CHAPTER 6
C andace looked at her phone, likely checking the clock for the thousandth time, and said, “It’s time.”
Rory just got done wiping the bar off one final time. It was spotless, but her best friend was nervous and had asked if she’d wipe it down again.
“Let’s do it,” she replied.
Candace opened the front door to the bar and used the doorstop to keep it that way. She had bought a sign that she could hang on the door to indicate that they were open, and she hung it on the nail before she turned back to Rory and smiled wide.
“Don’t forget the sidewalk sign,” Rory reminded her.
“Shit. Yeah.”
Candace quickly moved around the door to where she had stored the sidewalk sign that she’d bought to promote the opening specials and carried it outside. After she placed it on the edge of the sidewalk, she walked back in and stood about ten feet from the door.
“I don’t think you’ll get a lot of customers if you stand there watching the door like that,” Rory pointed out.
“I put up flyers and advertised on Yelp and local New Orleans sites. No one’s here.”
“It’s been open for, like, twenty seconds. Let’s give it at least a minute before you file for bankruptcy, okay?”
“Sorry,” Candace replied. “I’m just going a little crazy. Keith was supposed to be here already, and he’s the one who usually calms me down.”
“I know. And he’s still coming, right? He’s just going to be late.”
“Yes. He won’t get here until after eight, though,” Candace said and sighed as she sat on one of the barstools. “What do I do if there are no customers?”
“I don’t know; teach me how to make a few cool drinks while we wait?” Rory suggested. “If no one shows up after that, we can drink them and take a bus home.”
Candace put her head on the bar and grunted.
“Was I crazy for doing this? I’m crazy, right? What do I know about running a bar?”
“Probably a lot since your uncle taught you everything you know. Plus, you went to school to be a bartender. Also, just remember: you didn’t have to take out a business loan. You didn’t put up your life savings, Candace. If this doesn’t work out, it’ll be awful, and it’ll hurt for a while, yes, but you can rebound.”
“I wish I were gay or at least bi – I’d be all over you, Rory Winter.” Candace lifted her head. “Where is my boyfriend, anyway? He’s supposed to be here to order the first drink.”
Rory shook off the whole gay comment and said, “I know. In his absence, I can order it. I’d like a Tom Collins, please.” She smiled at her friend.
“Do you even know what a Tom Collins is?” Candace asked, laughing.
“No,” she admitted, laughing, too.
“Thank you,” Candace said then. “Really. Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t be here without you. You know that, right?”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Rory told her. “That’s what friends are for.”
“If you need a study buddy or something to do with social work later that I’m legally able to help with, I’m there. And no matter what, you get free drinks for as long as this place is open.”
“Then, who’s going to pay for the first drink in this place?” Rory joked.
“Ugh!” Candace’s head went back to the bar.
“Hi.”
Rory looked up and saw Jill standing in the doorway.
“Hey! Come on in! We’re open.” Candace perked up and stood quickly, trying to pull herself together. “Oh,” she added with slightly less enthusiasm once she realized that it was Jill, who had helped out the other night and had been offered free drinks as a result. “Hey, Jill.”
Rory laughed and said, “Hi, Jill.”
Jill walked in and sat down on the barstool next to the one Candace had been sitting on moments earlier.
“Can I get a margarita on the rocks with extra salt?” she asked Rory, who was still behind the bar.
“Sure,” she replied.
“I’ve got it,” Candace said and moved through the half door to switch places with her. “You sit down and study. This bar is more like a library than a bar right now, so you can have some peace and quiet. Top-shelf?” she asked Jill.
“What? No way,” Jill replied. “I can’t afford that. I’m a tour guide.”
“You get free drinks for helping,” Candace reminded as she began pulling the glass out, along with a fresh lime.
“I’m paying,” Jill told her. “I can’t have you going into debt because I take advantage of this whole free drink thing. It’s your opening. Give me a free drink in a few months when it’s crazy busy in here.”
“Hey, we’re here,” Sophie announced, walking in with Bridgette and Monica in tow. “Point me in the direction of the alcohol. I miss my girlfriend.”
