As he sat he sat at the bar, he thought about the days events. From getting up that morning to go to a job he hated, to the phone call from his ex-wife, to having to go home to an empty house again. He was drifting in thought, just staring in the mirror behind the bar when the door opened. To his surprise in walked a beautiful woman. She was dressed in a business suit that made her look almost out of place in there. "Thank god everyone's gone home,β he thought to himself "Or she wouldn't stay long."
He continued in his thoughts and his beer while looking at her seated behind him in the mirror. It wasn't long until he realized that she was she was paying more than casual attention to the backside of him. The bartender stopped and asked him if he wanted another beer and he said, "Give the lady one of what ever sheβs drinking, too."
When the bartender sat her glass down in front of her she spoke up, telling the man "Thank you". "You must be awful lonely to buy a stranger a drink so you don't have to drink alone."
"Tell me your name" he replied "Then we won't be strangers anymore."
"No" she said, "Names aren't needed yet. Its better that way."
As they both sipped at their drinks and made small conversation they found out about each otherβs jobs. Here he was, a lowly factory worker talking to a traveling businesswoman. Her job being a trainer for the phone company meant that she traveled all over the country and never stayed in one city very long. "Great" he thought to himself "Just as you finally meet someone decent you find out they will be gone tomorrow."
At about midnight, after a couple hours of chatting, he excused himself saying that he had to be to work at six in the morning and had to go home to bed. "It was nice meeting you and thanks for the conversation,β he said finishing his beer and heading for the door.
Outside he took his time walking to his pick up, slowly getting his keys out. All the time he was listening for the sound of her footsteps following him. He got into the truck, looked up see if she was there but she was nowhere in sight. With that he turn the ignition to start the vehicle and drove home.
All the next day he couldn't keep his mind off the image he had seen in the mirror the night before when the bar door had opened. The more he tried to forget it the more her face, form and voice haunted him.
The man never went to the bar after work two days in a row but on that day he couldn't fight the urge to stop for "just one" to see if she might be there. As he walked in the back door he looked down the room taking an inventory of all the faces in the place. He didn't see her and turned to leave but was overcome by the urge to have that "just one". "It won't hurt to stay for a bit,β he thought as he sat down at the bar and ordered a beer.
He nursed the bottle until it was so warm from his hand that he couldn't take another drink. Setting the bottle on the rail he stood and headed out the door he had come in.