Page 5 of Drunk Girl

Kaiden hands me a clipboard with column after column of inventory items. “Shall we?” he says, standing up and heading downstairs into our stockroom. When we first renovated, we made sure it had plenty of space and was well-organized. It takes us about two hours to inventory everything between the stockroom and the kitchen, then to get our order in for the week.

After opening, there was a learning curve for a few months before we got a good system down on how to order correctly, so we didn’t over or under order, especially when it came to the food aspect of the bar. Liquor and beer last a little longer than food items do, but once we got in a groove, things started running a whole lot easier.

“Have you given any more thought to hiring another bartender?” I ask Kaiden, once we’ve submitted the orders to our distributors.

“I have, and after running the numbers, I think we can finally afford one. It’ll be nice to have one more on staff and will allow the two of us to take an extra night off each week, which I think we’ve both earned.”

“That sure will be nice,” I agree. Working six to seven days a week for the last five years has been stressful at times. If either one of us wants to take time off, the other is left to cover.

“If you’re good with it, I’ll get something posted stating we’re hiring, and start the process. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do some interviews as early as next week and get someone in here within the next couple of weeks for training.”

“Sounds good to me. Just let me know when you set up the interviews and I’ll make sure to clear my schedule.”

I head back downstairs to the bar to start our opening procedures. We don’t open up for another two hours, but that time will fly by before we know it. Before I start pulling down chairs, I head into the kitchen and find one of our cooks, Ryan.

“Hey, man,” he greets as I walk through the swinging doors.

“Hey, Ryan, can I get a cheeseburger and fries?” I ask, after bumping his fist with my own.

“Sure can, I’ll bring it out once it’s ready. I’ve got to turn on the fryer still, so give me a little bit.”

“Thanks, I’ll be getting things ready for opening,” I tell him before heading back out into the bar area. I start by taking all the chairs down that have been up on the tables, then make my way behind the bar to look over what all needs to be restocked for the night ahead of us. With it being Friday night, we’ll be pretty busy all night long.

“One cheeseburger with fries,” Ryan says, setting the plate down on the bar in front of me.

My stomach picks that moment to grumble really loud, pulling a laugh from my lips. “Thanks, guess I was hungry,” I tell him before I take a huge bite of the burger. The flavor hits my tongue and I about melt in my spot. Ryan is a fantastic cook; one we are damn lucky to have on our staff. “I didn’t know a burger could taste so amazing,” I add, by way of a compliment.

“Glad you approve,” he says on a laugh as he turns and walks back to his domain in the kitchen. I quickly scarf down my food, then place the plate in a bussing tub under the bar, and get back to my opening tasks. Once the ice bins are both full and I’ve got all the garnish tubs filled, I switch to stocking the liquor bottles, pulling out new ones for the bottles that are almost empty and that we tend to go through each night.

With it being Friday night, we typically get busy early and stay that way until closing time on the weekends.

“Hey, Nick,” Katie greets me as she comes in the back door. “Need any help getting things ready?”

“Hey,” I say, waving from across the bar. “I’ve got everything done, for the most part. Feel free to head on upstairs and see Kaiden if you’d like. I’ll get the doors opened here in a little bit.”

“Sounds good. Sorry I wasn’t here earlier. My appointment was late getting started as my doctor was running late,” she tells me.

“Everything okay?” I ask, concern lacing my voice.

“Oh, yeah. Just my annual exam. My doc got called out to a delivery at the hospital, so her afternoon appointments were just pushed back.”

“Ah, gotcha.” I wipe the bar top down one last time before it’s opening time.

“I’ll be right back. Holler if you need me sooner,” she says, taking the stairs two at a time up to the office, where Kaiden is probably still sitting doing paperwork.

Since the day we decided to open this business together, we’ve split as many of the tasks as we can down the middle. He’s better at the computer and money shit and I’m better at the actual bar-related things. He keeps the money coming and I keep the booze flowing. While he does get behind the bar plenty, and knows how to make anything a customer orders, if he could choose between being behind the bar versus the computer crunching numbers, paying the bills, or ordering supplies, he’d choose the latter first every time.

I head over and flip the open sign and unlock the doors, then head back behind the bar to wait for the first rush of customers. We open at four p.m. during the week and at noon on the weekends, to take advantage of the customers looking to grab a burger and beer, and watch their favorite sports team playing on one of our many TV screens.

* * *

The first waveof customers started rolling in shortly after we open and don’t stop coming in until well after midnight. Before I know it, I’m ringing the bell, calling out last call for the night. I’m exhausted by the time I’m ready to leave at almost three a.m.

I make it home and head straight for my bedroom, stripping out of my clothes and taking a quick shower to wash the stench of alcohol, sweat, and bar food from my skin. Thankfully, we have an opening crew that will be in tomorrow to open the bar up. I’m not due to show up until six tomorrow night, to work the closing shift all over again.

I dry off and slip on a pair of boxer briefs, then head out to my kitchen to grab a glass of water and flip through my mail that came today. Nothing but junk and a few bills that are all automatically paid, so nothing I have to worry about. I’m dead on my feet, so once I finish my glass of water, I set the glass on the counter and head back into my room, crashing hard as soon as my head hits the pillow.

4

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