“You’re welcome to tell her to lighten up. I can’t say it unless I want to get fired,” Hope replied.
“We wouldn’t want that.”
“It wouldn’t do you any good to tell her anyway. She’ll never lighten up anyway. Being a royal pain is in her DNA.”
Chloe sighed. “I believe it.”
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting again, but hopefully I shouldn’t be here that much longer.”
Just then, Victoria found herself at the center of another heated exchange.
***
“What do you think you’re doing?” Noah Bryant snapped.
Chloe and Hope turned their attention across the room, where Victoria looked like she was trying to put the moves on Noah. He wasn’t having it.
Victoria couldn’t believe Noah rebuffed her.
She responded with outrage. “Don’t you know who I am? I’m Victoria Ryan. I get whatever I want around here.”
Noah shook his head. “Not tonight, you won’t.”
“You’d be wise to change your mind. Most people wouldn’t have the gall to reject me.”
“I’m not most people.”
“No, you’re a bigger fool than I thought. Do you know how many men would line up to be with me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself so much. Those guys are only interested in sleeping their way to the top,” Noah argued.
“Those men will become bigger stars than you. It seems like the only thing you’re interested in is committing career suicide,” Victoria said.
“Are you kidding? I’m going to be a star, and everyone knows it.”
“You were going to be a star. Not anymore.”
“Are you threatening me? Because I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be. I could ruin you,” Victoria said.
Noah narrowed his eyes. “You have a lot of nerve.”
Victoria laid out an ultimatum. “What do you say, do you want to be a big star, or commit career suicide?”
“You’re out of your mind, and I’m out of here.”
Noah stormed to the front door.
Victoria tried to stop him. “You walk out that door, and you’re done in this town, you hear? Done!”
Noah gave her one last glare, then walked out.
Then, the impossible happened. Victoria Ryan was speechless. Her jaw had dropped. She was too mad to even speak. When she spotted Hope Callahan out of the corner of her eyes, suddenly that changed.
***
Victoria turned to Hope, flush with misplaced anger. When Victoria approached from across the room, both Hope and Chloe knew the fireworks were far from over.
Victoria unloaded on Hope. “What are you looking at? You’re supposed to be working.”
Hope gulped. What a horrible time to be caught in the crossfire. She wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else at that moment.
Hope replied, meekly. “Look, I’m sorry about Noah.”
“No, you’re not, but you will be. I need to see you in my office. I just thought of a number of other things I need you to do tonight.”
The situation went from bad to worse. Hope had to find a way out of this before things got too out of hand.
“I’m actually supposed to be off the clock right now,” Hope replied.
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere. You’ll be lucky to leave before midnight.”
Chloe couldn’t stand idly by and let this berating continue. She had to stand up for her friend.
“You can’t work someone that long. It’s against the law,” Chloe said.
Victoria then turned to Chloe and focused her ire on her. “Are you looking for trouble? Because you just found it.”
While Chloe’s attempts to distract Victoria were unsuccessful, as luck would have it, an all-new set of emotional fireworks were about to go off.
Chapter Four
Amazingly enough, things were about to get even more surreal. At that moment, the club received an unexpected visitor.
“Victoria, I have to talk to you,” Ben Harrington said.
Victoria turned to the front of the club, where she saw her ex-boyfriend standing with a bouquet of flowers.
This was just the distraction Hope and Chloe were looking for. Victoria’s focus completely shifted. While Ben looked overjoyed to see Victoria, she appeared horrified to see him. She immediately moved towards the door. It was clear she wanted Ben to beat it and let the door hit him on the way out.
Chloe and Hope meanwhile slowly backed away, trying to put as much distance between themselves and Victoria as possible. At the same time, they watched the conversation between Ben and Victoria unfold from a comfortable distance away.
Victoria didn’t hide her exasperation. “Ben, what are you doing here?”
Ben looked like an older version of Noah. It was clear Victoria had a distinct type when it came to men. While Noah Bryant was in his twenties, Ben was in his early forties. There was a desperation to Ben, not just because he was an ex who clearly hadn’t gotten over Victoria, but also because his career hadn’t been the same since she dumped him. Ben used to headline three to four shows a week at the club. Ever since the breakup, his star had faded. He was on the verge of becoming a washed up, has been. He clearly was trying to revive both his career and his love life in one swoop.
Ben smiled wide. “Surprise.”
Victoria groaned. “I don’t have time for this.”
Ben was visibly hurt. “Well, that wasn’t the response I was expecting.”
“What were you expecting? You’re my ex.”
“I want to give our relationship another try. We had something really special once, and I know we could have it again.”
Victoria bottom-lined things. “You mean, you want your slot in the show back.”
“It’s not just that. I want you back, too. Victoria, I’m still in love with you. That’ll never change.”
There was zero empathy from Victoria. She looked annoyed that she even had to take time out of her day to have this conversation. “Face it, it’s over.”
