Lizbeth was happy for the company at the table. Though they didn’t close down during the day, the hours following their lunch time rush were typically so slow that they might as well have been. A person, maybe two, might wander in, but they rarely needed anything and were often gone soon after they got there. Had she been alone, she might have reached into her apron pocket to start straightening and counting her tips to see if it had indeed been a good day, but she refrained. Lizbeth had learned a while back that it was never smart to count your money in front of strangers. Once they saw what you made, they were more likely to steal from you when they could. She doubted that Drina was the thieving type, so in this instance, her desire to keep the exact amount to herself was out of politeness. It would have been rude to show off how much she had made if the other woman had done poorly. She felt at the lump of cash through the fabric, estimating the amount by the size of the bulge: it had indeed been a good day. “Yeah,” she answered as she went back to refilling the sugars. “I should have enough to cover at least one bill.” Lizbeth laughed at the joke that was more accurate than anything else. The truth was that she rarely paid attention to the tips she made at The Golden Dragon. She was tipped significantly more at Heme and being a blood doll made sure that she and Milo would always have a roof over their heads. What she made in tips from the Chinese buffet was hers and hers alone; so long as she made enough to buy small treats for herself or Melody that was all that mattered. Everything else, as usual, went straight into Milo’s pocket. “What about you?”
“So,” Lizbeth began as she stuffed another packet of Sweet’N Low into the container. “Got any plans tonight for after work?” It was probably a more forward question given each of their desire to keep things to themselves, but they could only last so long working together without getting to know a little about each other. “It’s hard for me to do much of anything when I get home,” she offered so that Drina wouldn’t feel quite so put on the spot. “I’ll be lucky if I have enough energy to crawl into the tub for a bath, let alone go out anywhere.” At least, Lizbeth didn’t have any plans for going out. She was off work for the night from Heme, and Liliya had not called her. She was still trying to decide how that made her feel: whether she was relived to have the night off or worried she would never hear from the vampire again.