Rainbow Central Volume 2

5. Quinn

The evening was slow, even for a Thursday. Apart from a couple of old gays at the bar and a date that ended awkwardly, Rainbow Central had been mostly empty.

At least that worked out well for me. It gave me ample time to memorise the drink menu, brush up on my math skills, and give my hands some rest after all the cleaning and scrubbing.

Who knew hard work was that painful?

“Smoke?” Caspian asked.

“That’d be great, but I don’t have any with me,” I admitted.

“You can have one of mine.”

“Thanks.”

“Follow me.”

He waved at Olivia at the end of the bar and then guided me to the back of the building. The dimly lit narrow corridor with trash cans wasn’t a very appealing place to hang and if I was on my own, I’d have avoided it like the plague.

“Is there a reason why you smoke here?” I asked, accepting one of Caspian’s cigarettes.

He flicked the cap of his lighter back and held it out for me. “Olivia doesn’t like us smoking in front of the customers.”

I took a long drag of my cigarette to light it. “Which customers?”

He chuckled. “Fair point. But she’s the boss.”

“Have you worked here long?”

“About… Two years now?”

“And is it always this quiet?”

“No, it used to be vibrant and full of laughter, back when… When Rebecca still worked here.”

“Rebecca?” I flicked some of the ashes down.

“Olivia’s ex-wife. They separated and it took a real toll on the business. It all went downhill fast.”

That wasn’t great news. Employees were always expendable and if I got the job, I’d be the first to go when the firing started. Could I afford to take that risk?

I needed something stable, something that would get me the money I needed for rent and bills. On the flip side, if I didn’t get this job… I wouldn’t need rent because I’d have to live under a bridge. Just the thought alone of the grimy streets and the cold nights had me shivering.

Working behind a bar suddenly sounded desirable.

I took a long drag and threw the cigarette bud on the ground where I squashed it with my shoe. “I should probably get back. I don’t want Olivia thinking I’m slacking off.”

“Don’t worry, we’re closing in five.”

“Already?” I checked my phone for the time. “But it’s only a little past nine.”

“When there is nobody in—”

“It costs more to keep the bar open than to close,” I realised. “Of course.”

“Yup.” He flicked his cigarette away and pushed one of the garbage cans back in place. “There. Let’s go back in.”

“Do you think Olivia is going to want to evaluate me now?” I asked before we reached the main area again.

Caspian hesitated. “I’m not sure. Why don’t you start cleaning and I’ll check with her.”

I nodded, not looking forward to having to deal with the sticky bar. There hadn’t been that many customers, but one guy still managed to spill his beer and drench the entire side.

I turned the tap and watched the exchange at the end of the bar. Caspian’s approach seemed a lot more careful than at the beginning of the night and it quickly became clear why.

Olivia’s drooping eyes, the red flushes on her cheeks, poor hand-eye coordination when she swayed over to me. She was drunk.

She pushed her empty glass over and gestured to me. “Wyn—”

“Quinn,” I corrected.

“Quinn. Right.” She looked pained as she rubbed her forehead. “Promising start. I like it. Let’s do thirty hours to begin with, yes?”

That was a lot fewer hours than I needed, but more than I had right now. After the four rejection emails and the twenty-eight other silent nos, I didn’t have a lot of choice. “Sounds good to me, thank you. I won’t let you down.”

“Right. Paperwork is for tomorrow.” She patted the bar and waved at Caspian. “Lock up, will you? I’m going home.”

The guy nodded. “Yes, boss.”

I watched Olivia stumble out, her handbag haphazardly swung over her shoulder and her phone’s dim light casting dark shadows on an even darker face. Her grey suit was no longer crisp and her face showed the wrinkles of an exhausted woman. The perfect picture had a torn corner.

Maybe those weren’t things I should be thinking about my new boss, but I couldn’t stop myself from noticing these things. Everyone had a story, a past. Most people didn’t like it when I figured out what they were trying to keep hidden, but I just saw what I saw.

I’d been scolded to mind my own business, but I was never any good at that. I’d learned how to keep these observations to myself though. Maybe if I learned that lesson earlier, I wouldn’t be here scrubbing a dirty counter, but that was life.

“After you’re done with that, I could use your help restocking the fridges,” Caspian said in passing.

“Okay!” I replied, trying to sound chipper despite the strain in my muscles. Or more, the lack of them. I couldn’t wait to go home and get into bed. Working was exhausting. Did people do this every day? Why?

Oh, right. Bills… Rent, food, electricity, all that stuff. Who knew painkillers expired? When did fruit become so expensive? Why did my vegetables go off so much quicker now that I had to buy them?

Real life was hard.

I scrubbed the sink and disposed of the empty beer bottles. They made a satisfying clank when I popped them back in the crate and the entire thing was a lot less heavy when it was void of alcohol.

Despite the lessened weight, my lower back strained as I heaved the crate through the staff room and to the back, where they were stored. Caspian was carrying two crates at once, but hey, he had the muscles and physique for it. I was just a little shrimp.

We worked in silence until my pits were steaming and he called it quits.

With one last cigarette and a can of Fizz Boss, I was on my way, biking through the winding streets of a vibrant city that was having a lot more fun than me.

I attached my bike with two thick cable locks to the front of my building and pushed through the shrieky front door, keys in hand. The light in the hallway wasn’t working, but luckily, I had three flights of stairs to get used to the dark. Not ideal, so I kept my key clamped tightly between my two fingers for any surprises. I wasn’t sure whether I was doing it the right way, but it gave me some sense of security.

My heartbeat only steadied when I was safely inside my flat with the door and latch firmly locked. If I was going to keep coming home late, I really needed the building manager to fix the light, otherwise, I’d have to take up some kind of self-defence class and that involved a lot more moving than I was used to.

I stared at the reheatable meals in my fridge but even ten minutes sounded like too much waiting. Exhaustion was tugging on my eyelids and after my first day of honest work, I fell into bed, asleep before I hit my pillow.