Not Quite Heaven-Private

[Morigan]

Thea sighed as she shifted in her seat. The lobby of the office building she was interviewing in was impersonal at best, all neutral colors and hard edges. Even the receptionist behind the giant desk was wearing a scratchy-looking beige pantsuit. Thea didn't belong in a place like this; even though her long sleeved black sweater-dress covered her tattoos, she felt conspicuous and touched her nose ring self consciously. She was supposed to be interviewing for an internship as an event manager at Heaven's Night, in the downtown entertainment district, but here she was in corporate midtown, in one of the myriad of look-alike offices. Apparently the owner managed a lot of different properties and kept his business office here.


She crossed and uncrossed her legs, shifting once more as she looked at the clock. Any minute now, she'd be called back to start the interview.


Sure enough, not two minutes had passed when the receptionist stood up and called her name. "Ms. Evans, he will see you now. Right through those double doors," the older woman pointed behind her. Thea nodded and walked steadily to the private office, her black boots clicking on the marble floor. As she opened the door she was motioned to a chair by a man younger than she had been expecting, perhaps mid thirties.


"Ms. Edwards, right?" he asked as she took her seat.


"Evans, actually," she said as she handed him her resumé.


"Right...Evans. From the University." He took the folder from her hand and barely glances at it before setting it in a large, neglected looking stack of papers. "Ms. Evans, the Director at the school assures me you'll be a good fit for...which property was it...oh yes- the bar on fifth." He seemed to only be halfway paying attention to what he was saying and Thea wasn't certain he had even directly looked at her yet.


"Yes sir, Mr. Williams. The internship program is for last semester seniors to gain work experience in-" she was cut off by his brusque hand wave.


"Of course. Now you'll be starting this Thursday evening, and be reporting to the manager there. My cousin actually," he said, as if he'd just remembered the fact.


"But aren't you going to ask me about my qualifications?" Thea said hesitantly.


The office phone began to ring and Mr. Williams picked it up, while waving Thea out the door. "I'm sure you're perfect. It'll be fine."


Thea's mouth dropped open in shock, but he was already deep in conversation on the phone and appeared to have forgotten about her. She quietly left his office, bewildered at what had happened. Surely that was no way to run a business? It was as if he didn't really care what happened...She shrugged and hoped his cousin, the manager, wasn't quite so ambivalent and distracted.

 

[Enemy Standoo]

Well that was the inventory done. Everything was present and correct, as expected. Adrian gave out a little sigh as he leaned back in his chair, stretching out his arms. He really needed to get a new chair for his office, this one was murdering his spine freakin' slowly. He got up, this was nothing he couldn't do pacing around the room and working his legs a little. He blamed his time at the bottom of the service industry for the constant restlessness. He'd gotten so used to spending most of his days on his feet, working or exercising, he wasn't used to spending so much time sitting down and staying still.


On the bright side, he got a super fancy office... or maybe it wasn't fancy, he didn't have any others to compare it to. But screw that! Even Adrian at his most cynical had a soft spot for the bare brick and patchy paintwork loft look, no matter how hipstery it was.Though he really should have taken the Christmas lights down by now. 'I really will get round to it... someday.'


If only he didn't have so many other things to do. The clientele would never appreciate all the preparation that went into their good time nights. Adrian looked out the window that was near his desk and out onto the main floor of the club, damn this place looked depressing in the light of day, the dust had settled, the litter was only half way through getting cleaned up and shining patches of stickiness littered the dance floor around the stage where the music acts played. Above it was a smaller version of the sign that was over the front door outside.


'Heaven's Night... Jesus, we sound like a strip club.' Adrian tutted to himself. He'd thought it the first time he'd heard the club's name and he'd keep thinking it. The massive amount of pink lights inside but the art direction was all decided way before he started the job. In fact, for the manager, he sure didn't get to make a lot of decisions around this place! Like whoever they got for the intern position. Whatever, so long as they made better coffee than the last one and didn't cry as much that'd be enough for Adrian. At least he'd have someone to do some of the grunt paperwork. For now though, he had to look over what acts they had booked.

 

[Morigan]

Thursday evening arrived and Thea was in a quandary. She stared at her closet, sighing. Normally if she was going out to a bar or a show, she'd wear jeans, her hoodie and her Chucks, but working at a bar was not the same as going to one. What did you wear to work at a bar? A dress seemed...formal, and a bit impractical. A glance at the clock showed her she was running out of time, so she just grabbed the first thing she saw: jeans, a black v-neck sweater, and her good black boots. She glanced in the mirror as she pulled her hair up off her neck.


Professional, without out being stuffy. I hope...





She grabbed her purse and ran out the door to the nearest bus stop. She grabbed the next bus and relaxed into the seat; she wouldn't be late today, thank goodness. A short ride later and she was exiting the bus onto Fifth Street, and staring at a neon sign. "Heaven's Night..." she murmured aloud. "Sounds like every night should be Ladies' Night," she laughed a bit at her own joke as she made her way inside.


Inside was dark, though not as dark as it would be when the bar was actually 'open' later this evening. Thea looked around but didn't see anyone.


