Show Me Your Teeth

The moment I woke up, I knew I had overslept. The early bustle of the bar seeped through the walls. Glasses being washed and set, bottles restocked in the bar, and waitresses gossiping before work. It was at least 6pm and soon the early bar crowd would arrive. I had 3 meetings with suppliers, countless amounts of paperwork, and whatever petty drama patrons brought to the bar.

In seconds I was on my feet and working, checking my calendar first and exhaled a sigh of relief that there were no immediate deaths in my future.

My first task was to check bar inventory and see what was left in storage. New waitresses had a tendency to give away more TruBlood for free than what was paid for just because they think some vampire likes them. Retailers don’t just give that stuff away, it’s expensive as hell to import since we can only get it from Japan.

Pam arrived minutes before my first meeting with, much to my relief, a fresh pair of clothes.

“Thought you might need these. Don’t mess them up, they’re from my personal collection.”

I shot her a grateful smile and held the outfit in front of me. It was a vintage black twinset, probably from the early 60’s. The pencil skirt was perfectly tailored and the cardigan was soft cashmere. Luckily the twinset would go just fine with the dark purple satin blouse I had worn yesterday, along with the pumps Eric had given me.

Checking the time, I hurriedly stripped down and started to pull the skirt on when Pam coughed.

“Sorry about that, but we really don’t have time for me to go in the other room,” I shrugged and finished zipping up.

“It’s nice to know someone else whose comfortable with their body,” she quipped and sat in one of the chairs.

“Well I’ve had a long time to get comfortable with it. Could you get the first guy in here? Oh, and I clipped out the Dear Abby section for you, it’s sitting on the cabinet by the door.”

She nodded and moved swiftly, actually smiling when she got her hands on the newest Dear Abby. The first client was ushered in seconds later, a larger man probably in his late fifties with slicked back greasy black hair.

“Mr…” I frowned at the invoice, unsure of how to pronounce his last name.

“Karagosian,” he finished in a heavy Eastern European accent.

“Right then, Mr. Karagosian,” I smiled. “It’s my understanding that you want double what you are normally paid for a shipment of TruBlood?”

He nodded and eyed Pam cautiously.

“And why is that? You haven’t given us any credible reason to pay you double,” I stated flatly.

“Police checking trucks, more risky to bring supplies here. More risk, more money,” he crossed his arms with a smug smile, thinking he had won.

Pam laughed a cold, icy laugh and I soon joined in. It was obviously making him uncomfortable, but that was the whole point. He was bullshitting and I had the upper hand, a fact that he knew.

Abruptly I stopped laughing and narrowed my gaze.

“Mr. Karagosian, do not mistake me for one of your foolish drugged up dancing whores. The route between your warehouse and this facility is not only practically vacant of cops, and the cops that do drive it our known and friendly to our business. From here on out I will not tolerate late arrivals or demands for higher pay. In fact, you’ll now get 75% of our original agreement and I would like a few complimentary bottles of that Royal Blood I know you have in storage.”

The man, angered that he had been talked down to and by a woman no less, made to stand and placed his hand on a not so concealed hand gun. Pam stood in an instant, towering over him with fang bared. I pulled up the new contract I had typed up and set in on my desk, along with the Colt Python I kept in my purse.

I pulled back the safety and aimed square at his chest. “Sign it,” I said pleasantly.

Slowly he took his hand off the gun and signed, his signature shaky from nerves. With a nervous half bow he backed out of the room and shut the door.

With a sigh of content I smoothed my skirt and sat, setting down the Python as I went. When the new contract was neatly filed away and the previous one shredded, I turned back to Pam who had a mix of emotions on your face.

“You just extorted him,” she said sound almost proud.

I shrugged. “It’s not really extortion if he’s already a criminal.”

“You threatened him with that...beast of a gun. How can you even lift that?”

I shrugged again. “It’s called savvy business. Cutting that 25% lowers our overhead. And besides,” I smiled and popped out the chamber, revealing a totally unloaded gun. “It wasn’t even loaded.”