Ben refused to believe that. He took his jealousy out for a spin. “What does Noah Bryant have that I don’t?”
Victoria looked blindsided by that question.
“That’s right. I know you’ve been looking to trade me in for a younger model, but he’s not half the man I am,” Ben continued.
Victoria was still seething over the rejection from Noah. She was not about to let her ex-boyfriend add insult to injury.
“Ben, you can’t keep coming here like this. It’s time to realize we’re never getting back together.”
“Oh, come on. Tell me you don’t still care about me, at least a little.”
Victoria stared at him with an icy cold look in her eyes. “Not in the slightest.”
Victoria sure knew how to rub people the wrong way. Throughout the entire conversation, there was a simpering desperation to Ben. Suddenly, all his frustration came out at once in the form of complete disdain.
“I used to defend you when people called you ‘The Ice Queen.’ When they muttered ‘witch’ under their breath after talking to you. When they wished awful things would happen to you. But the fact is, they were right. You’re a vile human being who just uses people, and then spits them out when you’re done with them. Well, guess what? You can only push people around so much before they start pushing back, and when you finally get your comeuppance, it’s going to be ugly,” Ben warned.
As with her previous confrontations, Victoria didn’t back down in the slightest. “Let me tell you something. If you don’t get out of my sight right now, things are going to get uglier for you than you can imagine.”
Ben narrowed his eyes, glaring at her with complete contempt. Seeing that Victoria wasn’t giving in even an inch, Ben finally turned around and left the club.
Chapter Five
Chloe thought the drama had to be over now. What else could go wrong? Apparently, she spoke too soon.
When Victoria turn
ed around, she was greeted by the concerned look of her son, Tony Ryan, who had caught his mother’s last conversation.
Victoria looked like talking to her son was nothing but a big inconvenience. “What do you want?”
Tony had none of his mother’s personality traits. In most ways, he was the exact opposite of her. He was an awkward, meek, bespectacled aspiring comic in his early twenties with a full beard and enough neurosis to fill up a year’s worth of therapy visits. The two didn’t even look alike. He must have gotten a lot of his genes from the father he never knew.
Tony walked around like a tortoise who had never come out of his shell. It made sense, considering that he grew up in the shadow of Victoria’s oversized personality. There appeared to be a shortage of love in their relationship, almost as if Victoria viewed her son as a burden to carry.
Tony replied softly. “Did I come at a bad time?”
Victoria scoffed. “You act like there’s ever a good time.”
Tony grimaced. “That being said, I do need to talk to you.”
“Can it wait?”
“Not really. It’s about the schedule tonight.”
“Fine. Just spit it out.”
Tony was clearly uncomfortable with being put on the spot like this. The last thing he wanted was to be rushed. At the same time, he knew if he didn’t get his words out quickly, his mother would just move on to the next thing. “Well, I’m not on the schedule.”
“That’s because I’m giving your act a rest,” she replied.
Tony fumbled not only with his emotions but also his response. “What? But why?”
“It’s time your act goes on hiatus.”
“For how long?”
“We’ll see.”
“How could you do this?”
“Your material is weak,” she blurted out. Victoria then paused for a moment. Most people would try to do some back tracking right now. Not Victoria. She took a different tact.
“This is a business decision. So suck it up and stop taking it as some personal affront.”
Tony did just the opposite. He couldn’t look more hurt in that moment. “I’m your son. I can’t imagine anything more personal.”
Instead of responding with sympathy, Victoria acted like a martyr. “This isn’t my fault. You put me in an awful position here. People hate your jokes. Your act has been costing this club money, and I just can’t have that anymore.”
“Why do you have to be so harsh?”
“It’s a tough business. You may not see it this way, but I’m doing you a favor by being brutally honest.”
“You’re right. I don’t see it that way,” he replied.
“Well, I don’t have time for anything but the truth. Besides, it’s better to hear it from me than someone else.”
Tony shook his head. “No, it’s much worse. I’m your son.”
“And that’s the only reason you were on that stage in the first place. With material that lousy, no one else would have given you a shot. Now get your act together. You’re a Ryan. Start behaving like one.”
Victoria then walked away, leaving Tony to pick up the pieces.
Chapter Six
If that last conversation wasn’t shocking enough, the fireworks were about to continue. Just as Victoria made her way towards the stage, her business partner, Andrew Brown, approached with paperwork.
Andrew was an excitable, stressed-out man in his mid-fifties with too many inches around his waistline and too few hairs on his head for his liking. Whereas Tony Ryan’s problem was speaking up for himself, Andrew Brown’s was trying not to blurt out every thought that came to his mind.
“We have a real problem here,” Andrew said.
Victoria exhaled. “What else is new?” She then turned to Andrew. “It’s going to have to wait.”
“Stop trying to push this conversation off. You’ve been avoiding me all day.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Make time. The profits are slipping,” Andrew pointed out.
