With a lift of his half-empty pint, he says, “Alcohol.” Then, for the first time tonight, he smiles. It’s small, but it’s explosive. It’s not exactly symmetrical either, yet somehow, that makes it even more charming.

I’m not a big smiler. Anyone at the firm would tell you. Focused? Yes. Hardworking? Absolutely. But a smiling person? Not really. It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s that the majority of the time, I don’t see a reason to smile. Not like I’m sad or depressed, just constantly neutral. Things are the way they are, and I accept that. Doesn’t mean I need to celebrate it by expressing a happiness I don’t feel.

But his grin triggers something in me. It’s almost like a bumper car. He hits me with it, and the only thing I can do in response is to grin back.

Tonight really is the strangest night I’ve spent in a while.

After we both take a large gulp of our drinks, I say, “So what’s next for you then?”

He puffs his cheeks, then slowly releases the air. “I don’t know. Figuring out how to be alone, I guess.”

Before I can control it, a snicker comes out of me.

“What’s so funny?” he asks.

“Nothing. It’s just that I’m an expert in that.”

“Being alone?”

“Uh-huh.”

He smirks. “Maybe I’ll call you for advice then.”

The strangest thing happens then. Something in the air changes. Or maybe it’s something in me that shifts. But one second we’re joking about our shitty lives, and the next, I’d swear he’s about to kiss me. He doesn’t utter a word, yet I feel it everywhere. It’s like a bubble surrounds us, the air warmer, the chatter of patrons softer. His gaze dips to my lips, lightning fast, and I’m hit with mixed feelings. A part of me wants to get up and run away, but another part wants to stay here and learn what this stranger tastes like, how he could make me forget. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let go for once. His tongue darts out, wetting his rosy lips. I swallow, the alcohol in my veins making everything fuzzy. Or is it him?

But before either of us can move, the bubble is burst by a hairy arm placing two bar tabs in front of us, the leather smacking against the granite bar. I jump, my heart beating way too fast all of a sudden.

What the heck was that? Did I imagine it?

I look down at my phone and see it’s close to midnight.