“They open tomorrow night, but I’ve reached out to the owner, and she’s agreed to let us in to have an early look.I planned on going and asking her some questions.”
She skimmed over the article, and I had to hide a smile when she made a face of revulsion.I suspected she’d just read the part about “personal interactions.”
Finally, she looked up.“Looks pretentious.You’ll love it.”
“You’re determined to hate everything, aren’t you?”I asked, shaking my head.
“Not everything.”Her eyes dropped back down to the article, avoidant.I’d hit a nerve.“So, when do we go?”
“Now, if you’re available.”
“Well, considering you asked me to get here hours before my shift started, I guess I’m free.”
Fortunately,the owner hadn’t been lying when she’d said she was happy for me to come by before the launch.
Unfortunately, Agenda had the worst decor I’ve ever seen.
Actually, “decor” was a very loose term for what was, essentially, a handful of high tables and a long bar.The walls were painted in a tan that faded to off-white from one side of the room to the other.From the ceiling hung drop lights with frosted glass; every detail so minimally added as to be invisible to the eye.
And that was it.
No artwork.No extras.
No chairs.
Perhaps coming before opening wasn’t the best idea, considering they clearly hadn’t finished fitting the room out.Because if it was on purpose?Save me.
“Is this it?”Tiffany murmured to me when we entered.
It couldn’t be.This couldn’t be the finished product.I hoped against hope it wasn’t.
Georgia, the owner, greeted me readily with a handshake, although I noted her smile became clipped when she turned to Tiffany.
“So, what do you think?It’s different, isn’t it?”She waved to the extremely bare room.
“It is,” I said because I had nothing else nice to say.
“We really wanted to just go for it, you know?Bars have become so stale, all these unnecessary details.”
“Like chairs,” Tiffany chimed in.
“Exactly!”Georgia clearly hadn’t heard the sarcasm in Tiffany’s voice.“It ruins the flow of the room.We wanted something that agitated.Energized.This way, there aren’t any barriers between people.The limited table space will mean we can fit more people in, or when there are fewer people, give them the opportunity to fill the space with their own energy rather than conform to what some designer thinks.And since people will have to hold on to their drinks, they can’t be on their phones all night.It’s about forcing people to own themselves and interact with each other.”
“How very …” I struggled to finish my sentence.Every description I wanted to use was hardly polite.
Tiffany was the last person I expected to assist me.“Imaginative.”
Georgia looked pleased.“Thank you.We’re proud of it.And I’m really looking forward to seeing how the public reacts tomorrow, but it helps to know we have industry support.”A voice came from behind us, getting Georgia’s attention.“Sorry, I better take care of this,” she said, motioning to the back of the room.
Left in the middle of the—apparently on purpose—empty room, I inwardly groaned.If this was what customers in Chicago wanted, I was regretting coming home.There was no way come hell or high water that I would let my bar become a philosophical embodiment of a new age, self-help con artistry.
And I had spent the last few years living in sin city.
Tiffany turned her back on the bar to give me a death stare.“Just so you know, I’d rather quit than have the bar turn into this place.”
I choked on an unexpected laugh, watching her face jump in surprise.“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, schooling my expression into something flatter.
Once we’d returnedto the bar, Tiffany propped herself up on a stool, eating a sizeable bag of gummy worms.She hadn’t been carrying anything with her earlier, and we didn’t serve them at the bar, so I had no idea where they’d come from.