"Hello?" she called, her voice and steps bouncing off the bare walls and floor a bit.

 

[Enemy Standoo]

The lights were starting to go dim, right on schedule, set the mood good and proper. Not that anyone would be coming for a while yet. Who wanted to be the first person to show up to the party? No one wanted to be that guy. Not a cool happening joint like Heaven's Night when they had... Such and Such... playing. Crap, what was the name of the act they had on tonight? Adrian had been in such a rush to make sure the drama queens didn't mess up the tech crew's schedule he'd forgotten all their pretentious stage names.


Didn't matter! Point was they were unpacked and ready on time to fill the place with droning techno electro noise. Not that his own dislike of the genre and the artists was messing with his proffetional front.


'I swear if those idiots are like the last group and brought frickin' ketamine or something I'm gunna kick their-'





His train of thought was cut off as he heard someone calling out from nearby. A short little goth girl by the looks of her, maybe in need of IDing.


"You're a little too early, hun, coat room's not even open yet. You wanna come back in a couple hours if you want serving."


He walked towards her as he talked, ready to gently show the young woman the way out and to chide whoever was out front for letting someone in so early.

 

[Morigan]

Thea saw someone walking towards her; he clearly thought she was a customer...a very early one apparently.


"Um, I'm Thea. Thea Evans, the new intern? Mr. Williams said to be here Thursday evening...and it's Thursday, and the evening. So here I am," she held her hand out tentatively.


"Also, you know nobody was at the door right? I just walked in here...I could have been a burglar or something." She looked around again, realizing there wasn't all that much to steal anyway.

 

[Enemy Standoo]

"They what-" Adrian cut himself off and ran a hand through his hair. Of course there wasn't anybody there, but he knew where they would be. "Okay, just, come with me for now." He motioned for Thea to follow and paced back into the bowels of the club at a brisk pace.


They stopped by the bar on the way to Adrian's office where they found a heavy set jarhead looking guy leaning over it and talking to a, rather animated, blonde barmaid.


"Hey, Rocky, don't you have somewhere to be?" Adrian called over, shooting the pair of them a look like he was their teacher that'd just caught them passing notes in class.


"Sorry, Boss!" The startled bouncer said, straightening himself up. "Was just on my way now."


"Yeah tell that to the cat burglar here." Adrian said cynically, ascending the stairs to his office with Thea in tow.


Once they were inside and the door was shut behind them Adrian casually pulled Thea a chair out and took a seat just off to her side, giving the two of them a view out of his little viewing window.


"So it's The, am I saying that right?" He starte. "You got any previous experience working in our kind of establishment?"

 

[Morigan]

Thea took the offered seat.


"It's pronounced like THEE-uh," she said. "And I have never never worked in a bar before, no. But I did work on a lot of student projects and events. I even helped with the outside talent that was brought in. That's why I was recommended for this internship."


She fidgeted in her seat as she looked through the office window.


"You know, uh," she began hesitantly. "Your cousin or whatever, the owner? He didn't seem very focused when I interviewed," she glanced back at where he was sitting. "And you never told me your name, by the way." She raised her brow at him speculatively.

 

[Enemy Standoo]

"Yup, Mr Williams has his hundred plates to keep spinning." Adrian sighed as he sorted through the required reading new staff all had to go through.


"And you never told me your name by the way."





"Didn't I? Well that was bad of me. It's Adrian, Adrian Novak, pleasure to meet you, Thee-uh Evans." He offered her a light handshake and from there on came the boring part of the job as they worked through dress code, hygiene and all that jazz.


"We can start you off from the ground up, see where your strengths are at." Adrian turned back to Thea as they made their way downstairs to the club proper. "First order's bar work. Nothing like learning by doing!" He didn't exactly sound happabout it, more, professonally chipper.

 

[Morigan]

Thea rolled her eyes at his over-pronunciation of her name but said nothing. "You too, Adrian," she said as she took his offered hand.


"I've got no problem starting at the bottom, but I didn't really think working the bar was under the job description of Event Assistant and Intern..." she trailed off, looking uncertainly at the bottles and glasses lining the shelves. While she wasn't afraid of working hard, she preferred it to be in her actual field. Plus, she was a bit clumsy...

 

[Enemy Standoo]

"What are you talking about? Of course it is! You're interning, you're assisting, it's all part of the learning experience." The smugness in Adrian's smile just kept on intensifying nice and slowly. "Frankie and me can show you the ropes, can't we Frankie?" He looked over to the blonde barmaid from earlier.


"Sure thing, Mr A" Frankie nodded.


"It's all pretty easy stuff anyway, you're a college student right, you can open a beer bottle with your teeth?" Yeah, he was thinking he was pretty funny right now. Adrian was true to his word though and walked Thea through working the cash register and even let her pull a few pints. He made that last part look easier than it really was as the pumps proved more resistant to pulling than you'd expect. Still it was simple enough, even the trick to pouring Guinness (The trick was half now and half later, who'd have guessed?!) after that came the cocktail mixing. None of those known and familiar cocktails either, no, house names only. All part of the unique and quirky charm of Heaven's Night.


