It was a work night and of course, two of her wait staff had called in thirty minutes prior to the shift saying that they were sick. It did not take Imara very long to figure out what was really going on as she pulled her phone out and checked the calendar for music performances around town. With a groan as she made both a physical note on the work calendar and a mental note in her own mind, Imara grabbed pad, pen, and apron. She had been a waitress before moving up to hostess and then manager. Going back to it was easier than she wanted to admit and heck, she did not mind the tips!

Tucking her teal hair behind her ears, the woman walked out of the back office, shooting a glare to the kitchen staff whistling at her for going back to waitress look. It was only when she made it to the kitchen door that Imara plastered on her work smile and walked out.

Tonight she did double duty: Manager and Waitress. So with a lovely smile that did not even hint at how much she wanted to put an arrow through the two girls who left her short handed, Imara went to work.

“Good Evening and welcome to the Iron Cow.” She started the well practice speech at her first table.

Destiny walked into the Iron Cow to satisfy that once a month steak craving. Karma wasn’t with her tonight. Though her partner didn’t mind meat she was not “serve me a slice of cow the size of a toilet seat” into meat, and sometimes that’s just what she craved. And a nice glass of red wine to bring out all that wonderful beef flavor…

“Thanks.”

She didn’t need to glance at the menu.

“I’m craving a good steak, medium rare. Please make sure they don’t overcook it. What would you recommend?”

Usually she asked the servers for their recommendations. After all, they were here a lot more than she was and were bound to know what sold and what didn’t and probably what tasted good. It was a trick her father taught her early on in life and something she abided by in new places.

Besides, with a name like Iron Cow she was pretty sure she couldn’t go wrong.

“And a glass of nice red wine, 82 or earlier if you have it.”

The smile on Imara’s face deepened as she scooped up the menu. Let’s be honest, she could remember around 8 different orders before needing to write them down. “A good steak for medium rare. Well now, let me see.” Imara cocked her head for a moment to think through her inventory. It took two counts and then she returned to make eye contact with the woman again.

“I would have to say our Ribeye or New York Strip are your best bets depending on how hungry you are. Both come with the choice of two sides and a salad. But…” Imara glanced back at the kitchen, her tongue clicking a moment. “Unless my staff got to them at lunch, we got in some beautiful Porterhouse steaks this morning.”

Looking back at the guest, she was rather impressed by the wine order. This woman had walked in alone, been seated and already seemed to feel at home. It was not something she expected from single women in a place like this. Normally they had a male bringing them in and ordering the steak while the woman got a salad with some sort of topping, fat removed. No, Imara already knew that this guest was interesting.

“For your wine, Cabernet or lighter?”

“A Shiraz, if you have it. A Cabernet if you don’t.”

Destiny was a serious wine drinker, not as in she had a problem with drinking too much but that she was a serious connoisseur of it. She had a rather extensive collection in the temperature stable room off the bar’s walk in cooler and had her own wine blog - Que Syrah, Syrah. Perhaps not the cleverest of names but she enjoyed working on it when she had the time. She reviewed many bottles on her blog broken down by color and type.

She was pleased when her father’s advice won out, yet again.

“A porterhouse sounds just about heaven if you have it. If not a ribeye is fine.”

Destiny also was not a one step behind kind of a woman. Even without being a lesbian she had never been a submissive or meek person. She knew what she wanted when she wanted it and most people, bar patrons and employees alike, fell in line. The only person exempt seemed to be her lover, whom she knew she couldn’t control anyway and loved her to death for it.

She flashed the server a charming smile, genuinely pleased with the restaurant so far.

“Two very good choices Ma’am. And for your sides?” Imara stood up straight as she placed her arms behind her back. She was just about to start listing them when the loud sound of a crash the size of Texas came from behind the closed doors of the kitchen. Imara’s smile was trained not to falter but her eyes could see the corners wince.

“As I mentioned before, it comes with a salad and your….” A second crash came and she glanced down at the woman. “Would you excuse me for a moment. I fear that if I do not look into the matter presently, the next sound we all hear will be several choice French words.”

