title: Life Behind Bars: Stories and Encounters: Vignettes over Cocktails
author:  Kyle Branche 
description: Kyle Branche is a 30-year veteran professional and private bartender in Los Angeles. Originally from the historic village of Sackets Harbor, off the edge of Lake Ontario in the Southern part of upstate New York in the Thousand Islands region near Cape Vincent where he was raised on his Grandparents' dairy farm up until the age of seven. From there he moved out West to Arizona, though went back in the Summertime of his early teens to vacation and help with the farm chores of driving tractor, cutting fields, baling hay, feeding cows, and riding the farms' Honda 70 motorbike anywhere and everywhere. His wide variety of bartending experiences in the City of Angels is second to none, having worked in many bars, nightclubs, private clubs, restaurants, hotels, concert venues, and is currently more off the grid today working a busy, yet more flexible schedule as a private on-call bartender with a variety of services, caterers, event planners, brand-sponsored events and private clientele working the party circuit throughout the spread out metropolis. while still holding position in the bar at The Gardenia Room in Hollywood for 22 years. His Blog of stories and encounters is culled from many moons behind the bar, now in his fourth decade. Kyle was a contributing writer and columnist in the leading beverage magazines from 2002-2012, with 75 published pieces, including the monthly cocktail column "Liquid Kitchen" with Pattersons Beverage Journal (now The Tasting Panel), feature cover stories, contributing articles, and one online multimedia super feature story with Sante Magazine. Hes also co-produced and/or co-hosted the cocktail shows Liquid Kitchen and Beverage Road, has written a treatment for a one-hour dramatic television series titled Life Behind Bars, played the character of Clive, the Bartender from the Dead in the short film "The Hounds of Bakersfield", and the part of "Lyle the Bartender" in the upcoming feature film "Frozen Tundra". Other on-camera work includes his two Cocktail Art DVDs of live and close-up specialty and classic drink preparations. His KylesCocktailHotel website has an array of great bar reference information, his bar product line, video, slideshow, and his cocktail photography. His Zazzle store - zazzle.com/kbranche - uses 70 of his drink images on a variety of 15 everyday products: postage stamps, coffee mugs, t-shirts, greeting cards, aprons, hats, mousepads, as well as iPod, iPad and iPhone cases.
zlib_text: This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
  Copyright © 2015 B. B. Hamel.
  
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  Keep reading for the full text of Based, included at the end!
  
  Chapter One: Claire
   
   
  The bass made a booming thud in my ears, rhythmic and hypnotizing, as I leaned back in my plush-
  covered chair behind the VIP rope. I sipped my champagne, feeling totally out of place in the club
  despite everything being owned by my dad.
  “Oh my god, bitch, I love this,” Lydie said, practically screeching in my ear.
  “You do?”
  “Yeah, girl! It’s hot as fuck.”
  I could agree with that one. It was hot as hell in the club considering it was jam-packed with
  people all writhing away to the music. Other than that, though, it wasn’t my scene. I wasn’t against
  partying or any of that, but I preferred something a little quieter, maybe a spot I could actually think
  an