The Mockery
Clark:
My name is Clark, I am thirty and I am a mixologist. More importantly, I am an entrepreneur. I briefly worked at a bar in Trenton to gain some valuable experience, but I had ambitions and aspirations. I saw a need for a new business concept - a real bar for college age kids serving very adult looking and tasting drinks that are completely non-alcoholic. My target market is the eighteen to twenty year olds who are under age and not interested in fake IDs or even real alcohol for that matter. I fill a need.
I opened my place, The Mockery, five years ago. It's just a block away from the main dorms at The College of New Jersey. Because I take my craft seriously, I am a huge success. My mock-drinks actually taste good and my mock-bar feels very real. Very adult. Some of my customers stay my customers after their twenty first birthday because, despite being an alcohol-free zone, I own the coolest place in town.
How do I make my Mocktails seem so real? I play around with aqua frescas, shrubs, kombuchas, and fresh fruit syrups. All can be fun components in mocktails. I like to keep the components in nice jars and decanters, and serve the final product in pretty glassware. I create the illusion of a real cocktail. The illusion of being a grown up. Some popular mocktail herbs include basil, mint, rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage, cloves, and lemon balm. These ingredients provide a depth of flavor and add an aroma that enhances the drink's overall experience. Spices add complexity and mimic the heat or bite of alcoholic beverages.
Then I pick a catchy name. Some of my most popular are: Fizz Fusion, Sip Sparkle, Bubbly Bliss, Refresh Revive, Flavor Fizz, Zest Zing, Soda Serenity, Quench Delight, Frosty Fusion, Savor Sparkle, Chill Charm, Mock Marvel, Tingle Twist, Fizz Fantasia, Sipper's Serenade and Mocktail Magic. Alliteration always helps.
The Mockery is in a small strip center sharing its building with one other tenant: Tattoo You. It's all in the name. Leo is the owner and he and I are friends. While I call myself an artist of sorts - I think what I do is an artform - Leo truly is a real artist. An oddity of the building we share is a connecting door in our backrooms. It's kind of like what you might see in adjacent rooms in a hotel. We have no idea why it's there or what purpose it served for the previous owners, but it makes checking in on each other convenient.
Leo is about my age and his main client base also comes from the college that sits one block away from our building. Business is booming for both of us, but we also refer customers to each other. I deal in higher volume and he deals in higher prices, but mostly we both get the kids who have parents who are affluent enough that their kids have plenty of discretionary spending money. This is something I never had as a student myself. I was a poor student, largely paying my own way. I was jealous of the kids who got to live in the dorms, buy anything they want and never have to work a job. There is a poetic justice in the fact that I make a very nice living in claiming a share of the disposable dollars from those very same kinds of students today.
Not that I dislike my customers. I was jealous of them when I was their age, but their circumstances are not their fault. If I had the same family and financial situation they had, I would have done the same things they do. And besides, my customers are good kids. The house rules are kindness and respect for everyone. Everyone knows that coming in and they also know they'll be out on their ass if they break the rules. I respect them, they respect me and they respect each other. It helps that no one is actually drunk. My place is a place that welcomes all. I do not have a theme or cater to any particular group. I am completely open about being gay, but The Mockery is not defined by it. It's a place for everyone.
One of the reasons my patrons like me so much is that I am a charming and lovable guy. I am not being immodest by saying that I look young for my age. My thirty reads more like early twenties - twenty-five at the most, and the kids relate to me. I am also damn good looking. Again, I am just stating facts. I have dark brown hair that naturally likes to stand straight up. I have steel-grey eyes that almost hypnotize anyone who dares to make contact. I have enough upper body musculature that my toning is visible through my shirt, but not grotesque like a bodybuilder. And the aforementioned charm. I am charming as fuck.
