Chapter 54: Failed Connections

Nathan's face glowed harshly from the screen of his phone as he swiped through profile after profile in an ever-lightening, darkening bar. Each swipe felt more hollow than the last, and with every one of them, the rhythmic thumping from the speakers mocked him further in his desperate reach out for a connection. "Another whiskey, sir?" The bartender's voice jolted Nathan from his digital trance. He looked up, blinking away the afterimages of smiling faces and carefully curated bios. "Uh, yeah. Thanks." As the bartender poured, Nathan caught his own reflection in the mirror behind the counter. He barely recognized the man staring back at him—disheveled hair, a loosened tie, dark circles under his eyes. When was the last time he was this guy? "Bad day?" offered the bartender, pushing the new drink down the polished wood. Nathan squeezed out a rather humorless laugh. "Rough year, more like it." He took a hit of brandy, holding it in to feel the burn before he swallowed it down his t