A Bar Tender Tale (2 page)

Maybe he should get a dog, Nathan thought. He had instant fantasies about leisurely strolls in the park and meeting handsome, eligible men out walking their dogs. He could get a black fluffy poodle, like Elvira! If he really thought about it though, it wouldn’t be fair. He worked unsociable hours with no time for dog walking.

Perhaps a goldfish…?

He wouldn’t
need
a damn pet if his so-called boyfriend was ever around. Nathan scowled at the thought of Danny.

This was it; this was definitely it. He was going to dump Danny if he ever saw him again… and move on.

Nathan took a left down a side street, toward the sea front. He just wanted to check one place Danny might have gone. Not that he was a stalker or anything….

Ignoring the scenic view of the seafront and Brighton Palace Pier, Nathan walked along the main road, passing row upon row of guest houses and clubs. He had taken a detour to Rainbow’s, the second bar he worked in. Rainbow’s overlooked the sea, but it was also on the main route into and out of town. The major pitfall of that was any mess left behind by Brighton’s nighttime revelers. As Nathan approached the bar, he could see one of his colleagues, Stuart, currently attempting to mop the latest mess from the front steps.

“Who left their calling card?” Nathan asked.

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“All right, Nath,” Stuart greeted. “Oh, who knows, it could have been anyone walking up the road after closing.

Only just spotted it now.”

“Lucky you,” Nathan said. “You weren’t working last night, were you?”

“Nah.” Stuart gave up on the cleaning and leaned on his mop. “Been on days. Why?”

“Oh. Just looking for Danny. I was going to ask if you’d seen him?”

“Ain’t seen him for a while, babe,” Stuart said. “Which is fine by me!”

“Yeah, he’s a charmer,” Nathan agreed. “He ditched me again last night.”

Stuart rolled his eyes. “Then tell him to get lost.

Honestly, Nath, you could have your pick if you weren’t so fussy.”

“Excuse
me
, weren’t you the one saying only the other day that there was zero choice around at the moment? I believe your words were ‘There’s no one I’d want to do in here without at least two paper bags. One for me and—’”

“One for them,” Stuart finished with a smile. “Yes, I know. Well, what can I say? There may be a dry spell at the moment for fresh talent, but I’m not as fussy as you. When the going gets tough, the tough lower their standards.” Nathan laughed. “Oh really? And who said you were tough?”

It was a tease. Stuart was well over six foot, towering over Nathan, with the gym-toned body to go with his height.

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He still bristled at the remark. “Look who’s talking! You can barely open a beer bottle on your own.”

“Slight exaggeration there, Stu.”

Stuart shrugged. “Anyway, I’m gonna go get a scraper or something. Unless you want to do something useful and clean this vom for me?”

“Pass!” Nathan made a face. “I’m not even working today. I just…well.”

“You’re just being pathetic looking for a nonexistent boyfriend.”

“Kick a guy when he’s down, why don’t you?”

“Sorry, Nath,” Stuart grabbed his mop. “He’s an idiot.

Get rid. You wanna borrow this sick-encrusted mop to slap his face with?”

Nathan smiled again. “Sounds like a plan, Batman.”

“All right, Robin,” Stuart said. “Come by later if you want, when we’re open and
clean
.”

“Will do.”

Nathan left the steps of Rainbow’s, retracing his path down the same alley to get back to St. James Street. He liked Stuart—they were good friends—but after those blunt words, he was left feeling even more deflated than before.

What was he thinking? He really
was
being pathetic, wandering around asking if anyone had seen his boyfriend.

How cringeworthy! All right, so things were definitely over. It certainly looked that way… but it didn’t stop him wanting to know where Danny was.

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Melanie Tushmore
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However, he could probably guess. Going by past experiences, it was more than likely that Danny had ended up in bed with a random stranger somewhere, drunk as a skunk or high as a kite.

Again.

Nathan ambled across St. James Street slowly, as there was virtually no traffic, and down to George Street. He was still sulking, and he knew a chocolate crepe from Bon Bon’s Café would go down a treat. Never mind that he’d already started the day with all those pastries….

