by Natalie Ann
Things like how the conical vessel the beer was stored in during fermentation looked like a spaceship or a rocket. The kids loved that one. One kid asked why we didn’t paint on the outside of it to make it look like a NASA rocket.
Jessica had a great personality. She was definitely perfect for this job and he knew he’d have to thank his mother for that just like she predicted he would. She really helped him out finding Jessica.
He couldn’t remember feeling this comfortable around someone that wasn’t a family member before.
Happy Campers
By Sunday, Jessica was on her own doing all the tours. Saturday she’d done a few but had another employee with her while she walked around with a clipboard in her hand hiding her notecards. Now she didn’t even need that.
She was getting used to the earpiece and microphone attached to it so she didn’t have to yell. At first, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to use that but found it was much easier. She didn’t even feel it on her head now.
“Thank you, everyone, for joining us on this dreary Sunday. Best place to be, a nice warm brewery, don’t you agree?”
There were laughs with that statement, like she figured there’d be. It felt good to have an active audience to laugh at her little corny jokes. Almost making her feel special, which was pretty pathetic.
There were less than twenty on this tour, a few kids, but mostly men and a handful of women. She didn’t care; she enjoyed it all the same. The kids were fun, but the men were normally more informed and asked some darn good questions that she hoped she’d be able to answer easily.
“See the yellow path? I call it the yellow concrete road.” More giggles, this time from the women and kids. They got the reference. “Just stay on that path and we’ll all be happy campers. As much as the safety glasses aren’t the most fashionable thing on the face of this earth—or even in this brewery and that’s saying something—they’re required. The same with no flashing toes. So if you look down and see your toes, then we have to halt you before you’re allowed into Oz.”
In the middle of the winter the chances of flashing toes were slim, but she still had to announce it.
“Okay then, I think we’re ready to go. I’ll ask if you have questions at the end of each segment. Any questions before we begin? Nothing? Great, then let’s get started.”
It was all second nature to her already. Who would have thought this? She never did years ago when she went off to college hoping to change the world. Hoping to discover cures to diseases by following the plans her mother always had for her.
Somewhere she’d changed her mind and wasn’t sure why or where.
Maybe it had something to do with not having her mother or anyone looking over her shoulder tisking their tongue when she got a ninety-two on a paper instead of a ninety-nine.
But here she was walking through a brewery, loving every minute of it and wondering if she’d be able to convince Mason to show her some of his processes soon.
They were halfway through the tour when someone asked, “My husband and I have this argument all the time—what are those things floating around in the glass and then settling at the bottom called?”
“That’s a great question,” Jessica said, smiling. She’d been surprised no one had asked it yet. “They can be called lots of things, but are usually referred to as floaties.”
“I told you,” the husband said to his wife.
“Where do they come from?” the wife asked.
“The fermentation process is when yeast breaks down sugar into alcohol. Or as I like to say, the yeast eats the sugar and the floaties are the resulting waste. Not all of it is filtered out completely. It can be, but it’s a by-product of beer. The waste left over, you could say.”
“Like beer poo?” one of the kids in the group asked.
There was a round of giggles. “Well, I guess you could call it that. Whatever floats your boat. Or I should say, floats in your glass.”
More giggles and she knew her smile was filling her face. This was just so much fun. “Dad, you’re eating beer poo when you empty your glass,” another kid said.
Jessica laughed. “This is completely edible, though beer poo doesn’t sound very appetizing. Floaties sound much better.”
There was a snort off to the side of where they’d stopped. She’d recognize the voice that did that anywhere. Mason.
The voice that was invading her dreams lately. A man had never invaded her dreams before. Ever.
Even as embarrassed as she was that it was happening, she discovered that she didn’t mind it. Matter of fact, she wasn’t doing anything to push those thoughts from her mind, finding that she was just thrilled to know she wasn’t asexual at all. That men actually appealed to her.
Or rather, a man appealed to her. Mason.
She didn’t know he worked on Sundays and was shocked to see him here. It seemed everywhere she turned, there he was. Maybe not on the floor, but walking around overhead at times. Her body was tuned in to him wherever he was like they were two magnets pulling toward each other.
They’d gotten to the end of the tour and were walking by the bottling section now and into the storage building. “So what do you think of all of this?” she asked the group. “Enough for a Super Bowl party?”
“I’d go through that the first few hours,” one of the guys said. He was in a group of four that she’d noticed came in early and had a few drinks at the bar first. She was guessing he was going back to have some more too, by the looks of it.
“Is that the owner?” one of the women in the group asked.
She turned her head and saw Mason in the back looking over inventory with a tablet in his hand. She knew how much he hated the attention. She’d been surprised he talked to her as much as he had after hearing from the other employees how he was always trying to stay away from people.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” she said. “There are four of them after all.” Mason glanced up and grinned at her and even though they were in the coolest part of the building, her body heated right up as if she were standing in a sauna.
