Life Improvement Services

Chapter nine

It was past 8 PM on a Friday night. Nick was walking home by himself again. Colin excused himself for the day because he had some things to take care of. Nick wondered if it had something to do with his father, as Colin briefly mentioned that he was sick. He could not help but worry, even though Colin had been going on like the usual. He also could not ask about it because he felt like it was not in his position to pry.

So, there he was, walking back to their apartment. “Our apartment,” Nick softly whispered to himself. He had yet to get used to it, even though they had technically been living together for more than 2 weeks.

As he fished for his keys, he wondered if Colin was already home. He was not able to get a dessert takeout for him because he had to leave the clinic late, and the patisserie closed at 7. When he opened the door, the lights were off and there were no signs of anyone.

Nick turned on the lights and saw Cal eating her dinner on the dining table. He approached her and lightly scratched her head. “You’re eating dinner. That means Colin was just here. Did he just leave?”

As expected, Cal paid no attention to him and just ate. Nick placed his things on the counter top and started scanning the fridge for a quick dinner fix. He was too tired to cook, and Colin did say he would be gone the entire day, so Nick settled for cereal and milk. He had just taken a seat next to Cal when the door opened and a panting Colin stepped in.

“Ah, you’re here! Welcome back.” Colin walked straight into the kitchen to place what looked like grocery bags on the table. “You’re home late. Busy day today , huh?”

Nick poured some cereal into his bowl. “Yeah, lots of walk-ins tonight. What’s that?”

“You’ll see.” Colin took a seat. He had an excited look on his face. “But first— hold up, is that dinner?”

Nick nodded as he ate a spoonful.

“Okay, no.” Colin took the bowl of cereal and placed it on the counter.

“Hey, I wasn’t done with that!”

“I have better food here.” Colin said as he started to unpack the things he bought. Cal jumped off the table and settled on the couch.

“Here, we have some lime, mint leaves, curacao…”

With a frown, Nick examined the things that Colin put on the table. “That hardly looks like better food. Where did you come from, anyway?”

“I came home to feed Cal, then went out to buy groceries for our step two. Ah, here we go, skewers, sushi, tequila—ah not that. Nuts and more grilled meat. They’re all from the take out stores around the corner, but they’re better than having cereal for dinner.”

Colin stood up and started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets.

“Okay, but why did you buy all this stuff? What exactly is step two? Make this place into a bar?”

Colin laughed. “You’ll see, but stand up first.” Nick obliged, although still confused. Colin placed a plate of sushi on Nick’s hand then gently pushed him towards the living room.

“Sit with Cal for a bit and eat your sushi. Give me a couple of minutes to prep and I’ll be right back.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Nick said, but proceeded to reluctantly sit down and eat. He watched as Colin put on a newly bought apron and busied himself in the kitchen.

From time to time, Colin would turn to him and ask questions like, “Can I use this whiskey?” or “Do you have any tall glasses? I know I’ve seen one here before.”

Nick had an idea of what he was concocting, but he was still more or less confused as to why. After a few minutes, Colin walked into the living room holding a tray of glasses.

“Can you get the rest of the food from the kitchen?”

Nick nodded and did so. The kitchen was a mess.

Colin carefully placed the tray on the table. “Before you say anything, I’ll clean up the kitchen after this.”

Nick chuckled. It was as if he was a mind-reader.

“Okay, sit down, please.” Colin said enthusiastically. He put his arms behind him and stood up straight as Nick sat.

“What—”

“My name is Colin and I’ll be your bartender s***h server tonight.” Colin said so professionally that Nick could not contain his smile. He wanted to laugh at the paw design on the other man's apron. “Tonight, we have meat skewers, nuts, more grilled stuff, and sushi— ah you’ve already finished it all, so I guess we have run out of sushi. We also have different drinks for you to try. We have a mojito, long Island iced tea, gin and tonic, coke and rum, plain old whiskey, a s**t ton more drinks, and tonight’s special, the Knock-Yourself-Out. Because, my last name is Knocks and it’s my— well, you get it.”

Nick’s smile was wide as he tried to take it all in. “I’m so confused with what’s happening right now.”

Colin sat on the floor, in front of the coffee table. “This is part of Step two, AKA, trying new things out. It’s a Friday night, so you don’t have work tomorrow. Tonight, this is your practice for when you go out to the real world to drink at real, actual bars to socialize. You said you’ve never gone to bars to drink, right?”

Nick nodded.

“I didn’t want to surprise you by suddenly dragging you into a crowded bar, so tonight we’re going to practice.”

Nick raised a finger to contest, but he just sighed and shrugged. “I’m sure there is a flaw in that logic somewhere, but I haven’t had a drink in months, so let’s do this thing.”

“That’s the spirit!”