“I guess. I don’t know why I’m even thinking about it. We’re having a good time, just the way I like it.”
“Seems to me you want something more than a good time. I’m just wondering if Stefan March is the right man for that. Leopards don’t change their spots, honey.”
I took another sip of wine. “Maybe they were just tigers wearing a leopard coat and they really have tiger stripes.”
Carrie wrinkled her nose. It’s true that statement had sounded better coming from Stefan than it did from me.
“I don’t know what the hell that means, but it sounds like bullshit. Leopards are leopards. Period. They don’t walk around wearing other animals’ coats. I think the wine has gotten to you, Shay.”
“Whatever. You’re right. We’re just two people having a good time while we can, and when I leave for Copenhagen, we’ll go back to our separate lives the way they used to be.”
“Exactly! Carpe diem is what I say. As long as you’re having a good time and no one has any expectations, it’s all good.”
Then why did I feel like shit thinking about him going back to his life the way it used to be?
I got to work by seven, but there was no sign of Stefan in the club or his office. Nobody seemed to know where he was. Lola stood behind the front bar staring at his office door, as if that would make him suddenly materialize, but after the third person knocked and found it empty, she turned to me with a look like I knew something about where he was and was keeping it secret.
“Do you think everything’s all right? Stefan’s always here for the beginning of the night. What should we do?” she asked, her blue eyes wide with concern.
“You’re head bartender. I guess if in the event the owner can’t fulfill his duties, it falls to the runner up to step in.”
A look of complete confusion crossed Lola’s face, and I guessed she didn’t get my reference to the Miss America rules. Trying a more direct approach, I said, “Since you’re the head bartender, I think you can go ahead and assign people tonight. If Stefan wants to change them when he gets here, he will.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to get in trouble. I just don’t understand, though. My father told me he saw him just a few hours ago. Where could he be?”
I had no idea what Lola was talking about with her father, but the fact remained that Stefan was nowhere to be found and the club would be open in just under an hour. Members didn’t need to see bartenders and servers just wandering around because nobody had told them where to go.
“If you don’t want to do it, maybe someone should go back and see if Cassian is around.”
That suggestion made a look of terror settle into Lola’s eyes. “I’ve never spoken to him since that first day. I don’t know him well enough.”
“I can do it, if you don’t want to tell everyone where to go and don’t want to ask him.”
“Oh, would you?”
I shrugged, confused by her fear of Stefan’s brother. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”
Cassian’s office door was open a crack, so I stuck my head in and saw him working on his laptop. Quietly, I knocked and said, “Sorry to bother you, but we’ve got a little issue out in the club.”
He looked up and smiled, his piercing blue eyes focusing on me. “What’s up?”
“Stefan’s not here, and Lola doesn’t feel comfortable telling everyone where to go tonight.”
“Not here? He came back with me after we got my mother settled in.”
“Maybe he got sick,” I offered, feeling strange about coming up with excuses for Stefan.
“He didn’t text you and tell you he’d be late?” Cassian asked, adding, “He told me you two are dating, so I just figured if he didn’t tell one of us, he would have told you.”
“No. The last time I heard from him was when he told me he was going with you to the hospital. I just figured I’d see him here tonight.”
“Do me a favor and text him now. He’ll answer you faster than he’ll answer me,” Cassian said with a chuckle.
Taking my phone out, I typed in Hey, where are you? Lola doesn’t know what to do without some direction here. LOL
Cassian and I waited for a few minutes, joking about Stefan likely losing track of time, but he didn’t reply to my text. I tried again and still nothing.
“Let me try, although if he’s not answering you, he’s likely in the shower or something.” Cassian texted him and then again five minutes later and got no answer either.
“I’ll keep trying to get a hold of him, but let me make sure everyone knows where they should go at least.”
I smiled, pretending not to be worried, but Stefan’s absence from the club and his not answering texts made me concerned. Cassian gave everyone their assignments for the night, and as he left the club to walk back to his office, he pulled me aside.
“Olivia and I have a benefit to attend tonight, but I’ll keep trying him until we leave. If I get him, I’ll let you know. Olivia has your number, right?”
I nodded and quietly said, “Okay. I’ll keep trying too. I’m sure everything’s okay. It’s Stefan. He lives for this place.”
Cassian seemed relieved by what I said, but as he walked away, I couldn’t help feel uneasy. Something was wrong.
By two o’clock, I couldn’t wait to get to Stefan’s place. Even though I’d continued to text him all night, I’d never gotten a reply. Cassian had messaged me right after midnight to say there was no need to worry, but he’d given no other details. But just hearing that there was no need to worry while Stefan refused to answer my texts told me there was every reason to be worried.
I knocked on his door and hoped he’d even answer, convinced by that time that everything I’d feared since the beginning with him had finally happened. I’d let myself trust him, even the tiny amount I’d allowed, and now he’d done something and couldn’t face me.
The door opened and I saw him standing there looking like I’d never seen him before. He clung to the door like a dying man to a life line, as if the door held him up. His hair, usually playfully tousled, looked a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Can I come in?”
He nodded and took a step back to allow me through, but his legs gave out and he slid to the floor still holding on to the door. Laughing wildly, he slammed the door and sat there in the spot where he landed.