Free Helluva Luxe by Natalie Essary

shirt and fussing with his makeup. “Why do you have to fuck with her, Kendol? Why does everyone have to fuck with her?”
    Zombarbie leaned back and crossed her arms. She looked like she was enjoying the show.
    “Lily, you weren’t even here,” Kendol hissed. “I didn’t say a word to that bitch,” Then he accidentally ripped a ruffle on his Lestat shirt, and the curses really started flying. I hoped it’d be enough to turn Lily off, but she seemed familiar with his tantrums.
    Everybody’s voices were reverberating through the bar like a cheap funhouse. There was no music playing, nobody in the club but the bunch of us fighting. It was ridiculous.
    Then I looked up and noticed Zayzl was gone.
    I heard a door slam and the sound of Wolf’s boots on the metal stairs. Zayzl was nearly skipping behind him, rolling up the sleeves of his crimson Hot Topic tuxedo shirt like he’d just kicked some serious ass. He made a turn for my bar and clapped his hands together. “Who’s celebrating with me tonight?”
    Kendol followed him, of course. Since he was wearing his drink, he’d need another. Z followed Kendol because that was her thing. And Lily just stood there, staring at the ground. She looked over toward the catwalk for a beat, but then she followed Kendol, too.
    I was disappointed.
    I wanted to go after Ash myself, but I had a bar to open, for crying out loud. As it stood, I was gonna have to sweet talk a member of security into mopping wine up off the floor before the second sound check for the band. Plus, I’m no fool. I wasn’t about to leave that slimy weasel behind my bar with his brand new friends, his telltale baggies, and his false accusations.
    So there the four of them stayed until the show started. Zayzl was so proud of himself he kept giving away the liquor and stepping all over my toes, while Lily tried to repair Kendol’s soggy ego by kissing his ass. Time blinked by, and the bar filled up.
    I had just about made up my mind to start hating Lily when I saw her pitch an earring over the bar. She reached for her earlobe, glanced around, waited a second or two, and then announced her loss. Several fashion-conscious people dove to the ground. And while they were all distracted, crawling around in their fancy digs, she filched a bottle of cognac and a pack of smokes. Ash’s brand, ditto Ash’s brand. I watched her slip the loot into her bag. Only then, of course, did the missing jewelry reappear.
    “I found it,” she said.
    I took a shot. She really wasn’t that great of an actress.
    When the lights dropped and everyone migrated toward the stage, I overheard Lily pleading with Zayzl. “Let her spin the show. Unlock the door. Please, Zayzl. You know they all want her. Why are you doing this?”
    Zayzl shook his head and waved her away, following his new friends and loudly reminding Kendol that he was lined up as a guest DJ after the band. Then he took the remote mic out of his jacket pocket and announced Rasputina himself.
    It was all wrong.
    I wanted to vomit, scream, maybe slip something in his drink. I couldn’t decide, so I called the bar up the road and ordered food for Ash instead. I asked Lily if she wanted anything, but she said no. When I was on the phone, she climbed up to the catwalk.
    You can hardly see it from here. It runs the depth of the stage over the side bar. Lily always sat up there during live shows, drinking her wine and swinging her feet over the crowd. It’s where she’d go to wait for Ash, too. Or to watch her spin. It sits level with the DJ booth, and the only thing between the two is a long drop to the dance floor. She always said it was the best seat in the house.
    I don’t know how long she stayed up there watching hot chicks play cellos, but she was gone when I grabbed the extra set of keys to Ash’s room and climbed the stairs to our suites.
    I was worried what kind of shape Ash would be in. I anticipated some damage control, some cursing, at least a little broken