Scott’s full focus was on what I was saying.  Even though he’d taken his sweet time to bring Monty in, I felt certain that he would do everything to make sure his cat recovered quickly.  “Jesus, the poor fuckin’ cat.  Okay, I’ll be calling you if I hit trouble with this; he’s not getting this sick again.”

I nodded.  “Good, and yes, please don’t hesitate to call us if you feel he’s not recovering.”

Scott pulled out his wallet.  “Right, how much do I owe you?”

I pulled up his invoice on the computer.  “For the operation, anaesthetic and antibiotics, it comes to a total of five hundred and seventy dollars please.”

“Fuck me!  You sure that’s right?”

“Yes,” I replied, wondering if I was going to have an argument on my hands.  I sighed.  This was the least favourite part of my job; arguing with pet owners who didn’t want to spend the money to get their pet better.

He shook his head and ran his hand over his hair, visibly annoyed, but he handed over his credit card.  “Christ, I hope he won’t need a follow up appointment.”

I put the payment through and gave him his card back.  “You’ll need to bring him back in ten days, but there won’t be a fee.  We just need to take out the couple of stitches he does have and check to make sure he’s healing.  It’ll only be a very quick visit,” I assured him.

“Okay, so we’re done here?” he asked as he lifted the cat cage.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Thanks for your help.  I’ll return your cage as soon as I can.”

I waved my hand at him.  “No rush, you can bring it back when you bring Monty back in.”

He gave me one last dimple inducing smile before turning and walking towards the door.  As he got to it, he stopped and swung his head back to face me. “You have any more trouble with that asshole from yesterday?”

“No, I haven’t heard from him.”

“Good.  Remember what I said; call me if you do.  Pricks like him need a boot up their ass.”

I smiled.  He certainly had a way with words.  “Thanks, will keep that in mind.”

And then he was gone.  And I turned my attention to my next patient, but thoughts of him throughout the day sent a thrill through me.  Scott Cole was the kind of man that women like me threw their checklists out the window for.

Chapter 3

Scott

I banged on Michelle’s door and waited.  It was the third time, and when she didn’t answer, I yelled out, “Michelle, open the fucking door or I’m kicking it in.”  I didn’t have time for this shit.  It was nearly two o’clock and I had to get to Indigo within the next half hour to help J interview possible managers.

The door was flung open and I sucked in a breath as I took in Michelle’s appearance.  She was obviously high on something and looked like she hadn’t showered in days.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I muttered, “I’m out there spending a shitload on your cat and you’re here shooting shit into your arm.”

“I didn’t ask you to look after my cat,” she snarled.

“Yeah, well someone had to do it or he would have fucking died.”

“I don’t give a shit about that fucking cat; he could have died for all I cared.”

She’s a chick, don’t fucking hit her.  I lowered my face down to hers.  “You’re a fucking pathetic excuse for a mother.  Women like you should have their fucking legs sewn together.”

Not waiting for her reply, I turned to leave.

“Anyone ever told you what an asshole you are?” she flung at me.

I turned back to look at her, “All the fucking time, bitch.  And I’ll continue being one until you get your shit together and give Lisa the care she fucking deserves.”

I strode back to my car, still holding Monty in his cage.  Fuck.  I was going to have to take him to work with me until I sorted out someone to look after him.  There was no way I was leaving him with Michelle now.

* * *

“A cat?  You brought a fucking cat with you?” J gave me shit when I hit Indigo twenty minutes later.

I placed the cat cage on the floor next to the desk in the office where we would be doing the interviews.  “Michelle’s off her face, and having just shed some serious coin on him, I didn’t want to leave him with her.  So yeah, brother, I’m bringing a fucking cat to work.”

He chuckled, and rubbed his chin.  “That kid’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”

“Shit!  Is Madison working this afternoon?”

“No.  Why?”

I reached in my pocket for my phone.  “I want her to go over to Lisa’s and let her know that I have Monty and that he’s okay.  She’ll worry otherwise.”

“I don’t think she had anything planned so she should be able to do it.”

I was just dialing her when Velvet poked her head around the door.  “Scott, you got a minute?”

J jerked his head in Velvet’s direction.  “You go sort that out and I’ll call Madison.”

“Thanks,” I said as I hung up and slipped my phone back in my pocket.  “What’s up?” I asked Velvet as I followed her towards the back storeroom.

“I think someone’s tried to break in.  The lock on the back door has been tampered with,” she said.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I inspected the lock.  She was right; it had been messed with.

“Yeah, not good.  And there were some guys hanging around last night that I’ve never seen before.  Nasty looking fuckers.”

I looked up at her.  Velvet wasn’t one to exaggerate.  And she’d seen some shit in her life, so if she thought they were worth bringing to my attention, they were worth me worrying about.  “Okay, I’ll get Griff to take a look at the surveillance and I’ll get some extra guys in to keep an eye on the joint.  You let me know if you see them again.”

“Thanks, Scott.  And thanks for getting rid of Darrell.”

“Was my fucking pleasure.  Anyone else you want me to get rid of?  With the mood I’m in, I’d be happy to go a couple of rounds with anyone who needs sorting out.”

She laughed.  “Mmmm, I think I’ll steer clear of you for the rest of the day.”

I watched as she walked away.  Velvet was one sexy chick and our customers couldn’t get enough of her.  She had curves in all the right places, a seriously good set of tits and a spectacular ass that her long brunette hair almost hit.  I didn’t do staff though, so Velvet was firmly in the no go zone.

