Page 17 of So This Is Love

“Zara, you know you’re supposed to wait in line like everybody else,” the man says, his voice gruff and a little annoyed.

“And why would I do that when I’m not like everybody else?”

“Your ass stay trying to get me in trouble. Go ahead,” he replies, motioning towards the door.

“Thank you,” Zara says with a sweet smile.

The lights are down low inside Oasis and there’s a slight haze in the air. It’s busy with people at the bar and others sitting in the various seats around the space, but I can tell it’s only a fraction of what it will be on future Saturday nights.

“You want to do a lap to find seats and then I’ll get us drinks?” Zara yells over the music, into my ear.

I nod my head and she takes my hand, leading me so we don’t get separated. We weave through the tables around people standing and talking until we find an open loveseat near the back of the room.

“What do you want?” Zara asks.

“Just get me whatever you’re having,” I reply, sitting down in the middle of the seat so no one will sit next to me while Zara is gone.

She nods before she turns on her heel to go to the bar.

I relax back into my seat and take in the space and people around me. The music is louder than background noise but it doesn’t stop people from talking with each other. Stepping close to speak into each other’s ear or just talking louder to be heard over the music.

“I’m glad she got you to come out.”

I jump slightly at the sound of someone’s voice next to me. I look up and to my left and see Tristan.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he says,

“It’s okay,” I say and stand to give him a hug.

I sit down again and Tristan takes a seat on the arm of the loveseat.

“Zara said she was going to get you to come out tonight, but I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to convince you,” Tristan says.

Tristan and Zara go out together quite frequently while I usually opt to stay in. They met in high school, both going to an ultra exclusive private school. Zara’s parents had certain expectations and ideals for what her life would look like, including her schooling. She hated the school but she and Tristan became good friends while she was there. They were thick as thieves, so much so that they almost got expelled together for underage drinking in the dorms. But someone’s father paid a hefty donation and everything was swept under the rug.

“She almost didn’t,” I reply with a laugh. “But I’m glad I came. The place is really nice.”

“Thank you. It turned out well so I can’t complain.”

Zara appears with two martini glasses and hands one of them off to me before she sits down. I take a sip, my taste buds hit first with the sweetness of the mixer and then the sting of the liquor.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you down here,” Zara says to Tristan.

“I just came down to check in with everything.”

“Don’t you have people for that?” Zara asks.

“I do, but I like to be hands on at first, make sure I know the ins and outs of what's going on before I step away.”

Tristan stands and holds his hand out to me. “Come on, no reason for y’all to be down here. I have a spot for you upstairs.”

7

Sonny

The opening is goingbetter than I ever expected. The turn out for the soft opening has been amazing and I’m proud of the success that Oasis is already having. I hoped it would be successful, to my core I knew it would be, but still as the day approached doubt began to seep in and I couldn’t shake the fear that this soft opening would be unsuccessful. A flop. A tangible representation of my failure. But it isn’t. My name isn’t publicly attached to Oasis, though it’s not a secret that I have been involved but I wanted Oasis to exist on its own and not just in conjunction with me or my popularity.

This soft opening was fueled only by word of mouth, both Tristan and I invited people to come and gave those people the ability to invite people they knew too. We used this smaller opening as a test to see how things would go and see any areas where we needed to change or improve. I rest my hand on the balcony overlooking the first floor, the other holds my drink, something from Oasis’s specials menu that I can’t remember the name of.

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