"It's One Of My Mocktails," Leyla Explained Giddily. Talking About Her Business And The Drinks She Made

All Leyla had been reading lately was business-related, and she thought it might be time to mix in something new again. Not like it would save her from being the workaholic she was, but she'd look a little less like her entire personality was entrepreneur. She was browsing one from Jodi Picoult when she heard a voice. "Hi," she sort of mumbled at first, before answering the question posed to her, "oh, it's called The Pact. One of Jodi Picoult's if you've ever read her before. What sort of genre are you looking for?"

Location: Bookends

Status: Open

Context: It's after work on a Friday and your character is witnessing Summer winding down in a book store looking for a new recommendation

Tagging: @merrock

Books were something that Summer loved to indulge in and right now she was quite literally flying through them, then again the recommendations she had been given weren't exactly the thickest of books but it still excited her to even think about taking a trip to the store to find something new to read, the problem now was what exactly; "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt you there but I was wondering if you could tell me what you're reading?" turning to the person beside rather invested in the book they were holding.

"Great," she said excitedly, looking forward to the opportunity this would provide her business. "I can do that, and then once you give it a listen, we can set up a more formal meeting to work out all the details," she offered, before with a small smile, adding, "so you can enjoy the rest of your visit sans business." She beamed, rather proud of her drinks despite not being much of a non-alcoholic mixologist before deciding on the business idea. She was largely self-taught, and she liked to see good feedback to her products.

"I can make that work.." he thought over options in his mind, "maybe but together a playlist, send it over, I can put something together." Sure, they would have to discuss details, contracts and the like but overall, he was in. As Leyla set the fight of drinks down in front of him, Alec took a moment to inspect each of the drink as he debated which to try first. He picked up the watermelon lime to start, taking a sip to taste, then another. "Mmm.. not bad," he nodded.

““I think I wait for people to hurt me,” she said quietly, “and when they do I feel a certain smugness at being right. And, after that, I just feel pain.”

— Sue Zhao (via blossomfully)

Everyone was having a good time, and that's what was important. She just wasn't sure she wanted to be in the middle of chaos. It made it hard to keep a distance from people, made even harder by the approaching roommate who appeared to have a look to make her do something. Still, she smiled back and waved her hand over her book, drink, and beach chair, "is this not a beach activity? I like this one."

who: aisha & @leyla-tehrani

where: the beach bash ( august 26 )

Even though Aisha wasn't participating in the volleyball game, she still wanted to experience everything else the beach bash had to offer. Including spending an unhealthy amount of time in the water. She'd only gotten out to get a drink, and maybe chat with a few friends when she noticed her roommate in a beach chair. She wandered over to her, drying herself off with a towel as she eyed the book she had in her hands. "Hey, Leyla!" she gave a bright smile. "Not a fan of any of the beach activities?"

Sure, if you do my interviews when I'm ready to hire again. I hate those! I don't know how I ever manage to do anything else, it seems endless sometimes, right? One bonus to a non-alcoholic bar, I got to skip that, which I've heard is a bitch. I would love that, actually, thanks.

Will you do my math then? It’s always like there is something I need to do, or something I am missing. Like I’m never done with the paperwork. The liquor license was what took the longest, but thankfully I don’t need to worry about that part for a while. It takes a little off of your workload, which I am grateful for. I can give you some numbers if you’d like.

"Oh, definitely. I have a row or two on my bookshelf basically dedicated to those," she admitted, which pretty much consisted of non-business books as that's all she'd been soaking up lately. "I'll probably need something like when I finish my current list."

"Some books you buy in good faith and never get around to reading, right?" She knew who she was, with her cheap romance novels and tasty thrillers. That's what she liked. "I would, especially if you want something that doesn't require much thinking."

Leyla Tehrani, End of Summer Beach Bash, August 25-26, 2023

"Yeah, simple switch for that one," she said. Being self-taught in the most of the ways of mixology in the last couple of years when she decided on her business idea, she was happy to share the knowledge. "I'd be happy to teach you," she offered, "which is probably terrible as a business model, but if you're wanting the alcohol version, it's not direct competition." The flight option was one of her personal favorites, but she liked the ability to sample a menu. "There's no alcohol, not a drop in the whole place," she assured, "we are fully non-alcoholic, so no back up plans needed, no hangovers the next day, just a great time."

"Oh, that's easy enough to remember." Ryn nodded, listening at the comment of replacing the syrup with the liquor. She wasn't the most knowledgeable when it came to alcohol or mixing things together, but the other seemed to be much more knowledgeable and Ryn was thankful she'd gotten to listen to her. "I'll have to see if I can find the stuff and make my own at home." she spoke. "Though, I'm thinking you'd just be much better at it then I would, so, maybe I just need to come out there anytime I want something fancy." she laughed. At the mention of the flight option, Ryn inhaled in excitement. "Ooh, yeah. Definitely have to come out and try that. Though, I need to ask, do you do flights of mixed non-alcoholic and alcoholic there? Because if not, I may need to be sure I have a backup plan." she laughed. "I haven't drank anything alcohol related in awhile, so, I can't promise I won't be a lightweight."

"We have the best intentions, don't we?" She agreed with a giggle. "Keep things exciting." She wasn't sure if that sounded pathetic or not because that was true. She read way more than she actually went out for things, even if she was sure her roommates were planning on changing that. "Are you going to be camping tonight?"

"That's about my whole bookshelf," she said with a laugh and a grin. "It's good to have something light as a palate cleanser, or to just keep the genres in a good variety rotation."

Oh, I hate the paperwork! I like the math part, actually, but the paperwork still feels like mountains. The inventory, food cost, payroll, taxes, oh my! I don't know how to shut it off, honestly, I feel like I'm basically working 24/7. I probably do need to outsource some of it. I can't stop thinking about it, I feel like I'm in love all over again.

So my least favorite part of owning my own business is all the paperwork that comes with it. I don’t know why people will willingly voluntarily do math in their free time, but I’m really glad that I’ve got software to help me with all that. And then a family friend to make sure everything is good and dandy. Do you have this problem too? @leyla-tehrani