3. Strange Drunkard

The Heimel Morzend kept operating as usual, even after one week from that ruckus. At 6 pm sharp, Vanya arrived and helped clean the bar counter and table, along with some of her employee friends. 30 minutes passed and she flipped the sign near the bar’s entrance from ‘closed’ to ‘open.’

“All right! We’re open!“ Bart exclaimed and clapped. His eyes filled with enthusiasm despite having often opened the bar decades ago.

Tens of people began flocking to the most well-known bar in Brussels and had a good time there. Some were having a small cocktail party and enjoying company while others danced to the DJ’s bop music under colorful neon lights. As the night grew late, more people, mostly white-collar workers, stopped by and have a drink or two. Many of them laughed, relieving the stress and pressure they got from a long day of work as they sipped the booze they ordered from the bar.

“Waitress, can we have two mojitos, please?” one of the customers, a middle-aged man that presumably was on a date with his younger girlfriend raised his hand.

Vanya, who noticed the request, responded with a nod and quickly do the job. Even though she only worked for one year, Vanya’s ability to make mojitos was proficient enough, even almost at the same level as the others who had worked for a longer period. After garnishing the glass with lime and mint herbs, Vanya headed out to the lovebird customers and brought the beverages out.

“Here’s your drink,” said Vanya as her hand served the mojitos. With a smile, she continued, “enjoy your drink and the time here.”

“Thank you.”

The waitress then nodded before going back to her post. She looked at the clock over the alcoholic drinks rack, noticing it was less than a few minutes to 10 pm. Vanya sighed, knowing it would be a long time to wait for the bar’s closing hours and get back home to rest. Not to mention that this day was quite different. It was a Friday night, and it was no surprise to see the bar was slightly crowded and almost full. Vanya and the other employee couldn’t even catch a breather since the drink and snack orders kept coming until past midnight. The blasting rhythmic music filled the bar’s atmosphere, at least providing a source of entertainment to the tired employees at the back.

Once the clock hit nearly an hour before closing time, only a few people were left, including a man who was sitting at the barstool, leaning on the bar counter while holding a half-empty glass filled with liquor. He wore a disheveled button-up shirt, formal pants, and a necktie that hung loosely around his neck.

Vanya chuckled and ignored the man’s presence. She wiped the recently washed glass dry and acted that the man wasn’t even there. Seeing a lot of people getting wasted at the bar was something usual to the girls’ eyes and didn’t even surprising. Vanya was still doing her job when Will, one of the bartenders saw the drunken man on the bar counter nudged her arms, and asked, “how long he had been there?”

The waitress shrugged, “let him be, he’s as drunk as a skunk.”

Not obeying Vanya’s request, the bartender came to the wasted customer and tapped his shoulder slightly.

“Sir,” he called, “are you all right? Can you drive yourself home?”

“Ugh … ” he groaned, blinking his unfocused eyes and slurring his words, “are you about to close?”

Vanya responded from the back, “yes, in about one hour.”

“Funny,” the man snickered after he gulped the remaining booze in his glass, “It feels like just an hour ago I was here after work. Oh, wait, I don’t work anymore! Shit!”

Will and Vanya exchanged glances, they knew well that this man was heavily influenced by whatever he drank. The drunken man, who was too indifferent to think who was it he talked to told, “I just got fired from Autoekomsten Corporation this afternoon! Hah, how can I forget that?”

Hearing the familiar company’s name, Vanya stopped her work and went quiet for a moment. She deduced that this man was working with Kevin before getting axed by the company. The waitress frowned and eavesdropped on the drunk man's conversation with Will, hoping that she would get some information regarding the felonious company that she once swore to get her revenge for.

Will’s eyes wandered in awkwardness before breaking the pause and said, “I’m … sorry to hear about that.”

“Nah, don’t pity me,” the drunken man hiccuped and now looked at the bartender with his flushed red face and weary eyes, “pity on my ex-boss and the other employers because I’m gonna have them taste a sweet revenge.”

“What did you do?” Will asked out of curiosity, “I mean, what makes you get fired?”

“Just a teeny-tiny mistake.” the man lifted his hand, bringing his thumb and index finger closer as if he was pinching the air. “But you know, young boy, one thing leads to another and I’m fucked up!”

The drunken ex-employee’s shout made the remaining people at the bar turn their heads toward the bar counter. Will who got secondhand embarrassment from this customer’s behavior grinned awkwardly and lower his voice, “look, man. I understand that you’re upset about getting fired. What happened? And by the way, what’s your name?”

“Matt,” he introduced, “well, it’s a looooong story, if you ask me, and I need someone to dump all these shits I’ve kept since this afternoon.”

Vanya had finished her work cleaning up the glasses, and she was a bit eager to hear Matt’s story about how he got fired from Kevin’s company. She then chirped in and dragged a stool just close to Matt. “So, do you want to talk about it?”

Matt popped the joint on his neck and sighed heavily, it was clear that he took a lot of alcohol to get into this drunken state. Despite his speech being slightly dragged, he told, “my boss, Kevin, he’s such a prick and does whatever he thinks it’s right to get as much profit as he could.”