Page 48 of In Her Own Way
“Yeah,” Lauren said. “I can show you the system. It’s in that storage room behind the bar.”
Victoria hesitated.
“I won’t bite,” Lauren said with a laugh.
Victoria burst out laughing and headed behind the bar.
“It’s a wired system,” Lauren said and showed Victoria the various connections, including the wire for the audio link on the main board. “It’s only one-way audio. We can hear what they’re saying but can’t communicate with them from here.” Lauren then showed her an app she used to monitor the cameras while away from the system.
“Thanks for the help,” Victoria said. “I’ll tell my boss about this.”
“And,” Lauren said low, “I wanted to let you know that I got my first spanking last night.”
“No fuckin’ way.”
“Yes, I took your advice,” Lauren said as they pretended to look over the surveillance system. “It was really good, and she’sopen to more exploration. In fact, this morning she showed me this flat-sided hairbrush and said she wanted to try that on me.”
“Fantastic,” Victoria said. “I’m glad you found the courage to speak up.”
“Oh, and uh, by the way,” Lauren said with a grin, “a 304 is a hoe. Type those numbers on a calculator, turn it upside down, and it spells the word ‘hoe’. Did someone call you that?”
Before Victoria could answer, Lauren burst out, “Oh, fucking hell,” and ran out of the storage room. Victoria had no clue what was happening, so she moved from behind the bar toward her seat.
“Brianna,” Lauren said directly to Tillman, “you will not start anything. Jasmyne’s walking up with Bobbie.”
Tillman positively deflated right in front of Victoria’s eyes. “I’m not the one who starts shit, Lauren.” At Victoria’s obviously perplexed expression, Tillman said, “Jasmyne’s my ex. Very recent ex. Like in a month ago ex after two years. She’s a spoon.”
“A spoon?”
“She likes to stir up drama.”
Victoria almost choked. She pressed her lips together behind a fist, trying not to laugh.
“There may be fireworks,” Tillman said.
“Yeesh.”
“Hey, there,” someone on Victoria’s other side said. Victoria turned and came face to face with a very attractive thirty-something woman wearing a very tight sweater and a cheeky smile. “Haven’t seen you in here. New to Indy?”
“Kind of,” Victoria said and gave the woman’s body a once-over. Signal sent.
The woman touched Victoria’s arm. Ahh, signal received.
“You here alone?” Victoria asked.
“Yes,” came the quick answer.
“Can I buy you a drink?” Victoria asked, maintaining eye contact.
“Yes,” came the equally quick answer, and within minutes the woman received her drink compliments of Victoria’s wallet. Lauren rang the tip bell again, but it was Lauren’s smile that Victoria had really wanted and got.
Victoria was just about to ask the woman her name when someone barged into the bar and, with a booming voice, said, “This is a lesbian bar, asshole.” Victoria’s eyes grew wide because the very loud announcement was directed right at Tillman.
“What the fuck?” Victoria said to no one in particular.
“It’s okay,” Tillman said quietly.
The woman who had spoken was masculine and big-boned, with short, slicked-back hair. She wore black jeans and a tight white t-shirt that did nothing to flatter her flabby torso.
