Hunter's Moon

Chapter 16

        While biking back to her apartment, Juli heard her phone ring. She stopped, pulled out her cell and saw it was her boss calling. She was sure that it was her night off. Oh well, it couldn't hurt to see what the call was for. She answered the phone.

            “Juli, great! Glad I caught you. Sam's called in sick. I'm short staffed and you know how crazy weekends get. Could you possibly make it in tonight?”

            Work . . . it was the last thing on her mind right now. But it could help her take her mind off things. “Uh, sure, Beth. Be there as quick as I can.”

            “Fantastic! Juli you are a life saver.” Beth replied, and then hung up.

            Juli turned her bicycle around and then headed toward one of the bars in town. After a few minutes she reached her destination, entered through the rear door, and set her bike against the wall, out of the way.

            Paulie's was everything you'd expect a college town bar to be. Busiest on weekends, and serving alcohol cheap enough that the students could afford it, but not so cheap they had to water it down . . . too much.

            She moved up to the bar, and smiled as Beth greeted her from behind the counter. “Did I tell ya you are a life saver?”

            “Already once today, but I won't stop you if you tell me again.” Juli smiled. “'Sides, it's good you called. I probably need this tonight.” She moved behind the bar and helped her boss serve drinks while making small talk in between filling glasses and passing bottles to patrons.

            “Oh? Something wrong?” Beth asked.

            “What? No . . . nothing.” Juli lied, “Come on Beth, you can be such the Mother Hen sometimes.”

            Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden rush of customers. But once it died down, Beth picked right up where they'd left off. “Well, you know that if someone hurts one of my girls, they're going to have to answer to me. You keeping those sunglasses on for a reason, honey? It's dark outside and, in case you haven't noticed, we're indoors right now.”

            Juli slowed her movement. She'd been confronted about the sunglasses too much. I guess it makes sense. They probably think I'm trying to hide a black eye or something. “No, it's nothing. Just . . .“

            Beth stopped and looked over at her employee. “Spill it, girl.”

            “I just don't want to look people in the eye right now. The glasses help with that, but I'll take them off.”

            “Well, that is just silly. Why would you not want to face people?”

            Juli gave her a quick rundown of the morning and her trip to the hospital. She avoided any mention of magic or the fact that she truly thought that she was the cause for her ex-boyfriend's injuries.

            “Oh, honey. You should have said no to coming in. You've put up with enough today.”

            “Nah, it's fine. Slinging alcohol to a bunch of weekend binge-drinkers will help me get my mind off of things.”

            Her mind was able to stay off anything of any significance for nearly the whole night. Occasionally one of the customer's made comments about Tony and what she'd said. The rumor mill had exaggerated the incident so much that apparently she had watched Tony scissor off his boys and blend them into a milkshake that she had forced him to drink.