Erik's Inheritance Ch. 05

"Me? I want to cook. I have no business doing anything else, I don't like all the people, it stresses me out. I like cooking though."

"Are you good?" Erik asked.

"For here? Oh yeah. I'm a trained chef but that was a long time ago. Frying chicken tenders and wings is easy though."

Erik wrote, bartender , doormen on his pad, glad he found a spot to put Bob without making a big deal of it. "Okay I'll find a bartender then. You start thinking about what we're gonna serve in our kitchen, and how we're going to get what we need."

Looking back at the girls he waited. They were silent, just looking at him, waiting for him to speak. It felt like this was their way of telling him they wanted him to lead.

"Does anyone want a nicer dressing room, or cleaning supplies like wipes supplied to them?" Erik asked.

All of the girls spoke at one then. He didn't catch more than a few words as they all erupted, but he tried jotting down on his pad a list of supplies. Bleach wipes, mops, towels, and more things.

"What if I redid the dressing room, made it bigger and put in like, vanities?"

They all babbled in response.

"Wait, someone show me the room, I don't even know what I'm looking at to work with." Erik hopped down and the small crowd of ladies stood in response. They all started toward the room that served as a dressing room.

Going through the door that swung open at a push, Erik found himself in a long narrow space behind the main stage. Christmas lights dangled ceiling hooks screwed into the ceiling.

Mirrors and desks of all shapes and styles rested against the wall to his right. One seemed to be an old school desk with a single drawer and matching chair, holding up a thin wall mirror. Another was a long outdoor folding table standing in front of a king-sized headboard with a mirror set into the panel, filigree curling around the edges with rusted folding chairs for seating. Gym bags, backpacks and purses rested under the dilapidated furniture, thrown or kicked under to keep them out of the way of the narrow walkway.

Studying the wall, Erik found several holes in it near the floor and a couple higher up. He imagined the chairs doing most of the damage but a fight more than likely had put the other gaping wounds in the drywall. The studs that braced the wall could be seen, like ribs of a wounded animal.

Erik turned to them. "This is your dressing room?" he could hardly believe that the girls stuck around to work.

They all nodded, out of sync but as a group. "This place is a shit hole but the tips are good and business is steady." The thick bodied brunette said from the middle of the group.

"I'm going to fix this. I'll get a contractor over as soon as I can."

Smiles and small cheers came from them. Erik smiled back. He was taking those steps towards making life better for them. Pride swelled in him at the prospect of following through and actually giving them what he promised. He knew work was going to be required but he never walked away because the job was difficult before, he wasn't going to start now.

The hard part of his remodel was that he needed to figure out how to work around business hours. That was a problem for later, he'll figure that out once he speaks to the contractor. Unfortunately, that was probably going to be next week. He jotted a note on his paper

Erik left the room and went back out to the lounging area. He noticed the tables and chairs were in similar shape and seemed good for conversation but not for getting close and personal.

"How would you ladies feel about couches and booths?" he asked, turning around to face them.

The Hispanic girl spoke, "That would be awesome, anything would be more comfortable than these rolling chairs." The others nodded in agreement.

Erik wrote that down. Couches and booths would also be installed. He began imagining the space filled with people, men and the occasional women, coming for the party. Then again, it was possible that they would be coming for a specific environment where beautiful ladies catered to their desires. He turned and looked around the room, noting its size and wondered if this was the entire building. He could see the exterior wall of brick behind the bar and down each side but not the back wall. "Is there more space that isn't used?"

The crowd of females clamoured and pointed. He had to hold his hands out to hush them, telling them to speak one at a time. As a group they led him towards a door at the other end of the dressing room. Opening it revealed an area as large as the current stage and bar. He felt his eyes grow in surprise, this building was bigger on the inside than it looked.

The new, open area showed great potential to Erik instantly. It was unfinished, with smooth concrete floors and brick walls. Two thick pillars of brick bore the floor above them in the middle of the room. He noted that as a problem but ideas of how to use them to his advantage started forming while he looked passed them. Conduit ran along the outside walls with outlets at regular intervals.

