there's this woman who's been coming to the restaurant alone for three months now. always orders the same thing, always sits at the corner of the bar. tonight she caught me watching her and just smiled — not the practiced one people use in my place. a real one. i made her a negroni i didn't charge for and we talked about nothing for twenty minutes. she didn't try to impress me. i'm trying to figure out why that's stayed with me all night.