Beneath This Man(111)

'I suppose not,' I shrug and look around the bar. 'Where is everyone?'

He stands and places my hand in my own lap. 'We close during the day on anniversary night. There's a lot to get ready.' He kisses my forehead and picks up his own bottle of water. 'John?'

'Ready when you are.' John replies.

He brushes a hair away from my face. 'I'll be as quick as I can. Are you sure you're okay here?'

'I'm fine.' I shoo him away.

They leave me at the bar among the chaos of staff, frantically polishing glasses and restocking the fridges. I feel like I should help, but then I hear my phone shouting from my bag and I pull it out, finding Ruth Quinn's name illuminating my screen. I should let it go to voicemail, it is my day off, but this could be my opportunity to get out of drinks with her.

'Hi, Ruth.'

'Ava, how are you?'

She's so friendly - too friendly. 'I'm good, and you?'

'Lovely. I received your fee structure and designs. They're wonderful!'

'I'm glad you like them, Ruth.' Her enthusiasm will be a pleasure to work with, I suppose

'So, now you've shown me how amazing my dire downstairs can look, I'm eager to start.'

'Okay, well if you could settle the consultation fee, I'm assuming you've received the invoice, then we can crack on.'

'Yes, I did. I'll sort a transfer. Do you have the company bank details?' she asks.

'I don't, Ruth. Could I ask you to ring the office? It's my day off so I can't lay my hands on them at the moment.'

'Oh? I'm sorry. I didn't realise.'

'It's okay, Ruth. It was a last minute thing. It's not a problem, really.' I assure her.

'Are you doing anything nice?' she enquires.

I smile. 'Yes, I am, actually. Just some quality time with my boyfriend.' That sounds weird.

'Oh.'

Silence falls down the phone. 'Ruth? Are you there?' I glance at my phone to see if my service has dropped. It hasn't. 'Hello?'

'Yes, sorry. It's just that you said there was no man.' She laughs.

'No man trouble. I meant to say there's no man trouble.'

'I see! Well, I'll let you get back to your quality time.'

'Thank you. I'll call you next week and we can proceed.'

'Great. Bye, Ava.' She hangs up, and I instantly realise that I didn't pull out of drinks. She didn't confirm either, though.

I put my phone back in my bag and spot Mario on his way over with a box full of cocktail ingredients and fresh fruit. 'Ava, are you well?'

'I'm very well, Mario. And you?'

He heaves the big box onto the bar and I help him by pulling it towards me. 'Very well too, would you be...' He frowns. 'How you say...guinea pig?'

'Oh, yes!' I sound way too eager. I love all that mixing, shaking and tasting business.

He chuckles and passes me a small chopping board and a paring knife. 'You cut.' he instructs, handing me a basket of various fruits from the box. I collect a strawberry, hull it and chop it in half. 'Yes, this is good.' Mario nods at me as he starts pouring various liquids into a large silver container.

I work my way through the whole pile of strawberries, popping them in a sealable container as I go, then start on the lemons. Mario sings some Italian opera style song softly as we sit at the bar, me watching with interest between my chopping duties as he measures, pours and generally faffs about with various cocktail equipment.

'Now we do the good part.' He smiles, slamming the lid on the silver container and proceeding to shake it. He flips it up and grabs it and then tosses it over his head, before spinning quickly to catch it. I'm stunned by his little demonstration of barman skills. I would never have thought it. He knocks the container on the side of the bar and pours the dark pink liquid into a long glass with some mint and a strawberry. 'Voila!' he sings, presenting me with the glass.

'Wow!' I gasp at the sugar coated rimmed glass. 'What's it called?'

'This is Mario's Most Marvelous!' His voice gets higher towards the end of the name. He's proud of it. 'You try.' He pushes the glass towards me, and I lean in to take a sniff.

It smells lovely, but I remember the last time Mario insisted I try one of his drinks; it burnt my throat. I pick up the glass tentatively as Mario nods eagerly at me. I shrug and take a little sip.