The Bar

16 - Mina

16 

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Mina

Mina walked out of her room, the usual way and made it to the kitchen counter to find Cathy sulking in a corner staring at her coffee mug.

“Rough date?” She guessed looking at the young lost girl with sore eyes hoping she would give a subtle reply back.

“Worse than rough, it was boring. I was boring” Cathy looked up and pouted.

“So… you got college today?” Mina decided to change the topic and save the trouble of Cathy to rewind the memories of last night.

“Yea, and worse, I have to face Max. He must be already wondering what a loser I was last night, now he’d be discussing it with his friends and ‘Ashley’.”

“Why don’t you relax, how does it matter to you what people think. Just ignore his stares and finish off your day, how else do you think I’m going to get through today with Carter?” Mina rolled her eyes at the thought of her boss wanting to discuss Cathy more than the new tasks she has to take over while he works on the new branch of the hotel”

“Right, Carter. Blah. Today is so not a good day” Cathy groaned and got to her feet.

“Where are you going?” Mina asked her.

“The shower, I have to face the horror of the world today” She grinded her foot against the floor and dragged her body into the bathroom.

“Way to start the morning” Mina raised an eyebrow and prepared her coffee.

***

The restaurant was swooping with customers but everything was under control. Mina had assigned one of her trusted waiters to manage the restaurant while she waited around the accounts corner hoping Carter would come a little bit earlier for work today.

It was around 2pm where Carter walked in and strolled quickly into his office. Mina gave him 15 minutes to settle down and then knocked at the front door.

“Come in” Carter said and Mina entered the office.

“How are you?” Mina asked him, striking up a casual conversation.

“I’m fine, just got some samples of wallpapers I wanted you to look at for the new place” He indicated she take a seat as he passed on a set of neatly folded papers to her.

“Hmm, interesting designs” Mina judged the work. She liked a very vague brown wooden effect design for the walls and another very bright red checker design.

Carter was trying very hard to divert his concentration away from the bobbling questions he had about Cathy and tried calculating the total finance needed for the new restaurant. He would often shift his gaze very causally and look towards Mina wondering if this was the right moment to discuss his doubts or feelings towards Cathy.

“Just go ahead. Just say it” Mina took in a deep breath and gave a very oblivious look to Carter.

“Okay, look, I like Cathy, a lot. She’s not like anyone I’ve met before. Is there any way you could tell me if she likes me the same way?” He looked desperately in her eyes, searching for the truth.

“Yes, maybe…It’s not my duty to figure out your love life for you but why don’t you ask her out or meet up with her casually and figure this whole ‘does she like me or not’ by yourself” Mina smiled.

“Will that work? Will she agree to come?” he raised an eyebrow doubtfully.

“Okay, well knowing Cathy for a few months, if you invite her to something grand she will most definitely come. Another thing, we both know your dork of a brother is into her. I personally think they have no chemistry between them, it’s you who she has the ‘hot’s’ for. Suck it up, be a man, make it happen before Max does.” She nodded.

“Alright then, I shall make a move after all” Carter winked.

After that everything was settled. Both of them took a coffee break and dug right into the finance and decoration aspect of the new restaurant. They argued, they juggled jobs and took their quick short breaks and got the job done. It was sooner than Mina expected and the clock had stuck 8 in the night. Carter took into consideration all her hard work for the day and let her take leave.

Mina appreciated the soft heart her boss had. It was obvious he would pretend to be mean and strict at times but meanwhile he was a hearty, loving guy who was a sucker for romance.

On her way home, Mina passed the bar and stopped to read a crowded sign stuck on the purple windows. It read,

This Wednesday night, Karaoke, free drinks till 11pm for woman. Men are allowed to pay for drinks and watch. Smiley wink face.

“Interesting work Steve” Mina smiled and imagined her first drink at The Bar. It was a cold night and she had just escaped from a brutal beating from her ass of a boyfriend. Sad and broken she entered the bar and sat straight at the drinks tab bar and started to order whisky and all sorts of hard liquor. Steve was in charge and immediately sensed boyfriend violence and offered her free drinks the entire night. The only condition was she was supposed to drink only till she could hold the drinks in her body. Steve was her adviser and personal counsellor then onwards. She never let Steve offer her a single free drink after that night but she would always come to him when she felt alone and sad and Steve would be right there for her.

Mina walked smiling into the house, thinking about her innocence and her silent escapism into the wrong kinda worlds. She looked up to see Cathy crying her eyeballs out on the sofa without any soap opera on the TV.

“Are you alright?” Mina defensibly checked, in case she was intruding Cathy’s private space.

“I am not alright, I hate this empty space. It’s like something is right there in front of you but you can’t get through to it. Max was sweet today. He smiled at me and even tried to talk to me but I ran away, I didn’t want to talk” Cathy let another tear drop.

“Well, maybe you need some space, maybe he just wants to know if he did anything wrong. Tell me more about that empty space you’re talking about it. Usually when people feel an empty space inside themselves they would want someone to fill it up but you are kind of girl who runs away from things like that. What do you want Cathy, look deep inside your heart” Mina urged.

“I want attention, I like it but at the same time I don’t think Max is the right person to ask for some attention right now.” Cathy looked at Mina with confused eyes.

“Say it, just say it, who do you want attention from?” Mina begged.

“Carter.” Cathy gulped. “I barely know him but he’s got that charm”

“Then why don’t you go out with him?”

“I can’t! Because if I do that then I will become one of those girls who succumb to his money and charisma… I have nothing unique left in me, I will have no grip over his soul, and I will become ordinary” Cathy groaned silently.

“You don’t know that, you don’t know what he thinks, you can’t judge his decisions. All you can do is follow your heart, all you can do is listen to your inner feelings, all you can do is let go of that control.”