Bottled Up

First Shot: Confidence

Emma glanced at her watch for the nth time that morning. She had hurried out of the train station and ran down the street to her architectural firm only to see its double glass doors closed.

Her office didn't open until eight-thirty and thanks to her anxiety, she had arrived an hour before it opened and an hour and a half before her presentation. She clutched at her laptop bag along with the canister containing her rolled up designs. Looking up at the tall building, whatever remained of her confidence crumbled. She suddenly had the urge to hop back into a train and go home.

"Why don't you go grab a cup of coffee and a bagel, Miss Emma?" the kind security guard suggested. He was a middle-aged man who Emma was more used to seeing at night than in the morning. "You still have time and I'm sure you can't have a big presentation on an empty stomach."

Emma only smiled at him. Truth was she was too nervous to even eat. She had a feeling that if she tried to get coffee, the increase in her heart rate would be more counterproductive. "Thanks. I'll do just that." She turned on her heel and walked down the street.

It was still pretty early as most establishments in the city opened around the same time as the architectural firm Emma worked in. There weren't a lot of people around and most of them filed into coffee shops and diners that served breakfast. The last thing Emma wanted to be in was a crowded place, but she also needed to stay somewhere she can kill time.

Between two lively-looking shops stood a small building that Emma didn't remember being there before, which was impossible since she worked around the area for nearly four years now. She didn't even notice its construction. It was like the place just materialized out of nowhere.

The new shop had only one floor and was relatively small. Its walls were made of blocks of granite- quite the contrast to the sleek modern design of the two shops that flanked it. Even so, it was still the kind of shop no one would notice unless they had nothing to do and was just looking around. Even Emma didn't know about its existence until today.

She stopped across the street from it and read the sign. "Bottled Up" was written in fancy script on its glass window pane and from what she saw through it, it looked like a bar. She decided to take a closer look and crossed the street.

Upon closer inspection, the shop didn't look "new" at all. Emma had been exposed to different buildings and infrastructures, so her eyes were calibrated to know if a building had just been newly constructed or renovated. From the looks of this one, it didn't seem like it at all. Weird.

The sign hanging on the door said "Open", but no one seemed to be inside.

"Who in their right mind would go to a bar so early in the morning anyway?" Emma said to herself.

Well, she wasn't in her right mind at that moment and the place looked quiet, which was what she needed. She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The interior was what Emma expected a bar in the 20s would look like. There were a few couches with polished wooden tables with a counter on the far side of the room. Soft music played from well-placed speakers and the lighting was a little on the dim side. There were shelves and shelves of bottles with liquid inside them, aside from shot glasses and martini glasses behind the counter.

"Welcome," a voice greeted her. Behind the counter was a tall person in a bartender's uniform. In the dim light, Emma couldn't tell if the person was male or female. They could pass as either.

"Uh, hi?"

"Would you like to have a seat? You look like you need it." They gestured at one of the stools on the counter.

"T-thanks." She walked up to the counter and took a seat. She set her laptop bag and canister on the stool beside her.

"What are we having today?"