Oh, nothing much...

"Um, I... I went back. I mean, a-a couple of days later."

Lucas' eyes widened.

"It was just so exciting! I couldn't get it out of my mind. I'm so sorry... I knew it was wrong but I couldn't stop m-myself..."

"Stop yourself from doing what?"

"I-I used my hands. Just my hands, I p-promise!"

"How many?"

"Just one that first day, but... I... don't really remember. Maybe ten in total? Or... twenty. No more than that, I swear..." She admitted quietly. Tears started forming in her eyes.

Lucas reached out for her hands. "It's all right. Like I told you, if I didn't want you doing things like that, I would've told you."

"Wait, you're okay with this?" Audrey asked, eyebrows arched.

"I'm okay with her going to glory holes," he said, then addressed Eldwyn. "I'm not okay with you keeping it from me, though."

"I know. I-I'm really sorry. It's just that it was all so naughty—I'm awful!"

"You're not awful," he said reassuringly, "but you do have to talk to me. I just want to make sure you're safe, all right? I don't want you to get hurt."

Lucas pulled her into his lap. They shared a long kiss, marred only a little by the salty taste of her tears.

"Why are you always so nice to me?" She whispered when their lips parted.

He grinned. "Not always, just when you need it."

Audrey cleared her throat. "Not that I'm not glad you two lovebirds made up, but we still have a problem."

"What's that?" Lucas asked.

"You know this isn't my bar, right? Not officially, anyway. Heor is the one who actually owns it, I'm just the manager."

"Yeah, I know. I don't think I've ever met him, though."

"He hasn't been in the bar more than a couple of times this cycle. He used to live upstairs, but he moved out a couple of cycles ago. Nowadays, I go over to his home to go over the books with him, and to hand him the monthly profits." She noticed his look of surprise. "I take along a couple of guards, of course. In any case, he seems happy to leave the day-to-day business to me."

"I'm not surprised," Eldwyn said. "Have you seen how busy this place gets in the evenings? There's no one in Holm who could do a better job!"

"Thank you," Audrey replied, blushing uncharacteristically at the compliment, "but that does mean I can't just do whatever I want. Look, let me put it bluntly. Heor is not going to be pleased when he learns that the reason profits have been going up lately is because one of the waitresses is in the back giving out free handjobs left and right."

Eldwyn gasped.

"Don't worry, I don't think anyone has figured it out. Yet. But you can only go to the bathroom so many times before people start being suspicious, Eldwyn."

"I... I thought I was being careful," she pouted.

"Not careful enough."

"Why are you so sure Heor will disapprove? I mean, look at the uniforms you're making the waitresses wear." Lucas said, plucking at Eldwyn's red blouse. "It's not exactly modest, you know."

"There's a big difference between sexy outfits and starting an illegal brothel in the back, Lucas." Audrey shot back, prompting another shocked gasp from Eldwyn. "I know, I know, that's not what this is, but that's what it will turn into, once it's gone through the rumor mill. Heor gives me a pretty long leash, but I've known him for a long time, and he has his limits.

"He might not have chosen these uniforms himself, but he's accepted my suggestion for them. He might be old, but he's still a man, and he enjoys seeing young women in skimpy outfits as much as anyone. And he's been in the bar business a long time, so he knows a tipsy crowd can get a little handsy sometimes. As long as the waitresses are all right with that, so is he. I've seen how he reacted when people tried taking it further, though, and he did not hesitate to have them thrown out. That goes for anyone, not just the employees."

"But then why install a glory hole at all?" Lucas asked, spotting a contradiction. "I saw it, that's not some hack job. You paid money to some craftsman to have that done."

"Some men like the fantasy of an anonymous women getting them off," Audrey replied, shrugging. "Even if it never happens at all, it keeps them coming back, just like the uniforms."

"So you had a glory hole installed... but never wanted it to be used?" Lucas asked.

She shrugged. "Look, if a woman sometimes wants to have a little fun, I can turn a blind eye, but there's only so much I can get away with. Having employees using it on a daily basis is definitely going to get us into trouble."

"So...?" Eldwyn asked, fearing the worst.