Temporary Bliss [boyxboy]

3: Confusion

"How do I look?" I asked Caleb for what was probably the thousandth time.
"You look great," he said with an eye roll, "Stop worrying."

I took a deep breath, fiddling with the hem of my shirt in front of the mirror.

"Finn, we gotta go or you'll be late," Caleb said, as he was tying his shoes.
"Okay," I breathed, taking a jacket, my phone and whatever else I usually took when I left the house.

We got in the car and drove the five or ten minutes into downtown.
"There's no parking spot here, you have to get out," Caleb told me as the car came to a halt right in front of bar "Deadly Whiskeyhands".

"Yeah, okay."

"Good luck. Call me when you're done and I'll come pick you up," my best friend said, and even though he didn't sound happy at all, I appreciated that he was at least making an effort.

"Thanks," I said simply, finally getting out of the car and walking toward the bar as Caleb drove off.

"Here we go," I muttered to myself before pushing the door open.

There was no one in the bar. It was pretty spacious and had a cool vibe to it, but that might have been because it was so quiet and empty. The floors were hardwood, creaking a tiny bit under each step I took. The black paint was beginning to peel slightly in some spots, but that didn't make it look shabby.

I heard noises to my left. I turned to see the actual bar and a backdoor.
The bar was really long, it went around a corner and there were probably more than 30 barstools.

"Uh, hello?," I said, confused as to why no one was in sight.
Seconds later, the aforementioned backdoor swung open, revealing a stressed-looking young woman - around my age.
Her brown hair was tied up in a rather messy bun, but as soon as she saw me, her face lit up in a smile.

"Oh, hey! You must be the new guy!," she exclaimed and I smiled.

"Well, not yet actually. I'm supposed to have a job interview now," I explained.

"Oh, right! Okay, um, well let me get my manager," she said and was off into the back.

A minute or so later, she came back out along with a rather tall, hispanic-looking, skinny guy with a lot of tattoos and some piercings.
He didn't look like a manager at all, but hey, who was I to judge?

"Hey," he said and shook my hand, "I'm Michael, but call me Mike."
He gave me a toothy smile, seeming very friendly.

"Right, uh, I'm Finn Mills."

"I thought so," he said with a laugh, "Let's just sit down right here," Mike said, pointing to the bar stools to our right.
I nodded, honestly kind of liking how unofficial this felt. It eased my nerves a lot.

"So," he started, "Your application looked very nice. Why did you choose to apply to this specific job?"
"Well, I've worked at a restaurant as a waiter before, but that wasn't really my thing, so I figured bartending might be fun. I know I don't have a lot of work experience or any qualifications, and that probably looks pretty bad on my resumé and you'd rather have someone qualified, but I'm really eager to work an-"

I stopped talking when Mike laughed. Why was he laughing? What was funny?

"Dude, it's okay. I'll let you in on a little secret, alright? I don't have a single qualification either. I built this up from scratch with a ton of hard work and that's what counts.
A will to make an effort and a good sense of humor. Qualifications don't impress me at all anymore. I know that they don't mean shit. So, what to do you like to do for fun?"

I was a little baffled. This was not what I had expected to happen during this interview at all.

"Well, I like singing and I play a lot of video games. Other th-"
The tall man cut me off, "What kind of games do you play?"

"Well, generally I really love games where the story line and the plot is really important, y'know? I love when it feels like I'm watching an action movie where I get to do all of the awesome stuff."

Mike hit the bar with his flat hand, "Yes!," he laughed, "I agree completely. You're 21, right?"

I nodded.
"Well, dude, I'm not gonna lie, we're in desperate need of another bartender, so... You're hired."

"Wait, what?"

"I said: You're hired."

"Yeah, but like... What?"

Mike let out a hearty laugh, patting my shoulder in a friendly manner.

"You're starting tomorrow. Well, with your training. Be here at 2. We'll sort out the paperwork bullshit then."
With that, he got up and left, disappearing into the back again.

In a daze, confused, I took out my phone to call Caleb.

"You're done already?," was the first thing he said.

"Well, yeah. And I got the job, too. Can you come pick me up?"
"Uh, sure. I'll be there in five."

So I waited outside the building for my best friend.
After a couple of minutes his car stopped right in front of me.

"Get in, loser," he said and I rolled my eyes.
"You're so lame."

"So I've been told. So, what happened?," he asked, now even looking slightly excitedly.

I explained the whole deal during the ride home.

"That's fucking awesome dude!," Caleb said with a loud laugh.
God, how I loved his laugh. It was so beautiful and contagious.

Hearing him laugh always forced the corners of my mouth upward a little, no matter the circumstances, and I didn't know if that was a good thing or not.