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Another day, another shitty shift for Shauna Shipman. Being a bartender wasn't easy, especially when dealing with the various problems her customers brought in. Whether it was a bad breakup or even crime confessions, Shauna had heard it all. Just a few weeks back, she dealt with a guy who confessed to killing his own daughter. At first, Shauna thought he was joking, so she jokingly called the cops. It turned out he was telling the truth.
Some people confessed their sins to her, and she couldn’t deny it made her feel like a priest listening to confessions.
She never realized alcohol could make people confess everything, but this story isn't exactly about alcohol, is it?
"Hey Shipman!" Shauna heard her co-worker, Kevin, yell out from the storage area where the alcohol and other expensive wines were kept.
"What's up?" Shauna greeted as she peeked her head through the entrance of the storage area. Kevin had a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he held out an unopened bottle of whiskey. Shauna furrowed her eyebrows, clearly not understanding Kevin's wicked ideas about what to do with that bottle of whiskey.
After what felt like an eternity, Shauna finally caught on to what Kevin was hinting at. "As tempting as it is, I can't," she said to her friend.
"Aw, since when did you become such a buzzkill, Shipman?" Kevin teased, only to receive a shrug from Shauna.
"You're clearly missing out!" Kevin yelled out to her as she walked out to continue her shift.
"Whatever, dude. I'm just keeping out of trouble," Shauna said, hearing Kevin scoff loudly enough for her to catch it.
She was sure she heard him mutter something about her being a buzzkill, but Shauna decided to let him sulk with his bottle of whiskey. As much as Shauna wanted to get wasted and talk random shit with him, she couldn't. She had other things to deal with, like her drunk customers.
As her shift continued, there weren't any murder confessions or even confessions of sins, which was good. Shauna wasn't complaining; after all, why would she? For once, she didn't have to deal with those types of drunkards.
"This is so unfair..." Shauna halted her steps when she heard those words from her left. She didn't know why, but it felt like she was being hypnotized by a siren.
The brunette glanced at the source of the voice and saw a woman who was clearly in distress, probably there to drown her sorrows in alcohol.
Shauna looked at the woman and then at the glass she was holding before deciding to abandon whatever she was doing and approach the woman.
"Hey," Shauna greeted with a small but genuine smile.
The woman returned the smile, but it was more solemn than it was supposed to be. Shauna sighed and decided to go straight to the point. "So... what's bothering you?" she asked while drumming her fingers on the counter, waiting for the beautiful, honey-blonde hair—stop!
Shauna shook her head and focused on the woman in front of her.
Shauna saw the woman open her mouth to speak but then shut it again. She could see the hint of hesitation in her eyes.
Soon enough, the woman began to open her mouth again to speak, and there was only one thing the brunette was thinking about.
Please don't be a murder confession.
Please don't be a murder confession.
"It's just about the case I received." Shauna snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the woman speak.
oh..
oh?..
"Case?" Shauna asked, needing confirmation if she heard right.
The woman nodded. "Yeah... case," she confirmed, and Shauna nodded. "What made you so frustrated?" the brunette asked.
The woman sighed.
"I've always thought that everyone in my department sees me as nothing but a piece of glass in need of care because of how fragile it is," the woman explained, and Shauna frowned.
"Why's that?" she asked, now with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Everyone in my department gets really nice and not-so-easy cases to solve. Meanwhile, I got a fucking missing case," the woman said, and Shauna's frown deepened.
"Hey, missing cases are hard... you know?" Shauna said, trying (and failing) to lighten the woman's mood.
The woman sighed for the second time (Shauna counted it), and silence washed over them.
Shauna stood there almost sheepishly and decided to break the silence. "So... uh... anyways, what's the case about?" she asked, leaning slightly against the counter.
"Missing kids," the woman said, and Shauna let out a small 'ooh' and nodded. "Missing kids, huh? That's a tough one, if you ask me," Shauna said, and the woman smiled. Even though it was small, it made Shauna feel a little better.
"So... the kids, where were they last seen?" Shauna asked, and the woman immediately opened the file that Shauna didn't even know was there. Maybe she was too distracted by the woman in front of her to notice small details.
"Here. They were last seen walking near the woods," the woman said, handing the report to Shauna. The brunette looked into it and hummed as she read through the report. "And they haven't been seen ever since?" she asked, and the woman nodded.
Shauna bit her inner cheek, placed the report down, and looked at the woman in front of her.
"How are you feeling about all of this?" she asked.
The woman shrugged. "I don't know," she said. Shauna nodded in response.
"If it's okay with you, I can let you ramble about it to me... if you want?" Shauna offered, and the woman's solemn expression immediately lit up.
"A-Are you sure?" she asked. Shauna nodded.
"Yep," Shauna said.
As the night continued, Shauna listened to the woman ramble about the case, and she couldn't help but smile softly at the sight. The brunette couldn't help but find her rant about her case endearing.
Unfortunately, her time with the woman was cut short when she realized how late it was. "Oh, it's almost twelve," Shauna said as she looked at the wall clock. The woman let out a sigh and reluctantly rose from the barstool, gathering her things.
"It was really nice to meet you," the woman said with a warm smile. Shauna gave her a small nod and smiled too.
"Yeah, it really was," Shauna muttered.
"You know, I've never met anyone who put up with my rambling. I really appreciate your patience," the woman's gaze flickered towards Shauna's name tag. "Shipman," she finished with a small smile.
"Uh... yeah, no worries," Shauna said.
"It's Jackie," the woman—no, Jackie—said. "I guess this is it?" she said. "Again, it was nice talking to you, Shipman." Jackie said before waving goodbye to Shauna, leaving her there.
"Jackie..." Shauna repeated softly with a smile on her face.