The North Star | COMPLETED ✔️

Chapter 8 ~ Broken Puzzles

Jessie's stranger above^^ Hope you enjoy! 😁❤️

Chapter 8

Once again, the warm air and smokey atmosphere enveloped me in welcome. Only, this time, as I walked through the opening, I noticed more. The man in the uniform clung to the neck of his bottle. The woman sat with her photo.

But it was the man at end, sitting as if he hadn't moved, that caught my attention. His hair still hung in disarray all around him. His beard still touched his chest, and his eyes...

His eyes latched onto me the moment I walked through the door. They exposed me. I'd forgotten the way they seemed to cut past every defense I had. Could he see scars across my back? The ones on my soul?

I slowly approached him, how a hungry stray would approach a dinner table, and I felt a momentary pinch of shame to be back for more of his charity.

Despite this, I took the stool beside him and waited.

He motioned with his hand. "Another glass over here, Paul."

The bartender set a rock glass down without looking at me, then turned back to the others as if I didn't even exist.

The man tilted his bottle over, filled the glass to the brim, then went back to his study of the room. No greeting. No questions. Just free alcohol and... silence.

He was a blessing. A generous man with booze to share that didn't speak and didn't ask. But I didn't want his silence. I should have. I should have sang my praises to that bitch karma for finally doing me a solid, but what felt like a gift from the heavens also felt like a ticking bomb. He had to have a reason, and I needed to know what it was he expected to gain.

I emptied the glass and set it down with more force than I'd meant to.

He turned then, one brow lifted. "Something bothering you?"

I paused and focused on the burn worming it's way into my belly. Don't be a bitch. Don't be a bitch. He's giving free drinks. He's keeping his distance.

He has to have a reason... "What's your deal?" I laid my arm across the bar and tried to peer past his mass of fur. "Why aren't you... normal?"

His lip twitched. "Is it normal you came here for? Or Wild Turkey?"

He had me there, but still. I couldn't understand him, and something about that mattered. It shouldn't have fucking mattered. "Why aren't you asking for anything? I know enough about this world to know people don't  give away free shit. Nothing is free. So what is it?"

He turned away and took a long drink, eyes back to scanning the room.

I waited until it was obvious he'd snubbed me, then picked up the glass to take another drink.

Oh... Right. I emptied it.

I looked at the stranger. He made no move to fill it back up, and I cursed my own self for what I'd done. "I'm sorry."

His attention stayed fixed on a man stumbling towards the bar. "Why?"

Why? Wasn't it obvious? The fact that he, the one who seemed to know more than was natural, had asked me why only served to trip me up more. I didn't know how to act, and I always knew how to act. I couldn't read him. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, let alone what his story was. Usually anyone could get at least something from a person.

But not this man. He was scattered about like a broken puzzle. I'd never liked puzzles. Didn't give a shit about what the picture would be. But for reasons I couldn't explain, I wanted to see this one put together.