“I thought there were five?” someone else in the group said.
“Ella is easier to pick out,” Jessica said. “She’s the only one that wears heels.”
Mason snorted and surprisingly jumped in to say, “I’m not sure about that. Cade dresses pretty dapper from time to time.”
“So then it’s narrowed down that you aren’t Cade or Ella,” another woman asked, this one eying Mason a little harder than Jessica liked. Was she jealous? She wasn’t sure she’d ever experienced that before. Talk about a whirlwind of emotions lately.
Mason just laughed and went back to his inventory, ignoring the group. She took the hint and said, “Any other questions about the beer making process?” When no one answered, she said, “Then this concludes our tour for today. Please stop in and check out all the merchandise in the shop. And if you’re hungry or want to try more than the four beers on tap, right around the corner within walking distance is the bar and restaurant. You’ll get a token for a free drink with any ten-dollar purchase in the shop.”
She walked the tour out to the front and thanked them all for coming, then moved over to the hostess counter to see how many were signed up for the last tour of the day. Ten so far, but there was still thirty minutes before it started. She took that time to run to the bathroom quickly and grab a glass of water.
“You can carry a water bottle around with you during the tour if you want.”
She turned to see Mason standing there. Like she thought earlier, it seemed he was always around. Was he watching her because she was new? It was probably that.
“I was thinking about that halfway through. I like to talk, but have never talked this much at once,” she said, laughing. “Or had so much undivided attention. I like it.”
He shook his head at her, but she caught the grin he was trying to hide. “Hang on,” he said, then walked away from her. She wasn’t sure what she was supp
osed to do. If she was supposed to just wait at the water cooler that was set up for people to get cups of water to take with them on the tour if they wanted.
He was back a minute later, though, with a Fierce water bottle in his hand. “Here you go. Might as well advertise the merchandise while you do.”
She took it out of his hand, their fingers brushing, and that sauna she felt before was like walking into a five-alarm fire. Her fingers were even tingling at the moment. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” he mumbled, then walked away quickly. Did he notice her reaction? Talk about embarrassing.
She’d pushed that little interaction away and finished up the last tour of the day, then walked around to make sure all the safety glasses were put away nice and neat and cleaned up any empty cups that hadn’t made it into the recycling bin.
“Is there anything you need me to do?” she asked the hostess.
“I think we’re all set. Thanks for organizing that for me back there. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” Jessica said. She was walking back to get her jacket and clock out when Mason came walking down the stairs with one of his brothers. She wasn’t sure which one since she hadn’t met anyone else yet.
Sure, they all looked alike, but not so much she couldn’t tell Mason from whoever he was with. This brother had a little shorter hair and was wearing black pants and a Fierce shirt. She was guessing Brody or Aiden since it was the same uniform as she’d seen in the bar last week.
“Hey, Jessica,” Mason said, stopping her from leaving. “This is Aiden.”
She reached her hand forward, shaking his. “Nice to meet you,” he said.
“Aiden was just here talking to me about food.”
“I’m hoping I convinced some of the people on the tour to head over there today.”
“That’s always appreciated,” Aiden said.
“This is probably completely out of place for me to ask this, or even bring it up right now. But have you ever considered having any type of appetizer here? Something simple with the beer in it for people to either try before they go on the tour or after? Give them a taste of something, wet their appetite? Maybe let them see that the beer is more than for drinking? Though I’ve got to say I’m just as happy to drink it,” she said, giggling. “Anyway, I overheard a few people talking about being hungry during the tour.”
Aiden looked at Mason, then back to her. “Funny you should say that. I’ve been on Mason’s case to do it for years.”
“Oh. Sorry. I’ll just keep my thoughts to myself. Obviously, there is a reason you haven’t,” she said, looking at Mason’s face. He wasn’t showing much reaction at all though.
Aiden laughed. “No reason other than Mason can’t be bothered.”
She found she was put in the middle of a conversation that she was wishing she never started. “Oops. Again, I’ll just get out of your way.”
“No,” Mason jumped in. “Since you and Aiden seem to be thinking alike. I’m on my way over there in a few minutes to taste a few things Aiden is making. Why don’t you come with me if you don’t have to leave just yet? Aiden, put together a few things you think could be served here. Easy things that could be brought over, and let Jessica sample them. Remember, we aren’t a restaurant here so it has to be simple things.”
“I’d love to,” Jessica said, almost bouncing on her toes.
“Good. We’ll see you soon, Aiden. Jessica, if you don’t mind waiting about thirty minutes, I’ve just got to finish up a few things. Go have a drink if you want at the bar.”
Aiden walked away smirking at Mason. She was trying to figure out what happened and how she ended up going to eat with Mason.
It was work, she told herself. If only she could convince her treasonous body of that.
Set Himself Up
Mason was in his office trying to figure out what possessed him to ask Jessica to go to the bar with him and eat.
He’d never done that before. Never even wanted to.
