“Yui, can I get three old fashioned and a mudslide?” Ranko slid over a ticket for table sixteen, darting back out into the sea of six-tops to take another order.
The elder sister behind the bar sighed, pulling the bottle of bourbon from her well. It broke her heart to see Ranko this way. Mei was able to cover the bruise on her face well enough with concealer, as Ranko’s usual stylist had the night off. The emotional wound had proven far more difficult to mask.
A bell rang from the back room, and Ranko rushed to the saloon doors, taking possession of a pizza from Hana. “Got it!” She darted through the packed room, dropping the pie off at a table and gathering their empty glasses. “Refills? Right away!” She sped back to the dishwasher, dropping off the empties and updating the table’s ticket for more drinks.
Ranko slid between a few patrons standing near the service bar, doing her best to give them a smile as she smoothed the deep purple skater dress she wore. “Hey, boys, thanks for coming in. What are we drinking tonight?” She pulled her notepad out from the pocket of the little black cloth half-apron around her waist.
One of the young men spoke first. “Yeah, let me do a whiskey sour. Oh, and hey, when do you go onstage tonight? Some friends of mine are coming and I’d hate for them to miss the show.”
Ranko flashed him a small, customer-service smile. “Oh, I don’t do that anymore.”
All four of the patrons turned. “What, wait?!”
Ranko nodded. “Yeah. Sorry, but you’ll have to get somebody else to fire up the karaoke machine. I’m retired.” She walked up to the service bar, dropping off the ticket for Mei. As she turned to collect another order, she felt Mei grab her elbow over the bartop. “Come here,” Mei said, and she didn’t sound amused.
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Ranko walked around the bar. “What’s up, Mei?” She watched her tables even as she stood still. Table nine would need another round soon, and thirteen was leaving; their dishes would need to be cleared.
“What in the hell do you mean you don’t sing anymore?”
Ranko shook her head sadly. “Just what I said. I’m done. I had my chance, it was fun, but it’s over now. I’m just a waitress, so I’m going to be the best damn waitress I can.”
Mei sputtered, throwing up her hands. “But what are we supposed to do if you don’t sing? It’s the reason people come!”
Ranko shrugged. “They came before I got up there, and they’ll come after. It’ll be fine.”
The bartender with the blue pigtails rolled her eyes. “It’s not that simple. The genie’s out of the bottle now.”
“Maybe,” Ranko said quietly. “But she’s used up her last wish. I gotta go, Mei. My tables need stuff.” She hustled into the middle of the room without giving her sister a chance to respond.
Sensing a lull in traffic at the bar, Yui slid over to Mei’s corner of the counter. “Any luck?”
Mei shook her head sadly. “She won’t do it.”
The blonde frowned sadly. “Gods, I hate this for her. That piece of shit! I wish I could go down there and clobber him with a stool. She was just starting to come out of her shell after the thing before the Christmas party, too.” Mei cringed. She remembered that night all too well.
Four people at the table in the back stood, having not yet placed an order. As Ranko was busy with a large order at the other end of the bar, Mei approached them. “Are you folks okay? We’re so sorry there’s been a little bit of a wait, but we’ll be right with you, I promise.”
One of the women, a tall, slender blonde, scoffed a bit. “That’s not the issue. We thought there was supposed to be a show here on Monday nights.”
Mei nodded. “Yeah, there is. Our singer’s just… not feeling well tonight.”
“Well, then I guess neither are we. Have a great night,” the woman said, and the quartet headed for the door.