Playing to Win by Sophie Stern

Author:Sophie Stern [Stern, Sophie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

Jennifer

“Last call,” I tell the man at the bar.

“Another,” he points to his empty glass. The jukebox is on its last song of the night and the crowd has withered to almost nothing. It is almost three in the morning, and it’s a Friday night, which means everyone has shit to do tomorrow morning, whether it be a wedding, a sporting event, or coaching Little League. Everyone has something to do in just a few hours.

Except, apparently, the tall blonde sitting at my bar alone.

He doesn’t seem to be too worried about it being the end of the night. He doesn’t seem upset or uncomfortable with the fact that he’s one of the last lingering people in my bar. I pour his drink and hand it to him, but I don’t spend any more time thinking about him.

I’ve been in this business far too long to worry about what people’s stories are. If he wants me to know, he’ll tell me, and he won’t require any prodding.

People are weird when it comes to their hairdressers, but they’re even weirder when it comes to their bartenders. For some reason, people think they can trust us. They might now know our first names or anything about us, but they trust us.

Quickly, I move through the room and collect the rest of the glasses on empty tables. I carry everything back to the bar and start washing. With any luck, I’ll be out of here in the next half hour and then I can head home and crash.

It’s not that I have anywhere to be tomorrow. Drinking Games, my bar, is basically my life. On Sundays I go to church and on Tuesdays I go to the library and the rest of the time, I’m here, trying to figure out how to make the bar a better place, trying to figure out how I can increase my revenue.

I do my very best and sometimes it’s good enough. Sometimes it’s not.

“You’re here a lot,” the man says, and I know it’s time to put my listening hat on.

“You aren’t,” I point out. “I’ve only seen you a few times, if I remember correctly.” I don’t know his name. He hasn’t told me. I would have remembered.

I can’t remember every person I meet, but this guy?

This guy is different.

I definitely would have remembered Mr. Blue Eyes.

I definitely would have remembered the name that goes with that face.

“You are correct, Miss…?”

“Jennifer.”

“Dan,” he says.

“Pleasure.”

“Pleasure’s mine,” he says.

“So what brings you out tonight, Dan?” My other customers left slowly throughout the night. There was a bridal shower earlier, and even though the bride was the designated driver, she ended up having a great night with her girlfriends. The maid of honor went home with someone, and the rest of my patrons all seemed to enjoy themselves. They all seemed to lose themselves in the night, in the moment, except for this guy, and I’m not sure what’s so different about him.

I’m not sure why he’s here alone.

He’s handsome, and at first glance, he seems like the kind of guy you can trust.

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