~Akshara~
"Two vodka crans, 1 on tap and one whiskey on the rocks for table 10, A" Lillian rattled off before dispersing into the crowded room.
I tapped the shot glasses on the counter towards a group of 3 women dressed in business casuals, "Here are your 3 tequila shots."
"Thanks," they chirped back.
I gave them a small smile of acknowledgement before I went back to fulfilling Lillian's drink orders.
It was Friday evening, just before the long weekend and the weather was starting to heat up again. Phoenix Bar and Grill was finally starting to see the old razzle and dazzle the warm summer air normally brought every year. The live band had started playing on weekends again, and the different voices and scents had started to fill up the air around her again. And it was a welcome change. Coming out of a long winter where I did not see many people visiting the establishment, having the chance to interact with many of the old regulars as well as new faces was refreshing.
I missed making small talk with my bar patrons, catching up with their home lives, their love lives, their work lives, and sharing about mine in return.
"Yo Aksh, where are my drinks," and with that, Lillian was back.
"Just finishing up," I replied, flipping of the beer tap and placing the glass of beer on Lillian's serving tray.
"Thanks."
Before I could reply, a loud commotion was heard in the back of the dining area.
"You are a jerk." A woman wearing a knee length dress, which looked to be too expensive for a place like this, and what looked to be a pair of Christian Louboutin's turned around and stormed out of the establishment. The man who she had come in with stood at the table, looking around at the mess she had left in her wake. A wine glass lay on the ground in tethers along with what looked to be their dinner for the night.
"I apologize for the ruckus everyone." The guy turned around to talk to the other guests before grabbing his phone and began typing into it furiously.
Ricky, another server at the restaurant, went up to the guy immediately and began cleaning up the mess.
"Thank you," the man replied, not paying any heed to Ricky.
"And can you also get me the receipt? I will pay for any of the other expenses."
"Of course, sir." Ricky replied as he finished cleaning up the glass from the floor and went back to the kitchen.
This wasn't the first time a scene had been created in the restaurant, but this sure was the first time that one of the parties had remained cool and non-chalant about the embarrassing situation that had been created.
"Wow," was all Lillian said before she disappeared again with her tray of drinks.
I agreed and went back to cleaning the glasses and stacking them up against the inside of the counter.
"A double whiskey on the rocks please."
It was him. Or well it sounded like him. The man whose girlfriend I presumed, had just called him a jerk and stormed out of the restaurant.
"Coming right up."
I placed a napkin on the counter and placed the glass of whiskey on top and whisked over a small bowl of peanuts.
"Here you go."
Without speaking a word or even giving me a nod of acknowledgement, the man took a swig of his whiskey and downed it in a record 5 seconds, before abruptly slamming the glass back onto the counter.
"Another."
"Are you sure you should be drinking this much?"
I had finally given up and asked the one question I had been dying to ask for the past one hour.
"Does it affect you in any way?"
Okay, wow, rude much?
"Umm...no, but I am a bartender, and I am the one serving you. So yes? It does affect me in one way or the other, whether you like it or not."
Crap. I hadn't meant to say all of that out loud. Just the 'Umm...no.' part would have sufficed, but my big mouth had to go out of its way and speak what was on my mind.
He gave a little sigh, "Right. I'm sorry. I should not have spoken to you that way."
Okay...I had not expected that to happen.
"Umm...it's...okay...?"
Do I say sorry back? Apologize for being too patronizing? For being...to involved in his drinking? Wait...what...no! It's my job to see the patrons don't get overly wasted.
"Are you doing okay?"
What are you doing, Akshara? Abort mission!
"Yes, why?" He asked casually, as if his dinner companion had not just walked out of here 15 minutes ago while creating a scene.
"No reason," I replied back quickly, before busying myself in preparing other drink orders.
He gave a little half-hearted laugh before looking down at his half-filled glass and started rolling the rim of the glass with his thumb. He was sad. But trying very hard to hide it.
"You saw that little scene, huh?"
"The better question would be, who didn't?"
Oh god. I needed to go dig a hole somewhere and bury myself in it. This was not the time to be funny, or sarcastic. This man was going through something.
A soft chuckle sounded from the opposite side of the counter and I saw the corner of his lips tilt up in a small smile.
"Oh right, I apologize, my mistake. I'm sure everyone here saw what happened. Should I have bought a round of drinks...for the inconvenience to the guests? Is that a thing people do?"
"No? Unless you are swimming in money? Honestly, don't worry about it. It's not like you'll meet these people again."
"Hypothetically, let's say I do meet someone again? Then what?"
"Okay, then 'hypothetically', do you honestly remember anyone's face around here that you have not talked to?"
"No."
"Then there you go. Yes, you might have caused a little scene, but in this big world, where something or the other happens every 1 minute, your little ruckus was like a little blip on the huge radar that is called life."
"Wow, not that I cared in the first place about being judged, but that entire thing you just said made me feel really good."
I gave him a bright smile. "I'm glad I could help."
"I'm Abhimanyu."
Abhimanyu brought his right hand out and waited for me to place my hand in his.
"Akshara."
I placed my hand in his and shook. His hands were warm and large, which was to be expected for a guy whose height I would guess was about 6'1. But the most surprising part of the handshake was that his hands were firm, but yet gentle. Everything about him, including his handshake screamed business, but in a "I'll play nice, if you play nice," kind of a way. But at the same time, I could see pain, and uncertainty in this smile. It was confident but lacked clarity. As if he was hiding something. Although his lips smiled often, his eyes stayed vacant. He had a story to tell, and I for some reason wanted to be the one to unravel it.
"It's nice to meet you, Akshara."
"Likewise, Abhimanyu."