Lesson 91- It’s not nice to make people worry.

Dealing with the vampires isn’t nearly as entertaining as I expect it to be, but it IS lucrative. The unimpressed vampires quickly change their tune once they try the iron tonic infused drinks, then suddenly all five of them are downing alcohol like nobody’s business and tipping like they’re trying to balance out some seriously bad karma. I don’t even need to serve other customers if I don’t want to. I’m making enough off of these vampires to more than make up for it. So I take care of them and Laura takes care of everyone else, except for Eli who is currently pestering Torin into demonstrating his skills at making various cocktails and trying to convince him that we should have a cat-themed drink and name it after Crash. I can’t say I disagree. Overall, the night is loud, busy, chaotic and really a lot of fun. By the time we close up I am dead tired, but really happy with how the night went. I wouldn’t say Torin and Eli are FRIENDS exactly, more like frenemies. They were sort of bickering all night, or Eli was bickering while Torin was just… Responding. Either way, they were interacting in a mostly positive manner and I’m totally thrilled by it. Torin and I spend an hour unpacking the rest of the cat stuff, food, toys, worming tablets, brushes, a cute little black collar with tiny silver crystals on it, cleaning supplies specifically to deal with pets and odours. Honestly he thought of everything. Once everything is set up and Crash is looking handsome in his new collar, Torin helps me feed all the rubbish to Jane then walks me to my bedroom door.
“I’m super proud of how well you did tonight.” I compliment him. Torin frowns.
“I’m not sure what you mean.” He admits. I yawn, rubbing at my tired eyes.
“Talking to Eli, you did really well. I think you’re well on your way to making another friend.” I inform him. Torin scrunches up his face in disgust.
“He is NOT my friend.” He argues and I smile.
“Sure he isn’t.” I agree easily.
“I’m still proud of you though.” I add, reaching out and patting his arm. Torin catches my hand and squeezes it gently.
“Thanks.” He says reluctantly. I wait for him to say something or do something else, but he just stands there, holding my hand and giving me a small smile. After a minute he abruptly lets go and steps back.
“You’re tired. Get some sleep, I’ll see you later.” He says softly. He leans down and carefully strokes Crash’s little head before leaving, locking the back door behind him. Confused and a little conflicted about my increasingly confusing feelings for Torin, I scoop Crash up and head straight to bed. I fall asleep to the soothing feeling of his vibrating purrs against my chest.

When I wake up, I shower, dress, feed Crash and generally get ready for the evening. Torin arrives and so does Kyle who immediately gets to work in the kitchen and soon enough Torin and I are sitting in his office having dinner. We finish eating and I take the dishes back out to the kitchen and notice an extra plate sitting on the bench.
“Is Laura not here yet?” I ask curiously. I don’t think she’s ever been late before. Kyle furrows his brow and nods.
“Yeah, it’s strange.” He agrees. He looks kind of concerned.
“Maybe text her or something?” I suggest. Kyle hesitates.
“I don’t want to seem like I’m judging her for being late…” He trails off and I smile.
“I’m sure she won’t think that. You can add that I asked you to check on her if that helps at all.” I add. Kyle reluctantly pulls his phone out and types out a text. Ten minutes later he sends another one, but we still haven’t heard from her. I’m a little worried, I know she probably just overslept, or maybe she has a flat tyre or something and hasn’t checked her phone. But I can’t shake this nagging feeling that something is up. If I was the one with the phone I would probably have called her at least twice by now. Still, there’s nothing I can do, so I just head to the bar and start getting everything ready for the night.

When Torin comes to open up the bar, I grab his arm.
“Tori, have you heard from Laura? Did she call in sick or something?” I ask worriedly. Torin frowns.
“She isn’t here yet? That’s… Odd. But she doesn’t have to come, she doesn’t have to call in. Maybe she just… Quit.” He says quietly. I shake my head.
“I seriously doubt that Torin, she loves it here, even if she still isn’t completely comfortable with you. Besides, Kyle can’t get ahold of her either. Do you really think she would just leave without saying goodbye?” I point out. Torin shakes his head.
“She wouldn’t leave you without saying goodbye.” He concludes. I sigh and force a smile.
“You know what, it’s probably nothing. I’m sure she will be here any moment now. We should open up so she doesn’t feel too guilty when she does arrive.” I decide. Torin nods and unlocks the front door. An hour later, Laura still hasn’t shown and I’m legitimately starting to panic. I’ve broken two glasses and for the first time since I’ve met him, Kyle has sent out burnt food. Clearly I’m not the only one who is a little on edge. I pull Torin aside.
“Can you go check on Laura?” I plead. He hesitates.
“I don’t think that she would like it if I were to show up at her door.” He says awkwardly and I sigh.
“Fine, can you call Catcher maybe? Ask him to go check on her for us?” I request. Torin gives a slow nod.
“Okay, if that will make you feel better.” He agrees.

Twenty minutes later Catcher calls Torin back. Torin listens for a minute, a frown plastered across his face.
“Okay. Wait there for now, just in case she comes back.” He orders, then hangs up.
“She’s not there, is she?” I ask quietly and he shakes his head.
“No, she isn’t. Catcher said there was no sign of her. No car either.” He informs me. I hug my arms around myself and bite my lip.
“Tori… Something is wrong, I just know it. We need to do something. There was that woman asking about her… And when I asked about it she was acting all strange. You know more than I do. Is she okay?” I ask, my voice tiny. Torin doesn’t answer. Just looks down at me for a moment, then he abruptly turns his back to me and faces the rest of the room.
“Everyone out. We’re closing.” He calls out to the bar. There are only a few people here this early and at his announcement it takes only a few seconds for them to clear out. He locks the door behind them then turns back to me.
“Go get Kyle. I’m going to send him to check any places he knows she likes to go. Catcher is going to stay at her house in case she returns… I’m going to try to confirm the identity of that woman.” He says darkly.
“You know something… Don’t you?” I say desperately. Torin nods.
“Yes. But explaining would take too long. I can tell you everything later. But right now we need to go look for Laura.” He says firmly. I nod and go to fetch Kyle who is absolutely beside himself with worry.
“Torin closed the bar. He said to go get you, I think he’s going to send you to look for Laura.” I explain. Kyle rushes straight out of the kitchen. I’ve never seen him leave this place messy before and… Did he leave the stove burning? I quickly turn it off and follow him back to the bar. I want to know exactly what we’re going to do now.