Forward Passes (Part III)
Tuesday evening I walk into the Bar for my 8-to-close shift, and standing next to Bill, who's working the door, is Will. He's dressed in a Michigan football jersey and a skirt, and holding blue and yellow pompoms. I stop in my tracks, and he glances over at the bar, where Samantha is sipping a cocktail and watching him. She coolly nods, and Will heaves a sigh.
"Good evening. My name is Will. May I tell you about Michigan's devastating loss to the clearly superior football team from The Ohio State University?"
I laugh. Samantha smiles and takes another sip, then turns around to talk to Maya, who's behind the bar with Amy.
"Will, what have you done??"
He shrugs. " A bet's a bet."
I look at his legs. "Not that I'm complaining much, mind you. Seriously, your calves are ridiculous, you know that?" He smiles. "Hey, she doesn't have you doing this for an entire twenty-four hours, does she?"
"Oh, no," he says, and leans a little closer. "In fact, she was pretty clear about insisting the rest of my debt would have to be paid in private."
"Aaahhh," I grin. "Well, good luck with that."
I make my way behind the bar, where Amy is starting to cash out. I smile and say, "Hey, Samantha, who won the big game?"
She sticks out her tongue. "I never lost faith, funny girl, I knew my Buckeyes would come through."
"Did you ask Will what he would have made you do if Michigan had won?"
"I don't deal in fantasies and pipe-dreams, Debra. But I'm sure it would have been all about sex, sex, sex."
"Wait, isn't that part of what you're demanding, too?"
She rolls her eyes. "Yes, but it's not all about sex, that's just dessert - the public humiliation is the main course."
Maya says, "I still don't get how sleeping with you is a punishment for him."
"Maya, my dear, it's not about him losing. It's about me winning. And believe me, what I have in mind for later is very much about me winning, and not about him at all." She and Maya high-five. I manage to refrain from asking what happened to betrayals and "sleeping with the enemy" and such things, and just go about the work of tending bar.
A little after ten o'clock, I'm pulling a pint of Guinness when someone walks up to the bar and asks, "Hey, are you Debra?" For a moment, I freeze, and my heart races. Has someone figured out where the Bar is and who I am? Did someone I know tell someone they shouldn't have? I look at the someone, and it's a tall woman wearing a Coors jacket, standing next to a short woman wearing a Coors jacket.
"Yes. What can I do for you?"
"I'm Bonnie, this is Susan. We're from Coors." Thank goodness she clarified that. "I spoke to the manager, Todd something - he said he'd let you know we were coming?"
"Oh, of course! You're the promotion people. Welcome to the Bar!"
"Thanks! We just wanted to check in, make sure you knew who we were before we start."
"Let me know if you need anything."
They wave and start scoping out the room, and my heart gradually stops pounding. As I serve drinks, I watch the two women approach customers, explain their music trivia game, and then put headphones on people who want to play. Winners get Coors t-shirts and keyrings, losers just get Coors t-shirts - in my opinion, losers should be served a pint of Coors. I really don't enjoy Coors, not after all the great beers I've tasted - it's awfully watery. When I finally saw "Smokey and the Bandit" for the first time, I was appalled and aghast that anybody would go to that much trouble for a truckload of Coors - or that it was considered a regional "specialty" beer at the time the movie was made.
But we sell a lot of it at the Bar, and I know there are benefits to keeping the distributor happy. Plus, Bonnie and Susan are very attractive women, which means the guys they're talking to will spend more time in the Bar tonight, and more money on beer, meaning more tips for me.
At one point, Bonnie comes back over to the bar. "Debra, what's with the guy in the skirt?" I tell her briefly about the bet, and she shakes her head, laughing. "You know, I knew a girl who got fired from Coors for sleeping with a guy from Sam Adams." I grin, and file that away for later. I guess these sorts of "betrayals" happen everywhere.
At eleven sharp, Samantha drains the last of her Long Island Iced Tea, and waves Will over. "Carry my bag, slave," she says, obviously relishing her power, and he obliges. "We're done here." They head for the door, and I find myself envying them even the bizarre tryst they're about to have. It's been a couple of weeks since I had sex. I know, a couple of months ago I was complaining about a drought of several months, but I'm supposedly seeing someone. I'm going to have to do something about that soon.
--
Speaking of which, remember I mentioned how much I enjoyed the solo piano music Warren had playing at his apartment during our first date? Warren e-mailed me a link this morning that I wanted to share. 93.9 FM WNYC, one of New York's public radio stations, is airing some of Seth Kaufman's new music tonight at 11pm, on their show "New Sounds," along with music from other solo piano artists. For those of you not in the area, I gather you can use the links on the left-hand side of that page to listen online.
