Page 14 of East

“Well, any man who’d land a belle like yourself has to have more luck than a leprechaun,” Gloriana says. “If he’s a wine drinker, swing on by! We’ve got reds, whites, and rosés. A little somethin’ for everyone!”

“Much appreciated. I’m sure we’ll end up taking a tour around the entire club.” I offer Gloriana a smile. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“You too, pumpkin. Take care!”

Aus leads me back to the jade block. “Well, I think that’s the whole⁠—”

I lift a hand. “We have one section left, don’t we?”

Aus blinks. “Do we? I thought we hit them all.”

“No. We hit East, North, and then South. You still haven’t shown me West.”

Aus frowns. “Right. West.”

“Anything wrong with West?” I ask.

“No. Not at all. They have dark liquors there. Whiskeys, bourbons, scotches. Distilled downstairs just like everything else.” He checks his watch. “But listen, I’ve put off my set as long as I can. I really ought to get started.” He grabs my hand, kisses it. “It was a pleasure showing you around.”

I warm from head to toe. “The pleasure was mine, Aus.”

He presses his lips together. “I hope you enjoy your date.”

I nod. “Me too.”

I’d almost forgotten about Bobby Q. My hunky romance-cover date for the evening. I was so excited when our profiles matched. Now I’m feeling kind of whatever about him.

But I made a commitment. I’m not going to stand him up. He might turn out to be a real charmer, maybe even more charming than Aus.

I don’t know if that’s even possible.

But I’m not going to be a bitch.

“Take care,” Aus says before turning toward the block of Jade, parting the small curtain obscuring the stairs, and taking his place in the booth. He puts on a headset with a microphone attachment and starts speaking into it. “Ladies and gents of the Jade Sanctum, I hope you’re ready to rock tonight!”

He starts playing some electro dance music, and I look down at my phone. I’m not sure how the Twistr app is supposed to work once I arrive at the club. I still can’t send Bobby a message. Seems like a flaw in the design. How are we supposed to tell each other where we are? Does he just wander around until he finds me sitting at one of the bars? There are four of them.

Oh, well. The app knows I’m here. It ordered me a rideshare. Maybe his phone got a ping when I arrived, and I’ll get a ping when he arrives.

Oh! A notification. It came in when I arrived, but I didn’t notice it. I was too busy being transfixed on one Aus Waverly.

We see you made it to the Jade Sanctum! Pretty trippy, isn’t it? We’ll let BOBBY Q. know you’ve made it. Grab a seat in the East section (the section closest to the club entrance) and your date will meet you there. Have fun!

Okay, cool. That’s pretty straightforward.

I still wish the app had a messaging function. I have no idea if this guy even speaks English at this point.

I take a seat at the bar, make eye contact with the bartender. “Hi there. Kin, right?”

He swallows, his eyes widening as I sit on the stool. “M-M-Ma’am. What c-can I g-get for you?”

“Vodka soda to start, thank you.”

“P-P-Pleasure.” He uncorks a bottle of vodka and pours it into a tall glass lined with diamond-shaped ice cubes. He cuts the vodka with carbonated water from his soda hose and then adds in a small drop of Blue Curaçao, giving the whole drink a sky-blue color. “One v-vodka soda, K-Kin’s way!”

I take a sip. It’s fantastic. A vodka soda isn’t exactly a complex drink, but it’s clear the Jade Sanctum distillery doesn’t fuck around with its booze. The vodka is smooth with an elegant finish, and the drop of Blue Curaçao gives the drink a slight echo of citrus. “It’s delicious.” I hand Kin my credit card. “You can keep a tab open.”

“G-Great, ma’am.” He swipes my card and then returns it to me. “The tab is g-good for all f-four bars here at the Sanctum. We’ll k-keep your name in the system, and th-then all you have to d-do is tell the bark-k-keep what name to ch-charge each drink to.”