I chuckle. “I don’t even know where I would put a keg. You should see the size of my kitchen.”
“I’ll see about the vacation thing then. Do you have a couple minutes now? I don’t want to hold you back. You look like you have fun plans for the evening.” She grins at me.
Oh she knows. She totally knows.
“I do, uh, have to get going, but...”
No buts. You have to leave. You’re allowed to leave. You are allowed to say no.
I think about the sales I’ve missed out on the past few weeks, all the traction I haven’t taken advantage of. My advertisements have been bleeding money from lack of maintenance on my part. The potential isright there, but I haven’t prioritized myself enough to grab it with both hands.
My palms start to get sweaty as I stare at Monroe like I’m up on a podium, facing a crowd waiting for me to make a speech I can’t force out of my mouth. This shouldn’t be such a big deal, but brushing off a friend who needs my help goes against every instinct I have.
“I, uh, just...” I trail off again and force myself to swallow. “Ihavetogetgoingbutwecouldtalklater?”
Monroe blinks. “You what?”
I shift in my chair and swallow again before doing my best not to speak at mach nine. “I really have to get going today, but we could talk later? I’d like to help.”
My whole body relaxes after I get the words out, my chest warming with something that feels close to pride even as Monroe gives me nothing but a curious stare in response. She stays silent for a moment before leaning a little farther forward in her chair.
“Zach, I hope this doesn’t sound condescending, but I want you to know that you are allowed to say no when I or Lisanne or anyone here asks you for time beyond the actual commitments of your job. I know we’re all pretty close here, and I’m so sorry if that’s led to you feeling pressured by me.” She lets out a heavy breath. “Believe me, I know how hard it can be to turn down the people you care about. The transition from owner to manager was tougher than I was expecting, and the hardest part was realizing I couldn’t keep doing everything everyone asked. I know it starts off as just five minutes here and there, but I’ve been looking at everyone’s hours, and you’ve basically been back to full time for the past two weeks. I should have noticed sooner. I know how important it was to you to cut back on hours. Is that still the case?”
“I mean, it’s not really a big deal. I know things are...”
I pause and consider what I’m saying. I resist the urge to tell her everything’s okay, that I’ll work as much as the bar needs me, that my other commitments can wait. The push and pull between wanting to help and knowing I need to be honest is so strong it feels like a physical fight against my own body, but I hold out.
“It is, yeah,” I finally admit. “It is important.”
Monroe nods. “I’ll make sure we keep your hours down to what they’re supposed to be.”
“That would be great. Uh, thank you. Thank you so much.”
She smiles. “Of course. Also, if you don’t mind, I’ll get someone extra put on shift tomorrow so you can spend a few hours in here telling me about SEO and Facebook ads. I’d rather pay my most trusted employee for guidance than some random internet person who claims to be an advertising guru.”
“It would be my honor.”
I leave the bar like a man who’s had all the weight lifted off his shoulders. Confronting the working-too-many-hours-at-the-bar issue has been the only item on my to-do list I’ve been ignoring this week, and getting out from under that load gives me one more reason to keep whistling the whole way home.
Even Paige seems more personable than usual when she waves at me from our couch after I’ve walked through the door, headphones on and a bowl of mac n’ cheese in her lap. I head to my room and pull my phone out, checking for any last minute messages before I settle down to work.
There’s a predictably indecipherable meme from DeeDee waiting for me. I have no idea why she thinks ‘the doge’ is relevant to our conversation about whose house we’re meeting at tonight, but I reply with a thumbs up anyway.
Her response comes a second later.
You didn’t understand my joke, did you?
I type out a reply.
I did appreciate seeing the doge. I forgot that meme existed.
Three dots appear next to her name for a second.
Ugh. Let’s meet at my place, okay?
Then she sends a photo of her bare legs stretched out on her pale purple comforter, and it suddenly becomes incredibly difficult to put my phone away. If she sends a photo showing any more skin than that, I’m going to have a heart attack right here in this chair.
She sends another text instead.