"Good evening. My name is Will. May I tell you about Michigan's devastating loss to the clearly superior football team from The Ohio State University?"
I laugh. Samantha smiles and takes another sip, then turns around to talk to Maya, who's behind the bar with Amy.
"Will, what have you done??"
He shrugs. " A bet's a bet."
I look at his legs. "Not that I'm complaining much, mind you. Seriously, your calves are ridiculous, you know that?" He smiles. "Hey, she doesn't have you doing this for an entire twenty-four hours, does she?"
"Oh, no," he says, and leans a little closer. "In fact, she was pretty clear about insisting the rest of my debt would have to be paid in private."
"Aaahhh," I grin. "Well, good luck with that."
I make my way behind the bar, where Amy is starting to cash out. I smile and say, "Hey, Samantha, who won the big game?"
She sticks out her tongue. "I never lost faith, funny girl, I knew my Buckeyes would come through."
"Did you ask Will what he would have made you do if Michigan had won?"
"I don't deal in fantasies and pipe-dreams, Debra. But I'm sure it would have been all about sex, sex, sex."
"Wait, isn't that part of what you're demanding, too?"
She rolls her eyes. "Yes, but it's not all about sex, that's just dessert - the public humiliation is the main course."
Maya says, "I still don't get how sleeping with you is a punishment for him."
"Maya, my dear, it's not about him losing. It's about me winning. And believe me, what I have in mind for later is very much about me winning, and not about him at all." She and Maya high-five. I manage to refrain from asking what happened to betrayals and "sleeping with the enemy" and such things, and just go about the work of tending bar.
A little after ten o'clock, I'm pulling a pint of Guinness when someone walks up to the bar and asks, "Hey, are you Debra?" For a moment, I freeze, and my heart races. Has someone figured out where the Bar is and who I am? Did someone I know tell someone they shouldn't have? I look at the someone, and it's a tall woman wearing a Coors jacket, standing next to a short woman wearing a Coors jacket.
"Yes. What can I do for you?"
"I'm Bonnie, this is Susan. We're from Coors." Thank goodness she clarified that. "I spoke to the manager, Todd something - he said he'd let you know we were coming?"
"Oh, of course! You're the promotion people. Welcome to the Bar!"
"Thanks! We just wanted to check in, make sure you knew who we were before we start."
"Let me know if you need anything."
They wave and start scoping out the room, and my heart gradually stops pounding. As I serve drinks, I watch the two women approach customers, explain their music trivia game, and then put headphones on people who want to play. Winners get Coors t-shirts and keyrings, losers just get Coors t-shirts - in my opinion, losers should be served a pint of Coors. I really don't enjoy Coors, not after all the great beers I've tasted - it's awfully watery. When I finally saw "Smokey and the Bandit" for the first time, I was appalled and aghast that anybody would go to that much trouble for a truckload of Coors - or that it was considered a regional "specialty" beer at the time the movie was made.
But we sell a lot of it at the Bar, and I know there are benefits to keeping the distributor happy. Plus, Bonnie and Susan are very attractive women, which means the guys they're talking to will spend more time in the Bar tonight, and more money on beer, meaning more tips for me.
At one point, Bonnie comes back over to the bar. "Debra, what's with the guy in the skirt?" I tell her briefly about the bet, and she shakes her head, laughing. "You know, I knew a girl who got fired from Coors for sleeping with a guy from Sam Adams." I grin, and file that away for later. I guess these sorts of "betrayals" happen everywhere.
At eleven sharp, Samantha drains the last of her Long Island Iced Tea, and waves Will over. "Carry my bag, slave," she says, obviously relishing her power, and he obliges. "We're done here." They head for the door, and I find myself envying them even the bizarre tryst they're about to have. It's been a couple of weeks since I had sex. I know, a couple of months ago I was complaining about a drought of several months, but I'm supposedly seeing someone. I'm going to have to do something about that soon.
--
Speaking of which, remember I mentioned how much I enjoyed the solo piano music Warren had playing at his apartment during our first date? Warren e-mailed me a link this morning that I wanted to share. 93.9 FM WNYC, one of New York's public radio stations, is airing some of Seth Kaufman's new music tonight at 11pm, on their show "New Sounds," along with music from other solo piano artists. For those of you not in the area, I gather you can use the links on the left-hand side of that page to listen online.