The wave of night

It comes and goes in waves.

Things got crowded and then they settled, the occasional party reservation, the teasing walk in, the questionable flirt, it all happened every now and then. Days became defined by buyer personas, you see, only certain type of people show up at a bar at 2 o´clock on a Tuesday, or at 4 on a Wednesday without any special going.

People had warned him, routine permeates every profession, change is a constant as much as routine. He could now read people from behind the bar, their small gestures, their drink of choice, the table where they sat. Every little thing became meaningful and it painted a picture in his head about them, who they were, what they liked, but above all, about the relationship in between those who entered the bar.

He often hated the fact that his mind worked like this, processing everything and organizing it. How wonderful would it be, to simply look at the big picture, a myriad of people parading around, having fun, smiling, getting drunk, even fighting more often than not. How wonderful would it be to be able to look at the world through a panoramic lense, where no detail would jump out. He compared it to one of those Monet paintings. He liked impressionism, above all the first look, the first impression of a painting where you don´t try to take in every detail but instead, try to grasp the entire scene. He remembered seeing Monet´s Japanese Bridge over and over but only for a few seconds before moving on. That first look of the bridge surrounded by nature above a pond. He remembered the beauty of the scene, the vibrancy of colors, the whole being so much more than the sum of its parts.

It is only after that first gaze that you look closely, into the pond and the movement it has, the flowers floating above and around, the colors of the flowers and the types of bushes, the perspective, the blurry lines where the pond drifts off. It used to be more fun perhaps, to see everything and nothing, but he wasn´t built like that. He wondered if anyone could after being a bartender for so long. A depressing as it sounds, he quite enjoyed this little rambling he had in his mind while drying some glasses, organizing the bottles, cleaning the bar. He didn´t enjoy quite as much the ones he had while the bar was busy, but his mind rambled nonetheless, the better he got, the more time his mind had for this.

It was starting to get pitch black, he looked at the clock and realized it was 2 in the morning already. His last customers had left about 2 hours ago, rather early for his usual Wednesday, but the cold outside was taking its toll, either that or Christmas creeping around the corner. He knew Thursday and Friday would be packed with a whole lot of people being merry and dressed in red and green. Hopefully there won´t be a guy dressed as Santa this year, Secret Santa often turned into Drunken Santa once they stepped in the bar and it was not a pretty sight. It was like the backstage of a low budget Christmas movie, the ones with a lot of characters somehow related with life problems that the 25^th of December magically solves. He couldn’t help it, it was almost a job requirement, barmen become cynics.

He had finished drying glasses and was organizing boxes of liquor behind the counter when the night outside began losing its quiet distinction. He heard muffled laughter, it was like a growing orchestra of human sounds that grew closer and closer until it was right on the street in front of the bar. The only bar in about 4 blocks open on a Wednesday. He could do the math, they were most likely coming in, they seemed a little drunk already, definitely way too happy to be out walking in the cold.

They were dressed in red and green already, nothing too fancy, heavy coats for the cold which suggest they knew they would be walking. Evenly distributions of boys and girls, but only one guy had his arm around one girl, so only one couple, the rest were probably friends, although something told him they were actually most likely family. He hated when his brain grasped something his consciousness couldn´t quite put into words, no logic, no reason he could fathom, but the inkling was there, embedded in his mind and the conclusion was inevitable. He would find out, a sutble ´sis´ perhaps would slip into their conversation, a family story that would give them away. He would not be frontal, he would not as them, where was the fun in that? He often felt getting so invested in customer’s life stories was not healthy, but he owned the bar, he needed to bartend sometimes and he enjoyed it, something in him knew he enjoyed it way too much.  

Sure enough they looked from across the street, laughed and pointed until they made up their minds. The couple was the first to cross the street, a brawny guy with blondish hair, a grey parka and worn down blue jeans. His arm around a smallish woman, auburn short hair surrounding her face, but only a few strands covered her forehead as it was put up in a messy bun, no doubt the result of being out and about all night. A red hoodie could be seen below her green coat, black tights and toffee boots, not the most stylish. Her face was blushy and her walk faulty, the guy was no doubt helping her and not the other way around indicating they had had a couple night caps already. As they both crossed the street the guy signaled to the others whom, at first with doubts, but ultimately compromised to their fates, followed while laughing. 2 other girls and 2 other guys, their hairs ranging from an ashy caramel to a deep autumn brown adorned their heads, no way to tell for sure they were related. The girls were both wearing red coats, one had a white sweater underneath and was wearing a green berreta with her short hair peaking on the sides. The other was wearing green tights and a black sweater underneath her coat, her hair long and pushed to the side, she was shivering cold and had her arms crossed. The guys had less distinctions among them, both were wearing jeans in almost the same shade of blue, hiking boots, caramel color and red jackets. Their distinguishing trait was, for the first, a green scarf and for the other, a green hat that was covering his very short hair.

They got in and as most groups walking into a bar, they were way louder than they realized. The couple opened the door and as the guy let the girl get in first she bumped into a couple chairs. He tried to reach her letting the door go, as the others tried to keep it open, they guy with the hat slipped on the snow and fell. The door closed and laughter permeated the scene. The girls with short hair tried to help him as the other two laughed and reached for the door, the couple inside was laughing while searching for a table.

