Mr. Danko presented the stats report at the monthly meeting and if there were any errors at all, he’d go crazy. It was Margie’s job to put the report together and, every single month, she had some reason she couldn’t do it. If she just handed the job over to me, I’d have everything prepared well beforehand but she always left it until the last minute and I’d have to rush through it. That meant the possibility of errors was so much higher.
I sighed and started on the report. It wasn’t like anything would ever change, no matter what I said.
Chapter 6 Jackson
DREW HADN’T STOPPED nagging me for a week. Every day he was on about the guitar lessons. Nothing I said dissuaded him. I’d have to punch him in the head to get him to stop.
“That kid is going too far,” I said to Alex. “Why don’t you teach him?”
“He hasn’t asked me and really, I have a bar to run. Plus, I’ve got my own shit happening, when do I have time?”
I could’ve mentioned that he had time to sit around the bar drinking but he was right about Drew not asking him. Anyway, if Alex had time to teach him, what did I have? Nothing but time.
Alex left most of the bar running to Carlie and Violet, while he didn’t seem to be making much progress with his band. They played here at Trouble and had a solid fan base but he couldn’t keep doing that forever. Alex was an ambitious man and he’d have his sights set much higher.
It was almost like he was biding his time. Alex kept his plans close to his chest. He’d swooped in here and bought out the bar without anyone having a hint of it. He obviously had a big picture plan in mind but I had no idea what it was. Didn’t care that much if it came to do.
“You know what you need to do?” Carlie said. “Challenge him. Set him a challenge that he’ll never be able to do and then he’ll fail and shut the fuck up. Like when he wanted his job back and I challenged him to Galaga. That was brilliant.”
I laughed. “Umm, Carlie, you seem to be forgetting something?”
“Yeah, he beat me but I was kinda glad. I felt bad about sacking the kid. Also, I had that big lug distracting me at the time.”
“So, what’s going on with the big lug?” Alex asked. “Are you running off to join him on tour?”
It was the question everyone had been wanting to ask. As the release date of Holden’s album got closer, everyone became more curious. Holden would probably end up doing an international tour, going off for months. It’d be a different place here without Carlie though. Heaven help us if we got a calm and reasonable bar manager.
“Yeah, probably not going to happen. I’m going to stay here with Violet and we’ll both be rock widows while our men go on tour.”
Alex grinned. “Hell, the two of you, both sexually frustrated, that’s going to be hell to deal with.”
Carlie picked up a dirty bar towel and threw it at his head. “Don’t be a pig, Alex, or I will leave.”
“I was just joking.” He leaned on his elbows and smiled. That smile wouldn’t soften Carlie one bit.
“Here’s the thing about jokes, Alex. They are supposed to be funny. You need to get around that.”
God, now Carlie was in a bad mood. Alex should think before he spoke. I wasn’t the most sensitive guy in the world but even I realized that would be a sore spot for her. And, hell, the two of them were getting more sex than I had in a long while. As for Alex, who knew? He was a sly fox and could have a string of groupies on the side that no one knew about. But, if he did, he kept it quiet.
What she’d said got me thinking. I could set Drew a challenge. Obviously not a Galaga-playing challenge because, if he could beat Carlie, he’d beat the fuck out of me. Something totally impossible. He’d fail, then I’d never have to hear about the guitar lessons again.
“What kind of challenge would you set Drew?” I asked. “Just out of curiosity.”
Carlie leaned on the bar, thinking. “Challenge him to do his job for one night without skiving off. I’d love to see that.”
“Nah, he’d do it if he had to,” Alex added.
Carlie screwed up her face in thought. “Make him take the trash out for a week, he always forgets that. Or do clean-up.”
“This isn’t about making Drew do your work.” Alex laughed. “It’s about torturing him for our amusement.”
“Actually, it’s about getting him off my back so I don’t have to teach him guitar. The whole torturing him for our amusement is just a side benefit. What’s he really shit at?”
“Who?” Drew popped up beside me.
“Oh, no one you know.”
Drew shrugged and wandered off to do something.