A Charleston man took out a home equity loan under terrible terms just to afford a second drink while out with his friends at a trendy upper King Street bar. Mason Parker slowly sipped on his ultra-fancy cocktail for as long as possible to savor it, since it would probably be the last one he could afford downtown.

Mason met his friends at Arnaque, a brand new artisan cocktail bar on upper King Street. After he maxed out his credit card to pay for his first drink, he met with the on-site loan officers to negotiate terms on his second drink so he could continue socializing. Although Mason qualified for the $10,000 loan to purchase the White Truffle Mojito, his credit wasn’t good enough to get the $13,000 Ghost Orchid Julep, which is the drink he really wanted.

Mason believed his purchase of the second cocktail was worth it. “Everyone else was getting a second drink, so I felt like I needed to get one too. I was going to use that money to travel to Nepal for a year and vlog about Buddhist monks, but this cocktail will be just fine. At least I get to stay at the bar with my friends and post a selfie on Instagram proving it.”

Arnaque Bar Manager Chad Peterson justified the pricing for his establishment’s drinks. “We seek out the finest sustainable ingredients from around the world in their freshest state, and we only employ highly-trained cocktail artisans who craft the finest libations around. Also, rent on upper King Street is expensive as fuck, so if we don’t charge an arm and leg for these drinks, we’ll be out of business next week.”

Mason won’t be able to afford partying on upper King Street with his friends next week, so he’ll be forced to drink a light domestic beer at a dive bar on James Island, where someone will get stabbed in a billiards dispute.