Chapter 103

“Simon “Shane said to her work colleague who she typically did the noon to 6pm shift with. He looked across from changing the bottle of scotch above the bar.
“Yes”
“Do you remember when my friend Tina came in the other day “
“I do – she was pretty – she would seriously turn heads if she came in here more often?
“I told you here partner was even hotter “
“Yes “
“Well she just walked into the bar -it’s just as well its only 1 o’clock – if she walked in 6 hours later we would have to get extra staff in”
Simon turned quickly – fascinated to see what this woman looked like. He whistled at what he saw. The brunette walked towards the bar – she moved like a cat and was very beautiful. He took in the warm black trousers, the comfortable looking but still sexy black boots and the black, knee length winter coat.
“Wow – whatever she wants – pay her to come in her more often “
“She’s marrying Tina next month and they have a 5 year old daughter who Bette is devoted to – she’s off the market. Simon shrugged
“That I can see – someone that classy needs to be taken care of -and she is a friend of yours?”
“She has been unbelievable kind to me – I think the world of her and Tina and their daughter. They are the closest thing I have to a family “
“I am not sure we have a drink classy enough for her” Simon commented starting to pour a beer for a customer who was standing at the bar
“She’s probably on her lunch break “Shane said “And she doesn’t drink – she’s a serious runner “
Shane quickly served a regular with a couple of bottles of beer and took an order for a lunch time sandwich which went straight through to the kitchen. It took five minutes before she was free to serve Bette
“Hello there “
“Hia – I got sick of my usual lunchtime haunts – you keep telling me about the beef sandwiches you do in here “
“Good choice – would you like a coffee or orange juice to go with it ?”
“Both “
Shane quickly dealt with Bette’s order and added lots of ice to the orange juice as Bette sat herself down at the bar and ate a handful of nuts from the counter. For a few more minutes Shane dealt with a couple of customers. Finally she poured herself and Bette a coffee and went and lent on the counter beside her friend
“How are you?”
“I am fine – I have come to take advantage of your wisdom “
“The whole Kit scenario “
“Yes – what the hell is going on Shane – I mean – why is he here when she is so sick?”
“Tina said that he says he has to earn money”
“Booze is not cheap and if she is on anything else – well it’s an expensive habit”
“I made a couple of calls and sent some emails – to women I know still in LA – who have dealing with Kit “
Bette raised an eyebrow
“Tell me more “
“Hang on – give me a couple of minutes “
Shane quickly served another customer – a good looking woman who eyed Bette with no attempt to hide her interest. Shane smiled – Bette was always going to get those sort of looks – the difference now was that Bette wasn’t interested and didn’t seem to even notice the looks of admiration. Shane returned to Bette
“My friend Nicki is still a regular at The Planet – something to do with the fact that she has a huge crush on one of the chefs. Anyway – I emailed her and she Skyped me yesterday evening. We chatted for about an hour and I managed to find out a thing or two”
“Such as?”
“Yes Kit is drinking – she has been drinking for over a year and a half. It’s pretty obvious because when she gets drunk she gets volatile “
“Sounds familiar “Bette said dryly
“She’s banned a few people for no obvious reason and then she forgets that she’s done it. She has lost weight – mainly because she prefers her calories in liquid form”
Bette nodded – she remembered those days far too well.
“Did she say anything about how things are going with Roger away?”
“Badly – Jenny and Alice seem to be in charge “
Bette closed her eyes “It’s just doesn’t bear thinking about “
“That was what I thought – Jenny is more than likely to poison the customers”
“Well if she doesn’t – Alice will. “
“I get the impression from Nikki that things are pretty far gone with Kit -it doesn’t sound good” Shane sipped her coffee and shook her head “To be honest it’s something that I cannot imagine because she’s always been sober . I have never seen her drunk”
“I seems to have spent half a lifetime trying to either hide her drinking or stop her”
Bette said ruefully “I worried more about her health than I ever did about my own. This just sounds like it’s a fucking train wreck Shane”
“It doesn’t sound good – if you keep alienating your customers – then you will lose them. It’s her only source of income”
“And I own a significant percentage of it”
Shane looked at Bette “Do you ever get any of the profits?”
