A Bar Tender Tale (7 page)

Their table seated four, but it was still small. Nathan had sat first and was equally thrilled and nervous that A Bar Tender Tale |
Melanie Tushmore
58

instead of sitting opposite him, Auryn had taken the seat to his side so they were close together. Just one wrong move under the table and their knees would be touching. Or right move, Nathan considered, depending how the meal went.

They had a fast turnaround in this restaurant, which caused the waiters to be prompt. Nathan was relieved when their waiter came for their drinks order. Auryn fell into the usual trap all new customers had when trying to find a recognizable drink on the menu. After asking for one beer after another while the waiter simply shook his head, Nathan suggested they have the Kalyani Black Label. He remembered that Auryn liked strong beer.

When the waiter departed with their order, Auryn smiled like he was trying not to laugh. “I feel like a dumb tourist!”

“Don’t worry,” Nathan said. “They’ve hardly got any regular beers here, but the ones they do have are great.”

“I’ll trust your judgment.” Auryn frowned at the menu.

“Maybe you could recommend something to eat? I… er, didn’t bring my glasses.”

Nathan’s eyes darted up to glance at Auryn’s face, wondering what he looked like with glasses on.

“Oh, um, sure,” Nathan reached a hand over carefully and pointed at one section of Auryn’s menu. “The set meal is actually pretty good. It gives you a selection of different stuff.

Unless there’s um… something you’re not keen on.” He drew his hand back and pretended to look at his own menu.

“No, I’m not fussy,” Auryn gave up on his menu and placed it on the table. “Like Gaz, I’ll eat anything.” A Bar Tender Tale |
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A smile tugged at Nathan’s mouth. At least they were clearly comfortable talking about mutual friends, for now. “I hope not as much as Gaz,” Nathan teased. “Or we may get shown the door.”

The lightning-fast waiter returned with their drinks and stood poised. Nathan was about to order; he was so used to being the one who did everything and paid for it all too that he had to remind himself he was with a different date. An older man. He stopped himself and looked at Auryn.

“Um, do you want me to order?”

Auryn simply nodded. “Please go ahead.”

“Okay.” Nathan ordered the food. And a few extra side dishes just in case Auryn really did eat as much as Gary.

In the back of his mind he was chiding himself over having two curries in one day, but arguably this was a special occasion. He
was
on a date after all. Nathan’s fingers were itching to text Danny a smug message about that, but he didn’t want to tempt fate just yet.

“It’s all right in here, isn’t it?” Auryn commented after the waiter had left again. He was looking around at the décor and the traditional Indian paintings on the wall. “Kinda quiet though?”

“Yeah, it is now. It’ll be packed later on.”

“Oh right. Good timing then?”

“Yeah… it’s been a day of that,” Nathan joked, deciding to test the water.

“It certainly has,” Auryn picked up eagerly. “It was a pleasant surprise to see you behind the bar today instead of Gaz’s grumpy face.”

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Nathan could feel every inch of his skin start to heat up.

He discreetly placed both his hands over his cold beer bottle, hoping to level out his temperature. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called pleasant before,” he said, hoping his nerves didn’t show in his voice.

“No?” Auryn asked quietly.

A silence passed where Nathan wasn’t quite sure what to do. He panicked for a moment, then almost at the point of babbling said, “Um, so you’re saying I’m pleasant compared to
Gaz
?”

The barest breath of a laugh came out as Auryn smiled.

“Yes, I suppose I did say that. All right, I’m going to retract that last part. I’d better take Gaz out of the equation, so that just leaves you and me.”

Nathan dared a glance up. Pulse racing, he smiled at Auryn. “Okay.”

“How old are you, Nathan?” Auryn asked. “If you don’t mind me asking?”

Nathan was a little taken aback at the sudden question.

“Um, twenty-two. As of last month.”

“Ah, right.”

“How old are you?”

Auryn took a sip of his beer before answering, “I’m thirty-one.”

