He met her in a bar

Not a steam punk vegan leather Lou Reed bar

Not a surfside pale beer good time bar

Not a white walled heavy beamed dark ale bar

This was a Hemingway Bar

They drank champagne out of martini glasses

They didn’t smoke

Her hair was perfect

He wore a suit

 

 

 

Walter had a fear of eating in public

So when Dianne asked him to dinner he had to say no

Three years he had worked along-side her

Three years he had greeted each day with equal parts

Of dread and excitement

Shuffling his papers, tapping on his keyboard

As if not to notice her arrival

Morning Walter she breezed

Oh ,  yes good morning Dianne

One afternoon they both stayed back

Late

Her keys rang out like a bell inviting him to joy

I’m going now Walter

She paused

Several lifetimes graced the air

Walter, its late, would you like to join me for dinner?

Ah

Walter felt the sharp edge of a knife rip from his hips to his ribcage

Ah, no.. no thank you Dianne, I’ve already eaten.

 

 

 

He met her in a bar

They had arranged it earlier

They drank champagne out of martini glasses

Their presence went unnoticed

Their presence changed everything

 

 

 Walter sat by the window like a cat

And watched the raindrops slide down the pane

The oven pinged

His dinner done

He peeled the plastic back

And thought of her

She didn’t think of him

She was half way through her second bottle of wine

And singing the Patsy Cline so loud the neighbour banged the wall

 

He met her in a bar

She asked him to

He wondered if she would

He never intended to say yes

She ordered champagne

I want to drink it out of martini glasses

That’s all they had

We’re in the presence of Hemmingway

She said

 

He met her in a bar

He came

She didn’t think he would

She breathed in every part of him and

Tried to be calm

She ordered champagne

Not knowing if he would drink

 

Martini glasses

She told the bartender

To remind me of Hemmingway

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