Page 10 of Smoke and Glitter

He repeats himself. I answer him, pull the bottle down, pour his drink and take his money.

The room keeps moving. Nobody waits too long. Tabs close. Glasses make it where they're supposed to go, mostly. The only thing I can't seem to stop doing is looking toward the front door every time it opens.

Bex catches me sometime after nine while she's coming back for an empty tray.

"You good?"

"Yeah."

She pauses with one hand on the tray and looks at me long enough to make it clear she doesn't believe that. "Uh-huh."

Then she's gone again.

At ten, the door opens and Autumn walks in.

She's carrying the orange coat over one arm, cheeks pink from the cold, already talking to a woman near the end of the bar before she's made it more than a few steps inside.

My hand is on the mezcal before she reaches her stool.

She drops the coat over the one beside her and settles in. The glass is waiting when she looks up.

Her eyes move from it to me.

"Hi to you too."

"How was work?"

Her expression sharpens immediately. "I saved a man from himself."

"That sounds expensive."

"He's doing a podcast about accountability."

"Christ."

"Right?" She leans across the bar, pleased with herself. "I built it."

I laugh.

Someone two stools down raises a hand and says my name.

"Go," Autumn says, lifting her drink. "Your public needs you."

The public needs two old fashioneds, a beer and reassurance that a card hasn't been charged twice.

By the time I make it back to Autumn, she's in the middle of a conversation with the woman beside her.

"...because if a man says circle back during an argument, you are legally allowed to leave."

The woman laughs hard enough to catch on her drink.

"That's not the law," I tell her.

Autumn looks over at me. "You own a bar. Stay in your lane."

I'm about to answer when Bex calls my name from the other side of the room.

That becomes most of the night. I get a few minutes with Autumn before somebody needs a drink, a check, a bottle, a problem solved. I come back when I can, and usually find her talking to whoever happens to be sitting nearby.