There was something about the tone of his voice set off a warning bell in Nathan’s head. Did Auryn mind that he was younger? Dammit! Why hadn’t he considered this before?

Nathan thought this had to be the first time since he turned eighteen and was old enough to drink that he was wishing A Bar Tender Tale |
Melanie Tushmore
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he was even
older
. Did Auryn think he was too young?

Nathan was desperate to ask but felt far too shy to form a question about it.

Time had dragged on since Auryn had told him his age and Nathan hadn’t answered, caught up in his worries. What must he be thinking? Just as Nathan opened his mouth to say something—anything—he was interrupted by the waiter wheeling in a trolley of steaming food.

Typical, Nathan thought. They both stayed silent as the waiter placed dish after dish in front of them, asking if they wanted more drinks. Nathan wasn’t sure what to do.

“Um, do you want another?” Auryn asked, eyeing Nathan’s half empty bottle.

In that moment Nathan was in two minds about everything. He did want another drink—in fact, he wanted several. But what about Auryn? Had they already established a problem with their age difference? Was Auryn going to skip out as soon as the meal was over? Nathan didn’t want to order a drink if Auryn was on the verge of leaving.

Nathan shrugged. “I will do, sure, but it’s up to you.” Auryn nodded, but Nathan couldn’t help but notice he’d averted his eyes.

“Two more, please,” he told the waiter.

Nathan was pleasantly surprised. He had been expecting no more drinks. Although he supposed just one more wasn’t anything to get excited about yet, seeing as their food had only just arrived. Nathan felt his appetite waning, which was very rare for him.

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After the waiter had left, Auryn examined the food on a dozen different plates and dishes. “God, Nathan, how much did you order? I don’t know if I can eat all this.”

“Sorry.” Nathan felt his cheeks grow hot. “I thought you’d like to try a mix. I’ve got cash on me—”

“Oh no, don’t worry about that!” Auryn said quickly. “All right, let’s try it all. Whatever we can’t finish we’ll chuck in a bag and take back to Gaz.”

Nathan smiled in answer but his hopes were definitely sinking. Going back to Gary after their meal wasn’t what he’d had in mind for the rest of the evening.

As they began to eat, Nathan waited for Auryn to say something, but when nothing came he decided it was up to him again to get them talking. He still didn’t have the courage to bring up the age issue yet, so he tried to find something different.

“So… Gaz said you’re a solicitor?”

“Indeed I am. Why, do you need one?”

When Nathan glanced up he could see Auryn was joking. He smiled. “If I do, I’ll call you.”

“You need my number first,” Auryn teased.

Now they were back to flirting? It was on the tip of Nathan’s tongue to answer in his usual flirtatious way but he stopped himself. He wasn’t sure coming on strong was a good idea right now.
Are you going to give it to me?
said with a wink and a smile might not be the wisest move.

Not
yet
anyway.

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“Hmm,” Nathan answered, giving all his attention to the food instead.

“So where do you normally work?” Auryn asked him.

“Rainbow’s, mostly. And Tequila Mocking Bar.”

“Oh right.”

“You know them?”

“Er, no,” Auryn shook his head. “Sorry. I haven’t been out much yet. Gaz keeps tempting me over to his place with game nights.”

Nathan teased, “You make it sound like you’re a couple.”

Auryn chuckled. “Yeah. It’s been good for both of us, though. We haven’t seen each other for such a long time.

And his brother was one of my best mates.”

“He said you only just came down here?”

“That’s right. A lot happened at once. I didn’t like the people I was working with, and I also broke up with my boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Nathan felt bad. “Sorry.”

Auryn waved his hand. “It’s fine. We weren’t getting on for a while before that. Then I inherited a place down here, so I thought I’d make a new start by the sea.”

“What do you think so far?”

Auryn looked at him and gave a small smile. “It’s not bad.”

Dinner slipped by quickly. Nathan didn’t eat much; he was still running on nerves. That, and he didn’t want to risk A Bar Tender Tale |
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getting food stuck in his teeth. He didn’t need anything like that spoiling the evening, thank you very much.

