CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 29: BARTENDER

One day, Rockie gave me a call and invited me to a pub.

"You know I'm not old enough to drink, right?" I asked.

"****. I forgot about that," he said. "Would you still be willing to go? Just for the company?"

"What day?"

"Whenever you're available."

"Let me check my calendar. Hold on." I looked at my calendar. "How about Wednesday?"

"Sure. Let's do 10 pm and we'll leave before the club opens at 11:30. It can get pretty crowded."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Clubs are typically for obnoxious young folk looking to hook up. We're not interested in that. Unless... you're interested in that kind of thing."

"No. I don't have time for that. I have better things to do, like hang out with my friends."

"Great! 10:00 then."

"Are you bringing Birdie?"

"Of course. She always accompanies me on fun trips, just not work stuff."

"And Willow?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't talked to Cam yet."

"You haven't?"

"I wanted to talk to you first to see when you were available."

"You didn't have to do that."

"But I wanted you to be able to make it. I know you have a busy schedule."

"Well, thanks. I appreciate that."

"Hey, no problem. That's what friends do," he said. "Well, I'll see you Wednesday."

"Yeah. See ya then."

Rockie hung up. He didn't like to say goodbye for whatever reason.

As planned, I went to the pub on Wednesday night. Everyone was able to make it. I wanted to sit next to Birdie, but Rockie invited me to sit next to him and I didn't want to be rude. Willow ended up sitting next to Birdie.

The bartender asked to see our IDs.

"Sorry. No one under twenty-one is allowed in the bar," she told me.

"It's okay. He's with us," Rockie said.

"I'm sorry. It's our policy. He has to leave," the bartender said.

"Do you know who we are?" Rockie asked her.

"I can't say that I do, sir."

"Let me talk to your manager."

"It's okay, Rockie," I said. "We can go somewhere else."

"No! Get your manager," he told the bartender.

She left and sent the manager our way.

"What's the deal, Tobias?" Rockie asked the manager. "We're trying to enjoy this time with our friend here and your bartender is trying to kick him out."

"I am so sorry about her," Tobias, the manager, said. "She's new. It won't happen again."

"It better not," Rockie said.

"Would you like a different bartender?" he asked.

"No, but I would like her to apologize to my friend. Then we can forget any of this happened."

"Sure thing." Tobias walked away.

"That wasn't necessary," I told Rockie.

"It was a thousand percent necessary," he said. "No friend of mine is going to be mistreated like that."

"It's just their policy. It's not personal."

"Crypto, you're one of us now. You don't have to put up with that anymore. We do whatever we want. This is our city."

Our bartender came back. "I'm sorry for how I treated you, sir," she told me. "There's no excuse for it. I should have known who you are."

"It's okay," I said.

"No, it's not," Rockie told her. "But we'll give you another chance. You better not mess up our drink orders."

"Do you take tips?" Birdie asked her.

The bartender nodded.

Birdie reached into her purse and handed her twenty bucks.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Rockie asked.

"I'm tipping the poor lady," she said.

"Thank you," the bartender said.

"She hasn't even served us yet."

"I know. Am I not allowed to do something nice for a stranger?"

He shook his head. "Sure. Whatever. It's your money. If you want to waste it, that's on you."

"It's not a waste."

I smiled and then grabbed twenty dollars from my wallet and handed it to the bartender.

"Oh, thank you," the bartender said, blushing.

"Here. I wanna give you something too," Willow said, handing her another twenty bucks.

"Wow. I... I don't know what to say," the bartender said. "Thank you."

"Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right, Rockie?" Cam said. He gave the bartender twenty dollars.

"I mean... that is my policy," Rockie said. He shook his head. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He gave the bartender twenty dollars.

Duke and Jordan did the same. That was a total of $140 in tips.

I looked at Birdie and she was smiling so big. The bartender was tearing up.

"Thank you guys so much," she said.

"Don't mention it," Rockie said.

Birdie gave him a kiss and I started to burn with jealousy. Rockie didn't deserve her. She was sweet and charitable and he was the opposite. He had to be talked into giving to the bartender who he had been treating poorly while I was the first to give, right after Birdie did. Rockie wanted everything his way and would stop at nothing to have it. Birdie and I weren't like that. Rockie didn't deserve her; I did.