The Dark Side of Bars

People meet at bars all the time, but how do they end up behind the bars?

Chloe Platt, who just turned 27 today, wanted nothing more than to go out and celebrate. Last week she landed her dream job. She moved out of her studio apartment last month into her very own house. So many reasons for her to want to celebrate and she did just that. Her best friend, Nina Walsh, was in town for her birthday. Nina lives in New York and plans events for a living. So she planned a spectacular girls’ night out for Chloe. They took all day getting ready. Starting with hair cuts at 9:45 am, followed by brunch at a new chic cafe in the area. With the bill paid they were then off to the nail salon for a double mani-pedi. Thanks to Nina’s expertise in event planning, she factored in an allotted amount of free time. That time was then filled with visiting a cute boutique for new dresses. In the car on the way back to Chloe’s house, they had the radio turned up and the windows down. Both girls spent the next three hours trying on different outfits. One dress after another until Chloe’s bedroom floor had disappeared. They both broke out into unstoppable laughter after realizing they were both wearing the first dresses they had tried on. Attempting to end the laughing attack they both shuffled into the bathroom. They had one final task until it was time to officially begin girls’ night out. After 20 minutes of colorful eyeshadow, glossy lips, and turning eyebrows into sisters they were ready. Chloe and Nina gathered what little things they needed and packed themselves into the car. They were off to the races. The bar they planned on stopping at was about ten minutes from the house. It wasn’t a very flashy bar, but a lot of local people really enjoyed it. All of the Yelp reviews the girls read were very positive which made it an easy pick. As Nina parked they noticed that the bar was pretty crowded but not enough to deter them from heading inside. Once inside the celebration truly began. Loud music filled the air almost as much as the smoke did. Luckily, the girls spotted two empty stools at the bar. Nina grabbed Chloe’s hand and they flew right to them. Just as Chloe was about to order a gin and juice, Nina placed one finger over Chloe’s mouth. Chloe giggled and asked why she was trying to shush her. Nina shook her head and pointed at the decent looking gentleman sitting at the end of the bar. Highly confused and increasingly thirsty at this point Chloe demanded Nina explain herself.

“Not only are you a young attractive woman it’s your freaking birthday Chloe May! So that man is gonna buy you a drink!” Chloe smirked but was still puzzled as to how Nina was going to get this stranger to buy her a drink. Moments after the thought crossed her mind, like magic a bright-colored drink appeared in front of her. The bartender pointed down at the man who then nodded at Chloe. A bashful grin made its way onto Chloe’s face. She immediately turned towards Nina, if her face was a sign it would have read, “I told you so!”

The girls finished a few drinks, went out to the dance floor, and continued this pattern a few times. The time had escaped them and when they realized it was almost midnight they were both undoubtedly too drunk to go to any other bars. A booth to the left of the dance floor was empty and the girls decided to lay claim to it Chloe was a fun drunk. She wasn’t obnoxious or mean. The type of person you would prefer to get stuck with in that situation. However, unbeknownst to Chloe, her dear friend Nina was not. Chloe thought Nina used to be okay when she got drunk but little did she know after years of New York living, Nina changed. Instead of her normal, quirky self she was yelling and cursing like a sailor. At that moment Chloe snapped out of her train of thought just in time to see Nina hit a man on the head with a beer bottle. Not just any man either, it was the man from the end of the bar. Chloe stood up and stumbled over towards her friend. Grabbing Nina they both escaped from the bar, making it to the car.

Both girls were very drunk and also confused about what had just happened. Chloe felt that after what she just witnessed she should be the ‘DDD.’ Which stands for the drunk designated driver. Although in the back of her mind she could hear her father saying, “You should never drink and drive, it could take a life.” Chloe felt that maybe her father would understand somehow in this situation. The girls were seated in the car, with seat belts on and both silent. Chloe placed the key in the ignition and cranked the car up. They backed up and pulled out of the parking lot. What was supposed to be a ten-minute drive felt like ages. Nina was the first to break the awkward silence.

People meet at bars all the time, but how do they end up behind the bars?

It had been another long day at The Glades for Dane. The clientele that the company catered to was on the top of Dane Reed’s hit list. He despised the men and the women alike. To him, it felt as they thought they were better than every single person around them. Although his blood boiled at the sight of them, he needed this job. So if that meant gritting his teeth every day and pretending to tolerate them, then so be it.

Dane heads to the kitchen in desperate need of a strong pick me up. He opens the cupboard and then the fridge. Nothing but empty bottles greet him. This irritates him almost as all of the ascot-wearing fools at his job. Somehow he pulls himself together, grabs his car keys and wallet off the table, and heads back outside. Thinking to himself, my house may be filled with empty bottles but the bar down the road isn’t.

Believe it or not, Dane is what most people call a regular here at this bar. Then of course you have others that would call him an alcoholic as opposed to a regular. Dane sat at the bar in his normal spot, the last stool to the left. It doesn’t take long for him to calm his nerves once he is seated.

All of the smoke and people competing to hear one another has never bothered him. Think about it, who goes to a bar expecting silence? So usually Dane drinks alone and leaves a little past midnight. He bothers nobody and nobody bothers him. However, tonight something is different. At the opposite end of the bar, Dane spots two beautiful women. He feels like he knows one of the women but has never seen the blonde before. Signaling the bartender over to him, he orders the blonde at the end a drink. This is very unusual of him and it makes him think maybe he has actually had too much to drink. Quickly shaking that feeling off he begins trying to remember where he has seen the other women before.

