******
I'm seven minutes early. Dammit, I hate being too early. Three minutes is acceptable, but seven, no can do. I take a lap around the block, and get back with one minute to spare.
Pulling open the door, I'm greeted with the scent of Pine Sol and beer. It's an odd smell, but one I'm sure I will get used to, and probably grow to love.
No one is in sight, so I head back to the kitchen. I swing open the door and am met with blaring music. I don't know the band, but they are rocking, and if I had to guess, I'd say they were Irish because my ear picks up a fiddle somewhere in the cacophony. With his back to me, Ian is stirring a large pot as he screeches along with the lead singer, shaking his lovely ass and head banging all the while. He pauses in his stirring to play the air guitar on his spoon, and I totally crack up.
Startled, he turns around and sees me. He puts the spoon down, and walks quickly over to the table where his phone is docked into some speakers and turns off the music. How he heard me over that racket, I have no idea. I'm sorry he did though, I would have enjoyed watching his ass a bit longer.
"Hey," Ian says, looking a little embarrassed. It is the most adorable thing I've ever seen.
"Hi," I say. There's a bit of a pause where we both look down at our feet. I know why I'm quiet - I'm with the most beautiful man on the planet. I have no idea why he seems nervous. His singing wasn't that bad. "So, uh," I start, "I never actually asked what I'd be doing for you."
Ian laughs and nods his head. "Yes, I did realize that. I've been considering all the things I could make you do, since in essence, you are my indentured servant … "
"Now hold on a second," I say throwing up my hands. "I haven't signed anything, so I'm no one's servant yet, thank you very much."
"Right," Ian says. "First things first then. Follow me." He leads me into the office off the kitchen, and sits behind one of the two desks. Seated behind the other, is Pappy.
"Kelli darlin'," Pappy says as he jumps up to give me a hug. "Good to see ye, lass. I can't tell ye how pleased I am to have ye here."
"Thanks Pappy. I'm really excited to be here. I think," I add hesitantly. "Ian hasn't yet told me what my actual job functions will be, so I'm not completely sure if I should be excited or not."
"Gah, don't ye worry. He's got a mean bark, me Ian, but he's a puppy dog ‘neath all that gruff exterior," Pappy says. I look over at Ian, organizing my hiring documents, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips drawn into a thin line. I'm not so sure Pappy's right. I'm not seeing puppy anywhere. Full grown Rottweiler is more what I'm seeing.
"Kelli," Ian motions for me to come sit across from his desk. "I'm going to take you up on your offer to do a two-week trial period. For those two weeks, you'll do whatever I ask. It could be mopping the floor or taking out the trash. I may need help in the kitchen, or Pappy might need assistance with the books. I'll likely have you work on marketing since you've said you have experience with that, and our mid-week sales suck. Also, if you like, you can get behind the bar when it is slow and get a feel for it." He sits back in his chair, looking calm and confident, all traces of the nervousness from before having vanished.
"I'll pay you $18 an hour, which I know is crap, but better than what you'd be making at Starbucks. You'll get a cut of the tips on the nights you work. After two weeks, we'll see where your strengths and weaknesses are, and then we can talk about what a more permanent job would look like, and what salary would make sense for it," Ian finishes.
I'm still thrilled with this whole situation, so I grin at him and say, "A-okay, boss!" At $18 an hour, I'll need to find a permanent job pretty quickly, but for the moment, I'm living my college dream - supporting myself by spending my evenings peddling ale and hopefully flirting my way through a bunch of cute guys.
Cute guys - oh shit, I hope Jake isn't a regular here. That'd be awkward. Or maybe I'd enjoy the opportunity to spit in his drink. Selfish bastard.
Ian hands me a stack of papers. "Fill these out, and when you're done, you can help me in the kitchen. We only serve stew, and rolls, but it's a family recipe and pretty popular. I'll teach you how to make it."
"I brought that recipe over from Ireland with me," Pappy explains. "It's been in me family for generations. Before Ian shows it to ye, ye have to swear ye'll keep it secret."
"No worries, Pappy," Ian says. "One of those papers she's filling out requires a blood oath on the stew, so you're covered." He winks at the old man. Looking at me, "You can save that one for last. Come into the kitchen and I'll give you a knife." This time, I'm the one who receives the wink before he disappears back into the kitchen.
It takes about 20 minutes, but I finish my paperwork and head out to help Ian. He shows me the lay of the land in both the kitchen and the bar. He explains things quickly, and thoroughly, and I get the feeling he's been in charge of leading people before.
"Have you always worked here?" I ask.
"Why?" he responds.
"It seems like maybe you were a teacher, or something other than a pub owner," I explain.
He looks at me, evaluating me with oddly calculating eyes.
"What?"
He shakes his head. "No, I've never been a teacher." With that, he launches into the stew's secret recipe.
We've been cutting vegetables in silence for about ten minutes when in walks the blonde bartender. He stops when he sees me and gives Ian a questioning look.
"Sean, this is Kelli. Kelli – Sean, the other bartender," he explains. Looking at Sean, "I've hired Kelli to help out around here. She'll do a little bit of everything - marketing, cleaning, tending. I trust you'll show her the ropes."
With a shrug Sean says, "Sure." He stashes his jacket in some cubbies just outside of the office, and then heads back out to the bar.
"Why don't you follow him and watch how he sets up the bar for opening," Ian says. "I've got this in hand."
Sad to leave him, but eager to learn about bartending, I quickly head into the bar area to shadow Sean.
As I approach, Sean says, "I've got a routine, okay? I don't need help with it, and don't really feel like having to teach you every little detail. You can watch, but don't ask a million questions, okay?"
Alrighty then, Sean's an ass, good to know. "Sure, no problem," is all I reply. It's fun watching Sean and I'm looking forward to trying it myself.
After about an hour, Ian comes out.
"Kelli, I've made you a training schedule for this first week," he says, handing me a piece of paper. "Tonight and tomorrow you'll work with me and Sean, learning the bar. You started at noon, so you'll work until around 8:00pm. Thursday I'll have you come in at 4pm and work through midnight. You can get a feel for what a more crowded night is like, and also shadow Tracey in the kitchen."
I give him a quizzical look.
"Tracey works Thursday through Sunday and takes care of the food and service. She often has auditions or jobs that pull her away - she's an actress - so you'll be backing up for her frequently." I nod, right, Tracey, Pappy mentioned her. I'm happy to know there is at least one other woman working here. I hope she's nice.
"Friday I'll have you come in at noon again, and I'll show you our website and then Pappy can give you a rundown of the business, in case you have any expertise we might be able to use."
I'm so excited that I'll be doing all these different things. I'm going to get to learn all about running a pub. I'm pumped!
*****
My shifts on Tuesday and Wednesday were fun and I'm looking forward to meeting Tracey today. Sean has remained aloof and clearly isn't someone with whom I'm going to be chummy. Hal seems really nice, and while I do like me some quirky, he doesn't talk all that much, except to himself. I have no idea what Ian was thinking when he hired him as the bouncer. Presumably they don't have many fights at the pub because I really can't imagine Hal getting into a brawl with anyone.
And then there's Ian. Besides being easy on the eyes (crazy understatement), he's great behind the bar. I've seen him avert potential fistfights between sports team rivals, skillfully sooth bruised egos after failed pick-up attempts, and elicit laughter from those clearly at the pub to drink their troubles away. Ian has a wonderful way of making people feel heard, and valued.
But there's no mistaking the fact that Ian owns the place. For all his charm and good humor, there's an air of authority about him that is always there. It is incredibly sexy. It also makes me think that we won't be hanging out anytime in the near future.