Jonathan

"Since when do you need an appointment?" I scoff. "We've been friends for how long now? You only ever need to give me a call, you know that... Though if business is good, what's up? If you need more cash for-"

"Nothing like that!" she cuts in, brushing off my concerns. Her eyes trail once more to Izzy and a sadness sets in. "I feel...Izzy she's... Jonathan, it should have never happened!" Anne finally blurts out.

"I know you go above and beyond for all in this club, but you can't be responsible for everything... It wasn't your fault-"

"The fuck it wasn't!" Anne scoffs bitterly. "Izzy came in as green as spring grass, I KNEW she was inexperienced. We talked almost every time she came in about everything, all she had to go off of was some shit she read on the internet... THE INTERNET Jonathan!"

"We all start somewhere," I shrug.

The internet may not be an ideal place to start with so much wrong and conflicting information, but it's better than going in blind. In one sense it's a blessing because it makes finding communities like ours a lot easier, but it also can be a dangerous place with sketchy hookups.

"Well, what if there was another option?" Anne asks, raising a brow.

"You have my attention," I admit, taking a long sip of my scotch.

"As you know, business IS booming, to the point that we have been wait listing new applicants," Anne starts.

"Really?" I murmur in disbelief, rubbing my beard. I knew things were good, but I didn't know they were THAT good!

"Really," she grins. "I want to expand. This place was great to start, but we outgrew it our first year... Now we're bursting at the seams. I have the business plan and new location already done, ready to go over." Her green eyes sparkle with excitement as she talks.

"Done, tell me what you need and we'll make it happen," I reply with a grin of my own.

"I need my meeting," she deadpans and before I can protest she continues, "My plans are big! Executive area on top of the main club but also classes. I have some ideas for topics but I'd like to go over them with you and get your thoughts. As is we've started holding clinics on the first Tuesday of the month and last Saturday morning... they're always full."

"Sold, text me your schedule and I'll set it up-"

Our conversation is cut short by clattering as Izzy drops her tray full of drinks to the floor. Her face falls as she drops to her knees in the middle of the mess. Anne's hand on my wrist is all that stops me from going right over there. The sound of men laughing makes me see red as my mind puts two and two together.

"Let them do their jobs," Anne warns, not letting my wrist go.

"You think that's funny asshole?" Becca challenges, standing defensively between Izzy and the table of three men. "Handsy little cunts!"

"Listen here brat!" The ringleader growls, standing up and taking a step towards her. "If you want to run that smart mouth of yours, we can find a better use for it." He flashes his buddies a grin like he's made some clever joke and it pisses me off further.

Becca locks eyes with him before raking her eyes down his body and back up, slowly licking her lips. "Sorry, I'm not up for charity tonight, come back never," she smirks, pissing the man off further. When she turns her back on him to help Izzy I see him pull back his hand to strike her but Taz is there and grabs the man's arm.

The drunk man's face contorts in anger as he turns on Taz, bringing up his right fist in retaliation. He's a full head shorter than Taz who easily sidesteps the sloppy right hook, letting the man crash to the ground. If he was sober he likely would never have tried fighting Taz, but with the booze surging through his veins he keeps swinging.

Becca grabs Izzy and pulls her away from her mess just in time as the drunken man's friend jumps in, pulling the three men to the ground. Both women scurry away further and in an instant I've shaken Anne off and have a protective arm wrapped around Izzy while Anne leads Becca further away. With help from another bouncer, Taz tosses the three men out.

"Memberships revoked, black list the lot of them," Anne snaps as she looks Taz over. He looks no worse for the ware and she pats his cheek before turning back to us. "Are you okay?" she asks, locking her green eyes on Izzy who's staring at the floor.

"I'm sorry, I'm so clumsy!" Izzy whimpers as her bottom lip quivers. "I thought I had it and then..." her voice breaks. "I'll clean it up, take it out of my pay-"

"Stop," Anne orders, her voice firm, but gentle. "I didn't ask about some broken glasses, I asked if you were okay?" I feel Izzy shudder but she stops and takes a moment.

"I'm okay..." she whispers.

"Those guys were being dicks," Becca announces as she walks over with a garbage can. It took here less than a minute to clean up the mess that Izzy is so upset about.

"I just wasn't fast enough," Izzy mumbles.

"Girl they had you running like the energizer bunny! They were being asses on purpose to see how far they could push you," Becca counters, not letting Izzy beat herself up. "And you didn't drop the tray, that loud mouth tipped it on you when you moved away from his frisky hands!"

Hearing Becca explain the situation did nothing to quell my temper. Right or not, the idea of someone pawing at Izzy doesn't sit well with me at all. Hell just holding her and not being able to comfort her like I want to is driving me crazy. I can't decide if I want to hold her close and wash away all her fears or throw her over my knee for blaming herself for those asses behaviour.

"Izabella!" Anne commands in a tone that makes her flinch. "You are one of the best server's we've ever had. You are fast, give excellent service and don't make mistakes! You're lucky you aren't mine or I'd have you over my knee so fast it would make your head spin!"

Izzy's eyes shoot wide open and flicker to Anne as she shivers in my arms. I know exactly where Anne is coming from and yet to hear her talk to my Izzy like that sets my teeth on edge. She lets out a small whimper and her shoulders slump.

Anne steps closer and lifts Izzy's chin, swiping away an errant tear slipping down her cheek. "Izzy, I won't have you talking about yourself like that, do you understand? That's lies and I won't abide it!" Her tone is firm but almost loving, never in all my years have I heard Anne react so motherly to someone.

She nods and whimpers at Anne's disapproval, even now I can see how badly she yearns to please.

"Good girl," Anne coos, caressing her cheek. "You are so special Izzy, I hope you can see it one day." There's a sadness in her green eyes as she flashes us a quick smile before heading off to deal with the aftermath.

"Let's go home," I say after a minute and Izzy just quietly nods.

One asshole...That was all it took to undo her progress... Shit.