With his heart fluttering, he still drank a little too quickly, mostly from nerves.
As the evening slipped by, Nathan realized he was definitely drunk. He was still able to hold a conversation, even if he was giggling away at things that weren’t really funny. He couldn’t possibly believe he was that drunk already. Unfortunately his wandering hands and increased flirting were proof that he was.
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 77
He couldn’t help it. How could he not touch the gorgeous man sitting next to him? It was like being tempted with a present he hadn’t unwrapped yet. Nathan wound his fingers around Auryn’s wrist, pressed his body as close as he could. He tried to kiss Auryn again. Actually, quite a few times. He was a little clumsy, simply buzzing from the mere thought of the two of them as a couple.
Auryn did allow a kiss now and then, and when he did it was hot and lush and made Nathan’s mind spin. But before it could become too heated Auryn would pull away and smile.
“You’ll get us in trouble again, Nathan.”
“Come home with me.” Nathan slid his arm over Auryn’s broad shoulder while hooking a foot around his leg. “I’ll show you the rest of my tattoos.”
Auryn shifted along the booth to gently disentangle himself as Nathan clung on. He still smiled, which Nathan took as a good sign.
“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” Auryn told him.
“Are you sure I’ll be enough for you?” Nathan grinned. “You’ll have to show me what you’ve got first.”
He pressed forward again but Auryn escaped him, intent on speaking. “Not tonight, Nathan. Take it easy on me, okay?
I need to wrap my head around this first.”
“You can wrap anything you like around me.”
“Seriously.”
Nathan sat back in his seat, defeated. He gave Auryn a look that said he wasn’t amused. He wanted to voice his A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 78
complaint but was unsure how to phrase it. Thankfully he wasn’t drunk enough to start whining or bawling just yet.
Although he probably wasn’t far off….
“Nathan.” Auryn was using that calm, commanding tone that sounded like he was about to explain something to a child. Nathan felt a small flush of drunken indignation but there was also an undeniable shudder of pleasure at hearing his name spoken that way. As if he was about to receive a stern telling off. Nathan idly wondered if he should make one of his suggestive jokes, but a quick glance in Auryn’s direction showed he wasn’t in the joking mood.
Nathan dropped his eyes again and fiddled with the edge of his T-shirt.
“You’re pouting,” Auryn said.
Nathan didn’t answer but sighed pointedly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Nathan mumbled.
Wow, he really did feel silly sulking about this again, but he couldn’t help it; he was drunk and horny. His booze-addled brain was having trouble digesting the fact that someone who supposedly liked him didn’t want to get frisky right here, right now.
Auryn was silent for more than a few moments. Nathan started to feel like maybe he should quit while he was ahead.
Not that he seemed particularly ahead.
Shouldn’t have drunk so much, he chided himself. Still, that wouldn’t help him now. Auryn was probably trying to work out how to make his excuses and leave the weird, little sulky boy in the dust.
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 79
“Um, Nathan,” Auryn started. “Look, I’ve had one nasty break up this year, and bear in mind I’ve only met you today… and, well—”
Oh, here it comes, Nathan thought. The excuse, the knock back, the it’s-not-you-it’s-me crap.
“What?” Nathan cut in, looking up at him. He wasn’t going to make this easy on Auryn, oh no. He was going to glare right at him and dare him to say it.
“Um, I’m a little worried—” Auryn started, his own eyes dropping shyly, “—about how much I like you already. I just want to take things slowly, that’s all. ” The frown was wiped clear off Nathan’s face. “Oh?” Ohhh.
“Hmm,” Auryn answered, which wasn’t really an answer, but his fingers gingerly made a bid for Nathan’s hand.
From impatient frustration back to feeling like the luckiest guy in the world, Nathan forced himself to relax.
Maybe this would work out. And maybe he should sober up fast before he said anything else to ruin this. They were interrupted suddenly by Auryn’s phone. He checked the caller, then smiled and said it was Gary.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?”
“No,” Auryn said. “I know he’ll just ask when we’re coming back to keep him company.”
“You didn’t get his leftovers,” Nathan giggled drunkenly
“Don’t tell him that! Come on, it’s getting late.” A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 80
Auryn pulled Nathan up and steered him out of the bar.
Nathan allowed it, but he did clasp Auryn’s hand, determined not to be shaken off. He was surprised that Auryn kept hold of his hand when they were out on the street. The only thing Auryn did was smile and ask, “Is this safe out in the open?”
Nathan shrugged. “It is Kemp Town. But if anyone has a problem with it, this chain ain’t just for show.” Auryn glanced down at the thick wallet chain swinging at Nathan’s hips. “Oh right. I assumed it was something kinky.”
“No, I keep the fun stuff at home,” Nathan teased, pressing his body into Auryn. As he was still drunk he leaned all his weight on Auryn, causing them both to almost stumble.
“Okay, time for you to sleep it off,” Auryn said. “Where do you live, Nathan?”
“Just along there.” He pointed up St. James Street.
“Opposite The Stud.”
