He raised his eyebrows. “Huge divide?”
I nodded. “Not that they don’t get along, but they don’t hang out with each other. Each group kind of keeps to themselves.”
“That’s a problem because…”
“Because it means as a cocktail waitress, I won’t have the friendship of the dancers. Which in turn means—”
“They won’t be open or confide in you.”
“Exactly.”
“And you noticed this after only a week of work?”
“I’m an outsider,” I said. “I came into a situation not knowing what to expect. I paid attention.”
“Aye, you did. Any ideas on how to bridge the gap?”
“I think the burlesque dancers should teach the cocktail waitresses how to dance. And if you can involve alcohol, well, I think some girl bonding just might happen.”
He laughed. “Not a bad idea. Only, if all of you are drunk and dancing together, who will be working in the club?”
I shook my head and grinned ruefully. “Point taken. Okay, maybe instead, one night after work we could have a giant slumber party in one of The Rex’s hotel suites—complete with alcohol I was talking about. And then in the morning we order room service.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Is that your way of saying you’ll arrange it?”
“It means I want some time to think about it.”
“No Lacey.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can’t loosen up around your boss. She has to stay far away from girl bonding.”
“I like the idea,” he admitted. “But I want to give it a few weeks. Maybe even a month.”
“Why? Bonding should happen as soon as possible.”
“You’re still new. That’s enough of a change for the moment. Once they’re used to you, we’ll probably go ahead with it.”
“I’ll start researching trust exercises,” I quipped.
“It’s not so bad, is it?”
“What?”
“Working for me.”
I frowned in thought. “What would have happened? If I’d refused to help, and you were left with a monstrous debt?”
“What would’ve happened to you—or Andrew?”
“Me.”
“Nothing.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Nothing? Really? So I could’ve said no to you?”
