the advertising slogan «we are drunk as hell 24 hours a day». Carla came to the bar every three or four days. She drank alcohol in small quantities and did not look for clients here. But this particular bar was a place where she could often meet someone among her friends and acquaintances.
It was calm here this morning. As always, at this time there were no more than a dozen visitors here. Inside there were four pool tables, ten tables with soft semicircular sofas and ten with chairs, a bar counter, a TV and two Mexican cabinets as bouncers – Guillermo and Ernesto. The owner of the establishment was named Raul. He was one of two bartenders. Raul usually started his shift at six in the evening and gave way to his partner at six in the morning. Therefore, during the daytime, drinks were poured by a thirty-two-year-old German named Mats. Carla knew the owner of the bar, but she visited the establishment mostly during daylight hours, which is why she saw Mats more often, and besides, in the absence of a large influx of visitors, they often managed to have a calm, friendly conversation. Soon, after several years of acquaintance, Mats stopped perceiving Carla as an ordinary visitor. He was one of those friends that Carla could find here any time from six to six.
– Good morning, Mats.
– Ah – said Mats, spreading his arms. – Carlita. It’s always good with you.
– Even like that? – Carla responded with a smile.
– Even like that. When you’re here, I don’t need any sun outside. With your arrival, everything here is illuminated with light. What can I please you with today? – Mats asked, wiping the bar counter.
– Probably coffee and two sugars.
She immediately reached into her purse for her wallet. Mats stopped her:
– No, no. This is at the expense of the establishment.
– No. What you…
– We received a small bonus from the supplier: one pack of coffee, tea, cocoa and hot chocolate. And since you are not a stranger here, it’s free for you.
«How lucky I have been since the very morning,» Carla said contentedly, and after a couple of seconds she added: «What about the bartender’s services?»
– Is there a bartender around here somewhere?
– OK. I got it – Carla said in a cheerful voice.
– How is it going?
– If I’m healthy, then I don’t need anything else.
– This is what I call unsinkable optimism – Mats said with a smile.
– How is it on your front?
Mats leaned against the counter, took a deep breath and answered with a faded intonation:
– In any case, my mental health is not at all good.
– Why? – Carla asked, puzzled, lowering her eyebrows.
– Raul wants to make a rearrangement and install poles.
With her eyes slightly bulging, Carla didn’t believe what she said:
– Wait. He’s not going to hire strippers, is he?
– Yes. This is exactly what he wants. He has been looking for dancers for two weeks now.
– And how many?
– Four poles.
Carla’s lips curled into a tube. It was difficult for her to imagine a striptease bar in the place of the establishment she knew well.
– Wait a minute. Why are you so upset? Don’t you want to work and look at half-naked women’s bodies? – Carla asked, laughing slightly.
Mats placed a saucer with a cup of coffee on the bar counter. Among other things, having meticulously studied Carla’s habits over the entire time, Mats immediately placed an ashtray in front of her, knowing that she likes to inhale tobacco along with coffee.
Having served his friend, Mats folded his hands, leaned lightly on the edge of the counter and replied:
– Beauty, I’m not a fag. But I also don’t want to have unnecessary problems with excited clients. Now it’s quiet and peaceful here. No fight. Even in the late afternoon, when everyone starts drinking at full speed, it’s relatively civilized here. But a striptease will appear and this place will cease to be calm. The bouncers will have a job, and I will have to listen to clients shouting things like «flash your boobs» or «sit on my face» to the strippers. New clients will come here. This means more profit. Raul is striving for this, but I am not interested in this. I like my job. But with such changes, chaos here is inevitable, and what I earned is what I will earn.
Gently touching Mats’s palm, Carla carefully encouraged:
– Come on. Don’t worry so much. But it will be fun. What’s the point of working in an entertainment establishment without an audience? Well, yes, the perverts will come running. But you shouldn’t stress about it. Let the bouncers get tense. Because order and safety are their concern – Carla concluded, lighting a cigarette.
– I don’t know – Mats said somehow hesitantly. – Maybe it will be so. In any case, until you try, you won’t understand how everything will really turn out.
– Believe me, you will admire the magnificent forms.
Mats went into the storage room, and a few seconds later returned with a box of bottles of various contents. Having placed everything under the counter, he turned to Carla with a very delicate question:
– Listen, Carla. Can I ask you?
– Certainly. I’m listening to.
She finished her coffee and only had a cigarette left.
Overcoming a feeling of embarrassment, Mats nevertheless began:
– In general, I left that hairdresser three months ago. Long story short, I haven’t had a woman since then. I… I wanted to ask if you could…
– Oh… – Carla said, confused. She needed a long pause to collect her thoughts and answer something intelligible. – Listen, Mats. We’ve known each other for so long. Those whom I serve… I’m used to the fact that I am connected with them by banal sex for money. That’s how I perceive them. I mean, all my clients… I treat them with indifference. But you are not indifferent to me. I can’t go to bed with you. Or, let’s say, go on a date with you. You don’t deserve to connect your life with someone who has promiscuous sex. But if you need one night, I’ll talk to my friend. You’ll like her. True, now she is a little recovering from the meeting with the previous client, but tomorrow she will be fully armed.
Her pitiful and somewhat ashamed gaze did not leave Mats’s extinct face for a long time. She soon added, tilting her head to the side and placing her hand on his right wrist:
– Listen, don’t be offended. But I really can’t. I appreciate friends like you. Therefore, I don’t want to spoil a warm relationship with bed. And this is inevitable when you cross such a line.
A visitor in a business suit with a briefcase in his hand entered the bar. He moved towards the bar counter with a very determined and cheerful gait. Having covered ten meters, he joyfully exclaimed:
– Carla!
The visitor turned out to be one of Carla’s regular clients. His name was Harry.
Harry was above average height. He wore short brown curls and almost never wore anything other than business suits, white shirts, ties and highly polished shoes. Harry always had a clean-shaven face. He did not part with his briefcase, which showed him to be an office worker. True, during off-hours there was little left of the office subculture in Harry. He smoked like a locomotive, knew a lot about alcohol brands, was not shy about harsh expressions, adding color to his bright temperament, was a member