Auryn walked him home. It was barely five minutes away, but Nathan’s wobbly steps were a little slower than usual. At the reinforced apartment door on the street, Nathan leaned against it, trying to act cool, but one of his idiot neighbors had evidently left it off the latch. He almost fell through the doorway, but Auryn caught his arm and steadied him. Nathan giggled away as Auryn marched him along the communal hallway to the different apartments. He asked which one was his and waited patiently while Nathan fumbled with his bunch of keys to find the right one.
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 81
Nathan’s bedsit was small. The door opened directly into what acted as his wardrobe, the clothes having taken over the hall. All Nathan’s coats, a vast collection of outfits and even a few old Halloween costumes stopped the door from opening more than halfway. Nathan pressed himself against it in a bid to lure Auryn inside.
Auryn’s eyes were drawn however to the shelves on the wall, which contained the bulk of Nathan’s B-movie themed action figures and models. Nathan noticed him looking.
“Hey.” He gestured behind him with an obvious drunken glint in his eye. “Why don’t you come in and take a look at my… zombie collection?”
His words sounded slurred, even to him. He didn’t care.
Auryn’s eyes looked eager, and for a moment Nathan thought he’d won, but then Auryn smiled and planted a kiss on Nathan’s cheek.
“Goodnight, Nathan.”
“Are you sure you don’t wanna come in?” Nathan offered, even as Auryn stepped away. “You can watch me get undressed….”
“Goodnight, Nathan.”
He watched Auryn leave.
Dammit, he thought, closing the door and shuffling into his room to pass out.
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 82
Chapter 4
EIGHT a.m. Friday, Nathan was awake with a pounding headache. Except today he didn’t care what had happened to Danny; he was more worried about having made a fool of himself with Auryn last night. The first few moments of wakefulness were spent lying in bed while he rubbed his aching temples. He remembered what he’d done and cringed.
Oh God.
He was still in mos
t of his clothes too. Must have just rolled in and passed out. Good thing Auryn hadn’t succumbed to his drunken seduction after all, if that was all he’d been capable of. Nathan flung his arm out and patted his hand around on the floor until he found his phone.
An apologetic text would be in order, surely. Did he even have Auryn’s number? He’d definitely entered his own into Auryn’s phone…. Nathan grimaced as he imagined Auryn would likely be deleting it after witnessing that little performance last night. He had a vague recollection of throwing himself at the man more than once, and poor Auryn trying to hold him off.
Why am I such an idiot?
Phone found, Nathan dragged it into bed with him to check his messages. A couple of texts, one from Tazz, another from his sister and….
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 83
One from an unknown number. Nathan went straight to this message, heart thumping as it opened.
“Hope you feel okay. I’d like to see you again. X.” Hah!
Nathan was beaming. Just one kiss though? He texted back: “I’ll assume this is Auryn, and if so yes! If you’re sure I didn’t scare you off with my drunken letching? XOXO.” Yeah, XO’s, Nathan thought. Take that , Auryn.
He saw the original message had been sent late last night, but as Auryn worked in an office, he was bound to be an early riser. Nathan smiled to himself. He snuggled back into his covers with his phone perched on the pillow, too jittery to doze off again.
After twenty minutes and no message, Nathan tried not to feel disappointed. He didn’t start work at Tequila Mocking Bar until eleven, so he had a lot of time to kill. Throwing the covers off, he staggered the small distance to his TV and selected a film to watch. When one felt like a mixture of horror and comedy, one need look no further than the hits from the 1980s. The Lost Boys was one of Nathan’s favorites, proof of which being a giant film poster on the wall above his futon bed.
He grabbed a half-full, mostly flat bottle of cherry cola and flopped back under his covers, keeping the futon down as he snuggled in to watch the film
Just as the Doors were playing on the opening credits, Nathan’s phone buzzed with a message. He spilled his cola over the bed as he scrabbled for it but he didn’t care.
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 84
“Yes, it’s Auryn. I’m impressed you spelt it right! You’re up early? XX.”
Nathan’s face broke into a grin. This was promising.
And he’d been upgraded to two kisses! The joys of decoding text speak. He didn’t care about waiting or playing it cool right now; he replied straight away: “I’m not up, actually. I’m in bed. I can send you a picture if you want?” This time he added on a winking face with his XO’s.
After he’d sent the message he panicked that maybe he was being too pushy again. He was only teasing after all.
Well. Mostly….
It was almost four minutes before he got a reply, and that was a long time to spend worrying if you’d said the wrong thing.
“I’m not sure what to say to that, Nathan! I’ve got a meeting with my boss and a client in a minute and you’ve got me all flustered! XXX.”
Nathan snorted a laugh at his phone. Oh well, it was worth a shot. At least he had three kisses now. He brought his flirting down a notch and replied with a cheeky promise but kept it light. He supposed it wasn’t really fair to Auryn if he was trying to concentrate on work. They texted a couple more times, then he said he had to go. Nathan reluctantly let him, settling back to watch the film with a happy, floating feeling inside.
He did send a message to Gary however, saying,
“Cheers, Cilla!” in comic reference to Gary inadvertently setting him up with a date. He also sent a reply to his sister, A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 85
who was checking up on him, and a reply to Tazz telling him to mind his own business, followed by a winking face.
