###Chapter 81: A Turbulent Undercurrent
The next morning, Nina Wainwright had just arrived at the bar when she saw that Leo Larkin was already there.
Despite being the owner, he didn’t put on any airs and was busy cleaning the bar.
"Boss," Nina Wainwright called out.
Leo Larkin, who was holding a vacuum cleaner, handed it to the cleaning lady trailing him. He then turned to Nina. "I’ve heard from the regulars that your Bamboo cocktail is pretty good. Mix one for later. I want to try it."
"Okay." Nina didn’t hesitate. She would be happy if Leo approved of her drink.
Leo went to wash his hands. When he ca back, he said to the cleaning lady, "You’ve been getting here later and later recently."
"Oh dear... I know. I’ve been taking my grandson to school these past few days, so I’ve been delayed." The cleaning lady smiled, her movents becoming more brisk as she worked.
It was only then that Nina realized it wasn’t that Leo was down-to-earth, but rather that he was just helping out because the cleaning lady had arrived late.
She put her bag away and returned to the bar, where Leo was already waiting.
He watched from the side as Nina, with her head lowered, focused on mixing the Bamboo. Leo noticed that the sherry she used wasn’t the one the bar typically preferred. The sherry she chose was moderately priced and didn’t have a great reputation in the mixology world.
When Nina finished, she handed the drink to him. "Have you had breakfast? You might get drunk if you haven’t eaten."
"Do you really need to tell that?" Leo retorted before taking a sip of the drink.
His expression was serious. After tasting it, he even smacked his lips thoughtfully.
Nina watched him anxiously, not daring to say another word.
"The mouthfeel is definitely much better, and... the flavor is very unique." Leo had heard the regulars say that the Bamboo had taken on a unique flavor of its own, one that seed to tell a story.
At the ti, he’d thought it was an exaggeration.
He hadn’t expected it to be true.
He set down the glass and asked Nina, "What made you decide to use a sherry with a poor reputation?"
"I looked at your records for sherry-based cocktails and saw you hadn’t used this one before. But there was quite a bit of this poorly-rated sherry in the storeroom, so I figured since I was just practicing, using up the old stock would be more cost-effective," Nina explained.
"And here I thought it was your own idea," Leo said, a hint of disappointnt in his voice.
"Well, it was partly my own idea, too." Nina had, in fact, tasted it herself.
Perhaps because of her pregnancy, her palate had beco very sensitive. She felt that the sherry she’d chosen was a better fit for the Bamboo.
"Tell about it," Leo said.
Nina paused for a mont, then answered seriously, "I felt that the original Bamboo had a slightly astringent finish. Astringency can harmonize with certain human emotions. If I could suppress that taste just a little, extend it, and leave a clear sweetness on the tongue at the very end, it might create a more layered experience."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "You’re a quick study. I’ll teach you a few more popular drinks today. You can try to improve them for ."
"Okay, I’ll try." Nina’s voice held a note of eager excitent. "But for health reasons, I can’t drink too much. You’ll have to find soone else to taste them for ."
"I’ll taste them for you," Leo said, sitting on a high stool nearby.
Nina imdiately got to work mixing drinks.
Unlike other bartenders, before she started mixing, she would pour a little of the ingredients into a vessel that resembled a painter’s palette and taste them with her finger.
Only after tasting the flavors would she begin to mix.
Leo rested his chin on his hand, watching her as she worked with her head bowed in concentration. His gaze unconsciously drifted from the movents of her hands to her face.
Nina was undeniably beautiful, the kind that stood out from the crowd.
’A beauty like her should have no trouble finding a job,’ Leo thought. ’I can’t believe she ended up desperate enough to consider a position that only paid two thousand a month.’
Nina finished mixing a drink, took a deep breath, and looked up at Leo.
The mont their eyes t, he looked away. He reached out, picked up the drink she’d made, and took a sip. He frowned, savoring it for a long mont before saying, "This version isn’t as good as the original. You can try it."
He poured a little of the drink into one of the wells on her palette-like tray.
Nina dipped her finger in, put it in her mouth, and let the flavor linger for a while. "You’re right," she said. "It’s not as clean as the original, and the aroma isn’t as strong. I’ll try to improve it."
’In my mind, mixology is like perfury,’ she thought. ’If a drink can achieve a top note, a middle note, and a base note, it will undoubtedly capture people’s attention.’
Besides, Nina didn’t feel it was necessary to strictly follow established mixing procedures. She had read mixology books and knew that many classic cocktails today were the result of bartenders making their own improvents.
The two of them spent the entire day talking about mixology. Nina improved several drinks popular with won, adding variety to cocktails that originally had a simple flavor profile or limited options, all thanks to her and Leo’s collaborative refinents.
After her shift, Nina left right on the dot.
On her way back, her thoughts inevitably turned to the sheepskin pouch Zachary Hawthorne had been carrying the previous night.
’Was the ring he bought at the auction inside?’
「Back at the bar.」
Leo mixed the improved drinks for so regular custors, and they were t with unanimous praise.
A group of young won gathered around the bar ordered over a dozen drinks of different flavors.
"Mr. Larkin, we only ordered all these for you. You ca back without even a word... We co here every day, but we get to see you so rarely throughout the year," said the leader of the group, a girl dressed exquisitely from head to toe.
Everyone who worked at the bar knew she ca from a wealthy family. They also knew she liked Leo Larkin and had been pursuing him for nearly three years, spending tens of thousands here every day, but she had yet to win his heart.
"I’ve been busy. Lucy Stratton, help her take these drinks to her table." Leo maintained his usual deadpan expression toward her.
He had rejected her a long ti ago.
But the custor was relentless.
If it weren’t for teaching Nina Wainwright mixology, he would have stayed at his out-of-province branch instead of coming back.
The girl’s friendly gesture was t with a cold shoulder, and she was utterly dejected.
Lucy Stratton carried the drinks over to the girl’s reserved table.
As she placed the drinks on the table, she whispered, "I heard these were all mixed by a beautiful new girl at our bar. The boss supposedly ca back just for her. Otherwise, he wasn’t planning on returning to this location at all."
Hearing this, the girl imdiately frowned. "Beautiful? How beautiful?"
"Exceptionally beautiful. I’ve never seen a girl so pretty. Anyway, the boss really values her and is teaching her mixology personally. Sigh... Pretty girls have all the luck." After saying her piece, Lucy smiled, stood up, and walked back to the bar.
The girl picked up the drinks and took a small sip from each one.
’They really are much more flavorful than before...’ she thought. ’I know Leo loves the culture of mixology. If this new girl’s drinks are that good, he must really admire her.’
At that thought, the girl irritably set her glass down.
Lucy Stratton returned to the bar, where Lily whispered to her, "What did you say to Chloe Chapman?"
"I didn’t say anything," Lucy said, shaking her head with a nonchalant expression.
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