Losing Control (4 page)

The band started playing one of their big hits, the four of us girls huddled together and belted it out, knowing every word, every “ooh” and every “aah,” right on cue.

Speaking of being right on cue, here came John with my beer, just in time for a ballad. He put his hand out as if to ask for the dance and I took it. We were getting used to dancing with each other and it was a nice feeling, I decided it was time to kiss him. After he twirled me and brought me back into him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and put my mouth to his. This seemed to surprise him, but he parted his lips and responded, softly, sweetly. His tongue tasted minty, which surprised me, I’m sure mine tasted like beer and cigarettes, but he didn’t seem to mind. It felt really good. I bit his bottom lip and pulled away, teasing him. Then I went in again, I loved making out to loud music and being under the influence, it made me feel young again. John bit my lip and it made me jump, it was a little hard. I knew he was kinky, I bet he wanted to spank me, too. The song was nearing the end and we both knew it, the kissing got more intense for a few seconds and then it was over. John dipped me again.

We could tell the band was about done, so we made sure we danced hard and sang loud, as if to get the most of it. Loud cannons went off and colored confetti shot out everywhere. It was over for the night, but what a night it had been! I looked at the girls and they were saying good-bye to the new friends they had made. Jo was putting her phone number into some guy’s phone, Brittany was hugging some guy and Dana was taking a picture with a guy she’d met.

“John, you’ve been such a fun date, thanks for everything,” I told him as I gave him a hug.

“Thank you, Gia,” he said as he hugged me hard. “You’re an amazing woman, I’ll never forget you or this night.”

I could tell that John knew, as I did, that this was it for us, we wouldn’t exchange numbers or pretend that we were going to meet up again, and I appreciated that.

“You know, John, I meant what I said about you underestimating yourself, don’t forget how much you have to offer, and you can add ‘great kisser’ to that list of attributes I gave you earlier.” I winked at him.

“One for the road?” he asked.

“Sure, why not,” I said and he planted one on me.

Chapter 5

Ethan

I looked at the clock, 5:52 a.m. The alarm would sound in eight minutes and I had a long day ahead of me. This rock festival kicked off the season and it was always the biggest weekend of the year. I wanted to get an early start so everything would run smoothly later.

I remember when Gramps broke ground out here when I was a kid. Just a little thirty spot campground, c-store, and a dream. Too bad he wasn’t here now to see the place. Although he never saw it make much money in his lifetime, he never gave up on it, and neither have I. My buddies were so excited when the three of us sold everything we had and borrowed everything we could to buy the place back. My dad sold it after Gramps died; I couldn’t believe it. Of course he’d always been all about money, not dreams. We hadn’t spoken much since Mom left. She always tried to get us to be closer, but she knew how he was and eventually left him because of it. Pete and Randy stuck it out with me for a lot of years but they had wives and kids and the place wasn’t making enough to support us all, especially considering the amount of time we all had to put in. So, I had to borrow again—everything I’d paid back and more, to buy them out. It has been a struggle the last seven years on my own. But for the last two years I’d finally started making some money and could see the light. Gramps would be proud.

I got out of bed, showered, and made a power smoothie. I stepped outside. The weather was perfect. I wouldn’t have to worry about getting rained out and that was a serious load off my mind.

“Let’s do this,” Trey said after he pulled up in the truck. We were headed over to check in the beer and liquor orders, meet some of the staff for a quick meeting, and then check up on everything else that needed to be done today. Trey had been working with me for six years now. I hired him the year after Pete and Randy gave up and he’d been my right hand man ever since. I had a real tough year that year. If it wasn’t the weather, it was the staff, or the bands, or the lack of money—you name it and I was beaten down. I was seriously considering throwing in the towel but Trey knew that it would get better and he also knew I would hate myself if I let it go. So he talked me into one more year, and he was right. He’s a one of a kind, give you the shirt off his back, do anything for you and never expect anything in return kind of friend.

I jumped in the truck. “We have to stop at the c-store and gas up,” Trey said.

As he was pumping, I walked over to say hi to one of our maintenance men, who was replacing some bulbs on one of the other pumps. “Hey, Josh, how’s everything goin’?”

“Can’t complain,” Josh answered. “How ‘bout with you, boss?”