“No – the agreement was that I let Kit take the profits for the first 3 years – that expired nearly a decade ago. She never seemed to get round to sending me my share of the profits and as I remember — the place was always full “
“Yeah – there is no way it’s not making a decent profit “
“Not if the manager is a drunk “Bette said “Not good for business – I should know – been there got the tee-shirt “
“So what are you going to do?”
“Did you find anything else out?” Bette wanted to know
Shane held up her hands “I didn’t want to make it too obvious but I am expecting a couple of other people to get back to me – including a girl who works there part time”
“One of your conquests?” Bette asked grinning
“We are too similar and I may be stupid but I am not stupid enough to sleep with anyone who was too like me”
“Wise “Bette said “So you might find out something new?”
“I will do my best but I cannot promise anything. All I can tell you is that my sources seem to confirm that things are pretty bad with Kit – and as we all said – Jenny and Alice are being utterly fucking useless in taking care of her”
“And Roger is going to be in New York for another three weeks at least. ?”
Shane nodded “ I can fully understand the need to earn money and I know from when I first met Roger that he is a great drag queen and he is really in demand – he used to pull in a good fee as well as a % of the bar profits “
Shane had to go and serve a couple of customers – by the time she came back she also had Bette’s sandwich which she put in front of her.
“Thanks – that looks great – tell me how you know how well he does?”
Shane smiled “Alice got involved with a girl who was a runaway. We all chipped in and helped this Jamie find a place and get herself sorted. It reminded all of us how tough things can be for homeless LGBT kids. So we held a fund raiser – rented a club and Kit MC-ed it. That was when we hired Roger. You should have seen how great they were as a double act. She was sassy as only Kit can be and he has a great act. He told Alice and me that he was going to San Francisco the following weekend and he said what he was charging and that he had asked for a cut of the takings. He got it and the club was delighted to pay it because he packed the place/. He did our event free – he was fantastic and we made over £10,000 – he was a riot”
“So why can he not get a gig on the West Coast?”
Shane held up her hands “That is one of the things I am trying to find out. That said – high heels in size 14 don’t come cheap “
Bette laughed “Do they not count as tax deductible?”
“Not something that I know a lot about “
Bette took a bite of the sandwich and nodded “This is really good “
“I am sure a good word from you will make our female chef go weak at the knees”
Bette shook her head “I doubt it “
“That woman who is sitting at the other end of the bar cannot keep her eyes off you”
Bette looked across “I think you are seeing things”
“I was perceptive in the past – nothing compared to what I am learning working in this place”
“I can see that – you are enjoying it though?”
“Yes I am – I am happier than I was in the past. I feel like I can live my own life here – not compared to the life I was living in LA – in LA I was living a life that seemed to be influenced by my friends”
Bette nodded “That sounds remarkably like how I feel. I do often wonder what would have happened if Tina and I had not lived in such a bloody goldfish bowl. We might have learnt how to communicate with one another and we might not have got into the mess that we did. I am not blaming the others for our problems – I was hung up and Tina hated giving up work and took it out on me and our relationship suffered – but it had to be a contributing factor”
Shane wandered off to serve another couple of customers. Bette tucked into her sandwich which was good – the beef was juicy and there was just enough gravy to stop the sandwich being too dry but also there wasn’t enough gravy to turn the bread soggy which was one of Bette’s pet hates. She was well into the sandwich before Shane came back
“The woman at the other end of the bar asked me if you wanted a drink”
Bette raised an eyebrow “And what did you say?”
“I told her that she was wasting her time because you were a happy so-to be married woman with a family – that made her back off”
“Thank you “Bette said “This is one of the reasons why I do not come into bars “
“Does the booze bother you?” Shane asked
Bette shook her head “No – I think it’s different if the place was full to the rafters and everyone was drunk – that’s just boring. But this is fine – no one is questioning why I am drinking fruit juice and coffee – and I have to say this sandwich is just delicious “
“I might get the chef out so you can tell her to her face “
Bette laughed and took another bite – after a few minutes Shane had returned from taking another couple of orders for sandwiches. She leant against the bar and looked at Bette
“What are you going to do about Kit and Roger?”
