Lesson 16- Don't hit or hurt others, use your words to express yourself instead.

Before we start any training, Laura checks in on me.
“Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” She says sympathetically. That sympathy just pisses me off more. She’s so sweet. I don’t want her to be sweet. I don’t want any of them to be sweet, I want to be mad and I want to hate them all, but I just can’t. Because even if they’re completely messing up my life, I understand their reasons and I truly believe they’re good people. The good news is you can like someone and still be grumpy with them.
“No, I don't want to talk about it right now. I would like to work please.” I force myself to stay polite. Making everyone hate me because I’m rude to them isn’t going to make my situation any better. Laura plasters what I’m fairly sure is a fake smile onto her face, pushes her shoulders back, flicks her hair out of her face and nods firmly.
“Okay, distraction it is.” She agrees.

She spends some time teaching me how to use the cash register, she has to adjust some spell so that I can actually open it. Apparently to avoid theft it’s spelled so only certain people can open it, so as long as I close it after I’m done using it the money is fairly safe. Technically someone could threaten me and force me to open it, but as Laura puts it, at that point the money is the least of my problems. Once I decide I’m fairly confident with the cash register, Laura shows me their notice board.
“It’s actually more like a job board. People post advertisements for jobs they want done that specifically require supernaturals, or at least would be much easier with them.” She explains. I read over a few of the notices. There are requests for magic users to ward buildings, whatever that means. Some of them are for home renovations, and others are stranger. Jobs that ask people to look for strange objects, or even volunteer ‘feathers, blood samples and magic’ Those ones scare me a little but Laura insists they’re totally normal. Apparently a lot of magic users make potions and blood and stuff can be a very useful ingredient. Gross.
“The jobs are ranked in a system. Jobs on the left are easy jobs. Safe, risk free and generally don’t pay all that much. Ones towards the right are riskier and pay a lot more. They include bounties, hunting dangerous creatures or participating in really difficult spells. You don’t have to worry about that, I’ll manage the board. But if someone does come in and claim a job, there’s another spelled book behind the bar. Just take down their details and the job number and I’ll give them a call later to confirm everything is completed. Then whoever posted the job can pay them.” She explains. I resist the desire to sigh when she mentions calling them. A task I can’t do because they won’t let me have a damn phone. Ugh, whatever. I just nod that I understand and let Laura continue to show me the magic books. They ARE pretty cool. I worked a crappy retail job for a while and a book like that would have been ridiculously useful when doing awful stocktake counts.

With the boring stuff out of the way, Laura finally starts showing me how to mix a few drinks. We just stick with the basics, ones I sort of already knew but wasn’t confident enough to serve to anyone. She shows me how to measure them out correctly and she writes out a basic list of the drink prices. Apparently it’s something that she just kind of memorised so there’s no written board anywhere. My guesses last night weren’t TOO far off, but I think I’m going to continue to use the list as a rough guide rather than as a strict rule. Apparently I don’t have to worry about anyone complaining if I give out an asshole tax so I’m going to keep doing it. Who are they going to complain to? Torin? The idea is laughable since it seems like most people won’t even meet his eye. I can’t imagine anyone going up to complain that his new bartender is occasionally overcharging. Since I’m essentially going to always be the least powerful and magical person in the room, I’m going to take what little authority I have and I’m going to use it to force everyone to respect me. And if that doesn’t work I’ll channel my inner kindergarten teacher and scold them.
“We don’t often have any REALLY bad customers here. It takes a particularly insane kind of person to abuse someone who is working in a bar owned by a demon. If you DO feel threatened, run out back and get help. Torin is around most nights and Kyle is totally capable of tossing rowdy drunks out on their asses too. I can use magic to defend myself if I need to. You…” She trails off, clearly not quite sure what to say.
“I’ll be fine. Torin wouldn’t have hired me if I couldn’t handle it, right?” I say with forced cheer. I just have to believe that it’s true.

I’m not one hundred percent sure I understand what time the bar is supposed to open, I don’t think there really is a set time. Laura just glances out a window, notes that it’s starting to get dark, then goes and unlocks the doors. I suppose very few people schedule a specific time to arrive at a place like this anyway. I make a mental note to remember that this place opens ‘whenever it’s dark out.’ It also seems to be open seven days a week unless for some reason Torin decides he doesn’t want to open, or there’s no one available to work. The operating hours seem extensive and at the same time a little vague, but I suppose it doesn’t make much difference to me. I’m stuck here whether this place is open or closed.

Laura is unlocking the doors and is going around lighting all the non-electric lights when a tap on my shoulder makes me jump. I spin on the spot, flailing my arms out widely and I can feel the back of my hand make contact with something hard. My brain catches up with my reflexes and I find Torin standing behind me, poker face in place, blinking in shock as he yanks back the hand he was apparently reaching out to me. I must have whacked it hard because he tucks his hands in his pockets and takes a half step back, as much as he can in the space behind the bar. Oops, I totally didn’t mean to do that at all, but I suspect Torin is reading more into it than that because he continues to retreat towards the door behind the bar.
“Wait.” I call out to stop him. He freezes and looks back over his shoulder guiltily. Why does HE look guilty? I’m the one who hit him!
“Did you want something?” I ask blankly. Shoot, that’s not what I meant to say. I was GOING to apologise for the unexpected violence. Torin shrugs.
“Just… Good luck tonight.” He mutters and before I can so much as open my mouth to say sorry, he is gone. For such a big guy, he certainly moves fast when he wants to. I consider going after him, but someone has just arrived and Laura joins me behind the bar, a huge smile on her face.
“Ready?” She asks. I glance at the door again. It’s fine, I’ll just apologise later.
“Let’s do this.” 
Brewing Trouble
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