Let me explain ( Read more... )

It's about half past seven on a Saturday in early November. I've been on since four, and I'm still not used to the fact that it's already starting to get dark by that time of the afternoon now that Daylight Saving Time is over. It makes me feel like it's later than it really is, so even though I'm a night owl, I keep checking my watch to see how ( Read more... )

"I've got some good news and some bad news," Vince tells me, returning from the back room. "Which do you want first ( Read more... )

It's been a few weeks since Maya quit, but Pat and Todd have had much more difficulty than usual filling her spot. There's a thousand young women out there in New York City hoping to get a good bartending job, but the timing was bad. Out of the dozens of applicants we'd "kept on file" since the last time we had an opening, many had found other ( Read more... )

When I come in a little early for my 8-to-close the Wednesday right before the long holiday weekend, Jack is sitting at one of the tables along the wall instead of at the bar, and he's not alone. When he sees me, he waves me over. "Debra, I want you to meet Heather. She and I went to college together." She's very pretty, I notice as I shake her ( Read more... )

I'm nervous.

It's Sunday evening, the first time I've been scheduled to work a shift with Todd managing the Bar since the incident at the end of February that upset me so much. As part of the deal we worked out with Lanie and Victor, the owners, there were things Todd had to do before we'd work a shift again, and he's taken care of that ( Read more... )

It's Thursday afternoon. I walk out of the back room trying to process everything that's been said, and I stick my notebook back in my bag. Later in the afternoon I'll send an e-mail to my lawyer describing everything I talked about with Lanie and Victor and asking whether she thinks what they've proposed is fair, but I already have a pretty good ( Read more... )

It's chilly but not freezing as I walk the few blocks up Central Park West from the subway station to Dara's and Dennis's new apartment. I keep my head down and my mittened hands in the pockets of my coat, and I barely notice as a cab turning left cuts me off. When I arrive at the building, before I face the doorman, I take a deep breath and ( Read more... )

It's Saturday evening in Manhattan, and I'm a couple of hours into an 8-to-close shift at the Bar; Jocelyn will be with me until close, and Sophie's off at 1. It's a good crowd, the mood is light, people are drinking less beer and more hard liquor, and so the tips have been pretty good. I'm trying to save up to buy a dress I saw last week, even ( Read more... )

I never answer my cell phone during shifts at the Bar. It's always set on vibrate, and I'm usually moving around too much to notice it "ring" - but even if I did notice, the owners and manager frown on us having phone conversations behind the bar during a shift. So occasionally I'll glance at it to find out who called, but I don't even check my ( Read more... )