“Louie,â€? I said, giving his son a nudge. Just enough to say it was alright, not so much that any of the hired help would take it the wrong way. The kid ran, a week’s worth of fear melting away in his tracks.

Louie was sobbing. No one would ever mention that, no matter the context. It didn’t happen.

Two days later, I was peering into a frosted glass; not tinted with fake ice coloring like at some upper end bar but rather encrusted with the dirt of previous patrons. One didn’t come here for the great service, the beautiful waitresses or the amazing décor; it had none of those things. You came here to forget.

This was a den of dreams that never occurred to you and nightmares you wanted to leave behind on the sweat stained sheets. I wasn’t here; my body was there on business, but my mind soared well above it all.

A tapping on my shoulder pulled me down. Not into the void, just down to earth. I didn’t even need to turn to know who it was.