"And that's how we mix a virgin bubble and squeak." Adrian nodded, flipping over the mixer and pouring out a bright orange goo. After the various flips and spins, obviously. "Now you give it a try." He said to Thea as she stood before her own mixing kit.

 

[Morigan]

Thea watched as he went through his whole speech and spectacle, mixing drinks and moving so fast she could barely keep up. She kept opening her mouth to protest that this was not why she was here, but he never seemed to stop for a breath. Eventually he told her to give it a try.


She stared at him with her hands on her hips. "You have got to be kidding me. I'm not going to bar tending school, I'm an Entertainment and Events major, for crying out loud." She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. "You're just screwing with me, right? I'm meant to be learning and assisting with the music part of this place, not the food service industry part." She wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but this is not what she signed up for, and not what she had been told to expect. Making calls, outlining contracts, negotiating payments, setting up green rooms...sure. Pouring beers? Not so much.

 

[Enemy Standoo]

Adrian and Frankie the barmaid shared an unimpressed look. "The food, the drinks, the lighting, the cleaning and the music are all parts of this place, madam."


"We don't even do much food anyway." Frankie mumbled as she leaned against the bar, flipping through her phone.


"Who doesn't love wings and mozzarella sticks?" Adrian looked at her over his shoulder before turning back to Thea. "The point is, you wanna learn how to run things, you gotta learn the ins and outs. Like what exactly you're asking your staff to do each night. Now come on." He downed his sickly orange syrup and slid the glass across the bar to Thea. "Now come on, don't tell me someone with a hoop through their face is afraid to try new things." He was getting more serious now.

 

[Morigan]

"I'm not afraid of anything," she snapped. "And yes drinks are a part of the bar- I'm not an idiot. But they are NOT what the university sent me here for." She eyed all the equipment and glasses like they snakes coiled and waiting to strike. "If you need another bartender, I suggest a 'help wanted' ad in the next paper."


She could not believe how quickly things were devolving into a huge mess. If her parents found out she was supposed to be serving drinks....she shuddered. They might cut off her school funding, and she couldn't afford the Out-Of-State tuition on her own. Maybe she could just go request a new internship from the Student Affairs office...

 

[Enemy Standoo]

Was she being serious? This little hippy student was coming into his club and telling him how to run his business. The interns were getting more entitled every year, the past ones had at least waited a few days before they let their true colours show and started talking out of their ass and trying to throw their trust fund's weight around. 'I don't know what else I expected.' At least they wouldn't have to put up with this one for long, hell, if she was determined to keep this up then maybe she'd do something that he could fire her over sooner rather than later. For now though, Adrian wasn't about to take any crap from a manic pixie wannabe.


"The university sent you here as our employee." Adrian's eyes narrowed and any hint of lightheartedness he'd had earlier was gone. "And first day employees don't get to call the shots. You got a problem with that, then we can get on perfectly well without you."


It might have turned into a staring match or something cattier when the radio on Adrian's hip crackled up for attention and someone on the other end burbled something unintelligible to everyone but Adrian. "Yeah, Steve?" He said into the radio. After a couple 'yeahs' and 'uh huh's' Their one sided fuzz talk came to an end. "I'll be right there." Adrian said and clipped the radio back on his belt.


"I have to take care of something, keep an eye on her, would you?" He said to the senior bar staff as he left, looking none too pleased.

 

[Morigan]

As Adrian left to deal with the situation from the radio, Thea crossed her arms and glared at his retreating back. "Employee my ass..." she muttered under her breath. "It's like he's never even heard of an internship before."


She sighed and turned to look around at the bar once more. It's not that she had anything against it, in particular, but it just had no relation to her studies. She actually thought it could be fun, if she wasn't so clumsy, but her parents would cancel their payments if they ever learned she was working in what they would call 'food service'. It had been hard enough to convince them that Entertainment Management was a legitimate course of study.


She looked towards the person Adrian had told to 'keep an eye' on her. "It's nothing against you, or anything..." she began. "This is just not what I'm supposed to be doing. I think I should probably just head out, and apply for a reassignment."

 

[Enemy Standoo]

"Oh well, so long as it's nothing against me." Frankie the barmaid quipped, looking up from her phone for just a moment to look thoroughly unimpressed. "You wanna quit after five minutes, be my guest, don't make no difference to me, Honey."


Around the same time Adrian's voice could be heard across the bar, it was muffled by the distance but the tone and meaning still came across easily enough. Mainly that he was in a foul mood and having none of what whoever he was talking to's noise.


"No, I hear you, I get what you're saying BUT-" The rest got a little mumbled there as other voices joined in and all vied to see who could talk the loudest over everyone else, all of them speeding up in the way that only happens when you get of group of people together that only manage to annoy each other more with each word.


Frankie looked up to see one of the tech guys wandering over to her and Thea at the bar. "Here we go again." He sighed, shaking his head like a man who was just so tired of seeing the same sad scene play out all over again.


Frankie just rolled her eyes. "Every time we get an EDM band in." It was like their boss had a vendetta against the genre or something.