Berries and Greed

I laughed, feeling myself loosening up a little thanks to her friendliness. But then she sat back and gave me another shrewd look.

“What experience do you have?” she asked, voice gentling. “Have you worked in a bar before?”

I licked my lips. “No, but I have… I did actually make wine. Before.”

Her eyes flared with intrigue. “You made it? Cool. Well, we serve more than wine here. Not too many cocktails, but you’d need to learn how to mix drinks. But tending bar is… Once you get the hang of it, it comes easily. The main issue is dealing with drunk folk.”

“I’d be good at that,” I said eagerly. “I’m good at standing up for myself without being rude. I don’t think that’d be a problem.”

Her mouth curved into a lopsided smile. “Well that’s good. But… I can’t really consider you for the job without any kind of resumé or anything. I’m sorry.”

My shoulders sagged in devastation. I’d just started feeling a little bit hopeful, but she was right. Of course she was. I was just some stranger who’d walked in off the street.

I could feel Mani watching me, but my eyes were burning so I kept my gaze lowered. I hadn’t even come out looking for a job today, but now, the thought of going back home and telling Greid that I’d tried and failed was humiliating. And heartbreaking.

Why didn’t I take him up on his offer to write a resumé? It would’ve helped a little. It would have at least given me a shot, and not made me seem like a total idiot.

“Tell you what.” At the sound of Mani’s voice, I blinked fast and lifted my head to look at her. She smiled. “If you can give me a legit reference that I can call right now—someone to vouch for you—maybe we could do a trial run. Get you in here during a quiet shift to see how it goes.”

My breath caught, and my voice was pathetically hopeful as I asked, “Really?”

Mani gave me a kind smile. “Sure. I’ve only just put that ad up, and I’d like to get someone in as soon as possible.”

Oh my god, oh my god. I fumbled for my phone, hands trembling as I quickly swiped to my contacts. I only had two in there—Greid, and Violet’s office number. But this was something I could actually do. Violet could honestly vouch for me. And I wasn’t worried about Mani finding out about the cult—not overly, anyway. I knew Violet always answered her phone with, “Orderly Winemakers, how can I help?” because the only reason anyone called the cult was for the wine business.

Mani leaned over the bar to grab a tiny notepad and a pen, and I quickly jotted down Violet’s name and number, as well as Orderly Winemakers. When I slid it back over to her, she stared down at it for a second.

“Huh.” Her gaze flicked over to me. “We actually stock that wine. They make nightberry wine as well, right?”

My gut clenched with terror, but I managed a nod. Did she know about the cult? Would it make her take her offer back? Would she call me a freak and tell me to get away from her because she was a demiurgus? I couldn’t tell if she knew or not, her face purposefully blank as she slid out of her seat.

“Okay, let me go make the call.” She watched me carefully for a few seconds. “Do you want a drink while you wait?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you.” I managed a tiny smile as I worried the hem of my coat.

She gave me a nod and walked around the bar, vanishing through a door and closing it behind her. I was sweating but I burrowed deeper into my coat. The scent of Greid’s shade smoke clung to the fur trim, and I inhaled it to try and stay calm.

After a few minutes, I pulled out my phone and tapped onto my conversation with Greid. Fingers poised over the keyboard, I considered telling him what I was doing right this second. But if this didn’t go well, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to bear failing at my first try. I knew it was normal—I knew most people had to apply for job after job after job before they landed one—but I didn’t want Greid to feel sorry for me.

I wanted confident Beryl back. I wanted to be as brave as Greid thought I was.

Taking a deep breath, I instead typed, How’s work going?

Then I sat staring at my screen, waiting for him to reply and trying to distract myself from what was possibly being said over the phone in the next room. I knew Violet would sing my praises, but if Mani had some suspicions about Orderly Winemakers and she asked, Violet wouldn’t be able to lie. She couldn’t exactly lie about the business and its origins to one of its customers.

My pulse leapt when three dots appeared. A few seconds later, a message from Greid came through.

Boring. This client has terrible taste but also really fucking loves tiny, fiddly details.

I smiled, my breaths calming a little as I pictured Greid hunched over his workbench in his big magnifying glasses.

Are you wearing your owl glasses? I typed back.