“This place looks great,” Bridgette said. “Babe, drink?” she asked Monica as she pulled out a barstool for her.
“Wine?” Monica said to Candace. “Red. Whatever you have.”
“Bridgette?” Candace asked as she continued to make Jill’s margarita.
“Beer. Abita.”
Rory carried her backpack over to one of the tables and let her new friends talk while she got some studying in. She hoped the bar was about to fill up, but if it didn’t, she could at least get some work done and be here to help comfort Candace until Keith got here.
“Hey, everyone.”
Rory recognized that voice as Melinda’s, so she looked up and saw her walk in with her fiancée. Kyle waved at her, and both women sat on the available barstools next to each other. Candace was all smiles while she mixed the drinks, and Rory knew that her best friend already felt better, but a few friends drinking here, even nightly, wasn’t nearly enough to keep the place afloat for long, which would be a concern soon since Candace only really had enough money to start the place up, not keep it going forever without steady business and a few really good nights mixed in there.
When Linden and Asher showed up a few minutes later, Candace got busy making their drinks as well, and Rory knew that the whole group would pay for their beverages tonight to support what Candace was trying to do. She had no idea how she’d stumbled into a group of friends like this, but she felt lucky. These women were all still very new to Rory, and she was really only somewhat close in age to Jill and Melinda – maybe Bridgette, too – but it didn’t seem to matter. They treated her like a new friend, and she liked them for that.
“Hey. Why are you all the way over here?” Linden asked as she sat down across from her.
“Oh. I’m just getting some studying in. Candace’s boyfriend was supposed to be here to help her open, but he’s running behind. I’m mainly here for emotional support and to help behind the bar if she needs me.”
“Should I leave you alone, then? I always forget; what are you in school for?” Linden asked and took a drink of her beer.
“Social work. I’m in my first year of grad school.”
“You’re a better person than me. I couldn’t do that job. I plan weddings for pretty well-off people most of the time. That, I can do.”
“I think it’s going to be hard some days, yeah, but it’ll be worth it. I want to help. There are so many underserved parts of our community here, and a lot of them have children who need help, resources, and guidance. I want to do that if I can.”
“She’s a saint,” Candace noted, apparently overhearing their conversation. “She has given up almost all of her time these past few weeks to help me here while she works as a nanny and is going to school full-time.”
“Well, I think she gets all the free drinks, then,” Asher suggested. “You don’t have one.” She nodded toward Rory.
“Not really a big drinker.” Rory shrugged a shoulder.
“Want a beer?” Candace asked her.
“I’m driving.”
“I’ll make Keith drive you home when he gets here if you’re tipsy. It’s literally the least he could do since he didn’t get here on time.”
“Who’s Keith?” Jill asked.
“Oh, my boyfriend. He lives in a far-off land that, apparently, exists outside of the space-time continuum because he couldn’t manage to figure out how to get here on time for a very important day for me.”
Rory laughed and looked up when she heard footsteps. Two guys who looked to be in their mid-thirties walked in, and they took a look around as if trying to figure out if they wanted to drink here.
“Hey. Come on in,” Candace welcomed them. “What can I get you?”
“Heineken. Tap, if you have it,” one of them said.
“Corona,” the other one added.
“Lime?” Candace asked.
“Yeah. Two, please.”
Having placed their order at the bar, the guys went to sit down in one of the booths that lined the far wall.
Rory smiled as she watched her happy friend work on their drinks. Something was telling her that Candace would want to walk the beers out to her first real customers herself, so she didn’t offer, and when Candace was done, she walked past her with a wink. Rory smiled back at her, and her eyes kept moving until they arrived at the front door again.
“Wow,” she whispered.
Standing in the doorway was the woman from the other night, with her short brown hair and deep brown eyes that seemed to go so well with her tan or maybe caramel skin. It was her, the woman who had made her turn red and not know how to use words.
“What can I get for you?” Candace asked her when she noticed her.
“Oh. I’m here for an interview,” the woman told her.
Candace turned her wrist, as if expecting a watch to be there, and said, “You’re early, I think. Right?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I just figured it would be better to be early than late, and traffic gets a little crazy this time of day,” the woman replied.
