Working for the Weekend [Cammie]

[Deleted]

everyone’s lookin’ at you

everyone’s wonderin’ will you come out tonight

everyone’s tryin’ to get it right, get it right

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When Lina and Sal were teenagers, they had their first drinks of hard liquor together. Of course, both girls had been drinking wine since they were at least 10 – noble family events demanded such customs – but neither had ever been drunk and especially not on vodka tonics. Lina convinced Marie to buy her the Absolut Vodka and Marie made Lina swear that their parents would never know. While Sal kicked all the other girls out of her dormitory room, Lina went out and bought “chasers.” For the night, the girls had their own personal party. They took turns being bartenders and pouring drinks for each other, dancing, and hotting/hollering out the dorm room windows. The next morning, they faced the consequences. Both girls spent the day in designer sunglasses and vomited in between classes. They vowed never to get drunk again, which of course, was a promise they broke repeatedly.

Now, however, the girls knew how to nurse their hangovers. Coffee, showers, water, lots of aspirin, and apparently pickle juice according to some Russian Durmstrang bloke that was visiting his little sister at Beauxbatons. Though Lina had made sure to schedule their first girls’ night out two days before her first night on the job, she was still feeling the effects of their crazy night more than 24 hours later. After following all the traditional methods, Lina decided to go with the Russian guy’s idea. Her siblings had just finished off a jar of kosher pickles and now, just an hour before her shift, Lina sat at the kitchen table, staring down a cup of pickle juice. This was going to be seriously unpleasant. She had never been a big fan of salty food and this just took the cake. But, there was no way she could go into her first day of work hungover. She was sure that the manager had seen a hungover worker and customer more than enough times. Lina couldn’t get fired.

It was so strange to think that just a few years ago, Lina was laughing at the prospect of having a working man’s job. She used to be so tolerant of those less fortunate, but after she graduated Beauxbatons, she was the Queen Bee and knew it. Her sister was “Marie Antoinette” at school and her sister, “Alina Antoinette” took over her reign. It got to her head. Lina thought she would be set financially for life, and all she had to focus on was pursuing research on Magical Creatures, maybe teaching at Beauxbatons for fun, and starting a family with another noble wizard. Now, she worried about her rent and how her siblings were going to pay for groceries. Already Lina had informed Cammie that she would be available to work whenever she possibly needed her. After tonight, Lina hoped to be scheduled at least every other day, if not every day. She badly needed the money, as sad it was to admit.

After thinking about her rent and the missing groceries in their refridgerator some more, Lina swallowed air and possibly her pride, and picked up the cup. Taking another shaky breath, she downed the liquid. It burned and dried her throat immediately. She started coughing as she managed to swallow the last drop. Still coughing and tearing, she ran to the sink and tilted her head to drink as much tap water as she possibly could to satisfy her thirst and rid herself of the taste. It was horribly unpleasant, but Lina had to admit that she was already starting to feel better. The queasy feeling had subsided and her head was no longer pounding. This was certainly an improvement.

She changed into a neutral outfit and put on her coat, drinking some more water and snacking on some more vegetables to help her detox. When she was done eating, she apparated to the Purgatory and stood in front of it for a moment, pondering her entrance. It would certainly make a good impression if she was early, but nearly an hour early? How would that look? Too eager and too desperate? Lina quieted the voice in her head and decided it was best to come in early in case there was any more training she had to go through or if Cammie needed her to sign any papers. It was 9 pm so it was still relatively empty. In just about an hour, though, Lina knew that the students and townies would pile into the bar/club and start their Friday nights. Lina would have her chance to join them; for now, she had to make and serve drinks and hope for very, very large tips.

She walked up to the bar and caught the current bartender’s eye. He walked over to her and gave her a questioning glance. “I’m here for Cammie,” Lina said, then blurted out, “I’m one of the new bartenders.” The bartender smirked and told her to sit and waite a minute. Lina mentally scolded herself for being so… blunt? So unconfident? It was unlike her to be nervous for anything, especially a job she had already scored.

song/poem lyrics: Working for the Weekend by Loverboy
outfit: Black dress pants, black kitten heels, black long-sleeve scoop necked blouse
tag: Cammie
word count: 851
notes: Sorry this took so long! I finished this while I was flying on a plane so it’s a bit short, too. Forgive me!

