It was still early in the evening when Carol emerged from the back office at Al’s. She’d spent most of the last hour or so poking at the books to see where they stood. Business was good; it generally had been since she’d inherited the bar, and even before then, Alex hadn’t been struggling. Lena still kept up with the numbers for her (in part, Carol was sure, because Kara made puppy eyes at her), and that was how Carol had come to this particular decision.
She needed a manager.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t hands-on or willing. Since Alex had left, she’d been involved at Al’s regularly, and with perfect timing – the manager the younger Danvers had put in place had left for some sort of corporate job, so Carol slotted right into place. Not only did she manage, but she acted as bouncer, bartender, busser, whatever was necessary when it was needed. Over time, the fill-ins had become less frequent. The staff was mostly locals (which was honestly the best move for them) with a handful of Outlanders sprinkled in, too, and they had everything covered.
As much as she loved Al’s, she was ready to step back. Just a little. She and Emmeline were figuring out their next steps forward as a family, and that meant she needed to be more hands-off. For now, not forever.
Thankfully, she had the perfect candidate in mind.
Emily was already behind the bar when she stepped out of her office. Not-at-all shockingly, a purple-clad brunette was perched on one of the barstools across from her, looking absolutely lovestruck with a strawberry daiquiri in her hand as she chattered away. Carol came up beside her and clapped a hand across her back.
“Are you distracting my bartender, Bishop?”
Kate coughed – the strength, Carol, why – and brushed her off with a scoff. “I was just sitting here,” she huffed. “You shouldn’t have such hot bartenders if that’s a problem, Danvers.”
Carol grinned and turned her attention to Emily. “Speaking of, got a minute to spare while it’s still quiet? I want to talk to you.”
At the sound of Carol’s voice, Emily glanced up from the inventory sheet she’d been working on. It was a slow evening, so she’d been taking advantage of the downtime to get ahead of things while Kate had been keeping her company. Her gaze drifted from her boss, to her girlfriend, then back again as she set aside her clipboard. “Yeah, of course.” I want to talk to you could have caused a nervous flurry of emotions, but Emily was more curious than anything else. Nothing about Carol’s demeanor indicated she wanted to talk about anything negative.
She turned to look at Kate again. “If anyone comes in, just give a shout, okay? And try to limit how many cherries you steal.” She gave her girlfriend a cheeky grin, then turned back to Carol. “Lead the way, boss.”
“No promises,” Kate replied, sending a smile Emily’s way as she strolled off with Carol.
When they reached the office, Carol closed the door behind them, then leaned against the front of the desk. She waved for Emily to sit down if she liked but didn’t act to enforce it. She figured this would be a quick conversation either way.
“So, things are shifting for us at home,” was how she began. She picked up a paperweight beside her – nth metal, courtesy of L-Corp – and pushed her thumbs against one of the block’s sides. “Emme and I have some plans in the works, and I think it’s best for me to cut back on the day-to-day management around here. You’ve been working here a while now. Any intention of quitting soon?”
Em wasted no time in dropping down into the chair. Being on her feet all night meant she was more than happy to sit for a few precious minutes when given the chance. As she settled herself, she listened to Carol attentively. She didn’t need to think much before answering. “Nope, I’m happy here. No plans on leaving.” Did she want to be a bartender forever? Not really. But Carol was a great boss, and the work was something she was good at. She made good money, and it was rarely boring.
“Good.” Carol smiled her approval. Personally, she thought Emily was too good to be a bartender – or even a bar manager – for too long. She was smart enough to do more, and Carol had encouraged her to in her off time before. But as long as she was comfortable and, really, already handling tasks a manager would handle, then she was happy to keep her around.
“What do you say about taking over as manager? Lena will still handle the books, I’ll still be around if you need a hand and if there are any major incidents to take care of, but you’d get the fun stuff. Hiring, scheduling, more training. What do you think?”