J entered the storeroom.  “Madison can sort out the kid for you,” he said as he came towards me.

I closed the back door and locked it.  “Good.  Thanks for organising that.  Someone’s fucked with the lock, and Velvet’s seen some guys hanging around that I need to get Griff to look into.”

“Christ, if it’s not one thing, it’s another,” he said what I was thinking.

“Feels that way doesn’t it.”

He nodded.  “Our first interview is here.  You ready?”

I clapped him on the back, and smiled, “Yeah, brother.  Let’s see if we can pick a fucking winner this time.”

* * *

“So, I heard the interviews were a bust,” Griff said, as he came behind the bar where I was pouring drinks.  “And why the fuck are you making drinks?  Don’t we have staff for that?”

I finished pouring the beer and handed it to the customer.  “Cheers,” I said to him, and then gave my attention to Griff, “Not enough staff.  Two of them called in sick tonight and I couldn’t get hold of any of the others.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it while I go and find out if we know these guys that Velvet mentioned.  And, J said to tell you that Madison has that cat under control,” he said, and then added, “He’s pissed that it’s staying at their house which amuses me no fucking end.”

“Someone has to look after it because Michelle sure as shit won’t and I can’t have it here all night while I’m working.”

He nodded, a frown coming over his face, “Yeah, that bitch is a sorry excuse for a human,” he said as he started to walk away.  “I’ll let you know what I find.”

I lifted my chin at him.  “Thanks,” I replied before going back to my customers.

It was just after eleven pm; I’d been here for nearly nine hours now and I’d had enough.  How people managed to do this shit for a living was beyond me.  People were so fucking rude; I’d had to walk away a few times tonight to avoid punching some of them.  I needed to find new staff real fucking quick.

“Scott, it’s slowed down a bit.  Why don’t you leave me to the bar for a bit.  Go and take a break,” Amy suggested.  She was my only bar staff for the night and she was right.  She could handle it on her own now so I left her to it.

I wandered over to the table that Nash was sitting at.  He’d been here for about an hour and was kicking back, enjoying the show.  Diverting his attention from the girls for a minute, he eyed me and asked, “Why the fuck didn’t you get one of the guys to work the bar tonight?”

“I’m running out of staff fast and I didn’t want to chance one of the boys pissing any of the girls off.  We can’t afford to lose anymore staff.”

“At least it’s a quiet night.”

“Yeah, thank fuck because I couldn’t handle many more rude pricks tonight.”

I looked up as Amy made her way over to the table with a beer in hand.  “That for me?” I asked.

She nodded, “Thought you could use it.”

“Thanks,” I said as I took it from her, throwing some back without hesitation.

She laughed.  “No problem, I’ll get you another one after I serve these customers,” she promised before heading back to the bar where there were two guys waiting for service.

“Spent some time today with Marcus trying to sort out this shit between Blade and Black Deeds.  It was one big dick around.  I don’t think Blade’s going to halt his operation, and I think it’s going to end up in one big blood bath with us in the fuckin’ middle,” Nash said after she left us.

“Fuck,” I muttered, “I don’t trust him.  Christ knows where this will all end up.”

“He’s unpredictable, that’s for sure.  Not much more we can do though.”

I drank some more beer and nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, and we’ve got enough other shit to take care of at the moment.”

We sat in silence for awhile, watching the girls do their thing.  Well, I was looking in their direction but I wasn’t really watching.  Nash was; he loved this shit, but it didn’t do much for me anymore.  A man could get tits and ass anywhere he wanted; I craved something different these days.  Problem was, I didn’t know what it was that I wanted; I just knew it wasn’t this.

Jodie, one of the strippers appeared in front of us.  “You boys want a private show?” she purred, thrusting her bare tits forward, hands on her hips.  I knew that Nash had gone a few rounds with her and judging by the disinterested look on his face, his dick wasn’t interested in any more from her.

“Not tonight, we’ve got club stuff to discuss,” I replied firmly so that she got the message to leave us alone.  Jodie was well known for harassing club members when they were here, and I didn’t have it in me tonight to deal with her.

Looking at Nash, she said, “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

It was time to hammer the message home.  “No-one’s changing their mind so I suggest you get back to your pole.  We clear?”

Now she turned her glare to me, and she didn’t look pleased.  “You can be a real asshole sometimes, Scott.”

I stood up, and moved into her space.  “Been told that already today, Jodie, and it’s completely fucking true.  I employ you to shake your ass at our customers, not to throw your self at club members who aren’t interested.  Now, get back to work before I find someone to replace you,” I thundered, letting loose the anger I’d been holding in for hours.

She was visibly shaken at my outburst but that was too fucking bad; I’d had it with people today.  Taking a step back, she hissed, “You’re going to lose your best girls if you talk to them like that.  The sooner you find a new manager the better.”  She blasted me with a foul glare and then turned and stomped back to the stage.

Sitting back down, I placed my hands behind my neck, and stretched my aching back.  “Fuck,” I muttered.

Nash chuckled.  “She’s right, asshole.  You need to rein it in if you’re going to manage this joint till you find someone else to do it.  Dealing with people is not your strong point.”

I scowled at him.  “I know, and I’m fucking trying here, okay,” I retorted, and then grumbled, “Shit.”

Chapter 4