Vikki

Iam knackered.

For all the bar is called the snug, it's been nonstop all night. Nevvik was incredibly impressed I was able to get the espresso machine operating. So much so, he made up a new cocktail on the spot made with coffee and called it after me. It's a Vee-Mazing. He laughed so much I thought he was going to choke to death.

The clientele turned out to be exactly what I thought they would be, monied, well dressed, mostly male, not interested in the staff, and expecting their drinks to appear "as if by magic."

Only despite this aloof attitude, they actually tip very well.

So, it doesn't matter how tired I am, this job is turning out to be a good one as expected. Plus, if I get another shift tomorrow night, I can pay my rent and not be evicted.

It's a win-win situation and about time my life got better.

"Do you mind getting me some more ice?" Navvik asks after the most recent wave of orders. "We're running out here, and the machine won't make any more for another twenty minutes."

I've hopped out of my heels to give my feet a rest, and he notices, giving me a wry smile.

"I'd go, but they put the machine in the most awkward place and…I can't get in."

"No problem." I take the bucket from him. "Where is it?"

Navvik reels off a set of instructions. I'm just about to ask him to repeat them when a client clears his throat at the bar.

I push through the doors at the rear of the snug, and I'm in a dark passage lined, like everywhere else it seems, with plush carpet. Muttering Navvik's instructions to myself, I pad along it, take the door on the left I'm sure he told me to take, and find myself turned around very quickly.

I'm lost.

This is not good. Not on my first night, not with another shift almost in the bag. I do my best not to panic as I try door after door and they're all locked.

Until the last one. The handle turns and I practically fall through it.

"There you are!"

I look up to see a woman dressed in the sharpest suit I've ever seen bearing down on me. She has a clipboard like Alyssia's, but she also has a hairdo which has to be sprayed solid and a pair of lips which look like a bulldog licking something unpleasant off a thistle.

"You're the last one!" She grabs my arm and tows me along behind her as I attempt to protest I'm trying to find my way back to the snug.

But she's not listening, and she has a grip like iron as she pulls me through another set of swinging doors, coming to a halt in front of a large heavy curtain.

"Where are your shoes?" she snaps, looking me up and down. I open my mouth to reply. "Never mind, there's no time." She pushes me through the parting and just like that, I'm out on a stage, blinking in the strong lights.

"And what am I bid for this…human female?"