In a dimly lit bar, with low ceilings and high pitched voices, there sat a few unexpected characters.
In the far corner, expertly poised, Chesty Cough had created for her a little intimate space in the shadow of the high, bottle filled shelves. She would dangle her long legs at unsuspecting passers by, and she would say ‘Hello!’ in a sexy, raspy voice.
Hidden in plain sight, in the middle of the bar, unnoticed by anyone, sat Weeping Willow. Her lifeless hair almost covering her face, hiding from view the sadness that seemed to dominate her small frame.
They were both long time customers of the bar, and yet they had never spoken to each other. There was security in familiarity though, knowing they were among people they had been with for hundreds of times before, gave them the freedom to just be there in their own way.
The barman, straw slender, joked with Chesty Cough and took care of Weeping Willow serving her drinks with funny little umbrellas that brought the semblance of a smile on her face.
The atmosphere in the bar was peaceful and in a way sleepy, in its routinely flow.
Farther away from the bar, the door opened, and a handsome, tall man, dressed in an expensive suit, carrying a large leather case, walked in and scanned the crown for a moment.
When he saw what he was looking for, he confidently made his way through the crowd towards a table where a pimpled, dumpling man was waiting for him.
The man looked extremely uncomfortable and anxious.
The handsome man extended his hand in greeting. ‘Data Dump, sir! Good to see you!’
Data Dump lifelessly shook the hand of his solicitor, Alleged Attack, and signaled him to sit down in an unexpected, self assured way.
Alleged Attack winked at the waitress to bring him a beer and turned around to his client.
‘So, what seems to be the matter?’
‘I want to sue them! Those effing idiots!’
Alleged Attack always found it funny how his meek, shy customer would transform into an aggressor when he was angry.
‘There, there! Tell me all about it! Let’s see what the best angle for us is right now.’, the solicitor was talking to the sweaty man in front of him, but his eyes had wandered towards the bar to the solitary woman that seemed to blend into the shadows thrown by the light, making him wonder if she was there at all.
He liked them self-doubting and shy, easier to control and manipulate.
‘Are you listening to me?’, Data Dump was starting to pout.
‘All eyes and ears my man! Go for it!’, Alleged Attack moved about and turned to completely face the anxiety ridden man.
‘They dumped me again! Just like that! No warning, no redundancy! Just boom! At the drop of a pin I was out! I cannot deal with this anymore! On the one hand they say that I am the best and most valuable, that, that, it is all about me, and then, then … kapow they go and dump me at the slightest whiff of danger … why even bother with me then …’
He was starting to froth at the mouth and his skin got even redder. Alleged Attack’s thoughts could not resist to return to the shadowy woman at the bar. There could be something there for him for sure.
Data Dump had stopped talking and was waiting for a reply with tears in his eyes.
‘Listen, no worries! We got this!’, the solicitor was speaking in a confident, all knowing voice.
‘It is not the first time we have been through this. As always we have something in our sleeve right? On an external disc, in the cloud?’
‘Of course, I am not a total idiot! I know how to protect myself!’, Data Dump blurted out.
‘Perfect! Then, that is where I will start. I will be on to them in the morning and I will get us a large chunk of money! Don’t you worry!’, the solicitors tone was cold and to the point.
‘But I want to sue! I want them to suffer, to be exposed!’, the dumpling man was get overexcited.
‘No, no! I am here to protect your interests! A lawsuit will not benefit you in the least. On the contrary, it will hurt you! Money spent, publicity, prying eyes into things we want to keep out of sight. No, it is your anger talking, but I’ve got you! In a week from now you will be basking in a tropical sun somewhere, Saint Marie even, how you like it so much, and you will be thanking me for all the money I got you.’
Alleged Attack was so sure in his speech that Data Dump could not find the courage to challenge him.
‘Ok, you know best!’
‘That I do my friend, that I do!’
The solicitor leaned over the table and whispered in a malevolent tone.
‘Now, see that chesty red head, there, in the corner? I saw here eyeing you intensely. I think you should mosey over and forget about all this, it is being handled.’
Data Dump looked over and he was smitten on the spot by the glamorous looking woman with long legs, flowy red hair, wearing a skimpy, glittery dress that made her look like she was on fire.
No matter how shy he usually was, Data Dump was just drawn to her and forgot all his usual qualms, this was a woman he had to go to.
Satisfied with himself Alleged Attack wasted no time and moved over to the bar, right next to the thin, long haired woman.
‘Hi!’
When she turned to him, she was even more beautiful than he expected, her face, hidden by the long strands of hair, was almost translucent dominated by bright, green eyes that made him forget his name as soon as she looked at him.
The next weeks were a blur.
Data Dump ended up in the hospital with the worst flu he had had in years, but the worst thing was the cough he just couldn’t shake off.
Alleged Attack ended up in a Vegas chapel, where he got married to the most glamorous, albeit shy, woman in the world, who moved in and took over his life in a matter of days.
None of them could exactly explain what had happened that evening, the only thing that could maybe account for it was a feverish fantasy.