My Weakness Read online

  We sit to eat and he’s devouring my pancakes. I wonder if he’s hungry from our morning sexcapade or because he’s enjoying them.

  “What?” he asks when he notices I’m watching him intently.

  “Are you that hungry or are you enjoying them that much? You look like you're in college after an all-nighter.”

  “Both. These pancakes are delicious and that makes me glad that I’m so hungry.”

  I shake my head and put two more pancakes on his plate, which he quickly devours.

  ***

  Logan

  We walk into the club at 5:30. I want to show Skyler around, though first I take her to my office to have her fill out employee paperwork so I can add her to the payroll. I want all of this done before the staff gets here. I need to make sure they do not treat her differently because she’s my girlfriend. While she fills everything out, I work at my computer checking on posters and such for the upcoming singles night. We’ll be handing out postcards this week to start the promoting and we have flyers up around the club.

  When she’s finally done I show her which bar is bar one and which is bar two. I fill her in on the rotation of bartending and runners and let her know that tips are shared evenly so runners don’t get screwed out of tips for the night.

  “I have also come up with a classy vase that you can put on the stage with a rose in it for tips while you’re singing. I’ll have a few ones in it each night for you at the start of the night so people realize it’s for tips. We need to finalize a list of music for that night and have a list of songs patrons can request.”

  “No problem,” Skyler says.

  I show her the back room and the sign-out sheet, filling her in on how we caught Troy stealing from me. As we make our way back out to the first bar, Jonah and Shane come walking in.

  Jonah gives Skyler a hug. “Hey, Sky, how you feeling?”

  “I’m good. Thanks again for coming to my rescue with Logan.”

  He grins at me. “No need to thank me. That’s what friends are for.”

  “Shane, I’m counting on you to make sure that no one treats Skyler any differently because she’s my girlfriend,” I say. “When she’s here she’s part of the team, and I expect her to be treated that way.”

  “You got it, Logan.” He looks at Skyler. “If you have any problems at all, come see me.”

  She nods at him. “Thanks, Shane.”

  A short time later the remainder of the team is here, and I get the meeting started. “Thank you all for coming in tonight!” I call loudly to get everyone’s attention. “I’m sure most of you noticed that Troy disappeared on Saturday evening, and that’s because he has been fired and arrested for theft.” I pause. “Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my assistant manager was the one stealing from me. So you all know, I’m pressing charges. I do not take matters like this lightly. I’m telling you because I like the team of people I have working for me. I hope that you like working here too and wouldn’t risk your jobs over some alcohol. It doesn’t matter who it is. You’ll be removed from my club immediately. I have promoted Shane to my new assistant manager, so he won’t be working behind the bar with you as much. However, that doesn’t mean I’m leaving you shorthanded. Some of you have seen Skyler here around the club already. She’s going to be our live entertainment for singles night, and she’s also joining our bartending staff as well to replace Shane. I have had the opportunity to see her sing and work a bar, and she does a fine job at both. Please welcome her, because she’ll work hard with you. I have one last announcement before I take questions. I have created a new position, head bouncer, and have offered it to Jonah. He has the experience and has been around this club the longest, so if you’re a part of the bouncing crew you now report to him, not me. He’ll make your schedules and deal with any issues you may have. Please see him going forward. If I need to be involved he’ll come to me.”

  “Now, does anyone have any questions for either me, Shane, or Jonah?”

  “Will Jonah still be working the club in the same capacity, or will we be hiring another bouncer to replace him?” one of the bartenders asks.

  I look at Jonah and give him the go ahead.

  “I plan on still working the club,” Jonah replies. “The responsibilities I have taken on as head bouncer will not get in the way of me working the floor, and I still want to be out here with my team.”

  Most appear happy with his response, though there’s one or two who look like they were hoping he would back off, probably so they could get more hours.

  “Anyone else?” I ask before I wrap this up.