She is far too loud and obnoxious to have been one of my one-night stands. He is also almost certain she is not one of the scumbags that frequent The Glades. Then it hits him. That’s Nina Walsh, how could Dane forget her. She was the only eyewitness to his ex-wives murder. The case went cold because Nina refused to testify, changed her whole story around. It went from her being right in front of Yazmin to she had left hours before the murder occurred. His blood began to boil once more. But Dane wasn’t angered by seeing the women that could have brought closure for his wife’s murder. No, that was actually the only thing that made him happy about seeing Nina. Thanks to Nina, Dane Reed isn’t behind bars for the murder of his late wife Yazmin Reed.

Dane remembered Nina had told him she would move out of state and never return. So why was she back? Why was Nina Walsh sitting at this bar? His ears became so hot, his blood pressure was slowly increasing. Why did she point right at me earlier Dane wondered to himself? Racking his brain for answers to all of these questions made him lose track of time. An enormous growl somewhere from behind him snapped him back into reality. Just in time for an empty beer bottle to come smashing over the top of his head. Dane turned back just in time to see the cute blonde ushering Nina out the entrance. The bar had never been this silent before. The bartender asked if he needed to call the cops but Dane shook his head, cleaned himself off, and slowly found his way back to his vehicle. He pushed the key into the ignition and cranked his car up. Sitting there for a minute, not thinking a single thing. Moments later he lifts his head up to watch Nina and her friend pull out of the parking lot. A few more seconds pass and he begins to pull out.

About three car lengths behind them is where Dane stayed. He noticed the blonde was swerving a tiny bit but had bigger things on the forefront of his mind. Maybe seven minutes had passed and Dane recognized the area they were in. Surprisingly enough, he was very familiar with the layout of this neighborhood. SO much so that he decided to turn off and stop following the girls. However, the road he turned off on would meet exactly where the girls would have to drive past. Since Dane was familiar with this area he was of course familiar with this tidbit of information. As he rounded the curve, he flipped his headlights off. His foot became a lead weight on the gas. As he picked up speed he could see the glimmer of headlights coming up the road adjacent to the one he was on. Second thoughts began to fill his mind, telling himself to just stomp on the brake.

People meet at bars all the time, but how do they end up behind bars?

It was almost one in the morning as Nik Campbell made his way back home. He hated having to walk home. Well, he hated having to walk everywhere honestly. Due to some legal trouble a few years back Nik lost his license. Which in return meant walking was really one of his only options. There had been a few times Nik drove, resulting in tickets and eventually an arrest. So nowadays Nik thought on foot would be the best option.

Just a few blocks away from home, Nik picked up his pace. To distract himself from the fear of walking alone at night he pulled out his phone. Noticing he had gotten a text he quickly went to check it. As he read it he released a small chuckle. Apparently, his friend was at the bar a few miles away and sent a video of a crazy woman attacking a man before fleeing. Although Nik found this to be amusing in the back of his mind he couldn’t shake the fact that the world was getting crazier every day. Just two houses away from his house Nik let out a sigh of relief. He had been walking for what felt like miles and miles. His feet were sore and his calf muscles had begun to burn.

Nik pulled his house keys from his pocket he tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. This caused him to drop his key. He slid his cell phone in his pocket and bent over to obtain the key. As he lifted himself back up he heard the loudest noise he had ever heard in his life. Startling him to the point of dropping his key once more. This time he didn’t pick the key up. It was like he didn’t even realize he had dropped it. Nik was frozen, eyes glued to the sight in front of him. Two cars were crashed in the intersection right in front of his house. He had seen car crashes before, on tv, and even in real life. However, he had never before seen a dead body.

After processing everything in front of him he jumped into action. Snatching his key from the ground first. Then taking off into a sprint towards the cars. On the way over he had begun to grab his phone from his pocket. Quickly dialing 911 he then noticed one of the passengers appeared to be moving. Just at that time, the 911 operator was reciting her opening lines. As fast and calmly as he could Nik relayed all of the information he knew to the woman on the other end of the phone. The operator informed him that paramedics and police were en route to his location. She asked if he wouldn’t mind staying around to also state anything he had witnessed. Without hesitation, Nik agreed.

Waiting for paramedics to arrive he investigated the horrific scene once more at a safe distance. He remained at a safe distance in case of any leaking oil or gas, thank God the operator told him that. He wasn’t stupid but in a moment like this, you aren’t always as sharp as you should be. After observing everything from where he was standing he was sure the lady driving the car was alive. Her passenger who was ejected from the vehicle on the other hand was clearly not so lucky. The other vehicle was hard to see inside due to the tint on the windows. From the lack of noise and movement, however, Nik assumed that driver was also deceased.

The sirens from the ambulance were close by. He could hear them off in the distance. Turning towards the women laid out on the street he grew sad. This woman was a stranger to him and yet he couldn’t shake the feeling of knowing that tomorrow will never come for her. Did she have kids? A husband? Again, the world is getting crazier every day he thought to himself. EMTs arrived and rushed to both vehicles. Nik shouted to them about the women on the road. Cops were not far behind.

Nik told them he was walking home, dropped his key and that was when he heard the crash. Since he was focused on retrieving his key he did not actually witness the moment the cars collided. Curious about the people involved Nik asked the police. Not at all expecting them to give him any answers, he still felt the need to ask. To his surprise, the cop who took his statement filled him in. The woman who was in fact still alive was being arrested for DUI resulting in a fatality. The second driver was being arrested for Vehicular manslaughter by DUI. After the scene was cleaned up two cops were standing by their cars. Nik was making his way up the steps to his front door but stopped when he overheard them snickering to one another.

“And to think she would have been arrested for disorderly conduct,” the cop said. Nik tried to make sense of this as he closed his front door and sat on the couch. Checking his phone once more the clock read 9:45 am. The video still pulled up on his phone of the crazy women at the bar. His jaw almost hit the floor.