Soho Pride: A Soho Nights Story

Episode 28

Before Stuart and Charlie opened the bar for the final day I'd Pride, they decided to have a drink together to celebrate their success. It had been an incredibly successful weekend. They'd made a small fortune over the last few days. The bar takings alone were through the roof, not to mention the commission from the escorts and dealers they employed. They'd worried that buying a bar was risky. They'd done well since opening, but this was on a completely different level.

'To us,' said Stuart, holding up his glass.

'To us,' Charlie repeated and they clinked their glasses together. 'And to mum,' he added.

'Yeah,' said Stuart, 'to Mum.'

They both fell silent for a moment, thinking about their mother and everything that had happened since they lost her. So much had changed in the last few months. This time last year, Stuart had been a dancer at another bar, desperately trying to cling on to his job.

Charlie had been selling his ass for money. He always enjoyed his job, but was glad he was now able to take a step back from it. Both of their chosen former careers were for younger men. Stuart was in his forties now and Charlie fast approaching thirty. They both knew they couldn't keep on in those jobs forever.

They both loved working in the bar. Stuart loved being almost a celebrity in Soho. Everyone knew him and his bar. He was well respected and had many friends. It was a million miles away from his life twelve months ago.

Charlie liked that he was able to provide a good living and a safe environment for the boys who worked for him. He'd done that job himself for many years and had visited many a dodgy estate or cheap hotel. The boys he hired were all young, fit guys in their prime. For this they could charge a premium and Charlie always made sure the clients paid upfront. He always made sure they were well taken care of and had regular health checks. He wished he'd had a place like this to work when he first started in the game.

'Think we'll have as good a day today?' said Stuart.

'Shall we open the doors and find out?' said Charlie.

And they did have a good day to start. Their were less people on the streets as there always were on a Monday. It was a much more chilled crowd, so the dealer's sales were down. The bar however remained steady and several older gentlemen came in to use the services of the escorts.

By lunchtime, things got busy again. Stuart was too busy serving, so when he noticed they were short of mixers, he asked Charlie if he'd go into the basement to grab some more.

'Sure thing bro,' said Charlie.

He went downstairs, unlocked and looked around. They weren't in the place they usually kept them. He searched everywhere to see if they'd been put somewhere else by mistake, but there were none to be seen. He locked up and went back upstairs.

'Sorry Stu,' he said, 'but I think we're out.'

'Shit!' said Stuart. 'We've got pretty much no tonic left. This will seriously hurt our sales of gin.'

'You got enough to last the next hour?' said Charlie.

'Probably, ' said Stuart, 'but not much longer.'

'I can nip out and grab some more from the wholesalers.'

'Are you sure?'

'No problem.'

So Charlie grabbed his car keys and set off into town, leaving Stuart to manage the bar.

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Ocean was working at Tramps just up the road. The dancers didn't usually start until later on. Over Pride weekend they started earlier, but as they were still quiet, Ocean helped clearing tables and cleaning glasses instead. Brett was dancing on the bar, but nobody was really watching.