Rubies And Wine

V-10

I get to work after another day of Birman pumping out assignments to fill our time. However, I simply plop my loaded book bag in the back room of the restaurant. Just as I exit the room, the door swings open and Ellie and I crash into one another.

"Oh, sorry," she says as I stumble back due to her being much larger than me.

Luckily, I am able to brace myself on the wooden table behind me. "It's okay, Ellie," I say with a slight breath of shock from her abrupt appearance. "Now, if you don't mind, I should get to work."

Before I get out the door, she steps in front of me. "Wait," she says while guiding me to a seat. "I wanted to tell you something before you go."

"Okay," I say hesitantly while lowering myself into the seat with shaky knees. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Well, you've inadvertently caused the owner to sell The Keynote."

My eyes flicker and a brow raises in bafflement. "How did I do that?"

"Well, for a few weeks now, a woman has been bugging the owner to sell the place. Eventually, she made an offer she can't refuse and promised to help the place grow and yet still stay the same."

I run this through my head over and over again. The Keynote is only one location but it's so popular with everyone on the pier. It must have gone for more money than anyone I know has to spend. Then, another thought hits me. Who took anything I said as a green light to buy the diner?

"Well, who bought the place?" I ask with genuine curiosity.

"Here, let me grab her," she grins before swiftly exiting just how she entered.

I'm trembling in my seat. The air is caught in my throat and my eyes shift about the room as if the answer was kindly written for me on the wall. I scan through my list of comrades again. I obviously start with Drew and Suzanne. Neither have enough to buy my place of work and seem too young to purchase it. That also leaves out the rest of The Pack. Aunt Jess and Sylvia have a bit of money but investing it in live music diners doesn't seem like too high a priority for them.

Just as my mind continue to go down the list of people I know and quickly crossing them off, the door squeaks open. I rise ever so slightly in my seat and angle my head to see if I could see who it was just a millisecond sooner.

Just as I expect someone's shoe to peer through the doorway, a white cane with a balled tip glides it's way through. Following it is a Filipino woman. Her eyes look aimlessly at the walls as she maneuvers her way to the seat beside me.

"Yuri?" I say with a smile to go along with my stunned tone.

"Hello, Ms. Emily," she says peacefully.

"You bought The Keynote?"

"Well, I always wanted to find a place that I could run on my own but most dependent on their image rather their food. And, as you can imagine," she says while waving her open hand above her face. "I am excellent at only one of those things. However, The Keynote is different. You people keep your food top notch and the chefs prepare each as their best. Then, there is your job, Ms. Emily. You and the other waiters bring song to the people and tell stories as they eat. That is why I purchased the Keynote."

I pause for a second as I realize what she said makes perfect sense. I suppose with her degree in restaurant management, a live entertainment diner would appeal to her more than anywhere else.

"So, I convinced you to buy the place?" I ask.

She slowly nods her head. "I've actually thought of being an owner for some time now. However, no place really caught my eye." I don't know if she intended that little pun there. "But when I was speaking to you and you told me of how you perform musical numbers while others eat, it peaked my interest. I went one evening and thought this was the perfect place to purchase. I eventually spoke to the owner and he told me how he has considered retirement. After a few sessions to discuss everything and have time to think it over, we made a sale."

I'm still thrown off by all this. "So... what's gonna change in the place?"

Yuri laughs loudly. "Ms. Emily, there will be few if any. The people love The Keynote just as it is and I have no intention of screwing that up." She collects herself for her laughter and takes in a deep breath.

"Well,..." I begin as an awkward, stunned silence came over me. "That's good."

"Yes, it is. Now, I think you should head back to work before lunch hour rolls around. Oh, and I also gave you a twenty percent raise for helping me decide on this place."

"You really don't need to do that Yuri."

"It already has been, Ms. Emily." She smiles at me before standing up and walking to the door. "See you out there." Then, she's gone without another word.

I sit in the seat with a strange feeling of elated and anxious. It just seems so odd to me how passing the name of the place I work in conversation on the bus lead to Yuri owning the place. Still dumbfounded by the whole thing, I began waiting tables.

The Tuesday lunch hour seems to die down and only a few people enjoy their meals. A family of five sit inside on of the booths eating away at either a delayed lunch or early dinner. A couple is a bit farther away in a table for two closer to the stage. A group of friends laugh away on the second floor acting as if the world is theirs and they'll live like this infinitely.

There is one more customer. A lone soul at the bar already hunched over his drink with the sun barely setting over the ocean outside.

His greying hair is a mess and his glasses are lazily thrown to the side as he taps the shot glass with his pointer finger covered by a root tattoo. Birman.

Curious, and with nothing better to do, I walk up to the bar and place the serving tray beside him.

"Mr. Birman?"

"I swear to god, leave me alone," he grunts with authority without looking up.

I contemplate actually letting him be but decide to press on. "It's me, Emily,"

He looks up with half open eyes. "Oh." He looks me up and down again. "Leave me alone," he says in the same grizzly tone.

As his head lifts, I see he has several used shot glasses beside him. "Is this still about that girl and Mr. Olence? Mr. Birman, you need to move on."

"What I do in my personal life is my business."

I try to think of a way to help him with this obvious hump. "Isn't alcohol a depressant? Only amplifying the user's current mood? I'm sure you even know that."

"You should also know people turn to substances when they deal with episodes of depression. Let me enjoy my drink and stop pandering with the lessons I taught you."

"Then make me a promise," I say as a last resort. "A two of my aunts are in town. They, a few of my friends, and myself were going to this pasta place from here. Promise you'll go and get out of the house and I'll let you drink as much as you can."

"I appreciate it but I prefer to hang out with people my age that I know."

"Name a friend of yours that you know."

He pauses and rubs the glass with his finger. "When and where?"

"Saturday night at eight at that Vanessa's place. Here." I pull out my notepad and quickly jotted it down before tearing the sheet and handing it to him. "Now, you can drink."

Just as I begin to walk away, Ellie comes over the speakers. "Next up, a crowd favorite here at The Keynote, Emily Lage performing Superboy and the Invisible Girl from Next To Normal."

I grab the mic from the bartender and begin to sing as I step on the elevated platform and the music plays.

"Superboy and the Invisible Girl. Son of Steel and Daughter of Air. He's a hero, a lover, a prince. She's not there."

I find it odd how all the while I'm singing, I can't help but feel Birman staring at me from behind and I feel a shiver in my spine. Either way, I continue on and leave him be until he decides he's had enough to drink.