it. Hey, Mark!”
Mark reaches around me and fist-bumps him. “Who’s workin’ your bar, Bobby?”
“Ah, I’ve got some newbie on it. It’s Sunday. I get a night off, don’t I? I wanted to see how we did. Not bad, huh?” He looks around, whistles and shakes his head. “I should pay someone to come in and shoot me.”
“Your drinks are on me tonight, Bobby. Thanks for all your help.”
“Hey handsome! And you other guys.” Annie smiles, looking sexy as fuck with her hands on the counter and a black halter accentuating her cleavage.
“Now don’t call me handsome in front of Brendan, or he’ll kick my ass,” Mark says.
She cocks her head. “You wish it was you I was talking about!”
I call over the noise, “Annie, looks like you’re the busiest bar in town!”
She spreads her arms out, looking up to the heavens, then looks back to me. “I know, right?! It’s all because of you and that amazing man right there.” She points at Bobby and winks at him. “Thank you, Bobby!!”
“Hey, I sent out an email to my entire company,” Mark exclaims, feigning hurt. He turns his body and points in various directions. “I know that guy, and that guy, and that guy, and… we need to hire more women.”
“I should say so. What’re you men having?”
We all order and she nods while pulling out something from behind the bar. “Oh, Brendan, look at what was under the door today?” She holds up the menus I had delivered from my agency, complete with the new drinks. “I wonder who did this?”
I shrug, looking around. “I wonder.”
She cups her hands around her mouth. “Thank you!!!”
“You’re welcome, baby.”
Bobby practically leaps into the air, running away from us, yelling, “There’s a table on the patio emptying out!”
Annie makes our drinks as Mark and I wait. I can’t keep my eyes off her and Mark has thankfully stopped giving me shit about it. But as we walk away, with him holding Bobby’s and his drink, he leans over to say to me, privately, “You’re looking pretty happy B-man. I’m glad to see it.”
I throw him a look, expecting to see mockery thrown my way, but he’s got none to give. “Thanks, Mark.” We don’t say another word about it, and joining Bobby, we three talk about everything from The World Cup, to the Russian uprising in the Ukraine, to the latest stupid cat video that’s gone viral. The one thing we don’t talk about is women, and it occurs to me that we don’t have that, the way women do. It’s not how we operate. Maybe that’s why when we find a woman who makes us feel safe to open up about deeper things – like the way we really feel about things that are happening in our lives – we fall hard for her and let the male friendships that don’t support our new relationship die away. I’ve seen it happen in the happy marriages I’ve witnessed.
A couple hours and a few drinks later, Mark turns to me. “Hey, Brendan, You and Annie wanna come with me to Napa when Nicole comes into town. I was thinking of taking her wine tasting.”
“Yeah. Sounds great.”
Bobby looks around, eyes red and foggy. “I need a woman.”
Mark leans back on the chair. “What you need is a taxi.”
Bobby nods. “That I do. So now, wait a minute. How is this place not going to get ripped off after everyone leaves?”
I point out the gate, collapsed accordion-style against each wall. “See that.” We all turn to follow where I’m pointing next. “And see that button that’s like a garage door opener against the wall by the bar counter? That’ll close this gate. They’ll take in the tables and chairs after she closes and the gate will lock up. It’s still got a ways to go.”
Bobby’s head does a circle around us. “It’s gonna look pretty good.”
Mark stands up. “I’ve gotta go, B. Work in the morning. Just like everyone else, it looks like.”
I rise, too, with Bobby following our lead. “Yeah, me too. She’s closing early tonight. I’m going to stay. You want to join me, Bobby?”
He shakes his head. “Nah. Mark’s right. I need a taxi. I think I’m coming down with something. I’m usually not this much of a lightweight. I’m a bartender for fuck’s sake!”
Mark agrees, amused, “Damn straight. I’ll walk you out.” He passes me. “See you later.”
“See ya, buddy.” Bobby goes to hug me and I hold out my arms for protection.
“Right.