As rude as it was, Imara had to play the role she was paid for as she quickly gave a nod of her head and turned on her heel. Mental note: Fire the line cook.

She was about to voice her choices when she heard a crash. And then another. She recognized that look all too well in herself when things did not go well at the bar. It was best handled quickly and definitely and she was not going to begrudge anyone taking time to do so. Her craving could wait a few minutes.

It had been Destiny’s original dream to open a bistro instead of a bar. She loved to cook for herself or for small gatherings of friends and enjoyed how food made her feel and helped people relate to one another. She still enjoyed cooking, despite the lack of a place to do it professionally.

The crash was perhaps one of the biggest reasons why she had never moved ahead with her previous dream and had opted for a bar instead.

She didn’t say a word as her server moved away from the table. Instead she leaned back and sipped her water.

Into the kitchen walked Imara. Into the office, Imara dragged the line cook and shut the door.

What was said need not be repeated for the general public but everyone in the kitchen got the idea as the line cook came out whiter than the chef coat his ‘boss’ wore. They all stood frozen as Imara walked into the freezer and came back out with one of the nicest Porterhouse cuts they had. Going straight up to the head chef, she locked eyes with him. “Medium Rare.” It was all she said as she headed back out the doors again to whispers of ‘is she always like this?’

Back on the floor, Imara was putting on her smile as she headed towards the bar. Unlike other waitresses, she slipped behind the bar and pulled out a bottle of 1980 Shiraz. Without marking it down, she grabbed two glasses and walked back to the table with the woman she left.

“Excuse me ma’am.” She offered, sitting one glass down in front of the woman and the other at the second seat. “This bottle is on the house. An apology for not being able to find good help these days.” Offering the bottle for the woman’s inspection, Imara finally nodded towards the second seat. “Will someone be joining you today?”

Destiny waited, figuring from what little she’d seen of her server that there was more than meets the eye. She figured if she was dealing with the chef she was probably giving him as good a Destiny would be if she was in the same position.

It seemed neither of them put up with nonsense.

Her eyes lit up to see the bottle, picking it up and admiring the vintage. She was in for a treat, which delighted her. Shiraz wine was always very good with red meat.

“Oh, no, just me tonight unless I have an admirer that wants to make their move while my girlfriend’s home.”

Which was not very likely to be successful, all things considered. She and Karma had “the list” and it only consisted of one name: a fictional character.

“Thank you for the wine. It’s appreciated. Must be tough to run a place this big.”

Of course, she knew something about that.

Girlfriend? Now that was unexpected. Not that Imara minded at all but such a lady out alone this evening, it was not the first thing to come to her mind. But so be it and to each their own. “Well, then you might keep an eye out for the man at the middle of the bar. Green tie. My bartender mentioned he has been watching you.”

Imara gave a passing glance in the direction. It was not up to her what her patrons did or did not do outside of the Iron Cow. Inside, she did not want trouble. She had enough of that with the people who were paid to be there.

“So is it that clear that I’m acting manager?” Finally, Imara leaned back comfortably on her leg and crossed her arms over her chest, a touch proud of her position and the tight shift she tried to run. “But we are short staff tonight. Seems a rock band is in town and two of my waitresses decided the flu was going to make an appearance tonight.”

“Tell him I’m flattered but definitely uninterested.”

Destiny could joke with the best of them and perfected the art of making every patron feel engaged but she could not, for any price, fake flirting with men just to possibly get her way. Sure, she knew women that did but she was not one of those people.

To her question she smiled, arching an eyebrow.

“Takes one to know one I guess. I own and manage the Lock and Key downtown with my partner.”

It was her pride and joy. She loved it, everything about it. She loved the touched that Karma added to it and she loved her clientele. One day she was determined to make the whole neighborhood Nega friendly.

Imara gave a deep smile before a nod. “No wonder you could guess.” A slow shake of her head and the manager looked over her shoulder. “Would you excuse me again a moment. I fear if I leave it any longer, your salad will catch fire.”