Having suspected this might be the direction Carol was heading, Emily smiled brightly at the offer. “As if I could say no to that face,” she teased. She waited just long enough for Carol to give her a scoff before she grinned. “Of course, I’d be happy to take that on. I appreciate your trust in me.”
The scoff was all fondness, as was the shake of her head that followed. “I couldn’t ask for anyone better,” Carol said. “You’ve come a long way working with substances that are completely unfamiliar to you, and you’ve taken on a load of responsibilities you never needed to without any prompting. Waiting this long to make you a manager is almost a failure on my part.”
“So does that mean I get a bonus to make up for your failure?” Emily grinned, then shook her head to let Carol know she was teasing.
“You get a substantial pay raise,” Carol chuckled. “I’m not Scrooge, kid.” She reached out and offered her hand to shake. “What do you say to starting next week? Gives your needy girlfriend some time to adjust to more of your time being taken up.”
Emily popped up and out of her seat to accept Carol’s offered hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Boss. I’ll ply Kate with extra cherries to try and soften her up a bit.”
“Those cherries come out of your raise,” Carol joked. She gave Emily’s hand a soft squeeze. “But, in all seriousness, I’m happy to have you around. Dealing with aliens, and minotaurs, and goblins, and whoever the hell else shows up here on a nightly basis isn’t for the faint of heart.”
Emily’s expression softened somewhat at that. “Honestly, I’ve learned that 99% of them aren’t half so scary or threatening as some of the humans I had to deal with back home. It’s been good for me here, and I’m glad you hired me.”
Carol couldn’t argue there. She’d dealt with more than her share of scary aliens and otherworldly creatures, but humans could be the downright scariest more often than most liked to acknowledge. She was glad Emily had gotten a reprieve from that in Vallo; luckily, falling in with Kate had gotten her pulled into a protective group, and that could only help.
“Me too.” She smiled and released Emily’s hand, snatching up her nth metal cube again. “Alright, now get back out there, tell Bishop the good news. I’ll check in with you in a bit.”
“Captain.” Emily gave Carol a wide grin and a salute as a farewell, then headed through the office door and back out into the bar.
Kate was occupying herself by looking at her phone, so Emily took the opportunity to sneak up beside her. She put her hands on Kate’s shoulders and quickly spun her around on the barstool so that they were facing one another, then she pulled her girlfriend in for a celebratory kiss. She could still taste the strawberry daiquiri on Kate’s lips.
Kate startled, but there was no way she was passing that kiss up. The phone dropped behind her on the bar and her hands went to Emily’s hips, kissing her until she needed breath in her lungs again.
“I guess that means Carol didn’t give you a stern talking-to?”
Emily snickered a little and shook her head no. “Guess who just got promoted to Manager?” Her eyes were bright, but still carefully watched Kate’s expression to gauge her reaction.
Kate’s eyes went wide and she bounced to her feet, a big grin blooming across her face. “Baby. Really? That’s so great! Oh my god! You’re gonna be so good, I know it!”
As soon as Kate jumped off of that stool, Emily felt any remaining hesitation melt away. There was nothing but delight and anticipation left as she wrapped Kate up into a full body hug. “Thank you! I’m really excited about it. And I promise that whatever happens with my schedule, we’ll still spend as much time together as possible.”
“Em, don’t worry about me,” Kate chastised her gently. She wasn’t even a little bit worried about that right now. They had always been good at balancing their relationship with their jobs and everything else in their lives, and she didn’t foresee that changing now. Maybe she’d miss her a little more on late nights, but she could deal with that. “You’re gonna come home to me, that’s all that matters.”
Emily might have argued that she would always worry about Kate, but at that last sentiment, she absolutely melted and couldn’t do anything else but murmur a sweet “I love you so much,” before she pulled her girlfriend in for another kiss.
“I love you too,” Kate smiled into the kiss and rubbed her hands up and down Emily’s back. “Congratulations, baby. I’m so proud of you.”