Page 42 of This Time Around

I must get lost in my thoughts because I jump, surprised, when I refocus my attention on her face and I see her eyes open, staring back at me.

“Shit, B! I didn’t realize you were awake.” I shudder.

“I mean, you were staring a hole through my face, lost in whatever you are thinking about,” she rebuts.

“I was watching you sleep.” I shake my head. “Ok, it sounds creepy. You looked so fucking cute, and I didn’t want to wake you, so I just lay here taking you in, and I got lost in my thoughts.”

“You’re a creeper,” she laughs as she climbs out of bed and moves to the clothes she laid out last night.

“Watching me sleep, and now we’re late,” she huffs. “Looks like a baseball hat and mascara only kind of day.”

“Sounds like a fucking win to me. I love when you’re dressed down and in a hat. Fuck B, you’re always hot.”

We spent the morning store-hoping to find the perfect lamp to finish each space. To say I didn’t prepare for the amount of detail that would go into picking a damn lamp would be an understatement. I envisioned the process going much faster. I dropped Blake off at L&L when we finally finished and went to pick us up some food. Man, she gets really cranky without food, and because I was “a creeper” this morning, we didn’t have time to eat, and we were quickly approaching the Hangry Zone of No Return.

“What do you mean? It won’t be here for almost three weeks?” Blake’s voice booms across the space as I open the door.

Shit, I should have given her a snack before I left here.

The man standing across from her with an empty dolly just shrugs his shoulders. “Our supplier had a mishap with the shipment and broke a bunch of bottles in transit. There’s nothing I can do. Call my boss.” He shrugs, handing her a card and walking out the door.

I turn to watch him leave, and then turn back towards Blake. “What was that about?” I ask, setting the bags of food down.

“He unloaded the order, and then handed me the invoice, and it’s short, almost half the order. There is no whisky and no vodka. He said they need about a week to get in the next shipment. It takes about a week to inventory it, and then they have to separate it out between all the orders they have to fill before they can deliver. It could take up to three weeks. Luke, we open in two weeks. How the fuck do I open a bar with no whisky and no vodka?” She just stares at me, waiting for an answer.

“Blake, I have no clue, but we will figure something out. It’s going to be okay.”

“That’s always your answer, since we were kids. We’ll figure something out,” she mocks. “Fuck Luke, can you not be so fucking calm for one second?”

“You’re mad at me right now?” I ask, looking behind me to make sure her aggression is actually being pointed at me and not some phantom figure behind me. “You’re pissed at me because you didn’t get an order on time, and can’t do anything about it, and I want to help you figure it out?”

“Yes,” she says flatly.

“Ok.” I keep my eyes on her. “That makes sense.”

“Luke, I am freaking out, and you just think it will magically fix itself.”

“Nope. Not at all,” I argue. “It will 100% not fix itself, you’ll have to put on your business owner pants, and come up with a solution, because freaking the fuck out definitely won’t fix it.”

My heart sounds in my chest, and I cringe inside, waiting for her to erupt. I silently slide the breakfast burrito I picked up across the bar in her direction and wait.

She stares at it for a second, and then leisurely unwraps it, taking small bites at first, but they quickly turn into giant bites, and before I know it, the entire thing is gone. She takes a sip of the diet coke I also brought her, and then takes in a long inhale. “Ok. Let’s think.”

That’s it? What the fuck.

Hesitant, I suggest going to get bottles from a local liquor store. She considers it for a second before responding.

“I can’t. I have to purchase all the alcohol from a licensed wholesaler.”

So, here we are creating an opening night menu she can carry into the first week if needed without the two missing alcohols.

“Ok, so we have a mojito, an adonis, an amaretto sour, Aperol Spritz and sour, a gin martini, mint julep, and various wines and beer options.” She sighs in relief. “Now, I just have to tweak the recipes to put my spin on them and come up with a name for all of them to put on the menu.”

I walk over and give her a light kiss. “Do you feel good about the menu?” I ask.

“As good as I can. I feel like I have a good variety, so it shouldn’t even be noticeable. Thank you,” she melts into our kiss.

I look down at my watch and realize it is now 5:15. “We better get you some food again before you have another hangry spell.” I laugh.