From Kate’s angle, it looked almost like glowing crystal. No, like liquid amber in a martini glass. She raised it to her lips and the sip of rye and vermouth burned a bit on the way down. The sting led to a grimace mixed with a smile.
“Thanks Josh,” she said and took another sip. “I needed this.”
The bartender had already begun his next set of drinks “Bad day?” he asked.
“Not bad. Just long. At work it was one thing after another and another and they never seemed to end. Everyone needed me to take care of one last thing. Then a blind date who was also looking for someone to take care of him, too. That one, I ended.” As she thought of that uncomfortable encounter Kate grimaced before taking another sip of her drink.
“Sorry to hear it.” said Josh.
“Not yet. I’m just going to relax here for awhile.” He went back to filling orders and Kate watched. When she first found Gallipot, she had been fascinated by bartenders and craft cocktails they served, so different from the bars she’d usually gone to. Over the past several months, she’d become a regular. She found that watching the bartenders work their magic with liquids somewhere was somewhere between entertaining and entrancing. Especially Josh, who was so exact when he crafted the drinks, working quickly, but precisely. She realized that she had been staring at him and his hands for a little too long and a little too closely and so she looked away and people watched.
Time passed and Kate took another sip and realized that this was new, in fact, it was blue. She had finished her first drink and this had taken his place while she was creating a backstory for the couple whispering in the corner of the bar. She looked up at Josh and asked “Did I order this?”
“No, but you seemed to need it.” He smiled shyly “Don’t worry, it’s on the house.”
“It’s a variation of an Aviation.”
“It’s a classic cocktail with cherries and violets.” Josh halted for a second “it kind of reminds me of you.”
“Thanks” she said and then thought a bit before remembering that she hadn’t ordered the first drink either. Josh had simply taken care of her when she had walked in and slumped wearily onto her bar chair.
“And that first one?” she asked him.