Bette rubbed her mouth with her paper napkin and picked up her coffee
“I really do not know. When Tina told me last night I was just in shock. I know what it would do to me if I started to drink again. Whatever else I do – I cannot drink – it’s a baseline thing. I had the biggest ego for so long and I refused to accept that I couldn’t. it was insane – it’s like being told you are allergic to something and you still keep eating it – I don’t know what has set her off “
“So what do you think you are going to do?”
“I don’t know – Tina is pretty against me getting involved “
“She just wants to defend you”
Bette smiled “It’s really sweet that she is protective of me – I love that – I love that she wants to take care of me. It’s taken me a long time to get to this place and I like being here. I feel safe and loved “she sighed “it’s a good feeling”
“You deserve it “Shane said not saying that Bette had a protective partner back in LA. Tina had always been there wanting to take care of the brunette. The difference then was that Bette couldn’t accept that she wanted love and support – now she had changed and she enjoyed the feelings that knowing her lover was always there for here brought.
“I know that Tina doesn’t want me to go back to LA “
“I don’t think you want to go back – I know I sure as hell I don’t – and you had the worst possible reception last time”
Bette took another bite of her sandwich and after a few seconds she spoke
“I tried to talk to Alice when we were there in January – it was a nightmare. I came away feeling so sad. I walked out of The Planet and I just cried – cried because I loved Alice regardless of what an idiot she could be and yet – there she was not even listening to what I was trying to say to her. I just wanted her to hear me out. She couldn’t even understand that I had stopped drinking and why “
“The news that you had stopped drinking was something that I know they struggled to deal with”
“Fucking ironic given that Kit was drinking at the time – it really shocks me that no one knew “
“I have been really trying to think of times when she might have been drinking. Maybe I am not as sharp as I think I was “
“You are sharper than anyone else – especially Jenny and Alice”
“She hide it “
“You have been here how long?”
“Four months – closer to five “
“Well the other know – so I assume that things have got worse”
Shane shrugged “I don’t know Bette “
“Tina doesn’t want me to get hurt and I don’t want to get hurt either. My life is too busy to go out there for anything more than a few days. I am getting married in December and we are so behind in our planning. I am not leaving Tina alone to take care of Angie – it’s not fair on either of them. And I would rather be with Angie and Tina than dealing with my drunk sister “
“You don’t owe them anything “
“But she’s my sister “
“And you were her sister when you desperately needed someone – you needed people – what you didn’t need was us taking the moral high ground – that was hypocritical of all of us – we all needed to have a word with ourselves”
Bette sniffed “I don’t know what to do. I go one way and then another. For all the arguments about how she abandoned me and all that and I know totally what Tina thinks – well for all of that I come back to the fact that she is my sister”
“You cannot help some people unless they want to be helped”
“That’s what I said to Tina – I didn’t want to be helped for a long time. I just wanted people to get lost and leave me alone to drink and feel sorry for myself “
“But what the hell has motivated this Bette?”
“Nothing needs to motivate her – nothing needs to have driven her to the booze. I didn’t need a reason and I know that Kit doesn’t need a reason as well “
“Are you leaning one way or the other?”
Shane had to go to serve another customer which gave Bette time to finish her sandwich -and rub her hands and drain her orange juice. She caught Shane’s eye and gestured that she wanted another juice. Shane got Bette what she wanted and put the money into the till herself.
“On me “Shane said putting the juice down
“Thanks “
“So – do you have any idea what you are going to do?”
Bette sighed “I am leaning more to the fact that regardless of what I do – nothing will get me back to LA. I don’t want to see her. She’s a vile drunk – worse than I ever was “
“So what’s next?”
“Well – if we can get a babysitter – it might be time for Tina and me to have a night out – can you recommend any good drag shows?”