A soap

My life is a soap.

Things have been pretty hectic around here, witch explains my absence from the interwebs.

First, Scarlet told me she wouldn’t be working with me at the newspaper anymore. It wouldn’t make much sense for me to keep going, without her or with someone new. This job is fun only because my partner is my very good friend. So by the end of august, I won’t be a columnist anymore.

This is a big page in my life that’s being turned. I don’t think I fully realize it right now, but it’s the end of an era.

Second: well apparently, I’m gonna own my own bar.

My former bosses at The Drinkery, who became friends over the years, are opening a new Drinkery in the old part of town, a now very trendy spot. They offered me to become partner.

My best friend and all time greatest bar partner Harry is joining in as well. And so is Elpy, a very cool young bartender. Harry will be MaitreD/Sommelier and will join us behind the bar when the dinner service is over.

Sure I’m only gonna own a very small fraction of this establishment, but what an establishment it is!

We’re talking about a 180 places restaurant, with a 275 people occupancy license. The bar is 50 feet long and can accommodate 5 bartenders, each with its own work station. The bar is 70 years old and made from solid oak and so is the incredible stairway that leads to the mezzanine. Old stone walls, ridiculously high ceilings… we’re redesigning everything. It’s supposed to open September 4th but I’m somewhat doubtful about that date.

I’ve said it before, working as a bartender is a great way to meet lost of good looking women. But working as a bartender behind your own bar brings you to a whole different league, especially when your bar happens to be one of the nicest spot in town, if not the nicest. In about a month, fun and intelligent models will throw themselves at me by the dozen.

Enough about that, you’ll have plenty of time to hear about the Drinkery.

Third, Mary had a motorcycle accident. She’s fine.

I mean, she broke her middle finger and lost quite a bit of skin on her leg due to very high dry friction. But I still say fine cause when you fall off your speedbike at 90 miles per hour, a broken finger is a blessing.

Yeah so we started seeing each other a lot, but I understood pretty fast that it was never gonna happen. Sure we were getting closer, she was getting more and more affectionate, many people at the Club thought we were going out together, but she just doesn’t have casual sex. Ever.

Blondie was like that too. It’s a new kind of girl I discovered at The Club.

The too pretty girl.

She’s always been the hot girl, always dated the hot guy, for long periods of time. Every guy who sees her systematically wants to jump her right there on the spot. Looking like she does and dressing like she does, people would love to call her a slut. So she always made a point of not being one. She never dates casually and certainly never has one nights. She vets potential boyfriends like vice-presidential candidates; they have to go through a ridiculously long sexless probation period. And when she’s alone and needs a man, she calls one of her ex’s. Anything to prevent from carving another notch on her bedpost. I doubt that more than four guys saw her naked.

Sure I could have slept with her, I guess, but I would have needed to drag her along, to lie, to be a jerk… to play her. And that’s not something I do. Plus you can never have to many ridiculously hot female friends. They, themselves, always have many hot friends.

But after her accident, a guy went through that long probation period. He was present at the accident and took good care of her. He was actually a pretty good guy, smart, with his life in order. I met him for a few hours at the hospital after Mary’s crash.

Last Saturday, before work, they had kissed for the first time - yeah, she came in to work, five days after her crash, she’s crazy but she needs the money. While we were setting up our bar, she was telling me how she was opening up to a guy for the first time in a long while and how it scared her.

At last call, Mary checked her cell to see if the guy had sent her a text message. In place, she had received this message, by a mutual friend of them.

I’m sorry to tell you this, but John is no longer with us. He passed away at 10 tonight in a motorcycle accident.

Mary managed to count her cash before she had a complete breakdown. I went home with her. Her friend who sent the text message and who was there at the accident was waiting for her. He explained in details what happened. Basically the guy rear ended a car with his speedbike at 135 mph on the highway. At this velocity, Newton’s laws aren’t on your side. He knew the risks, he played dumb, it’s hard to feel sorry for the guy, but I was really sorry for my friend.

We finally got to bed at 6. Fell asleep by 6:30.

At 6:45, my phone rang. Anyone who knows me knows you can’t call me in the morning, especially not on a Sunday, and most certainly not at 6:45.

I answer. It’s the police. They’re looking for my father. My grandmother is having her last breaths and my father’s family is desperately trying to reach him.

Oh and did I mention an aunt had died just a few days earlier.

Yeah my life is a soap. But me, I’m fine.