  “What is Shane going to be doing if he won’t be working the bar?” Shawna asks.

  “We haven’t fully ironed out all of his responsibilities yet,” I answer, “but he’ll be running for you guys, and he’s going to be in charge of all bartenders the same way Jonah is for bouncers. If you have a problem or you need time off, you need to go to him.” When no more questions are forthcoming, I say, “Are we good?”

  Everyone nods and looks pretty happy.

  “Good. Then get out of here so I can take my girl to dinner.”

  When they start filing out of the room, some are welcoming Skyler to the team as they say goodbye, and some leave without saying a word.

  I can now take Skyler to dinner and then we need to pick up her car so she can move it to my house for work tomorrow.

  We pull up to the restaurant and I walk in, giving my name to the hostess. I eat here often and they know I have a specific table that I like, and we are walked right over to it. I pull out the chair for Skyler and she takes a seat. As I take my seat, the hostess hands us menus and lets us know our server will be with us in a moment.

  Skyler’s looking over her menu and I’m watching her. The light from the window is reflecting off her beautiful face, and in this moment she looks like an angel.

  “What do you want to eat?”

  “I have no idea what I feel like eating.” She goes back to skimming the menu. “I’m going to have the Asian chicken salad. I have been on carb overload, and if I don’t watch it I’m going to look like a blimp on stage for opening night.”

  “Skyler, you have an incredible body. And besides, I have a gym in my home and you can feel free to use anytime you want.”

  “Thanks, I haven’t been going since you and I started seeing each other and I need to get back to it.”

  The server arrives and we place our orders for both our drinks and our food. She walks away, promising to be right back with our drinks.

  Skyler is staring out the window into the busy evening night. “What are you thinking about?” I ask her.

  “A lot of things,” she replies, still looking out the window, “like how much my life has changed in the last few weeks. I can say I have never been happier than I am now. I feel like my life is finally moving in a positive direction.”

  “Why do you feel your life wasn’t in a positive direction before? You got yourself here and without the help of any friends or family. I think that is pretty positive.”

  Though our conversation is a bit heavier than I wanted to have tonight, at the same time, I’m glad we are talking.

  “Yeah, but I was lonely before. Meeting Sadie was great and we hit it off right away. But there were many nights she would be with Jonah, and I can’t fault her for that. I couldn’t handle another crappy relationship or another guy who wanted me only for my body or sex. I needed to stay focused on my goals.”

  “What about us? Do I fit into your goals?” While I hate that I sound nervous, I’m starting to wonder if she didn’t tell me she loved me because she wasn’t planning on sticking around.

  “You do now. I didn’t want to go out the night I met you. I fought Sadie on it, giving her several lame excuses. She told me I was going out and that was it. Now I’m glad I did. I finally feel like it may be possible to sing and have a relationship. I think I want to go in a different direction now.” She looks outside again. “Before, I wanted to be fam
ous. Recognition, record deals, the whole nine yards. Now I want to be here and sing at better clubs locally, become known as the local singer to see.”

  “What has changed?” I ask, hoping it has to do with me.

  “I met you. I know you probably think I don’t have feelings for you because I didn’t say I love you in return when you said it earlier. To be honest, I wanted you to know I was saying it because I meant it not because you said it.”

  The waitress arrives with our meals, and we start eating.

  “Mmm, this is so good.” Skyler closes her eyes, savoring her chicken. We both settle into a comfortable silence while we eat, and I’m feeling better about our situation. I want to ask her to move in with me. I’m not sure if she’ll be up for that since we are still new. I have to wait to see how things play out.

  “Oh, I meant to ask you. Sadie has her art show on Friday. I know that’s a busy night in the club, but is there any chance you can escape for a few hours to go with me? Then we can hang at the club after if you want?”

  “What time does the show start?” I say between bites. I’m suddenly starving and my food is delicious.

