Equivalent Exchange (Night Shift) by Christina C. Jones

Author:Christina C. Jones [Jones, Christina C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Warm Hues Creative
Published: 2019-10-01T18:30:00+00:00

“Hey, is Laken here?” I asked Cal, as soon as I saw him behind the bar at Night Shift.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “He just went down to the brewhouse,” he said, tipping his head in that direction.

“Thanks,” I told him and then headed that way, forcing myself to slow my steps so I wouldn’t seem… overeager.

Even though… overeager was a fairly accurate representation.

I really, really wanted to talk to Laken.

It wasn't so bad for me to admit that… was it?

I made my way down to the brewhouse, a path I'd only ever traveled before in Laken's company, when he'd taken me to taste the beers that first night. When I stepped through the doors this time, I was surprised to see that there was a bustle of activity going on, a whole staff of people down here going through the process of beer making.

Which… made a whole lot more sense than Laken doing every single little thing for Night Shift himself.

Duh, Keris.

Of course there was a team, for this level of production.

Laken spotted me before I could get very far, and before I could spot him.

“Keris!” he called, and I followed the sound of his voice up to the stainless-steel platform that abutted the huge vats of what would eventually become drinkable beer. “Let me introduce you to the team.”

Even though I wasn't really in the headspace for that, I followed his prompting. Aside from the people running the bottling equipment and unloading a truck from rolling doors I hadn't noticed before, there were a couple of guys on the platform with Laken.

All of their eyes stayed on me as I approached, all appreciative in different ways.

Laken was the only one, however, who took the liberty of staring like I was his next meal. I shot a scowl in his direction, hoping he'd take the hint to stop it as I ascended the steps.

He just grinned harder.

“Guys, this is Keris Bradford – she's our graphic designer, the one who put together the labels and packaging for us.”

“Oh, word?” the guy closest to Laken quipped. “It’s really good work,” he complimented. “You really did your thing with those.”

“Thank you,” I told him, just before Laken moved on. “Keris, this is Keith, Jeremy, and Ellis. These are the guys who bring the recipes and all of that to life,” he said. “The brewing team. They help me develop new recipes and bring recipes of their own. Keep the equipment running from day to day. And… they just love the fuck out of beer,” Laken said, and they all broke into laughter as the guys approached me with hands outstretched.

“You're not going to tell her our crew name?” Jeremy said, grinning as Laken and Ellis groaned.

“We call ourselves the BBC,” Keith said, and my eyes went big.

“Brothas Brewing Club,” Jeremy laughed. “Get your mind out the gutter Ms. Bradford,” he teased me.

I laughed too. “No, you get your mind out of the gutter,” I told him. “Because I was thinking… British Broadcasting Company.”

“No you weren't,” Laken chuckled.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.