“It’s the dead of winter. Of course we’re making less money than during tourist season,” Victoria reasoned.
Andrew shook his head. “It’s more than that. I’ve been going over the numbers. We’re making less than now than at the same time last year. The good news is, I have some fresh ideas to turn things around.”
Victoria was completely dismissive of him. “Good for you.”
“You can’t just blow me off. You have to listen to me.”
“Andrew, you’re supposed to be a silent partner.”
“I was until you started costing me money. This is my business too, and I’m not going to let you run it into the ground,” Andrew declared.
Victoria put her foot down. “I’m the boss. What I say, goes. And I’m not changing anything. Got it?”
Andrew stood his ground. “This isn’t over.”
“Yeah, it is. You just refuse to admit it.” Victoria turned and began walking away. “It’s time for my smoke break.”
Andrew glared at her, then sighed before trudging away.
***
Chloe and Hope couldn’t believe what they’d just seen. Amazingly enough, it wasn’t over.
On her way to the backstage door, Victoria spotted Hope Callahan and Chloe.
Victoria zeroed in on Hope. “What are you just doing standing around?”
Hope didn’t want to say anything that would set her boss off any further. At the same time, she didn’t want to let herself be walked all over, either. “I’ve been waiting to get the go-ahead to leave. I should have clocked out about an hour ago.”
Victoria approached. “Right. That’s not going to happen tonight. I had to give Isaac the boot, so you’re going to be taking his place tonight collecting the cover charges at the door.”
Hope tried to argue. “But, you can’t--”
Victoria shut her down. “I wasn’t asking, I was telling. That was an order. Now, get back to work.” She then turned her attention to Chloe. “And you, get out of here. It’s employees only in here.”
Victoria then walked through the backstage door to take her smoke break.
Chapter Seven
When the backstage door closed behind Victoria, Hope let out a huge groan. What a night, and it was far from over. She wasn’t the only one who was frustrated. Chloe knew Hope’s boss was a serious witch, but she’d sunk to a new low.
“That was some reality TV level drama,” Chloe said.
Hope lowered her head. “Yeah, Victoria is on a rampage, all right.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am. As you can tell, I’m going to have to cancel girl’s night out.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just take care of yourself.”
“Victoria is lucky I have rent to pay. Otherwise, I’d so be out of here.”
“It might be time to look for a new job.”
Hope scoffed. “In the offseason? I’d have better luck winning the lottery.”
“Well, just hang in there.”
“You, too. Thanks for putting up with all this. I promise we’ll reschedule girl’s night out soon.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. Take care.”
***
Like that, both Chloe and Hope’s evenings were headed in different directions than they expected. As Chloe exited the club and walked back to the parking lot, she felt so bad for her friend. Hope was a good person; she deserved better than this. Unfortunately, bad jobs seemed to always find ways of continually getting worse.
Chloe sighed.
So much for girl’s night out, which was ironic, because Hope looked like she needed one more than ever.
As Chloe made her way back to the parking lot, she realized the drama still wasn’t over. When Chloe reached her car, she saw Victoria Ryan was in the middle of another confrontation just outside the backstage door.
As an interesting twist, this time Victoria was the one being chewed out. The woman yelling at her was Leah Manning, Victo
ria’s old best friend. The key part of that was ‘old friend,’ seeing as how they hated each other’s guts now. Leah used to be married to Ben Harrington, Victoria’s ex-boyfriend. Victoria’s relationship with Ben ended Leah’s marriage. Apparently, to this day, Leah hadn’t gotten over it.
Chloe was too far away from the conversation to hear the specifics. That suited her just fine. Chloe couldn’t wait to get out of there and head as far from the lunacy as possible. She pulled out of the parking, knowing immediately where she wanted to go next.
Chapter Eight
Chloe thought she’d be sipping a cocktail with an old friend right now. Instead, she found herself nibbling on a slice of pie across town. Her taste buds were just as happy, but her heart sure wasn’t. She felt really broken up about the situation Hope Callahan was caught in.
The night had gotten out of hand in a hurry. She couldn’t remember the last time things had spiraled out of control that quickly. Chloe was trying to piece together how the night had gotten away from her like that.
It was amazing how much havoc a bad job could wreak. Hope had to find another line of work. She couldn’t carry on like this. It would break her back.
If the actual work wasn’t bad enough, the real killer was how it turned the rest of Hope’s life upside down. Hope spent too many hours a day at that club. More than she spent at home. Not to mention, all those hours were a long time to be miserable day in and day out. There was an added problem. Hope didn’t just have the kind of job that she could clock out from and not think about again until coming in the next day. The emotional scars of the club carried over to her personal life.
Hope’s terrible experience at work made Chloe think about her own job in a whole new light. Chloe loved selling cosmetics, but even she had rough days at work sometimes. They all paled in comparison to what Hope went through on a daily basis. That’s why Chloe was racking her brain to think of a way to ease her friend’s pain.
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