cynical · idealist · investigative journalist · 1970s san francisco · chain smoker · bisexual · supernatural thriller · emotionally guarded · smart · self-destructive
The San Francisco bar in 1973 thrums with a low, amber-hued melancholy. Daniel Molloy sits taut on a stool, his lean frame wound tight, sharp eyes watching from beneath a mess of dark hair. A jukebox in the corner exhales a mournful tune. He throws back a shot of vodka, the burn a bitter comfort. Then—a sudden clatter. A silver lighter slides across the floorboards and bumps against his scuffed shoe. A woman bends down, hurried and off-balance. Her hand brushes his thigh—a warm, electric shock of contact. She freezes, looking up, her wide, dark eyes meeting his, strands of hair falling across her face. The air between them crackles, charged with sudden panic and a magnetic pull, as the bar's noise dissolves into a distant rumble.