The Queen's Head

The Queen’s Head pub was less than two blocks away, a comfortable two-story establishment that catered equally to professionals who worked in the nearby offices and the local neighborhood. Aiden walked down with several coworkers after the office closed at 5PM to join the handful who went earlier. He felt that nervous excitement of being out with people in a new setting, never mind his first time going to a bar!

Aiden hung back, letting Todd and Michael, the two older clerks, walk in first along with Ashley and Valeria, the only two accountants who hadn’t left early to get a head start on the weekend. Inside, a long bar dominated the main seating area, with tables of laughing and talking patrons enjoying the end of the work week.

The company had reserved a semi-private room, so the women led past the bar, through a short hallway to a smaller open room with several full tables, and then into a room with 4 large tables. A cry went up from the seated accountants who had been there long enough to have a few drinks already, and tables and chairs were shifted around to make room. Derrick, gamely wearing a silly party hat, gave Aiden a happy wave then called him over.

“Aiden! So happy you’re here, you can meet my wife!” Next to him sat a politely smiling Black woman, heavily pregnant. “This is Monique. Honey, this is Aiden, the guy taking my job while I’m on leave.”

“Pleased to meet you Aiden,” she reached out and shook his hand, but did not stand and Aiden hadn’t expected her to, being so pregnant. She had an attractive face and appeared to be several years older than Derrick. “I hope you enjoy the job and do it well - who knows, Derrick may want to stay home with our daughter for good after she’s born!”

Aiden knew Derrick had mentioned returning to work several times, but a glance showed him simply sitting with a vague smile at his wife’s words. “I’m very grateful for the chance, and Derrick has been incredibly great to me the past week. He’s so excellent at his job, it made it much easier for me to learn. I’ll have to be really good to be able to replace him even a bit!”

Her mouth quirked at the boy’s enthusiasm, “I’m sure he was wonderful at being a receptionist. But raising a child is a sacred, important undertaking and he’ll have to focus on that for a while. And then who knows what the future holds?”

There was no time for Aiden to wonder how to respond to that, or to the slight tightness around Derrick’s eyes as he sat there, because Kathleen came over with a gift for Derrick. Aiden found an empty chair nearby and watched as Derrick opened the gift from the office.

“Oh, thank you!” he exclaimed happily, pulling out a bottle of wine and a pair of gift cards.

The manager Kathleen spoke loudly over the music coming from the bar area, “The spa day gift card is for Dad! A baby means you won’t get a lot of sleep for a few months, and my own hubby was worn right out after our first! So, treat yourself to a relaxing day at the spa and recharge!”

As he looked at the other card, he laughed and shook his head, and Kathleen called out, “And the second card is a beauty salon appointment, on us! Our clients always said you were a welcome sight at our front desk, and we’re sure your wife will want you looking your best at home too, tired or not!”

Monique gave a hearty laugh as the normally unflappable Derrick squirmed in his chair. The accountants gave some joking hoots of their own, which his wife accepted with a confident grin. You don’t have a sexy husband like Derrick without knowing how other women see him, even his coworkers, but she didn’t appear to be the jealous sort based on Aiden’s impression.

The next hour was spent with the staff taking turns telling funny stories about Derrick, or simply sitting in loose groups swapping office gossip. The clerks left early, saying their goodbyes to Derrick and saying they both had to get home to their families. Aiden was still finishing his first beer, one that Kathleen had paid for. He spent a few minutes listening to Sam telling a bawdy story to a disapproving Ashley, then Erin - perhaps sensing his discomfort at the lewd talk - called him over to the other table where she was discussing movies with Valeria.

Finally, Aiden finished his beer. It had tasted pretty awful at first, and Aiden had only sipped **** a few times in his life, but he barely grimaced at the last few swallows. Seeing Derrick only half listening as Monique was talking with Chelsea at something, he decided to go chat with him. The man smiled as Aiden stood up and walked over, happily shifting his chair to face his replacement.

“Hi Derrick, I wanted to thank you again for… well everything!” Aiden realized that, despite only having one beer, he felt a tiny bit different. “Can I buy you a beer? Or another drink? Oh fudge, I don’t really know how to order other drinks!”