“Well, the weather looks good, and that’s the main thing, because we can’t fix that. Of course, you’re known to fix anything, so I don’t know why I even worry about it.” He was the best maintenance man I knew, and I wanted him to know it.

Josh laughed. “I hope I never have to try to prove that one to ya, boss!”

As I headed back to the truck, I purposely took myself back to this spot ten years ago. I was doing some maintenance over here. I couldn’t afford to pay someone else to do it back then, and I saw this beautiful girl coming out of the c-store. She caught my attention immediately. She was holding the door for an elderly gentleman who was coming up the sidewalk, and she had this huge, infectious smile on her face. The man, who was sort of bent over and using a cane, actually straightened up, and I swear got a little pep in his step. He nodded at her and she gave him a little pat on the shoulder.
That’s probably the biggest thrill that guy’s had for a month
. I chuckled. I kept watching the beauty. She hopped off the sidewalk and practically skipped across the parking lot. She stopped and chatted with a lady who was walking a huge dog. All the while, the beauty was petting and playing with the slobbering animal. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The lady laughed at everything she said and then off she skipped, probably to make more people adore her. The rest of that day, I kept thinking about the mystery girl. I wondered what her life was like and what our lives would be like if we treated everyone like she just treated those people. A girl I had never met, a girl I saw from a distance for ten minutes, made me want to be a better person.

“Ready to roll!” Trey called out.

“Rock and roll!” I said, excited about the weekend.

We checked in truckloads of beer, liquor, and ice, met with the barbacks before they got busy stocking the seventeen bars which were scattered throughout the property, worked through some problems with the sound system, and headed out back to make sure the VIP area was ready to accommodate the bands we had coming in today and tomorrow.

“Looks good, looks real good,” I told Vince, the entertainment manager. “You know you’re the best and I couldn’t do it without you. Thanks, man.” I shook his hand.

“Oh, I’ll bet you say that to all the boys!” Vince squealed in a high-pitched voice and we all laughed.

My walkie went off. “Ethan, could you stop over when you have a minute?” It was Marcus, my campground manager.

“Be right there.” Trey and I headed over.

As we backtracked through the main area and headed out the main gate, we were taking mental notes on what still needed to be done and what to work on after we saw Marcus. It was somewhat overwhelming, but I knew we’d get there. I knew I had the best crew I’d ever had. Everyone had the same goal in mind, everyone had a job to do, and from the looks of it, they were enjoying getting it done, and that was all I wanted. It’s hard to find a group of people that want to be part of a team, there’s always someone who wants to take over, and that one person can disrupt the flow so fast it’s over the banks and running wild before you even know what happened. Once you weed those people out, the team comes together in a way that no matter what problems arise, and there will be plenty, we can take care of it quickly and move on.

“We’d better head over to the main office when we leave the campground and see how the orientation with the bartenders is going,” Trey said with a smile.

“You just want to check out all the new girls,” I told him. “Hey, did I tell you I decided to let Tonya come back this year?”

“You’re so full of shit!” Trey knew me better than that, but he did look panicked for about a second.

Tonya was new last year, long story short—she developed a pretty serious obsession for Trey over the summer, and on the last weekend, she snuck into his place with nothing on but a holster. He woke up and she was straddling him. He knew she had a few screws loose and saw the holster with something sticking out of it, and because he was half asleep, in a split second reaction, he punched her right in the face and knocked her out. Turns out she had a pretty realistic looking squirt gun in the holster.

“Yeah, I told her since she couldn’t get the job done right last year, she’d have to come back this year and cap it off.” I couldn’t keep a straight face.

“I could have drowned!” Trey said and we laughed like hell.

Turned out Tonya had a bit of a mental breakdown, not funny at all, but she’d gotten the help she needed and had apologized over and over for what she did. I hoped she was doing well.

“I still think my idea on how to recruit new bartenders would work superbly,” Trey said.

“We’re not having a Pamela Anderson look-a-like contest and give all the contestants jobs,” I said for the hundredth time. “Do you ever give up?”

“Never!” We were still laughing when we pulled up to the campground.

