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“Hey! You in there?” It was Katie

“Is that you?”

“It’s me Sorry to interrupt you in the middle of, uh, bathroom stuff, but I saw that sah school, and I kneas you”

Leave it to Katie to say “Hi” in those circumstances I took one last deep breath before I opened the door and revealed Katie, dressed in a black T-shirt for one of the heavy ht blue jeans, and some dark flats Typical casual look for her—the kind of dress you’d expect for a partying bartender

I glanced down at e to them—exactly what you ith a pair of shoes like those

“You got me”

“Anyway, you done in here? I’m ready for some booze”

The htly, like an aftershock from the nausea

“Yeah, let’s do it”

“I’ll catch up with you”

I washed up and left the bathroom and was soon back at my seat at the bar The place was one of those fancy dives, the kind of Brooklyn spots that was -class joint, but you just knened by soh to help out with the rent No judget by in the city Purposefully tacky Christ in an intentional sort of way

The bartender, a skinny guy in a band shirt and a pair of round wire-fraave me a sharp nod

“Uh, vodka soda forto have a Manhattan”

Another nod, and he was off to it He placed the drinks in front of me at about the exact second Katie was back from the bathroom

“Perfect,” she said, lifting her drink and eyeing it approvingly Then she brought it toward me

“What’re we drinking to?” I asked

“To exciting new developments in the workplace”

I groaned, re else”

“To exciting new develop out just fine”

“That’ll have to do”

We tapped our glasses and took our sips But as I brought the drink to e—I loved a cocktail after work, and grabbing one every Wednesday with Katie had been our tradition ever since she ht then, however, alcohol onlyon with me?

I took a sip and set the drink down, telling

“This is weird to ask, but were you all right in there?”

“In the bathroom?”

“In the bathroom”