Desperate times...

Posted on Wed Feb 27, 2019 @ 10:08pm by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin

968 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: The Box of Delights
Timeline: MD 06 1530

[ON]

When Yolanthe walked into her bar ready for the evening crowd, she found a very dour looking Edward waiting for her. He had a padd on the bar next to him. “I’ve just done a stock take. We need to talk.”

His boss turned a pale apple green. This couldn’t be good. She indicated back of house. “Shall we?”

Once they were through the door marked Employees Only, he handed over the padd. “We’re down to 10% stock. We’re out of Andorian Ale, most of the Terran liqors, we’re better on the stuff that’s towards the Gamma Quadrant, like the Trill lagers, but there’s less demand for them anyway. But overall, we’ve got maybe a three days of stock left, possibly four. And our takings are down too. We’re haemorrhaging customers.”

She sat down on a couch, a sickly shade of gray-green. "I'm still having problems with suppliers. Every reason you can think of. Can't get priority shipping, stuck in customs, they've got their own supply issues, they're out of stock. I'm running out of options."

Edward nodded sitting down himself on the opposite couch. "You need to make some hard decisions. We can cut staff. Cut the table payouts for the dabo, or up the odds. Or we start selling replicated beverages."

"No." Yolanthe said sharply. "There are many things I will do, but not that. My whole reputation is built on getting a little luxury out to the shitty frontier, so its not all doom and gloom. If I do that, its cutting the throat of my own reputation. I might as well take the knife to Raddon and ask him to scalp me himself."

"Thats dramatic." Edward replied, "But not entirely inaccurate. I wouldn't want to estimate how much damage that could do." He paused, knowing the next thing out of his mouth was not going to amuse his boss. "Maybe you should take Lasuma up on his offer."

"What?" The swamp green was replaced by a dark yellow for a moment. "You can't be serious."

Edward held up a hand. "Hear me out. There's been so many hiccups with suppliers, I think there's been serious interference."

"Raddon again?" Yolanthe snarled

Edward nodded. "Its a logical conclusion. He already tried to buy you out. I don't know what you did, but you must have really pissed him off."

"I don't know." It was a half-truth. She had her suspicions. She knew Gev wanted a crack at Raddon's storage looker. Maybe he'd taken one, and Raddon had figured out whoever knew about it only knew because Dorian had taken her there when the station was almost shaken apart. As far as she knew, she was the only person outside his organization that knew about it, so she'd be the obvious suspect. "He probably doesn't like the competition."

"Well, He's got you over a barrel. Metaphorically speaking."

"Yes. So?"

Edward put the pad on the coffee table and leant forward, leaning on his knees. "You're caught between a rock and a hard place, you either make things good with Raddon, or you find someone who can magically make a couple of hundred bottles of hand-brewed beers, wines and spirits magically appear. I think you should take Lasuma up on his offer."

"Oh hell no." Yolanthe said

"Don't be stubborn," Edward replied calmly. "This is what you pay me for. I've run the numbers, and we are in the shit. The fire didn't put you down, but it is going to kill you in dribs and drabs if we don't get resupplied. Lasuma is the best option. We might not know what his motives are, but he wants you open, at least in the short term."

Yolanthe sank back in the cushions letting her head drop back so she stared at the ceiling. She didn't want The Box to fail. But there was something else now, nagging at her mind. Veyr knew where she was. Maybe he'd expect her to run, maybe he was waiting for her guard to drop. But he would come again. Was it worth rebuilding if you had to leave?

She clenched her jaw, buttercup yellow blossoming out across her skin from where her teeth ground against themselves. She had never run from a fight before. And hadn't she told Ray Raddon just that? That she always got back up again? Could she really tolerate his smug face which she had no doubt he'd make sure she'd see if she turned tail. Especially if he'd had a hand in trying to keep down after she'd been burnt down.

Fuck him.

"Fine. I'll do it. I'll go see Lasuma." She got to her feet. Then she looked at the ridiculously strappy shoes that turned her from towering to giant. She sat down again and took them off, then took them to the cupboard where she kept her sensible crate-lugging, toilet-mopping, pair of flats.

"Do you want me to come?" Edward offered.

Yolanthe shook her head as she slipped on her sneakers.
She didn't want an audience for eating crow. "I'll be fine." She gave him a grim smile. "I get knocked down, I get back up again." She illustrated her point by standing back up.

Edward smiled. "Just don't lose your temper and stab him or something. He has all the booze. I hope."

She gave him a mock offended look. "I'd never hurt a boy. Even a suspiciously slimy one like him."

"Fair enough. Get his price list, maybe we can make this work."

Yolanthe paused at the door. "No maybe about it. We make it work, or we go out of business."

[OFF]

Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner, The Box of Delights
Deep Space FIve

Edward Stapleton
Assistant Manager, The Box of Delights
[NPC by Yolanthe]

 

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