[Cammie Wagner]

“All work and no play makes Cammie a very droll girl...” It seemed like that was all that she had been doing lately, working. With no real reason for it. Cammie had enough employees to be able to take time off, vacation, do whatever it was that she wanted to do and still have her business run without her for as long as needed. The only thing that she had even been doing as of late besides maintenance was looking for contractors to finish the remodel of her upstairs cafe. “I'm simply not built for this...” pushing herself into a seated position on her bent legs she sighed, pushing the stray hair out of her face. What was she cleaning for? Was this really what had become of her life? “Not. Happening.” not again anyway. Quickly shoving the negative thought away she pushed herself onto her hands and knees until she was kneeling on the new tile. This was what she paid people for. Why on earth was she doing it. Besides, she had a new girl starting tonight. To replace her last bar girl, Eden. That was just what she got for hiring students. Lesson learned. She had thought, that since she had started this place whenever she was still a student, that they might have the same work ethic that she did...but apparently not. Her hands pushed off the floor until she was standing. “An even better question, is why you had to do this all by hand...” she could have done it by magic, and likely wielded the exact same results. She must be far more bored than she had originally thought. Perhaps old habits really just died that hard. Smoothing the front of her shirt back down over her pressed jeans she padded over the now sparkling floor to the checkout covered in a fancy new tell, newly printed menus resting in a pile next to her shoes. One at a time, she lifted her legs and slid the heels over her bare feet, finishing the adjustment of her outfit. This place was really coming together, it should be ready to open in just a month or so. The only thing left to update was the kitchen. The parts were on their way and after they were installed and inspected, Cammie could begin the hiring process to fill Heaven again. Whenever it had been a brunch hot spot before, it was alright, but these modifications, the whole remodel was going to really take everything to the next level. Something that she had to be very proud of.

She was losing the natural light anyway. Heels clicking on the polished floor she turned into her office, since this was the only floor that she had with enough extra space to accommodate a spare room she placed her purse back inside of her desk and locked the drawer, just in case. Pushing her earrings back through her ears, and casting a simple charm to restore her hair and make up to perfection she tucked her wand into the discreet holder strapped to her calf and headed down into her pub. It was a good thing that she had taken over this place whenever she had. Oh, Marlon had done a very good job at keeping it afloat, but he tended to have a better head for numbers and profitability whereas she liked being around the people. For the most part. The only seats filled in the bar were those of the regulars. The ones who tended to drink the house ale and wile away the hours telling anybody who would listen about their failures in life. The downers, the career drinkers. The regulars.  Soon enough though, the lines would start to form. She knew that downstairs, her dancers were warming up, Warren would be checking over the guest list for the evening. Granted, the club tended to open a little later than the rest of the street, but it was always packed. Descending the little used staircase into the main part of her pub   she could feel the eyes on her. Cammie knew that she was an attractive woman, but given that she was one of the most stunning that half of her 'regulars' could set eyes upon and not get arrested, made her feel just a little better. At least – she was. A small pang of curiosity struck her as she spotted another blonde woman sitting at a table close to the bar, until she turned around. Of course, Alina. If Cammie had thought that she had looked familiar during the interview, seeing her all dressed in black made her look even more familiar. Though, she couldn't quite place how she knew. Cammie's brow furrowed for a moment before she stepped closer to the other woman, plastering a smile onto her face as she reached out and grabbed one of Alina's hands in both of her own. “Alina, right on time I see.”

Normally, on days that Cammie was planning on being behind the bar for any length of time, she would have dressed a little more casually. At the very least in something that she didn't mind having beer spilled on. Today, wasn't a special occasion but she did like to establish a presence. Releasing the girls hand while heading behind the bar her hand reached out to grab the back of Bernard's shirt, pulling him out of the way. She didn't even know how long the man had been working here, but it was far too long. He was a wonderful employee, but horrible with people. “Have you ever worked a bar before?” Might as well spend the slow time getting to know her a little bit more.


Words: 955
Tags: Alina <3
Wearing: link