Lucid Waking

Archive for November 24th, 2007

Good Wine

        Why is it that the especially pretty nights are ones that are cold? She contemplated this as she admired the shadows on the sidewalk from the moon. Her nose at this point was frozen, her ears were numb, and her gloves were not quite warm enough to keep her fingers comfortable for a forty-five minute walk. The stars were clear little flames of light burning brightly in the navy blue sky.
        West End Bar at the southern corner of town was her destination and she opened the door to the strong smell of whiskey and candle wax. The heat hit her in a wave and the soft jazz buzzing under people’s conversation comforted her. The building was right off of the lake and the windows on the far end were thickly frosted with spots of candlelight.
        “Hey, Mary, it’s about time you got here!” Scott yelled from behind the bar. A few of the regulars turned and greeted her. It was obvious they had been drinking for hours and reeked of alcohol. She took off her coat and made to the back of the back room. She would be carting the bottles of wine out of the back room until 8 o’clock when her shift officially started.
        She rolled up her sleeves and started breaking the lids off of boxes with a satisfying crack. The bottles clinked lovingly as she placed them on the divided shelves. A line of cognac slid down the ramp with a loud clank as she went back to the carton and started loading up the raspberry vodka. She broke carton after carton in a Zen-like state lovingly listening to the clinking of bottles in the otherwise quiet room.
        She was interrupted by someone clearing his throat behind her. She checked her watch.
        “It’s only 7:50, Sco—”
        But instead of her red-head, freckled co-worker she faced a tall man with chestnut brown hair with his eyebrows raised, puzzled. He was holding a crate in his arms and offered it to her with a quick thrust.
        “Where do you want this?”
        She checked her watch again. “Isn’t it a little bit late to be delivering?”
        He shrugged. “They told me to send this right away and I only just got the order fifteen minutes ago.”
        “One crate?”
        He shrugged again. “I just do what I’m told.”
        “Well, what is it?”
        “Red wine.”
        “Put it over there.” She pointed to a spot across the room. The bottles clinked behind her as more of them slid forward.
        “Where do you work?” she asked.
        “Italiano Wine and Spirit,” he said. “They work within the system as much as possible.”
        “Hmm, never heard of it.”
        He smiled charismatically. “Most people haven’t.”
        “Well someone in the system must have had to or you wouldn’t be here.”
        “Exactly, so don’t worry about it. You seem on guard. Just relax.”
        She laughed. “Are you one of those guys who also tries to be a psychiatrist?”
        He sighed. “I should have known better than to talk with a female bartender.”
        “What?”
        “You know,” he said opening the crate with a nearby crowbar and pulling out a bottle. “I think you need to relax.”
        “I don’t drink on the job,” she said. “Ironically.”
        “Suit yourself.” He opened the bottle with a Swiss army knife and took a swig. “What’s your name?”
        “Really you should go. You’ve delivered and you’re done. This is a private business.”
        “That’s quite a long name.”
        She sighed.
        “Hey, Mary, what’s going on in there?” Scott yelled. “I’m out of cognac; keep it rolling!”
        “Mary, huh?” the stranger said as he took another swig of wine.
        Mary walked over to the empty shelf and started placing the bottles on the slope one by one.
        “I’ve got work to do, so if you don’t mind—”
        She heard the liquid splash against the bottom of the bottle.
        “You should really try this.”
        “No thank you.”
        She was back in her element loading the bottles with the lovely clink of glass. But the sound of liquid hitting the bottom of the bottle was disturbing her trance. Every time she looked he was sitting and drinking that wine, watching her. He didn’t move toward her or make any other move besides drink from that bottle. She sighed.
        “Ok, look. I need to get back to work. I don’t know why you’re here or stayed around, but now that you’re done with the delivery I suggest you leave. I’m going to call your company and file a complaint, so you might as well just leave on your own. If you sit here any longer, I’ll call the police.”
        “Good luck getting them to catch someone they can’t see.”
        Her heart exploded in heavy beats.
        “What do you mean?”
        He laughed. “You’re just scared. Don’t worry, I’ll leave.”
        He made for the door, leaving the one opened bottle at the base of the crate.
        “Good luck calling the company, too, they’re not in the phone book.”
        She licked her dry lips and watched him go, the sound of cognac bottles ringing behind her.
        “But if you do figure it out, file a complaint against Dionysus. They’ll love that.”
        He shut the deliver door behind him. The room was still and the door didn’t move. Still, Mary spend the next few moments making sure no one would go through the door again. Damn it, she thought, I’ve dissed a God. But she was too afraid of being snuck up on, not to mention someone going through what she thought was a locked door, to even bother with praying.
        “It’s 8,” Scott said breaking the silence and almost making her jump to the ceiling.
        “Oh, jeez,” she said. “I lost track of time.”
        “I see that,” Scott said going towards his coat. “You’ve also been drinking.”
        “I swear that’s not me.”
        Scott picked up a bottle and examined the label. “Never seen this company before. Oh, wait,” he looked at her, “was it that Dionysus guy, again?”
        She nodded.
        Scott sighed. “I don’t like him.”
        “Well, I’ve got a shift to run,” she said. “So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to deal with people who don’t have an unusual affinity for wine.”
        Scott laughed. “Have fun!”