RORY
Noah comes out of the kitchen and looks pissed. He taps a beer for himself and downs it without stopping to breathe.
"Woah, hold on! What's going on? That's rage drinking."
"Nothing," he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Your nothings are always somethings. What just happened in there?" I motion with my head towards the kitchen.
Noah frowns and gazes around without answering me. When Adam is in a bad mood, he won't stop ranting. Noah keeps it to himself and I honestly don't know what I rather choose. After a few minutes, the door to the kitchen opens and Erin comes out with the Matt guy. She hugs him in her usual friendly way and waves him goodbye. Noah watches them with a mix of hatred and hurt, definitely signs of jealousy.
Erin then looks at Noah and walks towards the bar. Soon it will be time for the last set of the band and if no words are exchanged by then I'm afraid it will become an awkward one.
"Noah..." She says. I pretend I'm busy clearing up the glass washer.
"Erin, I get it. I'm only a friend. Took me 25 years to understand that nothing will ever happen between us. I'm an idiot. A hopelessly in love idiot."
"Noah, what are you talking about? Are things really going to be like this between us?"
"I thought the way I feel was obvious for you, but it's not. We have a show to put on," he says and walks towards the stage.
Erin follows Noah with her gaze, and I feel slightly guilty. I really thought he had a chance with her and didn't think it would go this way.
"What have I done, Rory?" She rubs her face in frustration.
"Have you ever felt..." I place my arm around her shoulders. "You know, romantic feelings for him?" She shakes her head. "I know you care a lot about him. Was there ever something more?"
"You remember when we were teens and he would come to our house to learn how to play the guitar with Papa? I had a little crush on him. We were all growing up and getting past the awkward phases. And suddenly I realized that Noah was a good-looking guy with a guitar," she smiles a sad smile. "But to me he's like Sam, brother-friends."
"You guys should talk. Now, go on that stage and do what makes you happy. I need to warm up a bit," I kiss her cheek and go back to arranging the materials for my performance.
Erin walks towards the stage and suddenly I remember which song comes up next. I expected the set to become awkward, but this seals the deal. Noah begins to sing 'What I Like About You' from The Romantics and it's completely different than how it usually goes. Erin glances at him from time to time while he sings to the crowd and doesn't interact with her. Their voices are flawless, but unless you are completely drunk, which most people around here are, you can see something isn't quite right.
"What's going on?" Adam comes behind the bar to bring a tray of dirty glasses.
"Noah just found out that Erin has no feelings for him," I give him the short version. "He's pissed. She's shocked."
"Shit, I knew this would happen one day. Where is the Matt guy? I'm not sure I liked that Erin spent time with him," he scans the crowd.
"He left already, but I don't think he's involved in this."
The music continues and most people don't even notice the passive-aggressive friction between Noah and Erin. Midnight approaches soon and it's almost time for my own show.
"Please, tell me you picked a cheap liquor today. Every time you give away those shots for free, my heart breaks," Adam says.
"Cheap bastard," I laugh. "You should let me juggle that nice bottle of aged whiskey you have in your apartment."
"Over my dead body. Your intro is coming up," he and my other bartenders move out of the bar area to make space for me.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Erin begins. "It is that magical hour of the night, and as many of you know, here at Moonlight House we have our own special bartender. The incredibly talented Rory Sommer. Rory, who will be the lucky ladies for tonight?"
The drum beat of 'Cum On Feel The Noize' by Quiet Riot starts and I start pointing at some ladies in the crowd to invite them to take a seat at the five bar stools in front of me. I grab three shakers and do some simple juggling exercises while the band plays and Erin sings. I requested that song from them because the tempo pumps me with energy.
I put down the shakers, grab a bottle and flip it in the air, catching it on the top of my hand. I flip it again behind my back and it lands perfectly on the angle of my elbow. I grab two more bottles and juggle them making one bounce on my forearm from time to time. The ladies sitting at the bar are wide eyed and giggling. It makes me love what I do even more.
After throwing some tequila in six shakers I have lined up, I place five shot glasses on the bar. I pile the shakers and make people clap to the rhythm. Then I stand up on a small stool and decant the liquor from high above the bar into the glasses, making it look like a waterfall. When I'm done, I treat the ladies to the free liquor shot. I continue with the juggling tricks using the bottles and then balance a shaker on a metal stirrer. It makes the crowd go wild. The song comes to an end and I take a bow while I receive a big applause and cheers.
Moon Rocks closes their performance with another energetic number while a few people chat with me, ask to have my picture taken with them and even have me sign cocktail napkins. Never in my life I thought I would enjoy this so much.
Some of our patrons call it a night and go home since we'll be kindly asking them to leave as we will close in an hour. Our liquor license is only good until one in the morning so they'll have to continue their party elsewhere. Erin walks behind the bar and taps a soda for herself.
"Are you okay?" I ask her.
"Yeah, I am. I believe I went through all the emotions during the last set. It's the way I feel and I never led him to believe anything different. We'll talk when we are ready. Only I'm afraid I'll have to take a taxi since I don't have a ride home anymore," she smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes.
"I'm sure Adam can bring you home. I would if I had a car," I say as I start to organize the bar before closing.
I'm blessed by having found an apartment close to the club. It's easy to walk here and run my errands in town by foot. If I need to go elsewhere, I take a taxi.
"Thanks Ro. Let me give you a hand," Erin says and starts cleaning bottles.
The last clubbers leave the building after being ushered out and we start tidying the place. Adam always requests that our waiting staff remove any empty glasses immediately. All that is left at the end of the night is organizing the furniture and, in the morning, we'll do the big cleanup.
"I swear I won the prize this time," Noah says as he comes out of the bathrooms with something that looks like a rag hanging from a mop.
We all come closer to see it is a boxer short. The owner seemed to have experienced some stomach problems and left it behind.
"For God's sake, Noah!" Adam says with a disgusted face. "Throw that thing in the trash!"
"It's evidence, and it puts me at the top of the betting pool for this month."
The objects we find around the club got so weird that we started a monthly competition on who finds the worst. I won the pool last month when I found a glow-in-the-dark condom with rubber spikes in one of the toilets stalls. We have told Adam many times that we need to hire bathroom attendants, but he secretly enjoys the fun of finding odd objects and doesn't do anything about it.
After we are finished, we wish everyone a good night while closing the building. Erin leaves with Adam and I stand outside enjoying the good weather while smoking a cigarette. I promised myself I will quit and I'm doing reasonably well since I'm down to four cigarettes when I used to smoke almost two packs per day.
"I could use one of those," Noah says and I hand him my pack. He barely smokes, so he must be feeling like shit.
"I'm sorry that Erin doesn't feel about you the way you do about her."
"I'm sorry too," he sighs and watches the smoke leave his lips. "I feel bad. It's not like I wanted to be a dick to her, but I feel betrayed somehow."
"You guys need to talk about what happened. Clear the air, you know?"
"We'll see. I'm going home. I could have brought Erin home, but I guess she doesn't want to spend more time with me than necessary."
"It isn't like that. You were pissed with her and she thought it wasn't appropriate. I'll see you tomorrow. Be safe," I throw my cigarette in the gutter and pat his shoulder before leaving.
I enjoy the fresh breeze as I walk, but eventually shiver. Maybe I'm getting whatever bug Adam got. I'm distracted with my thoughts when I bump into a person walking in the opposite direction.
"Oh, I'm really sorry. My bad, there's a lot of sidewalk and..."
The person I bumped into isImogen, who looks as if she has been crying and has a bruise on her cheek.