  “It goes from 7:30 to 11:00. We don’t need to be there the entire time. I promised her I would go and support her because this is her first time in a larger art show. I have to find a dress to wear as well.”

  “I should be able to make that happen. Maybe I can have Shane open the club and we can go from open to maybe 9:00, and then hit the club since it won’t be busy yet. We open at 9:00 but things don’t pick up on a Friday night until 10:30-11:00, so that should be fine.”

  “Great. I’ll look for a dress this week. I assume you have a suit you can wear.”

  “Of course I do. If you want I can have the personal shopper deliver some dresses for you to try on. I’ll leave it up to you.”

  I can see her thinking about it, and secretly I hope she accepts because I enjoy taking care of her.

  “That would be nice, thank you.”

  “Is there a certain color you would like?” I ask.

  She chews the inside of her lip for a moment. “Maybe black.”

  “I’ll have her deliver a few different colors and you can keep what you like and what you don’t we can send back, okay?”

  Skyler smiles and nods at me.

  We are on our way to pick up her car and since she hasn’t mentioned work tomorrow I ask, “Have you decided what you’re doing about work tomorrow?”

  “Part of me wants to call Mitch and tell him I’m never coming back. I haven’t even told him what happened though, so I feel like that is unfair. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Skyler, when you were in the hospital I called the bar and told Mitch you were attacked outside the club. He knows what happened and didn’t give a shit. Personally, I would prefer you didn’t go back there. I’ll take care of you.”

  “Is that what you would like me to do?” she asks, and I glance over at her quickly before I look back to the road.

  “I want you to move in with me and not worry about it until you start working the club. I also want you to be happy with the decision.”

  She’s chewing her lip again. I have noticed she does that when she’s nervous or thinking about something. “Can I sleep on it?”

  “Of course you can. Like I told you before, I want you to be happy and I want to take care of you, but I don’t want to rule you. It’s your decision. I would be less worried about you if you were living with me though.”

  I pull up to her apartment.

  She leans over to kiss me and says, “I’ll see you at your place.”

  Chapter 9

  Skyler

  I have three dresses to choose from tonight and I don’t know whether I want to wear the black, the blue, or the red one. They are all very pretty and fit me well. I can chose from any of them because Logan is wearing a black suit. I’m leaning toward red or blue. I hold the red one up one more time and I decide that’s the one. It’s a pretty floor-length gown and will look great with my new silver shimmery shoes.

  I head into the bathroom that is now fully stocked with my personal items. I have agreed to move in with Logan since Sadie has moved out and I’m not comfortable living alone. Logan emailed my landlord and told her to bill him for the thirty day notice and he would take care of it. Now we have to figure out what to do with the furniture but all my clothes and stuff are now here.

  I turn on the water and jump into the shower, carefully shaving all my bits for a romantic night with Logan. We have packed clothes to change into when we get to his club. I told him if it was busy and he needed me to, I would jump in and help out. Mitch was pissed when I called him and told him I wasn’t coming back, but I didn’t want to face the bar again, especially since he didn’t even ban the loser who attacked me.

  I slip on a sexy matching red thong and bra set that Logan had the personal shopper deliver. The funny thing is, he picked all these nice matching sets, but when he rips my thong off it leaves me with only the bra so I’m not sure what the point is. I slip on my robe and head back into the bathroom to do my hair and makeup for tonight. I carefully curl and pin my hair and put on some makeup, giving myself smoky eyes, and red lipstick. I step into my shoes and head downstairs to see if Logan is ready. He was going to shower in the guest bathroom so he wouldn’t interrupt me getting ready. When I get to the bottom of the stairs, Logan comes around the corner.

  “Sweet Jesus, woman, you look incredible.”

  I blush and look down at the floor. “You look pretty hot yourself.” I grasp the collar of his suit coat and pull him toward me.

  He kisses my cheek. “I don’t want to mess up your makeup. Let’s go. We need to head downstairs before I rip that dress off you and we never make it to the show.”