He stood in the doorway of Bon Bon’s as he waited for his crepe to be made, gazing out across the street. He wasn’t used to seeing Kemp Town so quiet. On a normal day off, he would have lain in bed until at least noon, maybe watched a film while wrapped up in his duvet. But the thought of spending yet another day off by himself was a little depressing.

Nathan texted with one hand on his phone at lightning speed, checking if any of his friends were around today. It was doubtful; whenever he had time off, he could guarantee everyone else would be on opposite shifts. Pretty much all his friends, gay and straight alike, also worked in bars or pubs. Including Gary, the very-hot-yet-sadly-straight strapping Welsh man. He smiled as he thought of Gary.

Yeah, it was a real shame he was straight. Still, he was the only eye candy Nathan knew that was nearby and likely to be up this early.

When his crepe was ready, he wandered out of the café, wolfing it down. He paused at the end of the street. On the corner—right next to Bon Bon’s—was a pub called The A Bar Tender Tale |
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Jury’s Verdict, so named because there was a courthouse just across the road. It was a dark and dingy little old man’s pub. Nothing that would normally attract Nathan, but this was where Gary currently worked. And it was almost opening time.

Nathan peered in one of the large windows of the pub.

Spotting Gary drawing up the blinds, he held up the remains of his crepe and extended his tongue, waggling it around in a tease while trying not to grin. What stopped him was the look on Gary’s face; he stared back wide-eyed, like he was panicked. Nathan noticed even through the glass that his eyes were bloodshot. Nathan frowned, pointing with his free hand towards the front door. Gary dashed off to open it, as Nathan hurried around the corner to the little stone steps.

Gary swung open the pub door looking very much the worse for wear. Either he’d been crying, which was unlikely for Gary, or he was coming down with something.

“What’s up with you, Gaz?”

Gary was still staring back at him. “I haven’t slept!” Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that usually a good thing?”

“No!” Gary said, retreating back into the pub.

Concerned, Nathan followed, closing the door behind him. Gary had been in the process of getting the pub ready for opening, but Nathan could see half-finished jobs everywhere he looked.

“Come on, then; let’s hear it,” he told Gary as he hopped onto a bar stool to finish off his crepe.

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Melanie Tushmore
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“I shagged this girl,” Gary began, while Nathan grinned.

“But afterwards, she would
not
shut up!” Nathan had to spit out his mouthful of crepe so he could laugh.

“I’m serious!” Gary complained. “I kept saying, 'I’ve got to go to work in the morning,' but she kept talking! I’ve never known anything like it.”

“And why,” Nathan asked, still snickering, “did you not just
leave
? I assume you went to her place?”

“I didn’t want to be rude!” Gary wrung his hands through his hair. “And I do want to shag her again….”

“You’re kidding, right? Who was it?”

“Susie. Blonde hair.” Gary cupped his hands in front of his own broad chest as he said, “She’s got massive knockers.

You know her?”

“Er, no. Can’t say I pay much attention to boobs, mate.

Apart from you. Hah!”

Gary groaned. “I’m so tired! I maybe got an hour or two tops, and then I had to come here.”

Nathan looked around at the dark, empty pub. “Well, no offense, but why are you bothering? It’s hardly like anyone’s gonna break your door down. Just nip up to bed and catch a few extra.”

Everyone knew that Gary lived upstairs on his own. The pub was so quiet, along with most of the pub trade recently, that the area manager insisted Gary was the only live-in staff.

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Melanie Tushmore
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“I can’t,” Gary sighed. “My boss keeps doing spot checks, driving past on his way round town. If I’m not open, he’ll go mental.”

The way Gary said “mental” in his Welsh accent was so cute.

Nathan sighed to himself before offering, “Well, seeing as I’ve got nothing else to do for a couple of hours, why don’t I open up and you catch some sleep?”

Gary’s desperate eyes homed in on him, not daring to believe it was a real offer. Nathan tried not to laugh at the state of the man.

