Chapter 16 Adam #2
You couldn’t run a business on five holiday party nights a year, though. He didn’t get his hopes up any further than knowing he’d be able to make payroll.
Once the night got going, time flew. They put the ball drop on every TV as they approached midnight, and Adam watched everyone pair off as they all counted down. It was a bittersweet moment every year. The people around him were happy; he was alone.
The bar counted down, and a cheer erupted through the crowd when they hit zero. Around him, Adam’s employees and customers traded kisses. He even caught Willa smacking a kiss on Tanner’s cheek. Michael even stopped by to kiss Grace at midnight. Adam was happy she had someone like him.
At 12:01 a.m., his phone buzzed. He opened the picture Skylar sent him and laughed. It was a selfie of Skylar frowning, with what he assumed must be Jackson and Ryan kissing in the background. It looked like they were at a bar.
Skylar
Downside of living with lovebirds.
Adam
They’re cute.
Skylar
You know I’m bummed to not be at your party :( we could be kissing right now.
Adam
We should be.
Skylar
I can’t wait to hear all about the party.
Adam
So far so good. I’ll give you all the details. Gil and Ron say hi.
Skylar sent back a smiley face emoji covered in hearts. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to touch base with Skylar until the next day, what with all the cleanup this party would take.
It was busy until bar close, and Adam checked the till to see how far they came to their goal of making money. It was enough to send his crew home with an extra fifty bucks each, on top of the tips that had been generous all night.
It was worth it.
The bar was closed on New Year’s Day, which was a godsend, because Adam’s body was nothing more than a lifeless corpse.
“I think everyone liked it,” Grace said, doing an extra round of mopping that early afternoon. They wanted to get the year started out on the right—clean—foot. Adam was behind the bar giving every inch a deep clean.
“Seemed like it.”
“And the money was pretty good.”
“We can’t count on every day being New Year’s Eve.”
“No, we can’t.”
“I know we avoid the conversation at every turn, but we have to talk about what’s going to happen to the bar.”
“What do you want to happen?”
“It’s your choice.”
“It’s our bar.”
“Legally, that’s not true,” Adam reminded her.
She sighed. “What are the options?”
“The first option is to keep going how we are and ride this out until we can’t squeeze a single more penny out of it.”
Her shoulders sagged, and she leaned on the mop handle. The cream-and-red checkered linoleum tile under her feet was looking worse for wear. “That’s an option.”
“Option two is we close now, cut our losses. We might be able to do severance for the crew. We’d have to talk to your stepdad about how that all works.” Adam hadn’t ever closed down a business before.
Grace nodded, like she was considering what he was saying so far.
“Option three is to sell the bar as is.”
“Who would buy it?” Adam was glad he wasn’t the only one having trouble imagining that they had something someone would want.
“Gil and Ron told me last night that they had always wanted to run a bar.”
“And we’re going to hand over a failing one?”
“They know the state of things, more or less.”
“Hm. That…sounds like a good option.”
“Would you be okay with that?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because…this is your dad’s bar?”
“Yeah. He loved this bar. He put so much effort into it. And he didn’t start it as a trap for us, but that’s what it’s become.”
Adam’s rag stilled on the bar top.
“Do you feel stuck here?”
“Adam. We’re both stuck here. In this together until some kind of ending happens.”
“I thought…you loved the bar.”
“Of course I do. I love this bar, but I don’t want to be here for the rest of my life. I want to go to college.”
Adam’s stomach dropped out. When Grace had graduated from high school, she had been excited to learn the family business, so to speak.
It had been fun. They had bonded a lot over the first years they’d spent actively running the bar together.
By that time, Adam had his sea legs. It felt like no time at all had passed since then, but Grace would turn twenty-six that year. The age Adam had been when Heath died.
When Grace was eighteen, Adam couldn’t get her to have one conversation with him about college. After about a year of pestering her, he figured she would tell him if she ever wanted to go, and they would figure it out.
“Of course you do.” The duty that had been so heavy on Adam’s shoulders was crumbling.
He had been diligently taking care of this bar that was all he had left of his brother so his child could keep this piece of him.
But in the ten years that had passed since then, so many things had changed around him. Including Grace.
“Michael and I have been talking about moving for a while.”
“To Vegas.”
“Or New York, or Austin, or Portland. Maybe even Minneapolis.”
“It’s time, isn’t it?” She nodded. Adam had been agonizing over this moment for years. He always thought that it would feel like a failure when they stepped away from the bar, however that ended up happening. Instead, he felt calm for the first time in a long time.
He came out from behind the bar to give Grace a hug. Her purple hair always smelled so good, faintly purple if Adam had to place it.
“What are you going to do?”
“I guess when I’m up in Minneapolis, I’ll look for an apartment.”
Grace broke into a grin. “Oh my God, FaceTime me while you’re touring and I’ll give you my input.”
“You’re the expert here.” Grace had lived in several apartments in her adult life. Adam had spent the last ten years of his in an apartment that was bundled into his business lease. He didn’t even know what he wanted in an apartment. He hadn’t had to consider his own wants.
“How much do you think we can get for the bar? Do you know how long the process would take? Would we both have to stay until a sale is complete? Should we keep it open while we’re trying to sell?
” She was talking a mile a minute, back to mopping as she spouted every thought in her head.
They were good questions. Adam opened his notes app to keep track of them.
The conversation they had been avoiding forever was done. And things were…good. Adam was excited. Ten years ago, the pause button on his life had been hit. Now, he could hit play again.