Gone

Brooke and Richard weren’t at the table, Dean looked around maybe they were somewhere around the bar? He looked around but all he could see was old fat dudes. Dean inspects the table for any clues, there’s a check on the table.

Dean opened the check book to see that it hasn’t been paid, there’s a chance they are still there. Dean reluctantly takes out his credit card and puts it down to pay with.

Every minute that passes convinces Dean that Brooke and Richard are no longer at the bar. Finally the waitress comes around to his table again. She picks up the check and says she will be right back. Dean quickly stops her, he has to ask. “Did you see where...” he trails off and points to the empty seats that Brooke and Richard were sitting in. “Oh, the couple you were with?” She says, that stung Dean a little bit. He reluctantly says, “Yeah...” The waitress continued to tell Dean that they were talking about going to some other another bar. After a short conversation she tells him which bar, she leaves with the check to charge his card.

Dean decides to call Brooke, the waitress didn’t sound completely sure where they went. Dean drove them there so he isn’t exactly sure how they got a ride, probably an Uber or maybe even a stranger.

Dean starts to call Brooke, he wonders if she will answer. It rings and rings, he hears a buzzing sound across the from the table. Dean curses under his breath, he gets up and moves around the table to find Brooke’s phone on the chair.

The waitress comes back with his card and then Dean collects his things and goes to his car.

Dean sits in his car for a minute thinking. He could just go home and wait for them to come back. He could also go to the bar the waitress said they were going to and find them, maybe even confront them. Dean thought about it a little longer... or spy on them. He could go and spy on them and they wouldn’t know he was there. Dean almost felt disappointed with his own answer, but it excited him the most. Dean started his car and headed to the next bar.

The next bar was super crowded like the last one and definitely not any cleaner. Dean walked around the bar, he definitely had less eyes on him now that Brooke wasn’t with him.

Dean took a couple laps around but couldn’t find them. He got the idea to check the bathrooms, of course there was a line again. Dean kept looking at the line of guys getting smaller and smaller, countless guys entering and exiting the bathroom and no one exiting or entering the women’s bathroom.

Eventually it was Dean’s turn to go into the men’s bathroom. It was just as filthy as the last bar. Dean searched the shared wall between the men’s and women's bathroom. He couldn’t find anything. There wasn’t a glory hole. Dean couldn’t find Richard, he wasn’t in the bathroom or the bar, the only place Dean couldn’t look was the women’s bathroom.

Dean left the men’s bathroom disappointed, where could Brooke be? Dean waited outside the bathrooms for awhile. He couldn’t just go and open the women’s bathroom door. Also there wasn’t really any girls at this bar either, could the bathroom just be empty? Dean wasn’t sure what to do.

Dean waited a little longer when finally a woman walked by him and opened the door to the bathroom and went in. A couple minutes later the woman walked out again. Brooke and Richard weren’t at the bar.

Dean was either given bad information or he didn’t get to the bar before they left. Dean thought of one last thing to do. He went up to the bar to ask the bartender if they saw Brooke.

Dean gets the attention of one the bartenders and asked if he has seen Brooke and he shows him a picture. “Damn, if she was here I definitely would have noticed.” He said.

Defeated, Dean leaves the bar. Brooke and Richard could be anywhere. The waitress at the first bar could have gotten the name wrong. Dean was on a wild goose chase. It’s been hours since he has seen Brooke and Richard, it was time for him to go home and just wait for them to return.