Mr Bartender saw the entire thing, as the rest of the group was getting in he knew a couple of thing would happen. First, the couple would go for the booth in the back near the windows, with the entire bar to themselves it was the go to table. Large enough for everyone, no one falls down from chairs on a booth, you get a large seat for yourself and even though it is far from the bar, it doesn´t matter if the bar is empty. He waited as he saw them stumble in and sure enough, they went for the booth, first guess, DONE. But the worst part was coming, the one thing he disliked about having guests at such and ungodly hour, waiting on them. A bartender is supposed to stay in the bar but there was not much he could do. He grabbed menus and approached their table while they all took their seats.

Hi, I´m Jhon, here you have some drink menus, kitchen is closed but the bar is wide open. – he recited the usual line with a large enough smile.

Hello Jhon. Jhonathan. Jhonny, what´s your full name? – The guy with the hat said.

Leave him be and pick your drink already. – The girl with long hair boasted.

I´ll haaave a vodka with yellow juice. Fruity juice, orange juice. – The girl with a messy bun, no doubt the drunkest in the party, exclamated.

The guy next to her, her boyfriend no doubt said – I think maybe just the yellow juice for her.

The entire table laughed.

The girl with the berretta overlooked the menu and said – we´ll start with a round of tequila shots and then we´ll need a beer, a margarita, one cosmo, one manhattan, a martini dry and a scotch on the rocks with some mineral water and they we´ll get out of your hair dear Jhon. – She turned and smiled, she wasn´t pleased with her drunken group clearly.

Sure, I´ll bring the shots over and then the rest okay? Are you sure your – Jhon thought about how best to say this – person should have any more to drink though?

They turned towards the juice girl who said – I´m fine, do not worry about me, right babe? – she hugged the guy with an arm around her.

He responded - Sure you are hon – as he turned to look at Jhon – maybe a glass of water for her as well. –

Or an entire pint for your girlfriend– the girl with the berretta said.

The conversation drifted off and Jhon understood. He was already planning on how to figure out if they were related when he brought the drinks.

He walked over to the bar and prepared a tray of shots, laced the edges with salt and poured tequila in that fancy which only bartenders have. One bottle filling all the shots in a couple of swift motions while definitely pouring some outside the glasses. He cut a couple lemons in thin enough slices and got it to the table.

Thank you Jhon – said the girl with long hair.

Thanks man – the guy with the hat, who had already taken it off.

A myriad of thanks, thank you´s followed as he left for the bar and watched them.

He was grabbing the different glasses he would need as they screamed and chugged the shots.

AGHH, UUG, GROOSS, I DON´T EVEN LIKE TEQUILA – were just a couple of phrases thrown around.

He was almost done with the drinks and he was ready to get them to the table.

He went to the back for a second to get olives and mineral water, as he returned the long haired girl was walking over to the bar. This was his chance.

Hey Jhon, I just wanted to say sorry for that drunken bunch over there. You are a doll for putting up with everynight. – She was clearly attempting to flirt with her arm bent over the bar, her hand on her chin and a half smile going. Jhon could only think that the bar was laced with tequila and salt and it was probably all over her sleeve by now.

No worries, I rather enjoy my job, it tells me a lot about people. – He replied

Really? Like what? – she said.

Like I can tell you guys have been out and about for at least 3 hours, but you have also gone to different bars because clearly some of the effect stems from the cold outside. Which also tells me, you and you girlfriends, if that´s what they are, have had some wine at some point in the evening, specially that guys girlfriend. – He raised his eyebrows and looked straight at her, this usually disarmed drunken flirtatious girlies.

Well, you are good it seems, but I bet you can´t tell whether it was white wine or not? – she replied.

My bet in on dark wine, but hey, I am just a bartender, did I get any of it right?

Almost actually, we have been out for 5 hours but for the first 2 we were sightseeing, you see we are on holiday and we are all helping that guy (pointed to the guy with a girlfriend) show his girlfriend around town. So we enlisted 2 of his cousins, the brawny male energy this evening required, and my best friend from high school.

She had told him almost everything, but he couldn’t quite believe he had been a bit wrong, these 2 other girls, they were not related to anyone at all, it didn´t seem right. Was his mojo failing? Maybe he wasn´t on his best game, he hadn´t been sleeping right. He had some rough nights with little help in the bar, his crew would be there on Thursday and Friday and Saturday but he had given them some nights off.

He was baffled and apparently, it showed. The girls grimace turned into a sort of awkward gaze as he stepped back and said – I see you are almost done with the drinks, I´ll be at the table.

He put the olive in the martini and the mineral water in the scotch and grabbed the tray to take them over.

As he did he could not help feel completely off his game, this last table of people had only shown up to make him feel like this, everything had been fine up until they showed up.

Here you go. – he said.

As the girl with the berretta grabbed the Martini she reached for the stem of the glass to bring it closer to herself, dropping some in the process. The girl with long hair exclaimed – Are you trying to be like mom now?

Jhon reached over to clean it up.

The girl with long hair said – You go from being my best friend to my annoying sister in one phrase, congratulations.

The guy with a girlfriend exclaimed – leave aunt Josie alone, she is awesome, gives the best Christmas presents.

And there it was, the last affirmation he needed, they kept talking and some even looked at Jhon but he was ecstatic. They were sisters, they had to be, no wonder he had seen some resemblance.

He felt balance restored.

They stayed for about 30 minutes before they got up and left. The girl wih long hair left a generous tip and smiled on the way out.

Jhon had finished cleaning the bar and went over to bus the table.

This little gimmick of his, that kept his brain entertained had had a good night. Things were right again. He always felt a little bad at the end, - Maybe I have OCD. - he often thought.

But anyway, like his customers in the middle of the night and like his self-confidence he thought– It comes and goes in waves.