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“It’s okay, Jez.” Mykie pulled back from the hug so she could see Jezebeth's face. "Does that mean you aren't coming home?"
She shook her head. "I am. It's just… it's going to take a while before things were like they were."
Mykie nodded and felt her eyes prickling with tears. She wanted to be understanding, but it was hard. She just wanted things to go back to normal.
"Well," Mykie cleared her throat. "Since you're here, you can help me make drinks."
A small burst of laughter escaped Jezebeth's lips. "I didn’t come home just to be put back to work. How’d you ever manage to get by without me?”
"I don't want to think about it." Mykie laughed, but her words were serious. She didn't want to think about a time in her life again when Jezebeth wouldn't be there.
"What tables are you working on right now? I can set up drinks if you want to head out to deliver them," She suggested as she started grabbing glasses from under the counter.
Mykie laid a hand on her arm. "A friend of mine is actually helping me out by serving the drinks, but we can both work on making drinks behind the counter. It would keep the crowd low.”
Jezebeth raised her eyebrow. "Hmm? Would that 'friend' be the one that's been fluttering around you since I've walked through the door?"
"It's been a little longer than that, I believe," Mykie said, pressing a finger to her chin as she looked up in fake thought. She walked backward and dropped her hand, sending a wink to her friend just before she turned around.
They both set off in different directions to tackle the orders that piled up during Mykie’s conversation with Corbus and Jezebeth. It was only after the crowd settled down and they met up together in the middle near the ice that they spoke again.
"Who are you, and what have you done with my Mykie?" Jezebeth asked. "I’ve been watching you, and you’re so confident. A few months ago, you didn't waste your time on guys. Now, the way you’re moving around the bar, is that you finally realized just how much of a bomb-ass bitch you are.”
Mykie rolled her eyes. "I’ve just realized that work doesn’t have to be everything. Especially now that I’m basically keeping this place glued together when Chance is gone. And, I’ll have you know that I still talked to guys every now and then."
"But you didn't stick around them. Nowadays you're collecting them like marbles," she joked, seeming to ignore the half of what Mykie said and the reason behind why she now ran Pearl's. "What are you up to? Four?"
"Five," she corrected without thinking. Did Blaine count when she'd barely spoken to him? When she was more afraid of what he was going to say about her to the other boys to really talk to him? "I'm just meeting more interesting people lately."
"I think it's good for you," Jezebeth said. "You need people that care about you for you. Kinda like you have Dexter, but you wouldn't mind sleeping with them eventually."
"Jezebeth!" Mykie hissed, slapping her arm. "It's not all about sleeping with them."
"You're right," Jezebeth conceded. "You want all thelovey-doveyshit."
"So does Dexter," Mykie reminded her. She bit her tongue from saying anything more. They were having a good conversation, and she didn't want to ruin it by mentioning anything to do with her relationship or lack thereof.
"Princess?" Ryker asked, bringing her attention back to him. Jezebeth snorted at the nickname. "Renly's been watching you for a while…Do you want me to say something?"
Mykie sighed. "No. I should probably talk to him. I wouldn’t put it past him anymore to wait to corner me on the way to my car.”
She grabbed the tray from Ryker and started piling drinks onto it. "Switch with me. If it seems like I'm taking longer than necessary, have Jezebeth come and pull me away. I don’t need a fight to break out between the two of you.”
She and Ryker switched places and Mykie took a deep breath. She wasn't dressed in anything impressive; especially nothing like the outfits she'd been in before when she was at Pearl's with the boys. In a black T-shirt and blue jeans, she felt like she blended in with the crowd.
She passed out all the drinks that she had piled on her tray to the table beside the boys. Once she was done, she came over to their table. "Have you guys ordered anything?"
She saw that Renly visibly startled as his head whipped around until he was looking at her.
"Mykie," he breathed. "I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “I practically own this place, Renly. Of course, I would be here. The real surprise is seeing you all here without letting me know.”
She looked at Caspar this time. “I thought I told you all that Pearl’s isn’t safe right now. Like I already told Corbus, there was someone I needed to deal with the last time, which is why I couldn’t sit down and hang out."
Looking at the trio as a whole again, she crossed her arms at the two who had blank expressions.
“I tried to tell them,” Caspar said weakly with a shrug.