Still sticking to relatively safe topics, they talked about Auryn’s move to Brighton and his new job in a law firm down here. Auryn explained how he’d had to give up a more senior position in London, but the temptation of never enduring the underground again was worth it. His office was in the center of town, above a restaurant on New Road, which was where all the theatres were. Nathan branded each new fact into his memory, curious to know every detail about the man next to him. The very desirable, very gorgeous man next to him.

Nathan was dying to flirt with him, but he tried to hold back. What did Auryn think of him? The man hadn’t made any sort of move at all, and now they were talking about films again. Had he changed his mind? Did he think twenty-two was too young? Perhaps he was bored and had simply asked out the first gay guy he’d met since moving to Brighton?

Nathan tried to push paranoid thoughts away. Thinking like that wouldn’t help. It was hard not to, however. He didn’t realize how very easy casual sex had been, hooking up with guys with little more than two words said. You got what you wanted and it was over. Easy as pie. But he was bored of that; he’d wanted to go on an actual date and have conversation.

So… here he was! On a date. And Nathan didn’t have a clue what to do. He just wished Auryn would give him some kind of sign. He suspected the guy was shyer than he let on, but shyness wasn’t an invitation to jump in his lap. Until A Bar Tender Tale |
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Nathan got some sort of indication, he didn’t want to risk getting knocked back.

One positive outcome was that Auryn paid for dinner.

He practically insisted Nathan didn’t spend a penny. If he was a solicitor, he was bound to have more money than Nathan’s meager wages brought in, so Nathan didn’t mind. It was nice to be treated for once, even if he wasn’t sure where this left them.

A negative outcome was Auryn brought up Gary again.

He made a joke suggesting that if he rang Gary and told him to wait at the end of George Street, they could throw the remainder of dinner down the short road to him. Nathan was at a loss to reply. He almost expected Auryn to suggest they go back to The Jury’s after they left.

That was the
last
thing Nathan wanted to do.

He stood on St. James Street in the early evening light and waited. When Auryn came out to join him, he wasn’t carrying a takeaway bag like Nathan had been expecting. He asked if Nathan fancied trying that new bar at the bottom of the road, the one with the themed décor and mood lighting.

So now they were going for a drink? That was another positive outcome, right? Nathan was still confused, but of course he said yes. The new bar was called Adonis and was quite obviously gay. It had a plaster-cast imitation of a Greek statue in the window and was boldly decorated in red and silver tones with voluptuous seating.

There was nothing like sitting in a new bar, before the seats got totally ruined. Nathan ran his hand over the plush velvet of the booth he sat in and thought that the new owners must be very brave to splash out on expensive covers A Bar Tender Tale |
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like these. The bar was quiet, but it was early on a midweek evening. The music they played was ambient dub, a welcome change from the pounding pop music Nathan was usually subjected to in Kemp Town.

Auryn returned to their seat with a pitcher of Long Island Iced Tea and two glasses. Nathan wasn’t sure what to expect from tonight, but if he drank enough of that cocktail, his impatient libido might steer the course.

This had to be a good sign, surely? Auryn had to like him if he wanted to sit here after dinner, drinking in a
gay
bar
. But he still hadn’t made a move. Maybe he was just shy?

That left it up to Nathan to flirt.

Well, why not? Surely this was worth taking a shot at?

Right!

Auryn asked him about drinks and tried to have a normal conversation while Nathan attempted to give him the eye. He asked about Nathan’s work and if he made cocktails the way they did in the Tom Cruise film. Nathan laughed, his flirting momentarily forgotten while he described his best efforts at glass throwing ended up in black eyes for his colleagues at best and a lot of smashed glass on the floor at worst.

It was easy to laugh and make jokes with Auryn, but Nathan began to feel frustrated at their lack of progress in anything else. He drank quickly to take the edge off. Nathan didn’t usually need alcoholic assistance with flirting, but he did tonight. He didn’t really get much chance to drink these A Bar Tender Tale |
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