And I was having such a good day, too.
Duke whined to himself as he arranged his bottles in the cellar, not really hearing the sound of the clanking glass that usually resonated in his heart, cheering him up. In fact, he wasn't paying attention to much at all. He started to pull the next bottle from the rack, but his wandering mind didn't notice that he didn't have a very good grip on it.
As he felt the weight of the bottle slip from his grasp, his thoughts shot to the present as his hands fumbled with the air around them, hoping the precious wine would return to safety. He felt his heart drop with the crashing sound as the glass bottle shattered among the floor, wine splashing onto the legs of his pants and all over the beautiful wood of his beloved cellar.
"It's all that woman's fault," He grumbled, staring at the very top of the bottle -- the largest piece.
His fists clenched together and his knuckles turned white. His teeth were grinding and his heart was racing -- his entire body burned with the flames of rage. His eyes didn't move from the faint glitter that the cellar lamps cast upon the mouth of the destroyed bottle. He took a deep breath in, held it, and pulled back his right leg.
"Dammit!" He swung his leg forward with all of his energy, sending the defenseless glass piece spinning across the floor into the wall of the cellar, letting out a piercing crack as it split in two.
Duke's chest rose and fell as he clamped his teeth together, sucking angry breaths through his nose and letting them escape through his barely parted lips. He noticed that there was now a small rip in his once-perfect leather shoe. His shoved his eyelids together and tried to calm himself down, but within seconds he was stomping up the creaking cellar stairs.
Each step was a bit of a relief as he stormed away from the winery and the vineyard. He had managed to calm down enough that he could appear normal again, and just in time as he had reached the doors to the inn. He shuffled across the floor, pulling up a seat to the bar and trying to be as calm as possible. He sat for a second, staring at Doug.
Doug seemed to be glaring at nothing, his eyes almost glossed over as he stood like a statue at his register.
Duke had had enough of annoying people today, "Well aren't you gonna do something?"
The red-headed man blinked and turned to the older man, realizing it was best not to fight with him, "I'm sorry. What did you want."
"The tallest glass." Duke snarled as a reply.
Doug sighed and fulfilled his customer's request. He knew Duke was supposed to be working today, but he knew it wouldn't help to tell Manna or to scold Duke himself, either. He poured the winery's finest into the inn's tallest wineglass and served it across the bar.
Duke noticed that Doug's eyes didn't leave him, "What do you want?"
Only a moment after the bartender had looked away, the glass slammed back to the counter. It was empty.
"Well," Duke's glared angrily at his bad service, "Refill it already!"
He waved the glass around and slammed it down again as Doug patiently refilled it, disgustedly watching the old man throw back six glasses in a row without even stopping to think.
"You do have money for this," Doug leaned over the counter, glaring back at Duke, "right?"
"What do you think?"
The man seemed a bit calmer now that he had some drinks, and he pulled a coin purse out of his back pocket to prove he could pay. After dumping the contents out on the counter, Doug counted the gold coins to reveal that there was still a ten gold fine for the drinks.
"I'll let it go," Doug stood firm as he collected the coins, "and I'll add the ten to your tab, which is already high, by the way... but I'm not serving you any more if you can't pay for it."
Duke was drunk enough to stay calm, but sober enough to admit defeat. He waded up his pouch, stuffed it in his pocket, and shuffled out the door mumbling to himself. With a slight buzz in his head, he could appreciate the sunny day once again. He resided to his wonderous cellar to clean up the mess he made earlier and continue with the day's work.