“I’m trying…”I was trying not to cry as I said it. The forms were overwhelming and he was being mean for no reason.
“And now you’re crying. What are you, bipolar?”Johnny laughed like it was the most hilarious joke.
Ari’s mouth dropped.“Stop being a little bitch. You don’t even fucking know her.”She snatched the papers and glared at him.
“I’m just saying—”
“I’m just saying,” she imitated his voice. “Nobody fucking asked you to come over here. If you wanna ‘just say’ shit, go do it somewhere else. You’re being an asshole.”She stared him down until he shifted uncomfortably.
“Really, Johnny. Today’s not the day,” Sean said.“Aren’t you off already?”
“Go home before I kill you.”
“You won’t kill me,” Johnny scoffed, but his confidence left at Dennis’ fixed stare. “Fine. I’m going.” He threw a hand up in surrender. “See you, new girl.”
“He’s mean,” Isaid the moment he was gone.“I’m really trying, but these papers are asking too many questions and I don’t know how taxes work. My medicine is making me confused and I’m not used to being an adult yet and life is confusing.”I wiped a stray tear as Sean gave me a sidehug.
“Don’t worry, hun. I’m filling them out for you.”Ari glanced up from the third form, forcing a smile.“You’ll just need to sign and initial a few spots once I’m done.”
“You have to ignore him. That’s how he is to everyone.”Sean let go as I nodded. “You’ll get used to him, eventually. On one of your good days, you might even like him.”
“Here.”Ari slid the stack of papers my way.“Sign all the blank lines and initial the ones I dotted. There should be seven.”
I took the pen and started signing. I was still in a tearful mood and itfelt sopathetic. Hopefully my new coworkers wouldn’t catch on that Johnny was right about me being bipolar. It was a typical ignorant joke—the weather is bipolar, my girlfriend is bipolar, that person’s acting grumpy so theymustbe bipolar!—but I was always paranoid that someone would figure it out for real, maybe someone whodidknow the signs and might recognize them, and I would be outed as mentally ill to people I didn’t know or trust.
“Thank you guys.”I gathered the papers and made a neat stack, then handed Ari’s pen back. “I feel better.”
“Good. Now onto the boring part.” Sean opened the laptop and we started the next part: getting licensed. It took a couple of hours, but I somehow got it done despite my foggy brain. Once I was certified and good to go, he closed the laptop and stood. “Ready to learn some drinks?”he asked.
I nodded. The nerves and anxiety were officially gone.We said bye to Ari and Dennis, then dropped everything at Richard’s office before returning to the bar to get started.
“What do I get to learn first?”I asked excitedly.
“The house pour.”
“What’s a house pour?”I leaned against the counter furthest from any customers.“And what’s that thingy? What does it do?”
“Hold on, I’m about to explain.”Sean laughed at my impatience.“This is a jigger for measuring.”He heldup the contraption.
“What if I can’t find a jiggermathingy?”
“That’s not a word.”He smiled as Dennis laughed from afar.I should’ve known they’d be eavesdropping.“We free pour here, so it’s just for training.”
Over the next hour or so, Sean showed me how everything worked while Nate helped customers. For the most part, I already knew enough about making drinks to hold my own with that part.
“Can I get a drink?”
“Sure.” Nate was first to respond to the customer.“What can I get started for you?”
“I want her.”Theman nodded toward me.
“What can I get you?”I asked sweetly, taking up a post beside Nate. Sean gave me a wary look but I waved it off. Ihad an hour of training under my belt now—I basically got this.
“Adios.”
“Motherfucker!Coming right up.”I grabbed a glass and set to work. I hesitated a couple times, but Sean was quick to point out anything I couldn’t find. A minute later, I slid a complete adios motherfucker to the man.
“How’d I do?” I asked Sean.