***

Marcus was giving a map to one of the campers and pointing out the various shower houses and picnic areas. He was really good with people. I saw it in him right away, even when he was fresh out of high school. Some people have it and some people don’t. “If you need something else or have a concern, don’t hesitate to ask, we want you to have a great time here,” he told them and he meant it. I knew I’d made the right decision about giving him a percentage of the campground take this year. When I sat down with him last week and told him about it, he acted as though I’d given him the world. He said he’d have the best year ever. I didn’t doubt it and I knew he’d earn every penny.

“Cal, could you take over my line and check these next guys in while I visit with Ethan for a minute?” he asked one of the staff.

“You got it,” Cal answered and quickly grabbed the clipboard from Marcus.

“Ethan, I had some trouble with a few of the early campers that checked in yesterday and I wanted you to be aware of the situation,” he started. “Seems a couple of the guys decided it would be fun to see how high they could get the flames on their campfire, and although it stayed within the grates, they singed the side of their tent and a few fingers. Shawn and I went over and put it out. They were feeling pretty stupid and we could tell they’d had a lot to drink, so when their buddies told us they would make sure they went in and went to bed, we gave them the benefit of the doubt and allowed them to stay. I don’t think they’ll be causing any more trouble and I have the staff aware to keep an eye on them. They’re in number twenty-five.”

“Are there other campers next to them now?” I asked, concerned.

“Not yet. I’ve already rearranged the schedule and put some of our regulars in there just so we know we don’t have a bunch of young guys together or young ladies next to them, just in case. Better safe than sorry.”

“Sounds like you’re on top of it, thanks for letting us know.” One of the most important things I’d learned out here is that if there was a situation with a customer, everyone needed to be in the loop. We needed to keep a safe environment so everyone could enjoy their time here. All of my employees knew this.

“I better get back to work,” Marcus said, “We’re gonna have a full house by the end of the night!” He was proud of the fact that we were booked solid, and he should’ve been.

“Keep up the good work!” I said as he headed to the next camper pulling in.

Trey and I drove through the campground. We wanted to check out the guys in twenty-five. When we drove by, it looked like they were drinking coffee and making breakfast. They seemed pretty mellow and nodded to us as we passed. I noticed the tent with the charred side. Luckily, the nearest tree was far enough away to have survived.

“Looks like they slept in and sobered up,” Trey said. I agreed.

***

When we got to the office, Rose was going over the dress code with the bartenders. “No thongs, ass cheeks must be at least fifty percent covered. String bikinis are okay as long as the nipples are covered. No clothing advertising beer or liquor brands, we aren’t pushing one drink over another. You must have shoes on at all times, so keep in mind, if you wear heels, you may want to bring something else to change into when you get tired. I think that about covers everything. Don’t forget, smoking only when you are outside on break, no drinking while you’re on duty, and when you’re off duty, we expect responsible drinking. Also, ladies, keep an eye out for each other. Don’t take flirting too far, we want you all to be safe, that’s number one. You all have a panic button, don’t hesitate to use it if you feel uncomfortable or threatened in any way. Any questions?”

I scanned the room, pretty much the same as every year: young, good-looking, half dressed girls, eager to get out there and make an unbelievable amount of tips having a good time, but working their asses off, too. No one was raising her hand or asking any questions, so I broke the silence.

“Most of you have worked here before, but for those of you who don’t know me, I’m Ethan. I want to welcome all of you and hope you’ll feel like part of our little family here. We’re a team, and each one of you are an important part of that team. Like Rose said, your safety is number one. When you push the panic button, one of the guys will be there within seconds. Staff and security are everywhere. Don’t feel like you have to have an emergency to push, use your intuition and trust it. Most of the time, all it takes is the presence of a security member to make someone back off and behave or even to ease your mind if you feel uneasy. Enjoy yourselves, the music, and the people, just be safe and responsible.” I turned to Trey. “This is Trey. You’ll see him a lot, he’ll be checking in with everyone periodically. Don’t hesitate to tell him if you need something or have any questions. Shelley and Gwen are going to go over the cash registers with you. They’ve been here for a lot of years and will be heading up the two busiest bars right inside the entrance. They know more about what you’ll be doing than anyone, so use their experience and ask them whatever you want to know. We’ll leave you ladies to it, see you out there in a couple of hours.”