“Really?” Gary whispered.

“Yes, really,” Nathan said. “I was only gonna go into town on my own. It can wait a bit. You owe me, though!”

“Oh, thank you!” Gary was elated. “I don’t know what to say! Are you sure?”

“Yes, sure. Now get upstairs.”

“Do you think you can manage—”

Nathan got up and pushed Gary through the staff door at the end of the bar. “God, I know my way around a bar. I’m sure I’ll cope. Besides, no one’s gonna come in this early, are they? You only get, like, two customers in the evening at the best of times!”

“True.” Gary nodded, finally relenting and dragging himself upstairs. “Sometimes you get the people in suits from court over the road….”

“Yeah, no worries!” Nathan called up.

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Melanie Tushmore
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“Oh, and my friend might drop in!” Gary was saying, though Nathan could barely hear him.

“No worries,” Nathan repeated, shutting the staff door and getting to work. He was alone in the pub on a bright sunny day. Damn his good intentions.

Still, Gary was a friend. He’d been one of the first friends Nathan made when he moved to Brighton, working together behind a bar. Nathan liked Gary a lot, not only because he was a good guy, but also because when he got drunk he would take off his shirt and flex his biceps. If Gary was
very
drunk he would let you feel them too. Who didn’t want a friend like that?

Nathan sighed. A friend was a friend. But first things first. He unwound a wire from his pocket and hooked up his music player to the pub’s stereo. If he was gonna work here for free today, he’d be listening to his own music. He wasn’t worried about waking Gary, it was a tall building, and Gary’s bedroom wasn’t the floor directly above the pub, but the one above that. Luckily the pub’s stereo system was powerful enough to sound good even at a low volume. Nathan shuffled his music selection onto random and began to ready the pub.

He’d never worked here, but he’d worked in a lot of pubs. This set up was relatively simple. The Jury’s Verdict wasn’t much bigger than his bedsit, to be honest. It smelled a bit musty, as old pubs did. Nathan opened the windows and then the door, propping it open with the traditional sandwich board. It was then he noticed the chalk drawing in pink of a crudely drawn cock with the words, “Get hot man love here all night! Ask for Gaz!”

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Melanie Tushmore
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Smiling, Nathan got a cloth and wiped it off. No doubt one of Gary’s drunk mates had scrawled that. Grabbing up the chalk, Nathan paused as he thought about what to write.

He didn’t want to get Gary in trouble, so it had to be safe. He settled for, “Open, ready, and willing! Food served.” Then he dusted his hands and went back inside to finish setting up.

“Food served” was an exaggeration. Gary had done a deal with the Indian takeaway next door; he had a few copies of their menu, and they delivered whatever was ordered straight into the pub. The smells from there made Nathan hungry. Exotic spices, naan bread baking with cheese….

If he thought about it too much, his stomach would lead him there.

Seeing as he’d already had a whole box of pastries and a crepe all before 11 a.m., he thought he should probably skip lunch. Nathan had always been skinny, but the sad reality of being over twenty-one meant that he couldn’t eat what he wanted
all
the time, especially when all he wanted was naughty food.

AFTER having been open an hour with only one customer, a little old man in the corner, Nathan was bored. He was also dying to eat; the delicious scents from the Indian next door were just too tempting. But he had a plan, and he hoped the results would be doubly bountiful: he was going to clean the place from top to bottom. Behind the bar was a pigsty. Gary had obviously been getting slack. So not only would Gary be A Bar Tender Tale |
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19

pleased enough that he’d allow Nathan to touch his biceps, but all that work would have burned off enough calories to cancel out a chicken balti and a peshwari naan.

Right?

Nathan decided to do it regardless. There was a funky smell coming from one of the pumps on the bar, and it was interfering with the pleasant food smells from next door. He cleaned hard, working up a sweat. It was hot behind this bar, same as any other, from the myriad fridges and cooling devices pumping out warm air all day. It was an old bar too, stuffy and cramped.