Mixologist behind bar, but not tending it, unavailable for orders

I'm on PC, I'm trying to complete the "what's the scuttle butt" task from Cottage living, it says ai need to order a drink to 'loosen up' the guy I'm trying to get the gossip from. go to the bartender and to leave the bar and star chatting to others and I cannot order a drink. I can resetsim on the tender, but by the time they get back to the bar, Alex have left and I have to start all over again, and the drink still doesn;t get made/ordered

as there are other on console with this issue, it's not mod/cc related.