All That She Can See(26)

But when they arrived, they couldn’t even get near the distillery as the street was full of people bustling around, all waiting to get inside.

‘What on Earth… it’s never like this! It’s just a little distillery with a bar! Not that it’s not worth seeing,’ George said quickly, obviously worried that Cherry would think he’d brought her somewhere boring. ‘Excuse me?’ he called out as they neared the group. ‘What’s going on here? Is there some kind of… free drinks promotion? Or a private event?’

‘It’s this new flair bartender they’ve got in,’ a bloke near the door said. The woman he was with was craning her neck desperately to see inside each time the door opened. ‘His flairing is good but it’s his drinks that everyone’s talking about. Apparently they’re incredible. Trouble is, because of him, it’s hard to even get inside.’

‘Flair bartending?’ The blood drained from Cherry’s face.

Even tried getting a normal job once, too, in the local pub, but he didn’t make it easy for himself. He insisted on flair bartending. He was actually quite good…

‘Cherry? Cherry!’

But she was gone, pushing through the crowd and causing people to yell profanities at her as she shoved past them. George kept apologising on her behalf but he couldn’t keep up with her and Cherry soon lost him in the crowd. There was no security on the door – they clearly weren’t prepared for this level of custom – so Cherry ducked inside. It was completely rammed and the noise of people yelling their orders was deafening. Cherry saw Chase’s Meddlums immediately. The three of them were sitting on one of the many shelves that were filled with bottles of gin. Frustration and Cynicism had their hands on Mischief’s shoulders, cheering it on as it downed shot after shot of neat gin. As Cherry pushed in closer and closer, Chase came into view. He was behind the bar, twirling a silver cocktail shaker in one hand and pouring sloe gin into a glass with the other. As though he could sense her presence, he looked up and caught her eye. He grinned at her. Cherry didn’t return his smile. He beckoned her forward and two well-dressed men in blue blazers let her past.

‘What can I getcha, darling?’ Chase asked, leaning towards her across the bar.

‘An explanation. What are you doing?’

‘Nothing you haven’t already done.’

‘Another Negroni when you’re ready, mate!’ another customer called.

‘Coming right up, sir!’ Chase’s hands moved deftly, whipping up the order in no time at all. One part gin, one part Campari, one part sweet red vermouth.

‘Watch this,’ Chase said to Cherry, his expression innocent.

He bent down to the floor behind the bar, the customer’s drink still in his hand. Cherry had to lean so far over the bar that her feet came off the ground but she could just about see Chase making a strange movement with his cheeks.

‘Chase, stop playing around, what are you —?’ Then he spat into the drink. ‘CHASE!’

Quickly, he stirred it with a black plastic stirrer until all the saliva bubbles had disappeared. Chase straightened up and placed the drink on the bar.

‘Here we go! Seven-fifty please, mate.’

Cherry watched the money exchange hands, horrified.

‘How could you?’ she hissed when he turned back to her, ignoring the endless rumble of shouted drink requests.

‘Oh, come on. As if I’m going to spend my time infusing gin. I wouldn’t know where to start. This is much more efficient.’

‘You’ve not practised at all, have you? This has been six years of my life, perfecting this. The measurements are so exact, Chase. Too much of something and someone could get seriously hurt! You don’t even have enough time with each person to get to know them or figure out what they need. You could be putting anything into their drinks!’

Cherry rarely raised her voice in anger and even though the noise levels meant it was impossible not to shout in this place, she had a feeling that she would have been yelling regardless of the noise.

‘I know what these people need. Everyone wants love and happiness and comfort. I’ve seen it all my life. They’re all the same.’ He widened his eyes with his fingers. ‘Even you, Cherry. Self-righteous, high and mighty Cherry. Fancy a drink while you’re here?’ He winked, and that was when Cherry saw red.

She didn’t know what she was doing until it was done. The idea flitted into her head and by the time she’d fully processed it, she’d already pulled her fist back and her knuckles slammed against his face with a crunch. Chase’s eyes widened in shock as he fell back into the wall of glasses and bottles behind him. The noise bubbled to a simmer until there was just a low hum. People were staring at Cherry. Her stomach churned but she took a deep breath, kept her eyes on the floor and said as clearly and steadily as she could, ‘He spat in all your drinks.’

She turned on her heel and made her way out of the bar and onto the street where she found George. He was arguing with someone in the queue.

‘I’m just trying to find my friend! She went in five minutes ago – please just… wait, there she is!’

Cherry grabbed George by the hand and pulled him back in the direction they’d come, ignoring his calls for her to slow down. She didn’t stop until she saw the familiar red and yellow shop.