As far as Dirk was concerned, she was the most wonderful woman in the room.

“A librarian,” she said. “I know. I shouldn’t be out drinking.” Dirk leaned against the bar and talked to Janine with confidence, assuredness, and freedom.

“The zoo,” Dirk answered. “I should be out drinking more often.”

Janine said she might have seen him before. She took her teen reading groups to the zoo once a year. Dirk told her he’d have remembered her. Whether this was true or not didn’t matter. It made Janine smile.

A great song came on the bar speakers. Bright harmonies. Bright words. Janine put her hand on Dirk’s once as she laughed at something he said.

“Hey Dirk! Dirk!” Patrick was shouting over the music. “What did your letter say?”

Dirk looked at him inquisitively.

“The letter, your resignation, at work today. What did it say?”

Dirk blushed.

“It said: Thank you but for now on I’m my own boss.”

“That’s it,” Patrick said, slapping a hand on the bar. “Isn’t Dirk the best? What a move!”

Janine liked it. Dirk liked that she did.

He ordered another round.

Soon things were bordering on blurry, but Dirk showed no outward signs of being drunk. Patrick did. He stumbled through his words and got louder with every drink. He slammed an open palm down on the bar a dozen times, accentuating everything any of them said.

Then Dirk excused himself and headed to the bathroom. Once there, he locked the door and set his drink on the sink. He gripped the sides of the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He smiled. There was something sad, deep within him, but tonight it was distant. Tonight he thought of Janine and Patrick and Laura and the zoo and the House and all the shitty jobs he’d ever had and he smiled.

And yet, something lurked. Casually almost. There was something he wasn’t thinking of. Something he maybe didn’t have to think of but something that had slipped his attention either way. Like the numbers didn’t add up the way they were supposed to.

He downed the rest of his drink and exited the bathroom. Back at the bar, the two women excused themselves and Janine put a flat hand on his chest as she told him she’d be back.

“These girls are great,” Patrick said.

Dirk nodded. The girls were indeed great.

And yet something lurked.

When the women came back, Janine said, “Let’s do something crazy, Dirk.”

Dirk raised an eyebrow.

“What do you have in mind?”