Being a bartender, I get some strange people coming in, people from every walk of life. And being as they're drunk as all get out, I usually end up hearing about their life story before the night is over. I'm not complaining, sometimes I even manage to get through their drunken stupor and help them with their problems. A lot of times it's just that the guy needs to learn how to say "I'm sorry," or to keep it in his pants, but I still feel really good when I can help somebody out.
Of the five or so years that I've been working here, no on has grabbed my attention as much as the guy sitting in front of me. He's been coming in for the past week and half, consistently at eight p.m. and staying until about 12 a.m. I can always count on him to be sitting in the back corner behind the juke box, and he's always alone. Now, he's not unattractive by any means, his first two days, a few of the regular female clientele tried to seduce him or pull him on the dance floor, but they gave up soon. After a while, his frown started to scare off most of the ladies, and he remained in his corner. I'd always imagine what his smile would look like.
Today, it's seven p.m. on a Wednesday. Not quite busy, but not quite slow. And here he is, sitting on the bar stool in front of me. Again, I'm not complaining, the guy is even more attractive up close. But I know better than to try small talk with him. My gaze slides over his face and that's when I begin to notice the fine details, the kind that bar tenders and other lonely people pick up on. The lines around his eyes and mouth aren't frown or worry lines, they're laugh lines, but right now the corners of his mouth are pulled into a frown. His eyes are downcast, focusing more on getting the dirt from under a finger nail than his surroundings, and his eyelashes are long enough to brush his skin. After he's satisfied that his nails are clean, he pulls a hand down below the bar and shifts a little bit. His hand pushes a few bills towards me, bills that are followed by a soft voice.
"Just a shot of whiskey, please."
