First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice by Krista D Ball Read Free Book Online Page A

partner, an average height college kid, who’d been training to work the door and deal with pre-opening tangles for only a couple of months.
    “Sue, I’ll let you come inside early,” Lizzy said. “Come on.”
    She didn’t follow, and instead stormed off behind the building.
    Lizzy got on her radio to Luke. “Make sure the back door’s locked. Not just the screen door. I want the steel door locked, too.”
    “Already done,” Luke radioed back. “Got the volunteers inside, too.”
    Just great. Jane’s first date since her accident and there was a shouting match, and she was going to need to re-dress Caroline. It was going to be one of those nights; she could just see it.
    Lizzy walked up the steps and scowled at Darcy and Charles, who held the door open. “I told both of you to go inside and wait.”
    “Sorry, Lizzy, I thought you might need help,” Charles said.
    Lizzy took a deep breath to calm the adrenaline pulsing through her. She stayed calm during the fights, but the release afterwards always hit her hard. Her hands began to shake. “Are either of you trained to deal with incidents here?” She gave them a moment for that to sink in. “So what were you going to do? Jump in and start punching people?”
    Charles looked ashamed.
    Darcy did too, though he added, “It was my fault, not Charles’s. I told him we should wait outside.”
    “I don’t care whose idea it was. Remember, when you’re here, my job is to protect you and them.” She motioned at the homeless people around her. “So you do as I say next time.”
    “Who protects you?” Darcy asked.
    “See all these people out here? They’re not going to stand by and watch someone beat the shit out of me, because they know me. They don’t know you. Let us staff deal with the problems and less people get hurt. That’s how you make me safe. Got it?”
    “I’m sorry,” Charles said.
    “I am, too,” Darcy added.
    “No harm done.”
    “Are you okay, though?” Darcy’s eyes seemed a little wide and he was paler than normal.
    “Yes,” she said simply. “Let’s sit down and talk about what just happened and the rest of the night, shall we? We have some rules that need to be followed by the clients, so, for the sake of fairness, volunteers and staff also follow them.”
    “Sure thing,” Charles said.
    They sat down at the table where Caroline was waiting and Lizzy continued, “After we’re done chatting, I’ll get Jane to take Caroline downstairs and find her some clothes.”
    “What’s wrong with my clothes?”
    “You’re sporting gang colours and aren’t wearing safe footwear,” Lizzy explained. She told them how bandanas were banned from The Faith, as from many other inner city establishments. They were an easy way to identify oneself as a gang member. The Faith was neutral ground; allowing gang colours meant that they were allowing specific groups to claim that space. Plus there was a greater risk of violence, as people would be representing, as it were.
    “I’m clearly not a gang member.”
    “It doesn’t matter. I don’t wear them and I work here. You can’t wear them, either.”
    “Fine,” she said, in a tone that suggested it wasn’t fine at all. “What’s wrong with my boots?
    “We don’t allow heels in here for volunteers. The floors are slippery and you’ll be running around doing jobs. It’ll be unsafe. Also, I’ll need you to put on a new shirt. Jane can find you one in the donation pile.”
    “What the hell is wrong with my shirt?”
    “It’s too skimpy, tight, and short. I can see you bra through it. It’s going to get you a lot of unwelcome attention.”
    “Just change it,” Charles said in a big-brother voice.
    “It isn’t my fault if they don’t like what I’m wearing.”
    “No, it isn’t. If this were a bar, I’d absolutely agree with you. But this is a drop-in centre. Half of the people coming in through those doors tonight will be drunk or high. Most of them are banned from the