But the man laughed genially, “You absolutely don’t need to buy me a drink, but I’d be honored. Just ask for a Summit Lite, it’s what I drink. And get yourself one, it’s a nice drink, not too strong.”

As he left the private room, Aiden again thanked his lucky stars that Gillian had given him that money and gave him the idea of buying Derrick a drink. With a happy smile, Aiden worked his way through the crowd to the bar. He didn’t really know how it worked but based on movies and TV he assumed he just needed to wait at the bar until the bartender noticed him.

Standing a few paces away, he watched some people and how they gave their orders then paid. He was about to try to get closer when he felt a body behind him, bumping into him hard enough that he almost stumbled. Instinctively, he shuffled forward, closer to a group of women in suits and away from whoever had inadvertently stepped into him. For the first time, Aiden looked around and realized there were, at most, 10 other men in the main bar area compared to probably a hundred women. That was including the two waiters in their skintight black pants and open collar shirts, and one of the bartenders in his even more casually, well, revealing outfit. Aiden had several women, mostly office workers, around him now. He was about as tall as many of them, although a few were a couple of inches taller. All were definitely stronger, and Aiden knew, as boys quickly realize when they grow up, that as soon as puberty hits most any woman will be noticeably stronger physically than they are.

One blonde woman close in front of him had her back to him, talking to her friend. But her friend, a thickset Asian woman, gave her a signal, her eyes darting to Aiden and then away. The woman turned and did a double take at seeing the young man standing so close to her.

“Why, hello there,” she said loudly, the smell of **** blasting Aiden in the face, “busy night huh? You trying to make an order? Hell, lemme get you a drink baby, do you work around here? I’m not sure I’ve seen you before, and I’m sure I’d remember such a pretty face.” The other woman snorted and mumbled, “Very smooth,” but the drunker woman ignored her.

“Oh, sorry no, I’m here with my coworkers,” Aiden said, his blush rising. The woman was in her 30’s at least, not unattractive in her expensive suit and tastefully done hair and makeup. But her unsteadiness as she leaned in towards Aiden, and her lascivious grin, would have had him looking for an out even if he hadn’t really been there with others. “I’m just here to grab a drink for my friend, thanks!” With a nervous nod, he angled past her in the narrow space that opened between two other groups of women.

As he shuffled by, he felt something on his bum. For a split second, he thought he had bumped into someone again, but then it was clear that a hand had in fact grabbed his butt cheek and squeezed. With a gasp he pulled away to the relative safety of the bar, where one of the female bartenders walked over to take his order, to the annoyance of the woman who had been there waiting. With a charming smile, the bartender took his order of two Summit Lites, and Aiden was too confused by the woman grabbing him like that to even be nervous about the transaction.

“That’ll be $12 cutie, unless you want to run a tab?” The handsome red-haired bartender looked him up and down and casually reached her hands up to sweep back her long, curly hair. As she did, she clearly flexed, her shoulders and arms showing well defined muscles that honestly had Aiden a little tongue tied.

“Uh, n-no thanks!” he blurted out and handed her $15. “Keep the change!” She winked at him, and then smiled widely at his blushing reaction.

“If you want anything, you come back to this end of the bar, you hear me young man? I’ll buy you a shot!” Gripping the two beer glasses in his hands, Aiden gave a disbelieving nod, (cutie??), and walked away, careful to not spill.

Rounding the bar, Aiden began walking towards the private room. As he stepped into the short hallway, he went to move past a small huddle of women standing in a circle, but a hand reached out and pressed against the wall. Eyes wide, he stopped short as the drunk blonde woman from before blocked his path.

“Damn sexy, you bought me a beer? Not what I usually drink, but thanks anyway!” As the woman in the expensive suit laughed at her joke, Aiden struggled to not frown and instead turned to simply move around her. But her Asian friend turned and stepped closer to him as well, smirking. She appeared less drunk but no more friendly than the blonde woman.

“No need to run off yet, cute boy like you,” the Asian woman said, “why don’t you just talk with us for a minute?”