Drunk on Love(3)

“You could have said it.” She waved a breadstick at Sydney. “You’re probably the only person who could, actually. Okay, you’re right—no more work talk out of me tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about my trip and what a success it was, but tonight, I’m just going to sit at the bar and keep you company and eat all of the snacks that chef of yours wants to send over to me.”

Just then, a plate of arancini landed in front of Margot, and she grinned, first at the waiter, then at Sydney.

“See? A sign.”

Sydney laughed.

“A sign indeed. And yes, definitely, no talking about work, but did anyone tell you about the local drama over the weekend while you were gone?”

Margot’s eyes widened as she picked up one of the cheese-filled fritters.

“No. This sounds juicy. Tell me.”

“Well . . .” Sydney looked over Margot’s shoulder. Margot saw her friend’s professional smile flash on.

“Welcome to the Barrel. Would you like to sit at the bar?”

She left Margot to go serve the couple who had just walked in, but that didn’t bother Margot. That’s what they did, these nights that she came in when Syd was behind the bar. They had snatches of gossip and catching up and laughter, whenever Sydney could spare time from serving people and putting out fires elsewhere in the restaurant.

Margot pulled her phone out as she sipped her wine and snacked. She should deal with some of these emails that had come in over the weekend, and get responses ready to go out on Monday morning. This was especially important since she’d have to spend her Monday—and much of the upcoming week—training two new staff members. If only her brother had checked with her schedule and . . . no. No, she wasn’t going to do that now, remember?

This was fine. It would be fine. She would just deal with these emails tonight and then this new person tomorrow and she would figure it all out. She hoped.

Sydney came back to take the drink order from someone who had just sat down next to Margot, and then poured more wine in Margot’s glass.

“You know what you need?” Sydney said. “You need a vacation.”

“I was just out of town for a week.”

Sydney shook her head.

“That wasn’t a vacation, you were working the whole time. You need a real sit on the beach, go out to dinner without it being a work dinner, wander around a city for fun, no checking your work emails at seven p.m. on Sunday night kind of vacation.”

“That sounds incredible,” Margot said. “But I don’t have time—or the mental energy—to actually plan a vacation. I just want to be on vacation, without having to deal with any of the decisions that go into that. What I need is someone else to plan it for me.”

“You would never let anyone else plan a vacation for you,” Sydney said. “Well, other than me, and I don’t have time for that, either.”

Margot thought about that.

“Maybe if they knew me well enough? If I trusted them enough?”

They looked at each other and laughed.

“Right,” Sydney said. “Never mind.”

Someone called Sydney’s name at the door, and she came out from behind the bar. Margot slid her phone into her jacket pocket and went to the bathroom. When she came out of the stall, she looked at herself in the mirror. Well, even though she was exhausted, at least her hair looked good today. That’s probably why she’d managed to keep her cool with her brother—she had special powers on good-hair days, she was almost positive. She touched up her lipstick and walked out of the bathroom.

On the way back to the bar, she poked her head into the kitchen to say hi to Charlie, the chef at the Barrel.

“Loved the arancini, Charlie,” Margot said.

“Thanks, Margot. And welcome back,” Charlie said.

Sydney stopped Margot outside of the kitchen.

“How much do you love me?” she asked.

Margot looked at her sideways. This meant either something very good or very bad.

“Very much. Why are you asking me this, here, right now?”

Sydney grinned at her. That grin meant it was very bad.

“Oh no. Don’t do this to me again,” Margot said.

Sydney’s grin got bigger.

“Oh yes. You didn’t even glance at him when he sat down, but that guy sitting next to you is adorable. And because you love me, you’ll take advantage of this.”

Sydney had been trying this for months now. Margot never took the bait.

“Are you going to just keep this up until I give in someday?”

She looked over at the bar and saw the guy Sydney was talking about. He was adorable, Sydney was right. Black, warm brown skin, a slightly scruffy beard, kind of dorky looking, but in a good way. However.

“Oh good Lord, my answer is definitely no. What is he, like twenty-six? Twenty-seven? Way too young for me! I’ll be thirty-five in a few months, Syd!”

Sydney rolled her eyes.

“Who cares how old he is? I’m just telling you to talk to the man, not have babies with him. You need some stress relief! Come on, it’ll be fun. If you do it, I’ll give you free wine.”

Margot laughed.

“You always give me free wine.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll give you free food,” Sydney said.