Page 17 of The Barkeep and the Bro

Charlie snapped his fingers. “Well drinks.”

He examined the colored bottles in the trough.

“Whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, bourbon, triple sec, and vermouth. Those are your well liquors. Most of the drinks you’ll be making will include one of those. You can decide which bottle is which alcohol for training, but I’m going to hold you to it.”

Charlie named each bottle. I wrote it on my pad so I’d remember, too. He nodded to himself and rubbed his hands together. Since I’d been doing this so long, I was getting to see bartending through a newbie’s eyes.

“Let’s try it again.” I felt my face contorting into a smile. Was I having fun here? The more time I spent with Charlie, the harder it was to find him annoying. “Rum and coke.”

Charlie took the pint glass he’d just polished and plunked it on the bar.

“Wrong glass.”

“Right. I knew that. I was testing you, Boss.” He swiped it back and searched the glass shelf. He held up a short glass. I shook my head no. Then a taller glass, and I gave him the green light head nod. “There’s all these little details I haven’t thought about. I just wait for drinks, and they appear.”

“Isn’t it funny how that happens? Ice.”

“Yep. And the ice is…” Charlie searched under the bar and found the ice by the well drinks. He scooped cubes into the glass until they overflowed out.

“Not so much ice.”

He tossed a few cubes into the sink. He pulled the rum bottle from the well.

“Got my alcohol. Now I need my mixer,” he mumbled to himself. It was fun watching him think. He bit his lip again, which sent some kind of rush through me. I found myself on the edge of my stool, wanting him to succeed.

“The soda gun!” Charlie picked it up from its holster. “How the hell do I read this?”

Different buttons had different letters.

“C for Coke,” I said.

“Makes sense.” He held the rum bottle and soda gun. He exhaled a breath and tipped over the bottle while pressing the gun. The soda missed the glass, spraying across the bar. I jumped off my seat to avoid splatter. “Shit. That thing came out strong.”

He moved the soda gun over the glass, while the rum flowed over the ice.

“How much rum are you giving me?”

“I, uh, don’t actually know.”

“So we have a rum and coke that’s mostly rum and half the Coke wound up on the bar.”

Charlie wiped his dishtowel in front of my station. It immediately soaked through with Coke. He placed the finished drink on top. “Anything else, sir?”

I quirked an eyebrow. “What garnish goes with a rum and coke?”

“Lemmm...cherr…” He watched me closely to see if I gave away the answer. “Liiii…” I nodded my head. “Lime!”

He pulled a lime from the garnish tray and plopped it in the drink. Droplets spilled out on impact.

I exhaled a breath.

“I’m a fast learner, Boss,” he said with pep. “One day in the future, we’re going to think back on this moment and laugh.” He let out a fake laugh.

“How far in the future are we talking about?” I joined him behind the bar and grabbed two shot glasses. I had visions of customers taking advantage of his cluelessness and getting free top-shelf alcohol.

I picked up the green bottle, which Charlie had designated as vodka. “One shot is a four-count. One, two, three, four.”

I counted off as I poured fake booze into the shot glass, and the liquid came right to the top.

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