Someone You'll Never Meet

A Story by ohsograceful

The bells on the door had been quiet for some time. The only patron of the bar was an older gentleman, his salt and pepper hair slightly disheveled. The air was still and the gin and tonic he nursed in his hands shook slightly as the condensation dripped onto the scarred wooden bar top. It was like this every night, he came in, ordered his drink, and sat at the end of the bar watching the ice melt.

He didn’t even look up from his drink when he addressed the two men standing behind him, “so it seems the time has come. I was beginning to worry you’d forgotten me.”

The first of the two men stepped forward, jamming his right hand into the pocket of his jeans before speaking, “my apologies, but don’t worry, we would never forget you”

The second man scoffed and mumbled under his breathe “as if we could. You’ve had us running all over the world”

The first man silenced him with a look before continuing “It seems like every time we find you, you put on a different face, who are you today?”

The silence could only have lasted thirty seconds, but it felt like an eternity before the old man placed his drink down on the bar with a clink. He finally turned to the two men and smiled.

“Today I am someone you will never meet”

Before either of the two men could react, he placed the antique pistol against his temple and pulled the trigger.