Danielle takes another sip of her appletini. The loud drone of the other bar patrons causes her headache to sink deeper into her skull. She takes as much fluid as her straw will let her in one breath and scrolls through the list on her phone.

Roe, the cute bartender, walks over in front of Danielle and puts their hands up on the bar in that old sitcom way.

“How’s the drink treating you?”

Danielle smiles up at them. They are really the only reason she comes to Silverbrook Bar and Grill instead of the gay bar, Bourbon to Dance, down the street. Though, why Roe chooses to work at a place full of finance bros and their sons still illudes her. At least since there are enough girls looking for a rich boyfriend hanging out here, Danielle generally remains undisturbed.

“It’s perfectly mixed, as usual Roe. Just not doing much for this headache like I hoped it would.”

“Long day?”

Danielle rubs her face and takes another look at her phone.

“You could say that. Therapy was a lot today and I still have some stuff to do when I get home.”

Roe holds out their hand.

“Can I see?”

Danielle’s cheeks start to burn but she hands over her phone. Roe reads through the list she’s been adding to and rearranging for the past thirty minutes.

“The Sons of Sam, Bluey, Survivor? This is a rather eclectic watch list.” Roe hands the phone back. “Sorry, I thought this was your to do list.”

Danielle pockets her phone, struggling to get the blush to fade from her face.

“I promised M-myself that I’d watch a few things tonight since I won’t have time over the weekend. So I’ve been trying to figure out which ones I should watch before bed.”

Roe snickers, light and soft.

“Well I wouldn’t recommend the murder mystery right before bed, but I believe you could forgive yourself if you put off that plan until next week.   Forcing fun things just makes them a chore. Plus, I like having you here.”

Danielle is sure her face is bright red by the time Roe walks over to the patron on the other end of the bar waiving his hand. They aren’t wrong, these shows are chores to her, and she much prefers watching them work, especially on the other side of the bar. Danielle shakes the thought out of her head, even in her mind it sounds creepy. Yet, that’s exactly what she does. For the next hour she continues to take sips of her drink as she watches Roe glide from station to station serving the influx of Friday night regulars.

As Roe starts their way back over to Danielle’s side of the bar she hits the bottom of her drink. They raise a glass to her, asking if she wants a refill. Danielle shakes her head and points to the bathroom behind her. Roe gives a quick nod and starts on the order for the annoyed frat bro in front of them.

Danielle leaves her jacket on the back of her chair and walks to the bathroom. She weaves her way around the click of girls touching up their makeup and gossiping about their professors, their boyfriends, and their soon to be boyfriends. Danielle does her business and washes her hands best she can in the trickles that come from the faucet. She’d think with the aire of sophistication the owner likes to put up front, they’d fix the sinks at some point.

When Danielle makes her way back to her seat, there is a beer next to her martini glass. Danielle raises her brow at Roe. They serve a beer to the person on Danielle’s left before attempting to answer her. They lean in close but still have to yell over the rowdy crowd.

“Some guy came over and said his buddy wanted to buy you a drink. He didn’t tell me who his buddy was so I can’t point them out to you, but he already paid so if you don’t want it I can dump it for you.”

Danielle checks the clock on her phone, eleven thirty. She was planning on staying until her time is up at midnight anyways.

“Its okay, I’ll sip on it until I leave.”

Roe gives her a nod before rushing off. Danielle takes her straw from her empty glass and clinks the metal against the side before placing it into the new glass. She reaches to the dispenser sitting on the counter and removes a test strip. She places it inside her drink and waits for the negative result. When the tip comes out white, she wrinkles the other end so it can’t be reused and places it in her pocket to throw out later. The first few sips are tasteless, but soon the fizzy, bitter taste hits her tongue. Her face wrinkles, this is exactly why she never orders beer.

Danielle raises her hand to flag down Roe, so they can dispose of the drink, but she finds her hand heavy. Her whole body feels heavy. Her vision loses focus and her mind fogs. A hand rests itself on her back and another grips her forearm. She tries to squirm or shout but her body is no longer in her control. The last thing she remembers is being dragged through the door into the cold night.