The eyes play a big part but when I smile, I show dimples below my defined cheek bones. I am also funny, smart and a hoot to talk to. And I am a giant flirt. I can't help it; it's how I'm hardwired. And I flirt with everyone. The girls all love me because I'm like a protective big brother. Also, they want their boyfriends or future husbands to grow up to be like me. What I really enjoy the most is flirting with straight boys. Making a straight boy blush is so easy to do and a shit-ton of fun. Again, my sexuality is not a secret so when one of these straight boys inadvertently locks their eyes on mine, between my steel-greys and my winning smile, the straight boy inevitably turns crimson red and drops his eyes to his sneakers. And then I have confirmation - he's not quite as straight as he thinks he is.
I have a theory that no one is 100% straight. I believe there to be at least some small degree of bisexuality in every self-proclaimed heterosexual. And I enjoy proving my theory to be true. Besides my dominating eyes, winning smile and accompanying dimples, these straight boys are so easy to flirt with. I have yet to meet a college boy who I can't turn crimson red in thirty seconds or less. Pairing a simple compliment with my natural weapons works every time. It's not that I think these boys are shallow or weak, it's that I am that talented. My superpowers are that strong.
And it really is so easy. So simple. Sometimes all it takes is a wink from me. Some of my favorite boy-compliments are: You have a really nice voice. Your work at the gym is paying off. I love your wavy hair. You have a great tan going. How tall are you? Hey, nice chin dimple! You are wearing the coolest shoes in here tonight. Those are just a few of the easy ones. It's amazing how many sneakerheads there are out there. Any boy wearing multi-colored or unusual shoes is trying to draw attention to his feet (and is probably not completely straight).
I don't just make these boys blush, though. I have another way that I put my theory to the test. It is a mutually agreed upon challenge. A physical test. I have a private back office in my storeroom where I have a massage table with restraints. I get twenty minutes to do my best. If I conquer the dude in question, I win. If the guy holds off and the twenty minutes elapse, he wins. I have a perfect record - I have never lost. Either I am that good at my work or my theory has been proven correct and no one is 100% straight. Once I win, I get to assign the loser a number. I don't think of them as losers. They just need a little help understanding their true selves.
The number is based on The Kinsey Scale. As you may have guessed, I have never given out a Zero (exclusively heterosexual) as A: I have never lost and B: it goes against my theory. Spoiler alert - I have never given out a One either. People are a lot more bi-curious than they realize. But don't worry. Shedding light on the subject is my mission. I don't just tell the challenger his number at the end of our challenge... I brand him.
On this particular night, there is a handsome jock who is lingering by the bar. My guess is that he was dared by his friends to challenge me and he's trying to work up the nerve to say something. I figure that he's on the swim team because he has a swimmer's build. That's how I make him blush, I compliment his long, lean muscled body and I tell him that he moves with grace and confidence. I follow that up with a wink and a smile and he turns fire engine red. His name is Grant and I almost feel bad for him. Over the last six months a couple of his swimming teammates have challenged me and I'm guessing that they're pressuring Grant into doing something they may not have fully explained to him.
It doesn't matter though. I will lay it all out. No one gets restrained on my table against their will. There is a detailed conversation and I even make them all sign waivers. Everyone is of legal age and no one is forced to do anything they don't agree to ahead of time.
So when Grant finally works up the courage to look me in the eye and say, "I guess you have a challenge for me or something." I smile and turn over front of the house responsibilities to my Assistant Manager.
I lead him to the backroom and we shake hands. I ask my latest challenger, "Grant, are you familiar with The Kinsey Scale?"
He shakes his head. I've found that most of my challengers have needed to be educated. Grant is no exception.
I explain how the scale works and how it is my belief that there are no "zeros" and probably no "ones" either.
Grant scoffs, "You're looking at your first zero and your first loss. No problem. I'm not gay."
Out in the bar he was shy and tentative. Since learning what this challenge is all about, he's suddenly brazen and a little obnoxious. I didn't expect that Grant was gay. I wouldn't have predicted him to be a 5 or a 6. But he will lose and he's not a 1 either. And with this sudden cocky attitude, he could stand to be knocked down a few pegs. I tell him to read and sign the waiver.