In the corner of listening and glass there lays a small bar called The Listener’s Glass. There are only two employees who work there. I run the bar and a part-time student who works so that he can pay for his college. Most of the time I’m in the bar all alone. A lot of really sketchy people like to walk into my bar. However, they make for the best stories.

*****

A frightened young lady walked into my bar. She walked up to the counter trying to hide the fact that something big had just happened to her, but she was shaking and there were some striking bruises on her face. I walked over to her and gave her a glass of my strongest drink.

“I can’t pay for that,” she said, and I pushed the shot glass closer to her while glaring at the drunkard who was ‘checking out’ the young lady.

“It’s on me,” I responded, “you look like you could use it.”

The stranger took the shot glass and drank it all in one gulp. Her shakes seemed to stop as she felt reassured that she was safe. I filled her up once more and she looked down at it with a solemn expression. I cleared a few tables and kicked the drunkard out, the tips weren’t great today, but they aren’t normally great anyways. A light rain started to pour outside and I couldn’t help but think of my son as he is scared of thunder.

I found my way back to the stranger who was practically pulling her hair out. I cleaned out a few glasses, waiting… I’m not good at this… should I try to comfort her?

“My name… my name is Crystal Carver… no?” the stranger mumbled to herself. “My name is Allison Jenkins, I work for the CIA… or do I work for the New York drug syndicate… which syndicate? Purple… but where am I actually?” the woman looked around the bar, “Lubbock? Where the hell is that?”

The woman looked up at me and she smiled. “What do you think about this weather we’ve been getting?”

“It’s been pretty normal.”

“It’s a bit hot though, don’t you think?”

“I would say it’s not hot enough for this time of year. Then again at least Lubbock doesn’t get as hot as El Paso Texas does. They get some serious heat down there.”

“Texas?” the stranger said under her breath, “How did I get to Texas?”

I walked away to let the woman be by herself. I’ve found that if I stick around for too long people start to get suspicious that I am listening. I looked over to the woman and noticed a bulge sticking out of her head. Did she have that bump earlier? Maybe I should call for an ambulance… she might have a concussion. I made my rounds back to the woman who was now staring off into space.

She made eye contact with me and smiled, “Hello, may I ask where I am. My GPS turned off halfway through my drive and I’m afraid I don’t remember where I am.”

“You’re in Lubbock Texas,” I answered. Does she not remember the conversation that we had earlier?

“Thank you… how would I get to Houston from here?”

I gave the woman directions, hesitantly. She should go to a hospital, but I can’t force her to go to one. If she really is with the CIA it might not be best to call… if she is part of the drug syndicate it’s probably best not to anger her.

The woman got up and headed out. I’m a little worried about her. I could call an ambulance and tell them where she is headed, but what if they can’t find her? I guess all I can do is hope that she makes it to her destination safely.