  “What is it with you and ripping things?” I ask as we head out the main doors.

  “Our ride is here,” Logan says, leading me to a sleek black limo parked in front of the building.

  I look at him in shock. “You got us a limo? How are we getting home from the club later?”

  He smiles at me proudly. “Yes, I got us a limo, and my car has been dropped off at the club. The owner of Thrive and the son of an actress cannot show up at one of the hottest art gallery showings of the season driving a car.”

  He helps me in and slides in beside me. He opens the bottle of champagne in the back of the limo and pours me a glass, then one for himself. “To Sadie and her showing. Let’s hope it’s a successful night for her.”

  We clink glasses and take a sip. I instantly relax a little. We arrive at the gallery a short time later and the driver gets out of the car to open the door. Logan climbs out, then tells him to be back by 9:00 so he can take us to the club. When he helps me out, I step onto a red carpet in front of a ton of photographers snapping pictures.

  “Mr. Michaels!” one shouts. “Who’s this beautiful lady on your arm?”

  Logan looks to me with the proudest smile and says, “Skyler Jones, my girlfriend.”

  Being the son of an actress, I should have expected that he’s probably known to reporters. We hear some more shouting.

  “Mr. Michaels! Mr. Michaels!”

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Logan says, “tonight is about a dear friend of ours, Sadie Johansen, who happens to be exhibiting in this show. Please excuse us so we can enjoy our night.”

  We walk into the gallery away from the majority of the reporters. There are more inside, but they’re covering the art show and are the only ones allowed in. We’re asked to pose for a few more photos and then Sadie and Jonah are at our side. We all hug and shake hands. Sadie is bouncing off the walls with excitement.

  “Logan dropped your name as an artist to the reporters outside,” I comment. “I thought that was pretty cool.” She giggles like a school girl.

  “Mr. Michaels, can I get a picture with you and your guests?” a reporter asks.

  The four of us get together for a picture, and when we are done Logan i
nforms him that Sadie has artwork in the show, that Jonah is her fiancé, and I’m his girlfriend. The reporter asks Sadie to show him her work and she walks off to do her thing. Logan and I stay behind with Jonah.

  “Thanks for dropping Sadie’s name, Logan,” Jonah says. “She’s so excited to be here and it will help her career a lot if she can sell a few pieces tonight.”

  “No problem, glad to help.” Logan turns to me. “Should we look around?”

  “Do you guys want me to show you where Sadie’s stuff is?” Jonah asks.

  Logan puts his hand out. “Lead the way.”

  We head to the back wall where they have eight different pieces that are displayed.

  “She’s quite good,” I remark.

  Logan looks them over and nods. “I agree, I like that one.” He points to a picture that is a distant image of the two mountains behind the airport with some palm trees in front of them and the sun rising behind them.

  “It’s beautiful,” I say in agreement.

  The curator is walking by, and Logan tells her he wants that one.

  “Sure thing, please follow me,” the woman says, and he follows her to pay for the painting.

  “How are you two doing?” Jonah asks me once Logan is out of earshot.

  “We’re doing well actually. I’m a little nervous about starting at the club though. We’re going to head there tonight from here, and I told him I would jump in and help if he needed it. I’m pretty anxious to prove myself to the staff.”

  “You’ll do fine, and if anyone gives you crap you let either me or Shane know and we’ll handle it.

  “Listen, Jonah I know you’re probably worried about Logan knowing I don’t do well in relationships, but I want you to know that we have talked about it quite a bit and I don’t plan on screwing this one up. He’s good to me and I love him.”

  “Good, glad to hear it. You deserve a good man, and I hope you two have many years of happiness.”

  I give him a warm smile. “Thanks.”

  Logan is back and I can’t believe it’s already getting close to nine. I barely got to talk to Sadie at all, but I’m happy that the curator has marked ‘sold’ on two of Sadie’s paintings.