He walked into the space, trying to feel it, gauge it somehow but he wasn't sure what to compare it too. With the area he could do a number of different things. He asked himself what would work best for the ladies working for him and he wondered about what he could do for future hires as well.

Erik wanted to be a good business man. He never imagined himself being this kind of businessman but all business was business. He still had employees and profitability to worry about. There were rules to follow and people to please but he wanted to stay true to himself.

The big picture of it all seemed distant and undefined. Like a fuzzy cloud of gas in space, far away. He was the creator and this was his space to do with what he desired.

The immense gravity that responsibility washed over him, a tide rising up over his head and surrounded him. Erik didn't feel fear at it though he knew he probably should. He was aware that he had the ability to swim in the responsibility.

Their voices had been idle chatter in the background while he looked around but now he addressed them. "Okay, I see possibilities in this room for space we can use to expand. I know of the fact that we need to get more floor help and start to upgrade the current space we have, but now I need to talk to you ladies. Let's go back outside."

Like a flock of birds, they all turned around as one and went out into the stage area. It felt good to be listened too, to be leading them and for a moment, with their backs turned, he appreciated his current lot in life.

"Pull up some chairs ladies, I've got some things for you." he said. He himself grabbed a rolling chair and sat his backside on a table with his feet in the chair, elevating himself. He held his notebook and made some notations about the large space with nothing in it, then flipped to a new page. "I only sort of know one of you. Now, I want to change that. As employees, you are part of my life, my family and I want you ladies, and gent, to feel the same. Tell me who you are. "

Silence met him and they looked at each other. The girls shuffled in different ways but the body language all read the same; uncomfortable.

The Hispanic girl spoke, an attitude coming through in her voice, "I don't know if I speak for all of you, girls, but I know that I like keeping my private life private, but it's nice to know someone gives a shit about us. So, for me, all you need to know is my name, Selena and I like money."

No one took a turn for a few seconds and then the thicker bodied girl in sweats spoke. She had a quiet, reserved and sheltered demeanor, lounging back and slouching in her chair. She sat up when she spoke. "My name is Jackie. I don't have a stage name, there isn't much point as everyone knows me. My dad used to be the sheriff and sometimes I get hassled over that."

A thin girl he had barely noticed spoke. She was tiny, frail and with blue eyes. "I'm Crystal, and I'm still new to this." She fell silent, looking down into her lap.

"Ya'll know me already," said Trixie after a few more silent moments. It was becoming clear that none of them had any idea what it was like to have someone attempt to care about who they were.

The last two girls just gave names, Bethany, a shorter girl with a neck tattoo, and Rachel who made Erik think of a tall barbarian with her muscled shoulders sticking out from her tank top.

"Alright ladies, in that case I'll give you a feeling for what I want to do. I wanna be a good businessman, but first and foremost, I want to be an honorable one." Erik began.

The girls started looking from one to another with disgusted looks on their faces.

"Not in a way that threatens this place. I want to do right by you ladies and the people I do business with. Honest, upfront, no Bullshit."

All their faces relaxed a little and they settled down.

"I want this to be the best place around to have fun and relax or let off steam or whatever people need to do. I also want it to be the best place to work for this kind of business."

Rachel spoke up, leaning forward with her hands on her elbows. She was taller than Erik, by six inches if he had to guess from her sitting down. Her face had a large mole on one cheek, like a brown dot. It rode a space just above the dimple that accented her sarcastic smile. "You're cute and all but this whole good guy thing is a little," she paused, looking up and putting her tongue in her cheek while she thought for a moment, then she looked back at him, "optimistic, don't you think?" she emphasized the "nk" sound with a sharp clinking like sound.

"Yeah," Bethany said from next to Rachel, "I think this businsss is gonna chew your ass up and spit it back out salty as the rest of us." Her voice fluctuated between a nasal sound and a Boston like accent.

Erik knew better than to be offended at her remark. "You're right, I am a bit optimistic. And it might chew me up and change me." He looked from one to another of them as he spoke. "Only time will tell, but I hope that we can make this place great and we can make it more than what it is. I'm open to suggestions, however you want to give them."

"Okay if you girls have nothing else, neither do I. I'll get with the contractor as soon as I can and we'll start making some things happen."