True North
By Jaclyn Parker

"Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true"
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
************************************************************************

"Ma'am, do you want this set up over here or in the right wing?" A voice called out.

"Ms. Tenney, we can't find the other four bottles of Absolut Citron. Are you sure the case got delivered?"

"Hey, Carly, I think this phone call is for you!"

Carly stood in the middle of the floor at Metro and covered her face with her hands, taking a deep breath. Dropping them she braced herself and pasted a smile on her face.

"Put the DJ set up over in the right wing. There's more room and better acoustic levels." She told Andy, one of the tech guys, who saluted her back.

Turning she looked at Jake, Mimi, and Tommy, the trio of trick bartenders she had hired for the main bar tonight.

"All of the extra bottles that you requested are under the bar along with the shakers and lighters, ready to go. The rest of the Citron is in the back, sharing the box of the leftover Absolut Raspberri. If you need something tonight, we've hired runners to grab it for you."

They all shot her thumbs up signs and then started to practice their routines. Carly smiled and then moved to where Jessica, the front hostess, stood with the phone hanging in her hand. Carly rolled her eyes at the friendly college senior who laughed before moving away to triple check the VIP section for Parker's celebration tonight.

"Hello, this Carly Tenney."

"Well, hello Carly Tenney. How crazy has it been today?" Lily's voice came over the line and Carly laughed.

"Crazy? Try completely insane!" Carly said, leaning on the bar as she talked to her friend.

"You want insane? You coordinate eight pre-teenaged girls under one roof without someone throwing a mini tantrum about not wanting someone else to come over." Lily said and Carly could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

"Remind me again to thank Emma for volunteering the farm for the sleepover tonight. It was the only way I could get Sage to stop being so upset about not coming to Parker's birthday. I'm already pushing it by letting J.J. in tonight." Carly sighed, her anxiety level spiking at the memory of how many liability forms she had to fill out in order to hold Parker's party at Metro tonight.

"Well, besides the fact that you are going to have bouncers outside the VIP section monitoring their coming and going, half of Metro tonight will be Oakdale PD. No one is going to be sneaking alcohol. Teens are dumb sometimes, but not that dumb." Lily said then chuckled. "As for Emma, I love her dearly, but part of me is afraid that when we come home after tonight we'll find her huddled in the corner talking to herself."

"Oh, we are going to owe her big." Carly laughed loudly and shook her head.

"So are you what time are you heading home to get ready?" Lily asked.

"I'm not. I don't have the time so I brought my stuff here to change. Henry and I might not always see eye to eye but bless that little man's heart for insisting we install a full bath between our offices." Carly said with a wry smile on her face. "It helps on the nights that we find ourselves running around like lunatics."

"Like tonight?" Lily said and passed Ethan a bowl of fruit as he came into the kitchen. Shooing him out again to watch his Disney movie, she turned her attention back to the phone.

"Exactly." Carly answered. "Thankfully Jack's going to drop off Sage at the farm, then bring Parker and J.J. here around 8. And I think Lee's coming with Mattie around the same time but the rest of the kids shouldn't be here until about 8:30."

"Hmmm, how's that going by the way?" Lily said, leaning forward on her kitchen counter.

"Me and Lee?" Carly asked smoothly.

"Well, since there really isn't a 'you and Lee', then no that's not what I meant." Lily responded sarcastically.

Carly sighed and wrapped one of her curls around her finger. "Jack and I have been getting along…okay."

"Just okay?" Lily prodded, propping her chin in her hand as she sat down at the kitchen table. "I thought after he drove you all home after Christmas dinner that maybe…"

"No, Lily, I told you. All he did was drive us home and say goodbye. He wouldn't even come in for coffee. I mean, I guess I know that things aren't going to immediately go back to the way they were and at least we're talking again. I just have to give him time, you know?"

"No, I don't know. What I do know is that you should be telling Jack the truth about how you really feel about him." Lily said firmly.

"Lily, please don't start. It's bad enough that I get it from Lee every other minute." Carly sighed.

"Well, what about that, Carly? Did it ever occur to you that maybe you being linked to him romantically, isn't fair to Lee? That maybe he would like to start dating someone for real?" Lily asked and rolled her eyes when Carly scoffed at her words.

"Puh-leez. You and I both know that there isn't one woman in Oakdale that is good enough for him." Carly said. "Besides, he's way too busy raising Mattie and adjusting to the new job."

"Oh, I heard about that! It's a pretty big honor to be here for such a short time and be offered the new Junior Chief of Medicine position. Tell him I said congrats." Lily said sincerely.

"You can tell him yourself tonight. I'm sure he'd appreciate it." Carly said and then frowned when a movement caught her eye. "Hold on one second, Lily."

Carly covered the mouth piece with one hand and waved with the phone to catch the attention of the workers who were traipsing in and out of the club as they unloaded the alcohol delivery truck.

"Whoa guys! The smaller bar on the platform of the VIP section is to be stocked with soda, water, and candy only. No alcohol of any kind. If I see one bottle even look like it's headed in that direction again, you're out of here! Jessica, show them to the bar near stage right and then call to check on the rest of the bartenders arrival times. You can use my office line. "

The four guys looked down at the cases of liquor in their hands and back to the blonde yelling at them. They had been told about the VIP bar restrictions in the beginning but since it was New Year's Eve they had assumed that someone had been told wrong. They knew they sure as hell wouldn't make that assumption again as they all turned and followed the young hostess to the side bar closest to the stage.

Carly shook her head and then took her hand off the mouth of the phone. "I'm sorry, Lily."

"No, you know what? I still have a million things to do here before I take Faith to her own sleepover and then drop Natalie and Ethan off at the farm. So I'm going to let you go do your club owner thing and I'll see in a few hours okay?"

"Yep, can't wait." Carly said, smiling.

"I can't wait to see Jack's face when he gets a look at you in your New Year's Eve outfit." Lily said and laughed at Carly's squeak on the other end.

"You are impossible, you know that?" Carly said, but couldn't help but laugh. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!" Lily said echoing her laughter.

Carly shook her head as she hung up the phone, but the grin that she wore for the rest of the day proved that she wasn't immune to her friend's words.