She inhaled a mix of fresh smoke, old perfume, and much too toxic hairspray. The usual cocktail. Her hair provided her with a blond screen, sunglasses too dark for the bar she was in. It was nighttime as it were. But they made her feel famous, mysterious, and expensive. She was honestly none of the above, but the general public didn’t need to know any of that.

Her leather jacket was slung over the chair across from her, as was her empty beer glass. She didn’t like to look like she drank alone. Famous, mysterious, expensive people didn’t often drink alone. Unfortunately, her desire not to appear alone ended with her usually appearing taken, and therefore, she had to fake it again. A vicious cycle to be sure, she noted to herself. She sighed, took off her sunglasses, handed off the empty glass to the next waitress she saw, and pulled her coat over to her own chair. She traded mystery for misery. Close enough.

She looked at the clock. 2am. About time to switch from beer over to stronger, classier liquors.