026 Winter Night

The standard procedure of the rest was easy. Kitty got her uniform, nametag and a stuff card -- as in, her food stamp for all she could have so long as she works here -- for only a simple form.

She spent the next few days living in the cloud. She had all day to herself, and a few hours working at night -- from 9pm to 1pm -- learning about bartending at a open-air rooftop bar with a great city view. She barely even stepped out of the hotel, not only because she didn't have much to throw away, but because she didn't have to.

All she needed to do now was waiting for her 18th birthday -- which was only in three months from now -- and apply for a citizenship because they can't throw her in the system after she turned 18. Perfect!

"What do you want to call it?" The voice came from a bit above her head.

Kitty didn't even turn to look -- the owner of the voice was her mentor, the "experienced bartender with five digits salary", Curtis. He was a tall, mustachioed man with a soft voice. He had been teaching her all kinds of cocktails and even some technique on wine and other liquor tasting. He WAS a professional sommelier before this job.

She was focusing on getting the order and volume right for her new drink at that time: "Winter Night. One minute... Done!"

With a satisfied smile, she looked up at him and presented her "invention" to her mentor: "Wanna try?! I have high expectation on this one!"

"You like winter." Curtis said after he took a sip, "Have some happy memory there?"

"Well, I-- How did you know?!" Kitty exclaimed, staring at him with disbelief on her face.

"A drink expose a soul." He winked at her. He had grown fond of his new talented prentice because for a green hand learning from scratch, she was doing great.

But then of course, she was no good assistant, or a fit for this job. He was helping her and teaching her only because she was actually his secret job description:

Teaching the apprentice bartending.

Create an enjoyable work environment for her.

And there was one special requirement: Not letting the apprentice know about this.

So in short, his new five figure job was not to serve to play a game with this secret apprentice. He was surprised at first, but on second thought, he got to be a bartender at THE hotel, he had a much higher salary than any similar job, AND he had NO work pressure whatsoever, so, why not?

"Okay, I do know that a drawing shows a bit of the soul of the artist, true, but that's because the artist knows how to show it. I don't think I have that kind of knowledge on cocktails yet." Kitty squinted her eyes at him with a not believing smile.

"Actually, yes and no. You don't have the skill to actively show yourself through a drink, yes, but you ARE showing yourself a bit, with the alcohol and color and flavor you choose, you just cannot notice it yet." He explained to her with great patience. He WAS her teacher after all.

"Really?" Kitty looked into his eyes still with suspicion but this time she was listening.

"Really. You chose gin as the only base for this drink, and you gave it a cold blue color on the top. Lemon was mixed into the blue level with jasmine, but you left a bit sweet pine needle flavored level under it and colored it white. This IS your drawing. You paint, right?" Curtis analyzes as he took another sip of the drink after he gazed into it for a few seconds.

"How-- how did you know?!" Kitty laughed with surprise. Her mentor really DID know his way around a drink!

"The part about painting was a wild guess, haha." He laughed at her surprise, "Because people tend to explain things with what they are most familiar with, and you used drawing as a metaphor about showing your soul, so I figured you know your way around a canvas."

"Wow, that's cool! And about the drink/painting?" Kitty giggled.

"Blue is cold and calm, normally gives a feeling of lonely and sorrow; but white, white is tricky. They way you surrounded white with blue here, is a symbol of safety and peace, and the sweet you put in the white level is the perfect evidence."

"Maybe I'm just fond of the night!" Kitty held up her arms in front of her chest, hinting the dark sky above their head.

"Yeah, that's true. But you named it Winter Night. Winter is already cold. Why is your winter night in dark blue but with a soft spot that was sweet? This drink starts with sour but ends with a hint of faint pine sweet, it's not horror and pain, it's--" He suddenly stopped.

"It's what?"

"Do you know the famous story about a painting? A King called for a contest of all the artists in his realm, looking for the one that depicting 'safe and sound' the best. The winner was not the sunny meadow with butterflies or that kind, but a bird’s nest in a storm night, with a squab sleeping in it. It's the contrast that perfectly captured the 'safe and sound', and your sour blue layer, is the storm night."

"Fineeee, you do know your way around the drinks." Kitty finally surrender. "I have a thing for thunderstorm. I find peace in it."

"Do you feel safe and sound?" Curtis put down the drink and looked in her eyes. That was his one job, to make sure she was having fun with the job.

"I guess." Kitty shrugged. She was not used to show herself too much in front of people.

"Good." Curtis didn't push her further. He HAD his worry about this mysterious "apprentice" when he first took the job, but she wasn't the spoiled princess he imagined, and the secret turned out to be really easy to keep and execute.

"This is actually pretty good. Think you can re-create it?" Curtis finished Kitty's "Winter Night" and asked her when he washed the cup.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"Well, the customer on table three is asking for an off-menu improvising. I think your Winter Night would be a good fit." Curtis put an empty plate in front of her.

"Sure!" Kitty shrugged and started the process again. It was much smoother and faster now that she had done it once not so long ago. What was slowing her down was the fact that the drink DID show what she was feeling--

She was thinking about the last winter she spent with her parents. It's rare to have thunderstorms in winter, but there was this huge storm that winter, and Kitty hide in her room, watched it for hours before it died down and the sun came out in the end.

But what she felt from the dominating power of the thunder was no danger, but safety, and a bit warmth. And that was when she started to love thunderstorm and nights that are all peaceful and away from the noise of human, but only the pure power of nature taking over the whole world.

She didn't know whether she was ready to share that part of her with a stranger.

"Artist don't hide their work." Curtis suddenly said, watching her movements, "They hide themselves IN their work, but they put the riddle in plain sight, waiting for someone that can understand them, right?"

"Are you a mind-reader?" Kitty laughed at him but put her worry at ease. A piece of art is meant for sharing, not hiding.

"Haha, I'm a people reader. Go deliver the drink." Curtis chuckled.

"Yes, boss." Kitty grinned as she put the new made drink on the plate and took it to table three.

"One off-menu improvis--?" Kitty stopped at table three, only to froze right where she were.

"That would be mine." Erebus held up a hand and gave her a big, harmless smile.