Mixing Love: A Bartender's Tale

Chapter 1- Introductions

Aiden’s P.O.V

“The most

beautiful part is,

I wasn’t even looking

when I found you”

~autumn.

I jerk as I feel my phone ringing in my pocket, causing me to waste the drink I was currently pouring onto the counter. Who could be calling me right now I quickly reach down to grab the towel I had previously laid beneath the counter. The man whose drink I was pouring glared at me angrily.

“I apologize,” I tell the man, who nods. My manager pulls me over after the incident and asks if I have anything going on, to which I don’t reply, and she allows me to go sit in the back. I take my phone from my pocket and check the alerts. Nora, a friend of mine, called, so I call her back and she answers the phone in tears.

“Aiden?” She shakily cries out my name, “I caught him cheating and he broke up with me.” For a moment, I remain silent, thinking negatively about Jeremy, the man she had been dating.

“Are you okay?” I ask her. It’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard, but what can one say in this situation? Of course, she’s upset since the man she’s been dating for the past eight years recently dumped her. I wait for her to respond, but she doesn’t we sit in silence for some time until she asks me if she can stay at my place until she can find one of her own. I agree without any hesitation and tell her to drop by the bar and grab my apartment key since I locked the door when I left for work. She hangs up, and I ask my manager if I may take a quick break.

My boss agrees to let me give Nora the keys, so I step outside and wait for her to arrive. When she finally does I hand her the keys and I ask her if she wants to talk about it. She tells me that she had gotten off work early to surprise Jeremy since it was their anniversary and when she unlocked and opened the door there was a brunette woman atop him. I whisper to her she doesn’t have to tell me all now and she falls silent with tears falling down her cheeks. I get to hug her once before the manager calls me back in to resume my work. I wave Nora bye as I dreadfully enter the building.

I end up getting put on waiters duty and begin serving the tables their ordered drinks. I walk over to a table of two men who had just walked in. They look like they’d already been drinking before they got here.

“Hello, what can I get you two,” I ask looking from one man to the other. I’ve never understood why people drink alcohol. To me personally, it tasted awful, and the consequences of getting drunk weren’t worth it at all. However, despite my disapproval, I smile and wait for the two gentlemen to answer.

The first one answers after careful consideration “I’ll have vodka soda.” I nod and write it down and look toward the second man who seemed to be more interested in me than drinking at the time.

“And you sir?” I ask. His eyes continue looking down my body and I start to feel more uncomfortable by the second. I clear my throat and his eyes immediately revert to mine.

The man smirks and with a raspy voice says “I’d rather have you.” I panic internally and look at his friend who seemed to be enjoying my frantic state.

“He’ll have water,” the man finally says, and I walk away with haste praying silently that this shift would be over with. I get one of my co-workers to take the two perverts their drinks which made them realize I have no interest in either of them and would probably avoid them for the rest of the night.

Time passes, and eventually, the two men leave. I glance at the clock and rejoice at the fact that I only have three hours left until the end of my shift. I concentrate on servicing the tables until my other best friend, Colton, walks into the pub with an unknown stranger. I finish my table’s order and walk over to where they’re sitting.

“Hello, what can I get for you two,” I ask, and Colton laughs at me, I roll my eyes and scowl at him. The other man at the table seems to be amused by Colton’s behavior, and I hope that this won’t be a repeat of the earlier events.

People start looking over at the table, and the man sitting next to Colton kicks his foot and tells him he’s attracting attention. Which in turn makes Colton regain control and introduce me to the man sitting across from him.

“Aiden, this is my older brother Cameron Beck” Colton looks at me with all seriousness in his eyes. I turn to him with a shocked expression on my face.

“B...Brother?” I stutter.