Dinner Is Served
November 12, 2012
"So you don't bartend anymore, but you still work for bars?" Ryan asks, twirling spaghetti with his fork and spoon in exactly the same way his father does.
"Sort of, yeah," I reply. "I'm not a bar employee, though, I'm a consultant. Owners of different bars hire my company to take a look at how they operate, and help them find ways to improve. Sometimes I actually do tend bar, but it's all part of doing the best analysis I possibly can."
"Oh, kind of like 'Bar Rescue'?"
"A little bit like that, but I don't swoop in with a huge budget, give each bar a complete makeover in forty-eight hours, and then ride off into the sunset. It's a longer and more complicated process."
"God, what a stupid show," interjects Katy, rolling her eyes. "So fake. So fake!"
Ryan smiles. "Sorry about my sister. Around the time she turned thirteen, she started automatically hating everything I like. I've been thinking about declaring my love for boys and makeup just to see what happens."
Across the table from me, Warren snorts, and barely manages to keep all the pasta in his mouth.
"Dad!!"
"Sorry, honey. Ryan, your sister is entitled to have opinions and tastes that are different from yours. And you're too young for makeup."
Katy snickers, Ryan shakes his head, and I grin and reach for more cheesy garlic bread.
Later on, Warren and I are washing and drying various instruments of cooking respectively, and his kids are in their room doing homework. Tomorrow morning, Warren will deliver them to school at the end of their three-day holiday weekend, and their mother will pick them up at the end of the day. They'll be with her until after Thanksgiving day, which I can't imagine is easy on Warren. Or on them, for that matter.
"Your kids are fantastic, and I'm genuinely sorry I haven't met them before now," I tell him. "I must have seemed incredibly selfish about it when we were dating."
Warren shrugs. "After we broke up, I wondered for a long time if it was because I pushed for it too hard or too early. You were ten years younger than me, your mother split when you were a kid, and we'd never even really had a conversation about where our relationship was going, then I spring my kids on you? That seems selfish to me."
"I still am ten years younger than you, champ."
"You always were good at math."
"Anyway," I continue, "your kids were a huge part of your life. I never held that against you, I was just too busy dealing with my own shit. I wasn't ready for anybody else's."
"So are you saying you're ready now?"
I pause to consider what he's actually asking me. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, we've reconnected as friends, I asked you over for dinner, you said tonight was your only free night this week, and I made sure you understood that my kids would be here. You said yes anyway."
"Oh, that? I just really, really like cheesy garlic bread."
Warren looks me in the eye for a few moments, and I give him my best poker face. He smiles, shakes his head, and goes back to scrubbing the inside of his garlic press.
https://www.patreon.com/barmaidblog
"So you don't bartend anymore, but you still work for bars?" Ryan asks, twirling spaghetti with his fork and spoon in exactly the same way his father does.
"Sort of, yeah," I reply. "I'm not a bar employee, though, I'm a consultant. Owners of different bars hire my company to take a look at how they operate, and help them find ways to improve. Sometimes I actually do tend bar, but it's all part of doing the best analysis I possibly can."
"Oh, kind of like 'Bar Rescue'?"
"A little bit like that, but I don't swoop in with a huge budget, give each bar a complete makeover in forty-eight hours, and then ride off into the sunset. It's a longer and more complicated process."
"God, what a stupid show," interjects Katy, rolling her eyes. "So fake. So fake!"
Ryan smiles. "Sorry about my sister. Around the time she turned thirteen, she started automatically hating everything I like. I've been thinking about declaring my love for boys and makeup just to see what happens."
Across the table from me, Warren snorts, and barely manages to keep all the pasta in his mouth.
"Dad!!"
"Sorry, honey. Ryan, your sister is entitled to have opinions and tastes that are different from yours. And you're too young for makeup."
Katy snickers, Ryan shakes his head, and I grin and reach for more cheesy garlic bread.
Later on, Warren and I are washing and drying various instruments of cooking respectively, and his kids are in their room doing homework. Tomorrow morning, Warren will deliver them to school at the end of their three-day holiday weekend, and their mother will pick them up at the end of the day. They'll be with her until after Thanksgiving day, which I can't imagine is easy on Warren. Or on them, for that matter.
"Your kids are fantastic, and I'm genuinely sorry I haven't met them before now," I tell him. "I must have seemed incredibly selfish about it when we were dating."
Warren shrugs. "After we broke up, I wondered for a long time if it was because I pushed for it too hard or too early. You were ten years younger than me, your mother split when you were a kid, and we'd never even really had a conversation about where our relationship was going, then I spring my kids on you? That seems selfish to me."
"I still am ten years younger than you, champ."
"You always were good at math."
"Anyway," I continue, "your kids were a huge part of your life. I never held that against you, I was just too busy dealing with my own shit. I wasn't ready for anybody else's."
"So are you saying you're ready now?"
I pause to consider what he's actually asking me. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, we've reconnected as friends, I asked you over for dinner, you said tonight was your only free night this week, and I made sure you understood that my kids would be here. You said yes anyway."
"Oh, that? I just really, really like cheesy garlic bread."
Warren looks me in the eye for a few moments, and I give him my best poker face. He smiles, shakes his head, and goes back to scrubbing the inside of his garlic press.
https://www.patreon.com/barmaidblog