With a slight nod, Imara made her way to two other tables, taking quick orders before going into the kitchen again. All it took was one look and they had the salad fresh at the serving line. Taking a moment to dish out a few more ‘commands’ to her waiters, Imara returned to the main room. One of the waiters made his way towards the bar.

The fresh salad appeared before the owner of the Lock and Key and a smile with it. “If you watch in two moments, the man in the green tie will be leaving. Seems he and one of my staff have a rather...interesting history.” And if on cue, the man stood up, grabbed his coat, and was heading towards the door. “So couldn’t get your partner to join you?”

“Karma is amazing but she’s not really like me. Every now and then I like a big slab of meat.”

And no, that wasn’t a euphemism.

Destiny was fine with a salad and whatever else they wanted to plop down in front of her. The wine was breathing well and tasted rich, lovely. But mostly she was here for good old fashioned steak and the porterhouse was practically made her salivate.

She watched and certainly as Imara said the man left the bar, much to her puzzling. People were funny like that. She got to people watch plenty in her bar.

“That’s funny.”

She started chuckling, reading into just what an “interesting” history might imply.

“I understand that feeling better than you think. Though my preference involves me hunting for it myself.” What she would not have given to have venison in her fridge right now. Curse her father for not taking them on the last hunt of the year. Now she had to wait.

Waiting another moment, Imara leaned forward. “Seems there was a run in at one gay bar a few weeks ago. Mr. Green Tie over there was the straight man there to hit on ladies that wanted to dance. My waiter, well…” She pointed to the way he flipped his hair.

“Anyway, your steak is being plated. Any extras? Mushrooms? Onions? Red Wine Glaze?”

“A girl after my own heart.”

Though Destiny meant more in the hunting senshi and gathering starseeds sense than actually hunting animals. The instinct was probably still the same, though. She certainly enjoyed that part of this new life, anyway. Though come to think of it she wondered if she could pick out her own cow to slaughter. It was worth looking into.

Destiny chuckled as the story unfolded, imagining the daily soap opera that happened around her that she almost never really observed. Really fascinating…

Ah, yes, the reason of her visit.

“Nope. Just serve it to me almost mooing.”

“I shall inquire as to the status of your cow then, Ma’am.” Imara gave her a large grin. The woman was a huntress at heart. The idea of serving something almost mooing though made her laugh.

Walking back towards the kitchen, Imara made sure to check the steak personally. No screw ups on a piece of meat that lovely. Happy with it, she added the final touches of potato and greens. More out of habit than anything. Sometime told the woman that if she could, her guest would have meat with a side of meat tonight.

“You will have to forgive me Miss. The cow would not fit on the plate.” Imara placed the medium rare porterhouse down. “So I took the liberty of selecting a fine cut and boxing the rest for later.”

“You’re lucky I’m not single.”

Destiny sighed happily when the steak was in sight and fell a little in love with Miss Imara when it was presented. It was almost like she could read minds…Though she could joke her heart would never stray from Karma. The woman fit her too well and gave her everything she needed, the perfect yin to her yang. That’s why she found it funny that they emerged into the Negaverse as Opal and Onyx, black and white.

“I’m Destiny, by the way. Destiny Kent. If you ever have the time stop by the Lock and Key. I’d love to show you a little hospitality after all this.”

She was almost always there and lived under the bar. All the staff had to do was text her and she was there in no time.

She took a bite of steak and groaned, in heaven.

“What do I owe you?”

Oh Imara was attempting not to laugh again as she balanced the beautiful piece of red meat in her hands. Heaven help her if something like this ever ended up on the floor. No one would want to be around her the rest of the week!

“Ms Destiny, it has been a pleasure. Imara Mason. But I have a guess the name tag gave the first name away.” The woman shrugged watching the reaction to the steak. It was just as she pictured. The woman was in heaven and that meant the cook and line chef could live another night. They would be happy to know this.

“For you, hospitality for hospitality.” She waved her hand. “It’s on the house. All I ask is a rave review to anyone looking for a good meal.” Giving a wink, Imara made it back to the kitchen to give the ‘good news’.