“Well, if you can give me just a minute, we can talk.” Candace motioned with an open palm for an open table that was right in front of Rory’s.
Rory watched it happen and gulped as the woman got closer. When their eyes met, the gorgeous brunette gave her a little nod, and Rory had to look down at her open textbook and clear her throat.
“I think I saw you the other day. Right?” the woman spoke.
Rory looked up, realizing that she was talking to her .
“Uh… Yeah,” she said and nodded for some reason.
“Logan,” the woman introduced herself.
“Okay,” Rory replied.
The woman she now knew was named Logan looked at her a little strangely.
“Oh. I’m Rory. Well, technically, my name is Aurora. That’s really formal, though, and somehow, it got shortened to Rory over the years, so that’s what I go by. Rory Winter. Just Rory.”
Logan smirked at her. Yes, it was a smirk. It was sexy, which meant it was too intense for Rory to see, so she diverted her gaze back to Candace, who was behind the bar.
“Hey, can you watch the bar for me while I interview Logan here?” Candace requested.
“Yup. Yup. No problem.”
Rory stood and quickly got behind the bar, where it was safe because there was an entire barrier between them now, and she could at least distract herself by making drinks if anyone ordered them.
“Thanks,” Candace replied, laughing a little. “It’ll just be a minute. It’s for the bartender opening.”
“No problem,” Rory said and nodded again.
Candace walked around the bar and presented Logan with a glass of water before their interview started.
“She’s hot,” Jill noted.
“She is?” Melinda asked her.
“You’re taken – almost married, in fact – but some of us are still looking for our Miss Right. So, look at her with those eyes and not the ones you stare at Kyle with.”
Melinda laughed and said, “Sure. She’s attractive, yeah.” She shrugged a shoulder.
“She’s hot; I’ll admit it,” Asher added.
“Excuse me,” Linden chimed in from her spot next to her girlfriend.
“I love you, but she’s hot,” Asher told her.
“But I’m hot, too, right?” Linden asked softly.
Asher laughed and said, “You are the hottest, babe.”
The night went on, and three men walked in, followed by a man and a woman. Rory asked them what they wanted before they sat down, and to her relief, four of them ordered beers, and one of them ordered a gin and tonic. That Rory could handle. She made the drinks and walked them over to the table with the man and woman.
“You have food, right?” the man asked her.
“Yes. Appetizers, mostly. The menu is over there if you need it.” Rory pointed to the menu standing on the table.
He picked it up, glanced at it for a second, and asked, “Can we get the potato skins and the nachos?”
“Sure,” she replied and walked toward Candace. “They want food, and I don’t know how to do that.”
“Just yell at Mickey in the back. He’ll make it for you. I’ll put it into the system in a minute,” Candace said. “This is Logan, by the way. She’s bartended before. Lots of experience.”
“Okay. Gotta go now. Bye,” Rory blurted out quickly and hurried off because she could not look at that woman, who was maybe the sexiest woman she’d ever seen in her life.
Minutes later, she was back behind the bar, trying not to stare at Logan, who was still in her interview, but it was really hard to focus on doing anything but looking over at her every chance she got.
“Rory, can I get another beer?” Bridgette asked.
“Sure,” she said and popped the top on another Abita before she slid the bottle over the bar to Bridgette.
Then, she looked around at the customers to see if any of them needed anything but noticed Logan walking toward the front door. In the meantime, Candace made her way back behind the bar and started typing things into the computer.
“Hey, how did it go?” Rory asked.
“Oh, good.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll hire her. She has good experience. I actually know where she used to work. I’m going to call the manager over there, and if they give her the all-clear, I’ll hire her.”
“That’s it? No more interviews or references?”
“I didn’t interview you or check your references,” Candace replied. “ Should I have?”
“You’re my number one reference. It’s you. Then, Stacey and Simon. I think you’ll find them saying that I always make the most delicious dinners in twenty minutes or less and give them more TV time than their other babysitters.”
Candace laughed and said, “I’ll get the food from the back. Can you watch the bar for another minute?”
“No problem,” Rory replied as her eyes went to the door, where she hoped to find Logan still standing there, but she was already gone.