and a little more stable for V. We don’t know how long we’re going to be here.”
Mom sighs.
“Well, now I just feel terrible.”
“Please, don’t. It’s not your fault. I’ll figure it out.”
“Okay, dear. Let me know how it goes, okay? Now I’ve got to go, your father booked us ballroom dancing lessons! I don’t know why, he’s got two left feet.”
“Sounds like you and dad are having a good time.”
“We’re having the best time. Thank you, darling.” She lets out a long, relaxed sigh. “I can’t tell you how much we needed this.”
It’s good to hear her sounding energized again, and more like herself.
“Glad I could help. You crazy kids have fun, okay?”
“We will! And please call back if you can’t figure something out. We could pull some strings with some friends! Ciao!”
I lean up against the desk as the line goes dead, wracking my brain for any solution that isn’t just booking a room at the Emerald Bay Motel 6. After a couple minutes of only a single thought ping-ponging around my skull, I finally give in.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
I dial the number, trying to keep calm.
“Hello?”
Frankie sounds out of breath, and I hang on the word in silence, much longer than I should.
Actually, it sounded… kind of sexy.
Jesus Christ, woman, get it together.
“Oh, hey! Sorry, I kinda spaced out there, were you busy? I can call back.”
“Just getting some cardio in,” he laughs. “Bugsy trailed the entire roll of toilet paper all through the goddamn house and— it doesn’t matter. Is everything good?”
“Yeah, um…” I bite my lip, bracing myself for the worst. “Well, no. Something’s come up.”
“Getting cold feet?”
“No, not at all! Look, do you remember the other night at dinner when you asked me about my living situation?”
“Yeah,” his voice is soft and silky. “I remember.”
What is wrong with me, he’s not even saying anything particularly—
Okay, no. Focus.
“Well, the contractor was just going over some stuff, and it turns out we need to re-wire the whole building before we can re-open, apartment included. It also turns out my parents gave up that whole spare key under the rock thing years ago, so sending them off on a big vacation may have been a bit of a mistake.”
“Shit, that’s rough.”
“Yeah, rough.”
I shuffle some papers on my desk, trying to work up the courage.
Ugh. God, Daphne, just ask him!
“Hey, so I was wondering if I could take you up on that offer for Violet and me— And it’s fine if you’re not cool with it, it’s not that I can’t find a place on my own, I just—”
“I’d be happy to help. When do the renos start?”
“It sounds like next week. He said Monday at the earliest.”
“Alright, that should be fine! I’ll work my magic.”
Wow that was… surprisingly easy.
“I’m really sorry. I feel like I’m totally upendeding your life even more than I already have, and—”
“Daph, cut it out,” he laughs. “You haven’t upended anything. We’re friends. Friends do favors for each other, right?”
“You’re right,” I murmur. “Friends do favors.”
Sexy favors, but favors nonetheless.
“Well, that’s a relief, because I just got custom t-shirts and bracelets made. You’re cool with wearing matching outfits, right? Actually, can I add that to our agreement?”
“You’re amazing, Frankie. Thank you.”
“Don’t be too quick with that thank you. I’m still tallying up how much you owe me. If this book deal works out, I might need to schedule some very important meetings in Hollywood, and you’re the perfect leverage.”
“Oh, so I’m leverage now?”
“It’s all about who you know, right? My mom used to say that.”
“Yeah, about the manager at the grocery store, who looked the other way when she would ‘sample’ the grapes!” I cackle.
“Grapes, entertainment industry, it’s all the same thing— Bugsy, do not touch that! Daph, I gotta go, she’s eating something and I can’t tell what it is.”
“Oh my god, go go!”