Page 12 of Unforgettable

I roll my eyes at her, but the smile on my face lets her know I appreciate her humor. It’s a running joke for the staff here to make fun of me for my plain black, sugarless coffee order.

“I’ll probably be back later,” I say, reaching for my drink and whatever pastry Bec has put in the brown paper bag. “I’m running on fumes and will most definitely need a pick-me-up.”

“If you come at the right time, I might get you to taste test tomorrow’s special of the day.”

“You don’t have to twist my arm,” I say while walking toward the exit. “I’ll see you later. Have a good day.”

Stepping into the stock room, my eyes immediately bug out of my head at the ridiculous number of wine boxes that are lined up against the back wall.

“I just unloaded an order the other day, what is this?” I ask Tanner.

He plucks the paper bag out of my hand and peeks at whatever is inside before dragging out what looks to be a maple cinnamon roll and taking a huge bite.

“Was that necessary? I would’ve just bought you one.”

He shrugs and hands me the rest. Too tired and too hungry to argue about the germs associated with sharing, I take another bite and a sip of my still hot, black coffee.

“So,” he starts. “This new winery we ordered from seems to have had a processing issue and pretty much quadrupled the order. Along with our regular stuff, and that’s–”

“A lot of fucking wine,” I finish for him.

“Thankfully,” he continues, “someone is coming to pick them up.”

My face scrunches up in confusion. “So, what am I here for?”

“Murph asked for the day off, whichwasfine,” he answers. “But I didn’t anticipate needing to man the frontandhelp them load all this up.”

“Okay,” I supply in understanding. “How come nobody told them the order was wrong, instead of them coming back to pick them up?”

“In an unusual oversight, neither you, Harrison, or I were here when it landed. And nobody else would know it was an unusually large delivery.”

“Gotcha.” I take another sip from my coffee and then ask, “So, how many of these are we keeping?”

“Ten. Unload the ten and then get the rest on the back of their truck. They should be here in twenty or less.”

I stuff the last bite of the delicious maple cinnamon roll in my mouth and give Tanner a thumbs up.

“Hey, Oz,” he says, his hand on the door handle.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

The question catches me off guard. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping, but I heard you fighting with someone on the phone yesterday after your shift.”

My teeth clench remembering the argument I had with my dad yesterday. The main reason I was so determined to fuck out my frustrations. The very same reason that had me spending the night in Reeve’s bed.

The tension in my body dwindles as I think of him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I tell him, which is not a complete lie, because after last night, the anger is gone enough and that dull annoyance that always follows me around when I think of my parents has returned. “Just the same old shit. Nothing new.”

Working at Vino and Veritas was a complete accident. I stumbled across the sign where Harrison, the owner, was hiring staff, and not only did I gain a job, but I also gained a surrogate family I had no idea I was looking for.

It helps that the premise of Vino and Veritas is an all-inclusive establishment, where all letters of the alphabet are welcome. Whether it was Harrison’s intention, this place is home away from home for many members of the LGBTQIA community, and even unintentionally, we all look out for each other. Just like the way Tanner was now.

I wasn’t the only gay man who worked at Vino and Veritas, and I wasn’t in the closet by any means. My family never made me feel like being gay was the issue they had with my life, but somewhere along the way it felt like just another obvious distinction between me and the rest of them.

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