Resist Me Not

39

The ten of us were all huddled, comfortably, around a cluster of small circular tables in the back corner of the very crowded and lively Bemelmans Bar. It was probably the only bar in New York City that hadn't changed in almost a century. It even had the same mural along all the walls that were created back in the late 1940s. The images were of cartoon-like animals dressed as proper, 1800s socialites enjoying Central Park.

The three-member light-jazz band was playing in the middle of the crowded room. Though I could feel the music vibrating off of the leather bench I sat against, it wasn't so loud that we couldn't hear each other talk.

I was rather impressed with how much Mr. Gima and his colleagues could drink and still be as calm and collected as they were. Adam used the company's card to keep the rounds of whiskey, mixed drinks, and beer coming. As usual, I stuck with my trusted Manhattan Sunset. Though, I made sure to secretly get a non-alcoholic equivalent to it after I finished my first one.

As much as I would have liked to try to keep up with everyone else, I knew I had another presentation with our second potential client the next day.

Even though they were all clearly drunk, business was still discussed. But as the night went on and the drinks kept flowing, Mr. Gima or one of his partners would have the translator, Daisuke, who requested we refer to him as Dai, ask questions that didn't make any sense. He would repeat back our confusion, which would cause all of us to burst out laughing. Then it would start all over again. Eventually, we did get to the right question to give a useful answer, which pleased them all.

Being sober made it even more amusing for me. I was able to observe everyone else, instead of getting lost in my own mind like I tended to do when I got drunk. Adam was awesome, as he kept his professionalism throughout the night. He never wavered from talking about business with Mr. Gima and Dai. Unlike Peter and Ashlee, who were withdrawing from the conversation and focusing more on each other. 

Though it was very subtle, I could see they were getting touchy-feely whenever they thought no one was paying attention. Of course, I already knew they were hooking up, but they were usually pretty good at not showing any signs during work. What did surprise me, though, was seeing Bruce talk to Kana, the Japanese woman in the group.

At first, he tried to say something in Japanese, that was probably very wrong because it would make her giggle. Then she said something in perfect English, and he was blown away that she knew how to talk to him the whole time. After that, their talking became more flirtatious. Though Ryan, who was next to Bruce, whispered something in his ear, and he turned the flirting down a notch.

Speaking of the devil, the whole night, Ryan was like a whole new person. He was very animated and thoughtful in his discussion with the clients. He had even said something in Japanese that really amazed everyone. Dai asked if he knew a lot of Japanese, to which Ryan confessed he only knew a few phrases from the time he visited Japan during the summer after graduating high school.

Not only was he good at charming the clients through talk, but he also continued to captivate and impress us, especially me, in other ways. The most surprising part was when the jazz group took a quick break, which somehow inclined him to ask the manager if he could play the piano.

He sat down in front of the ivory keys of a beautiful black grand piano and bent his fingers until they cracked. Then he started with a quick warm-up by playing generic chords. Adam and Mr. Gima stopped talking business then and turned around in their chairs to watch as Ryan began to play.

He started with the lower keys, tapping them with precision, then I could hear the upper keys joining in. It took me a minute to figure out what he was playing. But as soon as Kana practically squealed, "He knows how to play Michael Jackson songs?" I realized he was playing Billie Jean. Others around the bar started recognizing it and began to sing along with his playing. I couldn't help but sing along too.