"Hi, what would you like?"
"Oh, I'm good for now."
"Oh, okay, who's next ? May I help you?"
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, thanks."
"Oookay..? Who's next ?"
Brett, the bartender finally had a bit of a break with his drink orders. The customers tend to come in large numbers irregularly and for a while, he was really busy attending to their thirsty needs. By efficiently attending to them one by one, numbers eventually subdued and Brett was now finally able to take a bit of a breath and check what's been happening. He quickly wiped up the spills he made on the bar, then looked up. The young man he tried to serve twice was still in front of the bar. He was tall and kinda cute. He looked very young, even for an Asian guy. Brett thought he might have to ask for his ID before he served him.
"Um.. excuse me, I don't think I got to serve you yet. Are you okay?"
The tall young man replied shyly.
"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to stuff you around.. I arrived at the bar too early... just 3 more minutes..."
"3 more minutes till what?"
Brett looked over his shoulder to look at the large clock that was on the wall behind him.
The tall young man replied.
"..midnight. I turn 18 and I get to buy my first alcoholic drink."
He flashed his ID card.
"Oh."
Brett smiled.
"So, are you here by yourself?"
"No, I've got a few uni friends with me."
"..Aren't they meant to buy you your birthday drinks?"
"I think they might later.. but I told them I wanted to buy my own first drink."
Brett smiled again.
"Fair enough. Well if that's the case I'll try to serve you right after midnight.. just 2 more minutes, hey."
The young man smiled back.
"Thank you."
"I hope your friends look after you and don't force you to drink too much on your first pub visit.."
"I think they're okay.. last time we were here for another mate of ours we looked after him. We didn't force him to drink or anything."
"Whaddyamean last time? What were you doing here with your underage ass??"
The young man looked flustered.
"Oh, but I only had soft drinks, I swear..!!"
Brett smirked.
"Good to hear that you and your friends are pretty responsible. It makes my job easier."
The young man let out a sigh of relief.
"...Is it part of your job to make sure we drink responsibly?"
"Well, that's meant to be your job.. but I suppose I try to oversee things and keep an eye out for any reckless drinking..."
"So.. um, have you been doing this for long?"
"Hmm... about 6 months.. I only turned 18 last year myself."
Just then a large group came through the door and a couple of guys approached the bar, ready to rattle off an order for a round of drinks.
Brett looked up towards the young man and said;
"Sorry, now that I know you're still 17 for another 2 minutes, I need to serve these guys first. It might take a while."
The young man smiled.
"That's okay, I understand."
"Here you go.. I think I got everything? 12 schooners, 2 middies and 4 wines..."
Brett counted the drinks that were neatly placed on two trays. He saw off the two customers take away their order then exclaimed;
"Phew, that was a big one!."
He then turned to the young man who was waiting patiently.
"Hey, it's... 7 past midnight. Are you now ready to order?"
"Yes, please."
"So what would you like to order? I'm sorry I didn't get to serve your drink a bit earlier, like exactly when you turned 18."
"Oh that's okay... um.. I suppose I'll just have a beer..?"
"From the tap is okay?"
The young man shrugged his shoulders. Brett chuckled.
"I suppose it is."
Brett poured the beer and placed it on the bar in front of the young man. The young man was staring at Brett's hands for every move he made then held his gaze on the schooner of beer that was placed in front of him.
"This one is on the house, from me."
The young man looked up.
"Oh I can't let you do that..!?"
Brett smirked.
"But I just did. Just don't skull it in one go."
The young man smiled.
"Thank you, Brett."
Brett glanced down at his name tag and shrugged his shoulders.
"You're welcome.. um..."
"Eddy."
Brett smiled.
"You're welcome Eddy. Happy 18th birthday."
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A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, sequels to this story can be read in its own book "All in the name of".