Chapter 10
Fifty-two dollars. That was what this evening had gotten her. That and a split fucking lip.
It had stopped bleeding, at least. Since it was little more than a nick, Harper could have covered it up with lipstick and ignored it ever happened. She could have been back on the floor in no time at all.
But she hadn’t done that. Instead, she’d stayed in the breakroom. Had wiped off her makeup and exchanged her work clothes for more comfortable daywear. Rather than be productive, she was hunching over one of the vanities and trying to get herself together enough to actually leave.
Her phone vibrated against the table. A message from Patricia. Harper had texted that she was leaving early, but that had just opened the floodgates for concerned questions.
Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you? Did something happen?
Yes, no, and definitely not would be her go-to answers. And they would be identified as lies the moment she got home. Harper considered herself a decent actress, but she couldn’t hide when something pissed her off. Even without her bloody lip, it would be obvious that something was wrong.
She should have just stayed at the apartment. Been there for Patricia when she needed it instead of spending another pointless night in this fucking place.
The door creaked open, and her shoulders tensed. Sharing a room with anyone right then was a recipe for disaster, but her scowl waned before it even settled.
“Safe to enter?” Maya asked. Harper managed a stiff smile.
“If you approach carefully. I’m not pleasant company at the moment.”
“Don’t blame you. Not with how that guy acted.” Maya sat down next to her and handed her a folded-up washcloth. “Some ice. For your… your lip.”
“Can’t handle the sight of blood?” Harper said, wincing as she pressed the ice against her lip.
Maya swallowed. “Something like that.”
She glanced at Harper’s mouth, diverting her eyes almost immediately.
There might be a reason she’d gone for the bartending position rather than that of bouncer. If she reacted like this to a minor scrape, she might faint if confronted with something as grave as a bloody nose.
“You forgot this, by the way.” Maya put the abandoned hundred-dollar bill on the table.
“Didn’t forget it. I don’t want anything that belongs to that dickhead. That’s how you get a thievery charge on your rap sheet.”
“Well, everyone saw me take it. If he tries anything like that, I’ll gladly take the fall.” Maya pushed the bill towards her. “Just take it. Please.”
She still hadn’t looked fully at Harper. But her tone was the same as always. Calm and caring. A little insistent, too.
Sighing, Harper stuffed the bill in her pocket.
“Thanks. For this mainly.” She gestured with the ice. “And for the help out there. You didn’t need to come to my rescue.”
“Yeah, I did.” Maya’s gaze flicked to Harper’s lip before she turned away again, eyes hard. “I should have done it sooner, too. He shouldn’t even have sat down.”
“He still would have caused a scene. And I’d still be the most hated person in this place.”
Harper lowered the ice, touching her bottom lip with her tongue. The cut had gone numb, and the sting only returned when she touched the wound. It probably wouldn’t swell much.
“I’m surprised you’re back here, actually,” Harper said. “With you operating the confessional, you must have picked up all the juicy gossip already. You should have stopped talking to me by now.”
“I don’t like gossip.”
“Liar. Everyone likes gossip.”
“Not anymore, I don’t. I know what it feels like when your reputation gets ahead of you. When people decide who you are before you even meet them. I don’t like fanning the flames of that sort of thing.”
“You can fan all you want. The damage is already done. I’m stuck being the self-centered bitch who scares off paying customers and who bullies others into quitting. Lucky me.”
Maya’s eyes drifted to Harper’s, the hard look in them fading as she smiled softly.
“For some reason, I don’t think those descriptors match the truth.”
Harper leaned back reflexively. People whispering cruel things about her had been such a constant that it was weird when it didn’t happen. Hell, she’d been dealing with mean rumors since middle school.
St. Louis had been a fresh start. Even if it hadn’t stayed that way for long.
“Some of it is true,” Harper said after a moment. “I did just scare people off. And at the last place I worked, I did make someone quit.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.” Maya cocked her head. “Can I hear your version?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Call it professional curiosity. Or gossiping, if that’s preferable. If you’re the one doing it, I might like it more.”
Harper couldn’t help but chuckle. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but there was something about Maya that made it so easy to talk, especially about hard topics.
Too easy. Maya had avoided being judgy so far, but she might just be saving it. It wouldn’t be the first time Harper had shared her side of the story and had it dismissed as a lie.
