It was a testament to his stupidity, in a way, feeling like this. How he’d let the love for Denny turn into something that had festered inside like an infection. There were no antibiotics for a broken heart. He would just have to soldier on, because the Hare needed him, the kids needed him too.
He got everything done downstairs before the twins appeared. They took one look at him and made him go “do bookkeeping or something” in his office. That was where he stayed for hours, not doing accounting per se—he had an accountant for that, thank you very much—but making sure everything was in order to be sent to said accountant. He didn’t like this part of owning a bar, but at least it came in handy now.
At some point, Nelson knocked on the door and brought him a panini and a soda.
“Here you go, boss. You need to eat.”
“Thanks,” Josiah said, distracted by the paperwork on his desk.
“Eat it. And have the soda and maybe some water. I’m confiscating your coffee mug.” Nelson plucked the mug from his desk and took it with him.
Nelson wasn’t wrong. He didn’t need any more caffeine. Sighing, Josiah pushed some of the papers aside and grabbed his metallic straw off its designated spot on his desk, and pushed it through the hole in the soda cup’s lid.
It took one sip to realize that his stomach was woefully empty, other than the caffeine. Josiah shook his head at himself, then took a bite of the excellent panini and then ate it in what felt like ten seconds flat. He looked at the empty wrapper and groaned.
He didn’t have his phone on him, he’d left it upstairs, unwilling to deal with any potential messages from his best friends right then. That meant that he had to shake his mouse to get his screen to wake up to see the time. He needed a wall clock here too.
He felt surprised and at the same time not, to realize it was already past 6 p.m. Things would start to pick up in the front, so he got to his feet and went to use the bathroom. He looked a bit haggard. He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days and he frowned at his image in the mirror.
“I look like a hobo,” he grumbled under his breath.Ugh.
He tried to do his best to finger-comb his hair and rolled up his sleeves. At least his shirt wasn’t too wrinkly. It would have to do.
He made it to the bar just in time to see Alfie roll through the doors. He was talking to Nelson, who was like a giant next to him. Nelson chuckled and they fist-bumped. Alfie seemed like a friendly guy, making friends easily.
“Hey, you!” Alfie smiled at Josiah. “I got bored at home.”
Josiah found himself smiling back. “Well I guess that’s our gain, then.” He gestured for the twins to come closer. “These are Yolanda and Drea, and this is Alfie.”
“Hi!” Yolanda greeted him, then went to serve a customer at the other end of the bar.
Drea, however, held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Alfie smiled.
“If there’s any trouble at any point, just tell us. Nelson over there is a big teddy bear but he has zero tolerance for shit like that. Gets grizzly really fast,” she said, her smile all teeth.
“Good to know. Hell, maybe I’ll tell the people in my support group about this place, if you don’t mind. Some of them would love to be able to come to a bar this friendly.”
“Of course, anytime,” Josiah assured him. Drea grabbed a tray from behind the bar and left to pick up empties from the tables.
“I was wondering, would you make me one of your mocktails?” Alfie asked, seeming almost shy.
“Absolutely.”
He got out of his chair and glanced around. “It seems busier tonight, so I’ll collapse the chair and if you can stash it in the back or somewhere else out of the way?”
“I’ll find it a spot,” Nelson said from behind Alfie, making him jump. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to sneak up like that.”
“For a grizzly, you sure move quietly,” Alfie teased.
Nelson looked adorably confused, which Drea caught just as she came back to take the empties through to the washing up area in the back. Drea gave Nelson heart eyes, even though she tried to hide it. Josiah was pretty sure he was the only one to catch the expression though, which was what she preferred anyways.
Alfie balanced himself against the bar top and then quickly did something to separate the seat from the frame, and collapsed the chair.
“There you go,” Alfie said to Nelson, who was waiting for permission to touch the chair.
“I’ll put it right inside the swinging door on the left.” Nelson’s voice was aimed at the bar, making sure the twins acknowledged what he was saying.