None of them would be up this early though.
AFTER the film was finished, Nathan had his shower and started getting ready for work. Friday was his dreaded double shift: six hours at Tequila Mocking Bar and then six hours at Rainbow’s.
However he didn’t feel as fed up today. Even less so when Auryn texted him again later, asking when they could meet up.
Nathan was sorry to say he was working all weekend.
Sunday evening and Monday daytime was his next available break. Looked like it would be three whole days until he saw Auryn.
I can’t last that long!
Nathan texted out to his colleagues at Rainbow’s, asking if anyone would swap a weekend shift with him. It was unlikely. Usually everyone wanted the weekend off. Nathan had never been bothered until now, seeing as his supposed other half lived the life of Riley—every day was a weekend for Danny.
Hm, still nothing from him, Nathan thought. The dimwit had more than likely lost his phone. Nathan thought about calling to check, but the urge wasn’t really there anymore.
Oh well! He left his phone on the bed as he cranked up the stereo. Today called for some sleazy surf rock. The Cramps’ opening guitar licks to “You Got Good Taste” A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 86
blasted through his bedsit as Nathan got ready in the bathroom. He squeezed out pomade onto two plastic combs and worked them through his damp hair in front of the mirror while bopping his body to the music. This was the only way to do your hair, like Kenickie did in Grease, with two combs and a thick pomade.
“Whoooo hoo!” Nathan swept the combs out then pointed one at the mirror as he sang, “And that’s good taste!” Nothing could spoil his mood today. He rubbed and spritzed his body with all his best lotions and cologne; anything to combat the sweat that would undoubtedly appear near the end of twelve hours behind a bar.
When he started with a day shift he didn’t usually put on makeup, but today he wanted some sparkle. Nathan dusted a little silver shimmer across his eyelids, thinking he would leave it at that but as always got carried away and added eyeliner. His favorite was the black Kohl pencil that already had silver glitter embedded in it. He worked it liberally along his lash lines and finally he twisted open a stick of condensed glitter, swiped it across his outer eyes to his temples and examined his work in the mirror.
Hm, maybe a tad much.
Nathan shrugged as he walked away singing, “There’s a staarr maaaaan waiting in the sky….”
As always when he put on too much glitter, he thought of Bowie. Completing his look today was his smartest pair of navy blue jeans and a black T-shirt with actress Sheri Moon Zombie on the front. He slipped on his black Converse with the hotrod flames on, and roved around his room to locate accessories. It was like a pick ’n’ mix; any one piece of A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 87
jewelry Nathan tried to grab was attached to a few others. He spent precious moments trying to detangle them, shoving on bracelets, bangles, and necklaces as he went. Then he picked up his wallet, keys, and phone, grabbed his jacket, and swanned out the door.
FRIDAY was pretty dull and uneventful, considering what Nathan would rather have been doing. His daytime shift at Tequila’s passed slowly. Nathan was relieved to escape at 5
p.m. and make his way down the hill to Rainbow’s.
He picked up a pasta box from a deli along the way. He ate it as he walked along and picked around any salad that dared to have sneaked in. At least the busy bar work burned off most of the calories he was continually eating. He gobbled up the pasta box in record time.
A pudding would go well with that…. Nathan looked longingly into the windows of cafés and patisseries that had their cake stands on display.
How could they? Didn’t they know it was pure torture?
A little flutter in his chest reminded him he might well be taking his clothes off in front of a new lover soon, and he should watch what he ate. Nathan tore his hungry eyes away and strode past with determination. After three steps he gave in and turned back to the patisserie.
He had all good intent
ions of saving the chocolate caramel slice to share with Stuart. A pudding halved wasn’t as guilty, after all. But by the time he ambled his way down to Rainbow’s, he’d already eaten most of it.
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 88
Nathan skipped up the bar’s steps, now thankfully clean. There was an outside seating area with parasols, tables, and chairs, raised up from the street and protected by a Perspex wind breaker. Being a mere stone’s throw from the blowy sea front, they needed it. Nathan walked through the glass doors into the building. Rainbow’s was a very bright, modern bar.
That said, there was a not-so-modern Cher classic currently playing on the speakers.
At least it was reasonably quiet. The music wouldn't get loud until later on; daytimes were a chilled-out affair. The only customers there were sipping their cappuccinos and talking quietly.
“Stuuuart!” Nathan called as he approached the bar.
Stuart, who was still working his day shift, looked up from his job restocking the mixers. “All right, treacle,” he greeted.
Mathew, their very buff and good-looking manager, was also at the bar with his ledger and a calculator. He looked up as well and smiled. “Nathan! I hear you went on a date with a straight guy?”
“Stuart!” Nathan chided, dropping into the seat next to Mathew. “I’m glad I ate all this cake myself now, you gossiphound.”
Stuart grinned. “We were saying how even going out with a straight is an improvement on Danny.”
“Yeah, cheers.” Nathan frowned.
A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 89
Mathew turned to him and said, “We only brought it up because the little pillock came in here looking for you earlier.”
A Bar Tender Tale Page 7