Jay strode into the lounge, bottle in hand, and did a quick glance around the room. There were few people there at the moment, but he spied what he was looking for, an empty isolated table near a viewing window. He stopped by the bar and grabbed for an empty glass and made his way toward the table.He positioned one of the chairs so that he could see out of the window and still the the entrance, an old habit.

He sat down and took a long look at the bottle, and gave a heavy sigh. He pulled the cork stopper out of the bottle of Scotch and breathed in deeply. The warm peaty aroma seemed to war his soul as he breathed deeply in. He raised the bottle and filled his glass. Looking down he pulled a small picture from his pocket. It was a copy of the same one on his desk in his quarters, graduation day at The Academy, Nathan himself, and Raina together and happy.

He lifted his glass and said, “It’s been 7 years and I still miss you every day.”

With that, he put the picture back in his pocket and and drank down the whole glass in one shot. He refilled his glass and turned his attention to the star field outside the window. It was going to be a long night.

Jay Westland, MD