Here's to New Beginnings

Colin glanced over towards his little staff. He took a deep breath nervously--yes, they were his little staff. Aunt Polly, rest her soul, had seen to it that his dream had come true. It was either that or let Kellam inherit everything Aunt Polly had wanted him to have, and Colin wasn't having that. Colin would open the club just to keep his nasty cousin from getting a single sickle. The will hadn't said he needed to keep the place open, only that he had to open it. Well, here it was, opening day, and he had filled his promise to her. He had tuned and hung some of his guitars, a banjo, and a mandolin on either side of the small stage as useable decorations, and he had checked the little sound and light system himself. He wanted it to be a place locals came to showcase their talents or to listen to locals who did.

Nick, the bartender was shining up the well varnished raw wood bar top, and one server was straightening the pictures on the brick walls, pictures of Hogsmeade in days gone by. The other server was making sure the tables were set and that the wooden bowls of peanuts and bar mix were set out. Colin had put an ad in the Prophet--"One Free Beverage with Coupon." It was designed to help encourage folks to try Brew out and maybe order one of their amazing burgers.

His parents and aunts and uncles were thrilled for him. They'd given him a full collection of all their recordings. He was sure no one his age had ever heard of the Firethorns, but Colin liked their old 60's rock music recording, so he'd put it on for background music. He was hoping to book a skiffle band--something very much like the Lonnie Donegan stuff he so loved.

He'd had a good selection of brews, alcoholic and non alcoholic put on tap, and everything looked like people should be breaking down the doors, but they weren't. His heart sank.

"Hey, Mate," Nick shouted at him. "You forgot something."

"Oh, no. What'd I forget?" Colin asked, suddenly panicking.

"Unlock the door," Nick laughed. "Relax. You've got this, and if you don't, we've got you."  Colin nodded and hurried over, unlocked the door and opened it, using an old brick as a doorstop to keep the door open to the warm breeze.

Everly had always enjoyed new things. It was easy to, after experiencing everything she had. And she'd also become bolder, which was truly saying something considering she'd always been that way, at least in part. So when she heard about a new pub opening up, of course she had to be one of the first to check it out. Or, evidently, the very first. Perhaps that would've made some people uncomfortable, but she couldn't find it in her to be bothered by it.

Instead, she walked in and took a look around, half expecting to be bombarded by the entire staff once she realized that she was, indeed, their first customer. In the back of her mind, she half wondered if that would earn her some kind of points in their books, but decided not to ask either way.

It was lovely inside, actually. She found that she quite liked the atmosphere, and just stared around at everything for a bit, not remembering at first that she probably needed to look for a host's stand or something in order to be seated. Or maybe she'd just go to the bar, rather than taking up one of their tables for just her. That would probably be a bit nicer. Only when that thought occurred to her did she bring her attention down to eye-level, looking to see who took the initiative to approach her.

(my sincere apologies for losing track of this again!)

Colin noticed one of the first of his new customers was an attractive brunette, and she was alone. He did notice little details like that. He saw her stop inside the door, and she looked uncertain of how to get some service.

"Welcome to Brew!" he called with a bright smile. "Come on in, and make yourself at home." He motioned to her to come over to the bar. "You might want to look at our brew board to see what's on tap. I'll be happy to explain anything you see on the board and then I can serve you here at the bar or I can bring it to a table if you prefer."

One of the servers came out with a large platter of sliders and set the platter on the bar.

"What are those?" he asked.

"A new idea for tasting. Cheeseburger sliders with a lovely roast pumpkin chutney. He's made half of them as lamb burgers and half as beef burgers. He's looking for feedback on them. You did say he could experiment," the server said. Colin hadn't been hungry but the smell of the burgers with warm melting cheese and the roasted pumpkin and fruits all started to roll upwards from the tray to his nose. They smelled wonderful to him.

"So I did," he smiled. "Alright. We'll put them out for anyone to try one for free." He turned back to the brunette. "Sorry about that. I'm Colin, and I'm the owner. We've got some pretty amazing pub grub, if I do say so myself. I can show you a menu if you like. So what are you in the mood for?"