Eight Glasses

The old man asked the bartender if he could keep each shot glass he drank in front of him, separate glass for each shot – so he could keep count. The bar was mostly empty at this time, early afternoon, so she said, Why not. He counted eight glasses, he was pretty sure. This wasn’t his first bar of the day if we’re being honest. He said, One more please. She asked him to count the glasses. He counted them and saw eight again but for some reason he blurted out ten, joking but not really trying to. She shook her head and said, No. He leaned his head back and laughed. He said, No no no, there were really eight; his mouth had disobeyed his brain. She asked why that might be. He said, Because Venus is in Aquarius. She laughed and shook her head differently this time. He watched with reminiscing eyes her long blond hair sway as she laughed. Then he said, But no really; there are eight, that’s what I meant to say; and isn’t eight such a meaningful number? She looked at him, into his red wet eyes and said, Let me tell you a secret. His eyes lit up like a child’s at the pool when given a free popsicle and he leaned in to get closer to her voice. She whispered, There aren’t eight glasses; there are five. He frowned, confused and broken, staring at the glasses in a strained attempt to prove her sober wrong. He could count eight only, over and over. She rolled her eyes and poured one more, putting it next to his calloused, thick old hands and said, This is it. He said, It must be eight; it must – eight years ago today my wife died; it simply must be eight. She called Uber and he went to the bathroom, bumping into the jukebox on his way, not bothering to look around and see if anyone saw him. She added two dirty shot glasses to his others. He returned and immediately recounted. He said in a voice having grown louder over the past few minutes, I’m telling you there are eight dammit! She counted and said, You know what; you’re right; I was mistaken. He let out a long breath of relief, slunched his shoulders in his chair and finished the last drink with a glazy smile on his face.

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