Exhausted I slumped back into my chair and took another sip of my drink. The bar was quiet it was peaceful. Last few days weren’t though, twelve hour flight from Chicago to Lisbon, Portugal, then a drive down to Sintra then non stop mediation between my sister and her husband. My sister was going through a bad divorce and I was trying to help her wrap things up as smoothly as possible. But the last 3 days had just been shouting and throwing of things. I needed a break from this.
I grabbed my lighter and cigarettes and walked outside. The air was cool it felt good on my face. It was dark I looked around, pretty quiet for a Saturday night. I’d have someone wanting to bum a cigarette off me at this time in Chicago downtown right about now. I smiled at the thought. Sintra was beautiful, brick palatial buildings painted in different colors. Narrow cobblestone roads. I took a puff and leaned back on the wall.