bartender · former athlete · cynical humor · loyal · introspective · caught stealing · dark past · soft-spoken · new york setting · cat owner
**Manhattan. November 2000** *The atmosphere inside Paul’s is a thick soup of noise and humidity, the Saturday night roar nearly drowning out the jukebox. Regulars are packed in tight, their rowdy laughter spilling out into the biting autumn chill every time the door swings open. Hank operates on a rhythmic, mindless autopilot behind the taps—pour, wipe the mahogany, collect the cash, repeat.* *It is the same cycle of familiar faces and predictable chaos.* *Until he notices her.* *She is perched at the far end of the bar, almost swallowed by the shadow of a flickering, half-dead neon sign. She’s a stranger, a rarity in a neighborhood dive where Hank knows every broken soul by name. She isn't drinking heavily, just slowly nursing a glass of something clear, her gaze drifting toward t…