Had some of the guys gone over after work and grabbed a meal and beer with him? Sure.
Had he ever asked someone to sample new food with him that Aiden was putting together? No. Never. It had never even crossed his mind. He and his siblings had their fingers on those pulses. That was more than enough.
Aiden had his staff try things, but that was their area of expertise. Mason’s was trying to see if he could pick his beer out of the food. Or see if it really complimented Aiden’s creations. Since Aiden always knew what he was doing, it’d never been an issue.
But here he was up in his office trying to finish up paperwork and wondering what the hell he just set himself up for.
Jessica had walked around with him all day on Friday. She’d done great. Him, not so much. He was always aware of her presence when he should have been focusing on the tours.
Of course, he could talk about beer in his sleep. He could talk about it passed out and hung over the next morning. Not that he ever was…passed out or hung over.
He loved his beer. His siblings did too, but no one ever got drunk. Rarely did anyone ever overindulge. If they did, it wasn’t often, and it wasn’t on site or in a public setting.
Maybe at home. Maybe at a party, but never irresponsibly.
Yesterday, he’d kept his distance from Jessica. He had a ton of work to do and had other employees doing tours, Jessica following them, then doing the last two under their guidance.
If he walked around the building from up above and listened in, he didn’t tell anyone. He wasn’t doing it on purpose. It was just a happy coincidence.
The same as today. He had work to do. He was all over the building checking things today. Sunday was a slow day. He tried to not schedule more than a few staff, then closed down around five thirty after the last tour of the day. Everyone was cleaning up now. Jessica was probably just sitting around waiting for him.
He hurried up, shut down his computer, locked his office door, then made his way down the stairs.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said to her.
She was sitting at the bar with her water bottle in front of her, sipping out of it. If he noticed her lips wrapped around the straw as she sucked, he was telling himself to look away.
She was too young for him. Not even his type, regardless of age.
Did they have a ton in common? Absolutely. But he leaned more toward the casual type. The ones who were out for a good time and would be gone the next morning…when he was in the mood at all. The image that he’d been portraying to everyone for years dated fast women that looked more like eye candy than held a conversation with him.
He had no time for a steady woman in his life and no time to even think about it.
Yet here he was thinking of all the reasons Jessica was occupying too much of his time.
“Not a problem.”
“She helped me clean the bar up just now,” Wendall said. “She’s been mighty helpful to all of us today so we can get out of here faster.”
“That’s nice of you,” Mason said, looking over and seeing the blush creeping up her neck.
“I don’t like just sitting around, not if others are working.”
“I want to do one more walk through of the brewery before I lock up and set the alarms,” Mason said.
“I’ll go pull the gate on the shop and check out the bathrooms to make sure they’re empty,” Wendall said.
“Jessica, want to walk through the brewery with me?” Mason asked before he could stop himself. Before he could question his motives again. He was just being nice. Friendly, he told himself, knowing he was lying.
“I’d love to,” she said, jumping up.
She was wearing her jacket now, zipped in the front, covering her up over another pair of fitted jeans. Dark blue this time. There was nothing on her that shouted “look at me” yet he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
“You’re doing really good with the tours.”
She turned and looked at him, surprise on her face
. “Thanks. I don’t even need my notecards anymore.”
“You probably didn’t need them much at all. I can tell you know a lot. Definitely enough to answer any questions that come your way. Floaties and beer poo included.”
She laughed. “Thanks. I did study up on a few things. Anything I wasn’t sure of.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“Just more of the process itself. How the yeast is made. The temperatures used and stuff. But no one has asked questions like that yet.”
“Not many do. You’ll get some homebrewers in here and they tend to ask more specific questions. Sometimes you can answer, other times you can’t because they want to know details that are locked away. My ingredients and measurements that no one is privy to.”
“Not even your employees?”
“No. Not everything completely. It’s the same in the restaurant. Most of Aiden’s spices and recipes have parts to them, those with the beer in it, that no one can make but him.”
“That’s so neat,” she said. “Sorry. That was a really immature reaction. I just get excited about things like that.”
“It’s fine. I like your enthusiasm. I’ve been known to say things like that before.” And his siblings always ribbed him about it, not to mention classmates. It was nice to be around someone and not worry about being a little nerdy if he wanted to be. To not have to hide part of his personality like he used to.
Then again, now he didn’t hide much. He wasn’t that person anymore and hadn’t been for years. Or so many thought. He said what he wanted, when he wanted and could back it up if he needed or wanted to.
He hadn’t needed to ever back it up. That damn illusion of his was perfected years ago.
After walking around and making sure everything was buttoned up for the night, Mason locked the front door and set the alarm. “I’ll meet you over there?” he asked.
“Sounds good.” Theirs were the only two cars in the parking lot now. His big extended cab truck that his brothers busted his ass on. But he was always running on errands and grabbing things, bringing beer to the bar on his way home and didn’t always like using one of the Fierce delivery trucks.
