The bell over the door of the bakery jingled as a customer entered the shop, causing the brunette behind the counter to look up from the tray of cupcakes she was decorating. Putting down the piping bag, Emily smiled warmly and wiped her hands on her apron before greeting her customer. "Welcome to Sweet Musings. What can I get for you?"
The little girl standing with her mother examined the case filled with cookies, pies, and cupcakes as though she was making a very important decision. After several minutes, she decided on a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. The little girl smiled a gap toothed smile at Emily as she accepted the cupcake, taking a large bite as soon as it was in her hands. Her mother handed Emily the five-dollar bill to pay for the cupcake. "How's your husband?"
"He's doing better, I guess." Emily gave her friend the change back from her purchase. "He has his bad days but the doctor's say he could wake up any day now."
"I hope he does." Her friend, Serena, put one hand on Emily's. "You've been through so much."
Emily smiled at Serena and her daughter, Anne, before they bid each other good bye. It was almost time to close up the shop and head over to the hospital so she started to clean up and pack up the left overs. She took them to the homeless shelter every day and today would be no different, no matter what the occasion. The hospital was a short walk from the shelter so she made it in record time. Opening the too familiar door to her husband's room, she was welcomed by the steady beeping of machines and hissing of the respirator that kept her husband alive. Pulling off her coat and putting it on the back of the chair reserved for visitors, Emily pressed a kiss to her husband's forehead. "We did wonderful business today, sweetheart. Best day yet, actually."
She knew it was silly but she was half expecting a response from his still form. Emily continued speaking to her husband like this, talking about her day until the doctor came in. "Mrs. Callahan, may I have a word?"
"Of course." Emily fixed the blanket on her husband as the doctor spoke.
"I'll get right to the point, Mrs. Callahan. I'm afraid your husband's treatment is becoming quite expensive and I'm not sure how much longer we can continue to provide it considering your current situation. Have you put anymore thought towards….."
"Pulling him off the life support?" She finished his sentence for him. "I know I've fallen behind on the bills but he needs this care. He's not dead."
"If I were to turn off the respirator, he wouldn't be able to breathe." Dr. Smythe was sympathetic but he had other patients to care for as well. "Please allow him to move on."
Emily swallowed hard, trying to get the lump in her throat to go away. "I'll find a way to catch up on the bills. Thanks for your time."
Dr. Smythe left, having nothing left to tell her and knowing that she was too stubborn to let her husband pass on. He couldn't blame the poor girl, the car accident happened on the way to the airport after their wedding. She spent her honeymoon praying that her husband wouldn't die and while he was brain dead, she refused to let go. Her loyalty and optimism would be her undoing, as he knew she had put up her bakery as collateral to a loan so she could pay the hospital bills. But now the money was gone and all she had was an insane interest rate and a high chance of losing her bakery.
Emily had been a family friend for a long while and Dr. Smythe felt he owed it to her to do what he could for her. He fudged some paperwork to help put off the bills for a couple more weeks but after that, it was out of his hands. Emily would have to figure something out on her own.
-0-
The next morning was Sunday and Emily was always closed on Sundays. She wouldn't visit her husband until later in the afternoon, so she spent the morning looking for another job. After several hours of circling ads in the newspaper, she decided to follow up on one. It was for a bartender at Fish Mooney's nightclub and luckily, Emily had been a bartender while she was in college. The ad said to apply in person so she took a shower and cleaned up, dressing herself in a nice pair of black slacks and a pressed white button up. Rolling the sleeves up to her elbows, she straightened her hair and added a little eyeliner and mascara to her eyes before deciding she looked presentable enough for an inquiry. Her heels were worn and one of the heels were broken so she settled on black flats before heading out the door.
The nightclub wasn't open to the general public this early but she found the door was open anyway, probably for potential employees. Or maybe Fish Mooney wasn't afraid that she'd be robbed. From Emily had heard, Fish was pretty tough.
"Excuse me?" Emily stopped a waiter, who looked irritated that she spoke to him. "I'm here to see Ms. Mooney about the bartending position."
"I'll let her know you're here." The waiter looked her up and down then scoffed silently to himself. "But I wouldn't get too comfortable here."
Emily ignored his last comment and moved to stand by the bar while she waited for him to come back or for Fish to show up. She didn't have long to wait.
"Yes? What can I do for you?" Fish moved confidently and quickly for a woman in four inch heels. A large man in a suit and dark hair followed her.
"I, um, saw your ad in the paper and wanted to apply for the positon." Emily stuck her hand out towards Fish. "I'm Emily Callahan."
Fish glanced at Emily's hand then met her gaze once more before ignoring her hand completely. "Can you tend bar?"
"I used to in college."
Fish examined the girl in front of her carefully, scrutinizing every detail. Dark hair, bright blue eyes and cream colored skin with what seemed to be a very well taken care of body. Long legs and decent sized breasts meant this girl had more potential as something other than a bartender. "Are you sure that you want to be a bartender? With your looks, you'd do much better as one of my girls."
"Oh, no." Emily replied quickly, her cheeks flushing. "I-I'd much rather be a bartender. Besides, I'm married."
"Pity." Fish said, then shrugged. Talking to the man behind her, she said, "I'll give you a chance but if you let me down, I'll be very disappointed. And I don't like to be disappointed."
"Yes ma'am." Emily officially thought she was in over her head.
"Butch, get her a uniform and let her get familiar with the bar."
"Sure thing, Fish." The man, Butch, replied.
Fish apparently decided she had better things to do and walked off, presumably to resume whatever she was doing before Emily interrupted. The uniform was a red jacket with a crisp white shirt underneath and a black skirt. Butch was all business and not one for conversation but he sat at the bar with her while she practiced. "Can I get you anything, Mr. Gilzean?"
"Cross White. 20 year." Butch replied.
It took a moment to find the bottle and Emily was shaking a little as she poured the drink.
"You need to relax." Butch took the glass and raised it to his lips. Taking a drink, he swallowed before continuing. "Stay in line and do what Fish says and you won't have any problems."
"Thanks." Emily capped the bottle. "Have you worked for her long?"
"For a while, yeah." He finished his drink and she poured him another. "Haven't I seen you around before?"
"I own a bakery a few blocks down. Maybe you've seen me there before?"
"Butch, I need you do take care of something for me." Fish approached them, acknowledging Emily with only a smile.
"Sure." Butch downed the rest of his drink and slid the glass back to Emily. "See ya around, Em."
"See ya." Emily cleared the bar and prepared herself for a busy night.
-0-
By the time the nightclub closed and was cleaned up, it was well past two in the morning when Emily finally collapsed into bed. She'd have to be up in a few hours to start her day at the bakery but she'd settle for what little sleep she could get. The patrons of Fish's nightclub were great tippers; she had well over two hundred dollars in her pocket at the end of the night. If she kept it up, she'd be able to catch up on her husband's bills sooner rather than later. She felt bad that she couldn't visit her husband that day but she'd go as soon as she was able. But right now, she was going to take a nap.
A/N: Well, it's a slow start but I'm going to start at the beginning of season one and work my way through the show. This will be a Butch/OC story because I love the big lug. Please leave a review, guys! They're always appreciated.