I didn’t want to go into work that night, but they insisted. When we got there, I led her into the office and told her to sit down.
“Why?” she asked, laughing.
“You shouldn’t be running around the bar and doing so much. You should be taking it easier. I can tell you’re still tired. Are you still feeling sick?” I asked.
She smiled and cupped my face, kissing me.
“I’m doing much better,” she said. “If I’m tired, I’ll sit down. But I want to work for as long as possible.”
I grinned. “I can deal with that.”35Ava“You are the only person who could come up with bar as the theme for a theme night at a bar and somehow make it work,” Tyler said.
I looked at him over my shoulder as I strung lights near the ceiling.
“Is that an insult?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “I really do think it works. I’m just amazed that you not only came up with that, but that you had the balls to actually go through with it and make it into our next event. That’s really impressive.”
“Please don’t talk about my girlfriend’s balls,” Mason said, coming out of the kitchen with Jesse.
“Actually, can we all stop?” I asked. “This conversation is getting a bit too weird for me.”
Mason crossed the room and rested his hand on the ladder I was standing on. He looked up at me, and I could see the worry in his eyes.
“Do you really have to be up there?” he asked.
“The lights are important,” I said. “Remember, the whole point of the theme is to turn the bar into…”
“Another bar?” Tyler asked.
“I have had quite enough of your attitude, mister,” I said, and Tyler laughed.
“Somebody else can do that,” Mason said. “You shouldn’t be up on a ladder like that.”
“Why not?” I asked. “Does being pregnant suddenly preclude me from being able to stand on a ladder and hang lights?”
“No, but what if you lost your balance?”
“I could have lost my balance at any point during any of the times I have climbed up on ladders in my life,” I said.
“I’m well aware of that,” Mason said. “But you weren’t pregnant during those times. Come on, just let somebody help you.”
“I thought you liked how independent I am.”
“And I thought you liked how much I want to protect and take care of you,” Mason said.
“All right, you win,” I said. I reached down for his shoulders and let Mason pick me up off the ladder and gently place me on my feet. He then climbed up to the top and continued hanging the lights.
I had arrived at The Hollow even earlier than usual to set up for the event that night. It had been a couple of weeks since Mason found out about the baby, and I was happy to feel like we had really found our groove again. That included hosting our wildly popular theme nights.
After the tremendous success of the other events, I wanted to come up with something that was completely new and different. It had to be something nobody would expect, something that none of the other bars or clubs had thought of doing. That was when the idea formed in my head. We would actually become another bar.
Rather than it just having an event meant to transport our customers out of the bar and into something else, like the black-and-white event or the country night, I envisioned putting them in a totally new bar environment. The twist being it would also be deliciously retro. Several screenings of the movie Cocktail later, I was ready to make my vision into a reality.
Part of that vision was the “battle of the bartenders” competition we were staging between Miranda and me. It would give the guests the opportunity to interact, create some fun drama, and hopefully sell a lot of drinks as well. Miranda, Tyler, and I headed over to a corner so we could talk through the details of the showdown.
“So, are you ready for tonight?” I asked.
She nodded but didn’t look completely sure of the situation. “I am, I’m just a little nervous.”
“Why are you nervous?” I asked.
“I’m used to interacting with the customers on more of a one-on-one basis,” she said. “I’ve never really performed.”
“Every one of those interactions is a performance,” I said. “This is just on a bigger scale. You are a fantastic bartender. The customers love you, and you make great drinks. You are going to do so well, and you’re going to have a blast, which is the most important part. Speaking of drinks, do you have yours planned?”
“I’m pretty sure I do. I’ve been trying out a bunch of different recipes, and I think I’ve settled on the one I like the most. Do we get to name these things, or are we just describing them to the customers?” she asked.