![\"Front](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Front-page.jpg\")
\n(The fa\u00e7ade of the fall-back bar and restaurant in the vibrant Ballston neighborhood.)<\/p>\n
\n(The fa\u00e7ade of the fall-back bar and restaurant in the vibrant Ballston neighborhood.)<\/p>\n
I met Liz-with-an-S at the Front Page last night. A meeting was necessary. The mailroom at The Daily has been swamped with inquiries about her departure from the Willow bar staff. \u201cWhy?\u201d read the torrent of lamentation. \u201cShe was so pretty, so smart, and she took such good care of you barflies.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had to agree, and as Liz-S\u2019s unofficial publicist, I felt obligated to get the truth out there. She was at the bar, waiting with a glass of pinot grigio and a tall glass of water. I slid onto the stool next to her, struck by her beauty, Her fine chestnut hair was loose and draped across a sweater open just enough to suggest the generous curve of her figure. She looks great in civilian clothes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what happened?\u201d I asked, trying to get the attention of the bartenders who appeared to be studiously avoiding me. I thought about trying their version of Happy Hour White, but I waited long enough that I decided to go with hard liquor at happy hour prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven and Seven,\u201d I said, after Liz-S cleared her throat and managed to distract the bartender who had a wild shock of thoroughly un-Willow like hair. I decided that the investment in being a regular somewhere else was a pretty good idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee, we aren\u2019t family here,\u201d said Liz-s. \u201cYou step right to the back of the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I completely agree. Willow is the whole package. I have been watching people come and go on the staff almost since the place opened. It hurts when people you like move on and you never see them again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liz-S pursed her lips. \u201cBig Jim, Peter, Tinker Belle. And all the others. Gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I am not going to lose you,\u201d I vowed, taking a deep draught of the 7&7. \u201cYou have a huge following in The Daily. Everyone knows about the way your pony tail sways on your delicate swan-like neck and that black leoptard top\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are such a jerk, Vic\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, seriously, if I were only fifty years younger and you didn\u2019t already have a significant other\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be your baby sitter,\u201d she said with a grin. \u201cI guess it is time to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe food and beverage industry is not where you need to be. You are an attorney, for god\u2019s sake. An officer of the court, admitted to the Bar in New York and New Jersey. Time to grow up and be on this side of the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess you are right,\u201d she said. \u201cI think Mondays are the nights at Willow that the person I had the disagreement doesn’t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Mondays are when you come back to the Amen Corner on the right side of the bar. The Regulars need to stay in touch. It is a family thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liz-S nodded decisively. \u201cYou got it,\u201d she said. \u201cbut in the meantime, what do I tell people about not being at Willow?\u201d<\/p>\n
It was my turn to grin. \u201cJust what everyone says here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCreative differences, and you wanted to spend more time with your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don’t have a family here.\u201d<\/p>\n
My grin got even wider. \u201cOf course you do. It is just a family that meets Monday nights at the Willow.\u201d I finished my drink, and signaled for the check, remembering I did not have to tip as lavishly as I do normally. He was definitely not family. \u201cIt is a little unconventional, but that doesn\u2019t mean the relationship isn\u2019t real.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks, Vic. Creative differences. Family. I got it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou certainly do, Counselor. Give it a couple Mondays, and we will see you at Willow.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"elizibeth](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/elizibeth-and-stones.jpg\")
\n(Liz-S in a previous life, before creative differences and family obligations. Photo Socotra)<\/p>\n
Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(The fa\u00e7ade of the fall-back bar and restaurant in the vibrant Ballston neighborhood.) I met Liz-with-an-S at the Front Page last night. A meeting was necessary. The mailroom at The Daily has been swamped with inquiries about her departure from the Willow bar staff. \u201cWhy?\u201d read the torrent of lamentation. \u201cShe was so pretty, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4520"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4524,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4520\/revisions\/4524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}