“Don’t you wonder what happened during this time? We are drinking history, the heart and soul of the year. How, I wonder, did they tame the plant that doesn’t want to be controlled?”
“Listen to Shakespeare over here.” Martin snorted at Eduardo’s musings.
Eduardo raised a hand. “To be or not to be an asshole like Martin. That is the question.”
Despite the insult, Martin, Claudia, and I laughed at the joke. One, because Eduardo waxed poetic about wine nearly ever study session, and two, Martin was indeed an asshole, unapologetically so. But he made the people around him stronger, tougher. You were on your A-game because you knew one day Martin would be one of the greats.
Eduardo and Martin were frenemies, and each would jump at the opportunity to embarrass the other. While Martin excelled at tasting, Eduardo was a master at regions and history. Our fourth partner, Claudia, was proficient at the service part, despite her seemingly punk rock appearance.
“Okay, Martin’s turn.” I pushed the test flight in front of him. He went through the paces and surprisingly got the last one incorrect. A softball one at that.
“Sorry, Marty boy, but the last one was incorrect,” I informed him.
“Was it?” He mimicked the same tone I’d used before.
“Yep.” Eduardo nodded, after leaning over and verifying my printed-out answer bank.
Martin sighed and folded his arms like a five-year-old. “And what do you two know? Both of you failed. Kara failed twice already.”
Three times, but who’s counting.
“True enough.” I ground my teeth. “It doesn’t change the fact that you guessed incorrectly. I know the pressure is getting to you, but don’t take it out on me.”
“The pressure is getting to me?” He laughed, leaning back in his seat. “The only reason you’re in this group is because Roddy begged us to let you join. Sure, you were a great asset initially, but for the past three months, you’ve been a dud. Look at your clothes, they are hanging off you. If anyone is buckling under pressure, it’s you.”
Eduardo raised a hand. “Don’t go attacking her because you got an answer wrong.”
“You know it’s true. Hell, we all talked about kicking her ass out a few weeks ago when she blew us off because of a headache. Give me a break.”
The headache was the day I’d played tennis and then afterward, Raina and I went clubbing. I had no regrets. I needed to have fun, to forget Darren and wine and the pressure of this test.
Butthurt Martin continued his rant. “Why in the hell should we keep you around anyway? You don’t have what it takes. What happens if other things in your life go wrong? Huh?” Martin asked in a bratty voice.
I threw my head back and laughed. God, how I wish it were just about this damn test. I’d give my kidney for that to be the only reason.
“Oh, shit,” Claudia whispered. “She’s cracking up.”
Martin shrugged. “Some people can’t hack it.”
“Oh,” I stopped laughing and focused on Martin. “Oh, how I wish it were that simple. I’m separated from my husband. I’ve gotta put my house on the market, and I’ll be starting my life over again. So I apologize if I’m not a ray of fucking sunshine, but yet here I am. I’m studying my ass off. And last I checked, I’ve aced all taste tests and regions pop quizzes with the exception of today. When Claudia calls me late because she works nights at the restaurant, I comply. Martin, when you lost your regions map that outlined the history of wine, who did you call?”
“You,” he quietly agreed.
“Right. So, Martin, you can kiss the darkest part of my ass, which, I’ll have you know is in the southern region where the sun don’t shine.” I grabbed my bottles of wine and packed them in my roller bag.
“Wait!” Martin called, as I prepared to leave the study group in divalike fashion. As far as I was concerned, everyone here could kick rocks.
Well, except for Eduardo, who stuck up for me. Plus, he’s hot.
“Why?” I asked Martin as I stretched the handle to pull the bag behind me.
“I was wrong. We should’ve asked what was going on. This journey is hard and lonely. My girl just broke up with me last month because she said I love wine more than her.”
Claudia chuckled. “You kind of do.”
“Shut up.” Martin smiled, not at all denying the accusation. “Anyway, I was wrong. And you’re right, I’m stressed, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Claudia added, as she tucked a purple-streaked strand behind her ear.
I’d heard my mentor Roddy scream many times for Claudia to dye her hair a respectable color if she expected to work at a five-star restaurant. Claudia sighed and continued. “This is my third time around, too, and I broke up with my girlfriend last year because of this damn test.”
“I didn’t realize you’re a lesbian.” Martin scrunched his brows. I could get the confusion. They’d been flirting nonstop, even when Martin had a girlfriend.
“Bi,” she said, giving him a saucy smile.
“Forgive us?” Eduardo, asked sliding his hand over his buzz-cut hair.
“Sure.” I moved my bag back into the corner. Instead of us going back to studying, we swapped war stories about how our poor significant others had to deal with our craziness.
“My girlfriend’s little girl sniffed everything. She would set up her juice boxes, swirl, and spit the juice in a bowl. It drove Jenny crazy. And everything tasted like apple or grape juice.” Claudia snickered.
“My ex’s friends used to call me Rain Man,” Martin confessed.
We all laughed. Martin had the tendency to recall wine in a robotic and matter-of-fact voice.
The night went on with more ribbing. It felt good to laugh deep from my belly, gut-splitting laughter. I’d relegated the group to business only, but now I realized I’d missed out on friendship.
My eyes caught the time on Martin’s oven. “I can’t believe its two o’clock in the morning. I need to get home.”
“Me too.” Eduardo looked down at his watch. “Let’s walk out together. We’ve got a long trek back to our cars.”
Martin lived in an apartment in Midtown with zero parking, so we had to park on the side streets nearly a block away. I didn’t want to walk alone in the city at night. It was a relief to leave with him.
We gathered our bags and bottles. “Bye, Claudia. Bye, Martin.” I waved and walked out the door.
“Tonight was fun, huh?” Eduardo slowed his long-limbed pace to match mine.
“It actually was.” I heard the surprise in my voice. “I didn’t realize how—”
“Cool, awesome, and amazing we are?” he supplied.
“Yeah. I guess I was so caught up in my personal drama, and focused on passing the test, I forgot how to make friends—well, outside of my girlfriends.”
“Oh, yeah. Is that the one you went to the cigar bar with the other weekend?”
I stopped my steps. How in the heck did he know about that?
“I follow you on social media. You posted the quintessential smoke ring picture online.”
“Oh, I . . .” I cleared my throat. “Didn’t realize you followed me.” I resumed walking, picking up my pace.