She smelled of stale dish water and cigarettes, but she wasn’t smoking. She sat on her stool at the end of the bar and grinned toothlessly at herself in the mirror.

I wonder what she saw.

I ordered a beer. I hate beer. But this place – probably didn’t have a wine that was worth drinking. Dark, smelly, with sticky floors and people’s faces all washed out by the bad lighting.

Why had I come in? What was here for me in this place with past regrets griming up the walls and leaving shadows in all the corners where old memories holed up like spiders under the counter?

The toothless woman turned her head to look at me and laughed under her breath.

I wonder what she saw.