Or maybe Maya was being genuine. Maybe she actually wanted to know.
“Her name was Kayla. The girl I made quit. She was a natural, too. Had the attention of every guy in the room ten minutes into her first shift.”
Harper picked at a nail. “Her only shift. She vanished from the floor all of a sudden, and I found her in the back, crying her eyes out. She’d taken a guy to a private room, and he’d assumed that involved more than just a dance and conversation.
So he kissed her, held her down, and stuck his hand down her underwear. ”
“Seriously?” Maya said, brows furrowed. “No one did anything?”
“They did. Unlike this place, that club actually cared about the girls working there. Kayla called for help, security came in, and the guy got blacklisted. But it still messed her up. Knowing that it could happen again.”
Harper picked up a stained bill, folding and unfolding it.
“It’s always a risk with this job. One Kayla felt she had to take, because she had a family to take care of.
If she didn’t get money fast, they would end up on the street.
She kept repeating it while crying so hard that she could barely breathe. ”
“So what did you do?”
“Told her the truth. That this job isn’t something you should feel forced to do, no matter how much it pays.
” Harper dropped the crumbled bill on the table.
“I talked her into quitting, basically. And then I lent her the money she needed to catch up on rent and got her some shifts at a nearby diner us girls frequented. She’s still flirting tips out of the patrons there, last time I checked. ”
The concern that had just shown in Maya’s eyes faded, a glint of admiration replacing it. One of the two reactions Harper had been dreading. The worse one would have been a look of disbelief, but this was a close second. As though Harper was worthy of praise for doing the bare minimum.
But when it came from Maya, that admiring look didn’t sting as it should.
“You’re so wasted on this place,” Maya said. Harper shook her head, scoffing.
“I’m really not. I’m too much trouble to be worth it, and I’m perfectly aware. Most people can’t handle me, and the few who can turn out to be assholes.”
“Don’t know about that. I’ve been around you for a while. I don’t think you’re too hard to handle.”
“Empirical evidence suggests that you’re an asshole, then.”
Harper bit her lip, both to stop herself from talking and because the pain of pressing her teeth against her wound was exactly what she deserved.
What the fuck was wrong with her? Maya had come in here, all caring and sweet, and then Harper’s stupid mouth twisted her words into an insult.
But Maya wasn’t angry. She just leaned forward, elbows on her knees.
“Is that the kind of comment people can’t handle?”
Harper waited for a jab to follow. For Maya to tense or sneer or do anything but look at her like that. Without a hint of frustration in her gold-speckled irises.
“Yeah,” Harper mumbled. “I guess.”
She shouldn’t be reacting like this. Maya was friendly with everybody, adjusting the intensity to match the person she talked to. But this… this felt special, somehow. As though that light, warm tone was summoned for Harper and Harper alone.
“The rumors aren’t the only thing I dislike about this place.” Maya extended her hand, pushing aside a lock of Harper’s hair, and then caressed her cheek. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen your face bruised. As tough as you are, that’s a trend I don’t care for.”
“If you don’t like it, you should quit.”
“And leave you here unprotected? Not a chance.”
Harper blamed Maya’s pretty smile for her heart skipping a beat. An easy thing to do, since it happened every bloody time Maya looked at her like that. If she ever decided to take her charms to the floor instead of staying behind the bar, they’d all be fucking screwed.
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Harper said, but her tone was less teasing than intended. If anything, it sounded glum.
She leaned back, ignoring the pit that formed in her stomach when Maya’s fingers fell away.
“And don’t act like I’m the only reason you’re still here. You wouldn’t be working at the Penny if you had other options.”
Maya shrugged. “You don’t know how well-connected I am. When I decide to flee this place, I might even take you with me.”
“Yeah, right. Even if you did that, there would be no point. A change of location can’t save you from bad decision-making.
” Harper gestured at her cheek. “The last shiner I wore couldn’t be blamed on this place.
Well, maybe a little, actually. Most of our fights near the end concerned me working here.
But I guess I should have seen it coming.
Playing with someone like Kieran is a recipe for unwanted bruising. ”
Maya’s smile tensed, then faded entirely. “What do you mean?”
“You’re into the kinkier side of life. You know what I mean.”
“Pretend I don’t and tell me.”