Envision The Magic [Frerard] [By innocent_wolves on LJ]

Chapter Five

Frank woke up the next day completely exhausted. He had no idea that it was possible to end up with an aching body from just standing behind a bar. The ship had now left Nassau and was heading for Great Exuma, and he'd only had about two and a half hours of sleep. Last night had turned extremely busy after all the guests had boarded again, and everyone seemed to be on a high rather than being tired after the excursion. They were in the mood for good food, drinks and partying instead of rest. Frank made a mental note about it, reminding himself that he couldn't afford to make the mistake of expecting these guests to get easily tired again. He had no idea what had hit him before all the stress was nearly taking him over, and he had to search very deeply within himself to find ways to survive the shift.

After his unwelcome visit at the bar, Frank hadn't seen Gerard at all for the rest of the day. Undoubtedly he must have gotten lucky on his shore leave. Later, as the ship got moving, he was also occupied with his magic show again. Frank was glad he wasn't stationed at The Colossus this time; he'd been given his share of luck too, just not in that way. Jill's shift last night had been at The Green Diamond, the casino, and he'd been hoping to get there ever since he'd seen the picture of it in the brochure.

"I’m sorry about the big change," she apologized as her experienced hands were mixing a margarita for what must have been the hundredth time, "I was supposed to work only at The Colossus this week, just so you'd get used to the routines before you start working at a busier bar, but Kevin's sick and no one else could cover for him. It's either that or they just didn't want to. They know how it can get down here when people come back from the shore."

"That's okay," Frank said absently, feeling as though he'd finally gotten into a rhythm when it came to chilling cocktail glasses, refilling the ice container and the snack bowls and generally keeping out of the way. He was also proud – and slightly surprised – to realize that he hadn't broken a single glass so far. "I think I'm learning more this way. Besides this place is so cool, I've been dying to stand behind this bar."

It sure hadn't been anything like the James Bond movies; Frank didn't feel like the bad guy disguised as a bartender, but the few times he'd managed to ignore how busy everything was, he'd noticed that the atmosphere here was entirely different than in the bar at The Colossus. That place was just busy in intervals; the guests came during the intermission, and otherwise it was quite calm and quiet. The casino was busy all the time.

"At least you have tonight off, right?" Jill smiled as Frank cracked another wide, long drawn yawn. "And you're finished here at three which isn't that bad."

He just nodded in response, pulling his hand across his face, leaving his eyesight slightly blurry; it had never been harder to get out of bed than this morning.

"What do you plan on doing?"

"This evening? So far my only plan is to catch up on some sleep," he said earnestly. "That's all I can think of right now. Other than that I don't know."

"Well, I say you should let your uniform rest and go check out The DropKick or The Sparkle," Jill suggested. "Both places are perfect whether you go there for the music, the drinks or the people."

"Sounds good," Frank nodded. "Maybe I'll do that. After I get out of here and get some sleep," he added again.

The rest of the shift passed in a numb daze. He had been tired before but not like this; it was as though working while being on the move was a combination that would knock you off your feet if you missed out on sleep. He found himself in the strange situation of being exhausted but at the same time doing his best to hide it. It turned out he could do that pretty well; it helped to just keep busy. Of course there was always something to do in a bar.