It’s Saturday, and David and I are here at the bar, waiting to see who the owner decided to hire. The poll would clearly favor Curley, but you never know about polls, and the influence wives have over husbands when nephews are involved. In addition to meeting the new guy, we’re going to wrestle with Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I mean, there are bonus points on the line, so we need to get this.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “loan/lone.” Use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Have fun!
If we were having a beer, we’d be waiting to see who, or what serves it.
“Hi David, hi Dan.”
“HI Paul. How’d the interviews go? Do we have a new bartender?”
“We do. Curley was the overwhelming favorite. He’s downstairs getting some wine. He’ll be right up.”
“Sorry about your nephew.”
“Not so fast, Dan. My wife insisted that since ten percent of the people liked him, I should at least give him a job. He’s the lone relative on her mother’s side of the family. At least the lone young one.”
“You’re not putting him behind the bar. Are you?”
“No, right now, he’s making deliveries. Once Stephan gets used to the place, I’m going to make him a server.”
“But if we eat here at the bar, he won’t be serving us, right?”
“He might bring your food out, David but no. The bartender is the server at the bar. Besides, Cheryl will still be the regular Saturday bartender.”
“Hey guys. Let me put this wine down and I’ll get you your usual drinks.”
“I love the sound of that, Dan. I feel like I’m home.”
“I hope you also feel like it’s worth it because it’s your week to pay.”
“Last week was my week.”
“Last week, the drinks were free, David.”
“Oh yeah. Um, I might need a loan from you on this. I left my wallet at home.”
“They still have those stupid tableside things; you can pay with your phone on them.”
“The mere thought of that hurts my head, Dan. You pay today. I’ll pay for the next two weeks.”
“Okay.”
“Here you go, guys, A john Howell’s Special for David and an ice cold Modelo for Dan.”
“Cheers, Curley. Welcome to the bar.”
“It’s good to be here.”
“Curley, have you always been a bartender?”
“No, David. I was a mailman for forty years. I don’t drink, but I like being with people, so I decided to work this side of the bar instead of sitting out there and paying four dollars for a glass of seltzer.”
“Did you just retire?”
“Three years ago. I’ve been tending bar over by the airport—at Bobby V’s. When I heard this job opened, I ran over as fast as I could.”
“Bobby V’s is a nice place. It’s busier that this though.”
“I don’t mind busy, David, but since they opened the betting parlor, the clientele is a mix of hot shot wise guys and sad sacks who apologize for not being able to leave a tip.”
“Do the wise guys make up for that?”
“No, most of them seem to look down on us little people.”
“Sounds like a tough crowd.”
“Every now and then, Dan, you get people who are way too early for their flight. There’s a valet lot next door, so they have a few drinks and a bite to eat before taking the shuttle to the airport.”
“Well, we’re usually in no hurry, and I might have to nudge David, but we tend to tip well.”
“Yeah, Cheryl told me.”
“That we tip well or that they have to nudge me?”
“I better get back to work. Those wine bottles aren’t going to climb into the rack on their own. Let me know if you need another round, or some food.”
“He didn’t answer, Dan. You think Cheryl told him I’m less generous that you when it comes to tipping?”
“David, when it comes to tipping, you’re cheap. You’re still living in the twentieth century.”
“You know, the twentieth century doesn’t seem that long ago, Dan.”
“David, we’re almost a quarter of the way through this century.”
“That scares me a little bit.”
“Yeah, I know. It scares me, too.”
“How ‘bout we have another round and some of Teagan’s mushrooms?”
“Excellent idea, David. Curley.”
“I heard. I’ll put those mushrooms in now—that’s two orders, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“And another round is on its way.”
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
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