Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Allowing a new server to train in the Winchester Parlor is not common procedure. It’s the most exclusive room we have here. Not every member is allowed into the parlor. Eliana is always in the Winchester Parlor, so that is where you must be too. With your age, I am trusting that you can handle the pressure.”
The more Silas talked, the more nervous I became. The hourly pay was more than I’d ever made in an hour, and the tip money Silas had mentioned was hard to pass up. I should have realized that with that kind of money, it wasn’t going to be some easy server gig.
The fact that I’d gotten an interview today was sheer luck. Silas had been picking up a to-go order at a restaurant when I walked in and asked if they were hiring. Before the younger girl could answer me, he spoke up and asked me if I had experience, and it had all just happened from there.
“I’d like for you to begin at six this evening. That gives you two hours. You might want to take the two hours to prepare since it’s your first time.”
I nodded. All the steps that were required of me seemed less daunting if I had two hours instead of one. I would give tonight a shot. See if I could do this and if it was worth the money.
“That would help,” I replied.
“Very good.” Silas seemed pleased. “I feel like you will be an excellent fit here. When I saw you today, I assumed you were twenty-seven or twenty-eight. I knew we needed some more mature servers, and your appearance fits our requirements. I believe having someone with your maturity is going to change things for the better. I hope I’m right.”
That was the one thing that didn’t make me nervous. I could handle catty females and their drama. This other stuff, however, seemed entirely too over the top. We had to smell a certain way? Did the members here truly care about what body wash and lotion we used? I wanted to roll my eyes at the entire thing, but this money—for even one month—could set Gypsi and me up for a while. We could afford campsites in coastal towns along the East Coast. That would be exciting. The one I had us in now made me nervous. I had to move us as soon as I could afford it.
“I do too,” I finally replied. Because I needed this money.
He nodded and went back toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it. Eliana will arrive within an hour to prepare. I’ll let her know now that you are to shadow her tonight.”
“Thank you,” I told him before he closed the door and left me alone in the bougie-ass dressing room.
Sighing, I turned around, slowly taking it all in.
“Looks like you’ve got yourself another adventure,” I whispered.
Three
Fawn
Eliana had barely spoken three words to me before we left the dressing room. She appeared to be in her early twenties with dark red hair that fell to her waist. She’d twisted it up with curls cascading down to her neck tonight. Her high cheekbones, cat-shaped brown eyes, and porcelain skin were a stunning combination. She belonged on a runway somewhere in Paris.
Other than a scathing once-over from her and short, clipped responses to the three questions I’d asked her, trying to make conversation while we prepared, she didn’t acknowledge me. It was clear she didn’t think I belonged here. If the other servers also looked like young twenty-year-old fashion models, I was going to have to agree with her. The size zero strapless dress she’d chosen showcased her thin, perfect limbs and flawless skin.
When she reached the dark wooden door with an engraved brass plate that said Winchester Parlor on it, she paused and glanced back at me. “Don’t speak unless spoken to. Don’t make eye contact with the patrons. Even when I converse with them on friendly terms. You don’t have that privilege yet. If they choose to acknowledge you, which is unlikely, then you’ll be allowed to make eye contact.”
I nodded but wanted to ask why it was unlikely. Did one need to look like her to be acknowledged? I was here for the money, and I needed those tips. Silas had seemed sure that I’d do well here, but Eliana was not in agreement with him. She had made that very clear with her stunted use of words when it came to me.
Eliana opened the door and sauntered inside as if this were in fact a catwalk. I followed her, closing the door behind me. The speakeasy feel of the large space made me smile. I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but the blue velvet couches, low lighting, soft jazz music playing, and the glass wall of expensive bottles of liquor behind the dark wooden bar made me want to curl up and stay awhile in one of the corners, where there were areas with more private seating. From here, I could see curved buttery-yellow leather sofas in those spaces.