Time flies fast when you reenter the mainstream society. Things are going fast as usual. Once you set foot in that rapid, your whole body is swept away by the violent undercurrent. In contrast to my lazy lifestyle before, now I am busying myself. As an assistant bartender, your jobs are numerous; you clear away the chair and stack some in the corner. You'll set the tables back in proper places and places reserved for couples will have a candle on them soon. Jacques is onto rimming the glasses. Like all professional bartenders, he does this with utmost precision yet with speed. He manages to crust the edges with whatever thin and even. Normally it's my job to do those. Tonight highballs will be my job, most likely. They are the easiest to make. And straights, but each liquor calls for different care, like different ladies with different preferences. Missing to satisfy those preferences will likely end up in a disaster; customers are very sensitive about their drinks.

By the time I had cleared the store for business, rimmed the glass with Jacques and finally set up the stage for tonight's visitor, it was dusk. I still haven't bothered checking my phone yet. Jacques watch said it's 5:24.

I haven't had lunch yet. In fact, I haven't eaten anything yet. Going back to rimming the glasses and freezing them, Jacques was now rummaging through the storeroom to find the open bottle of scotch and bring out a couple of bottles of Belvedere. He opened the scotch bottle and took a long swig. When the bottle rim finally came off his lip, the bottle was almost empty. Not that there was much to begin with, but Jacques' drinking habits often surprise me. He closed the cap. then chucked it to me.

"Finish it. I think you need it more than me"

"Thanks. 17s? Leftover from last night?"

"A customer left it behind. Present for us I guess."

"Well, if he can afford a 17 and leave it behind, then he must be rich."

"Well. Does it matter?"

To be honest, this is not some high class bar that attracts the socialites. Rather, we aim to be a little bit more inconspicuous. The Hourglass wants to be a getaway from the society.

Where time flows down like sand in the hourglass slowly, where it tickles down bit by bit, until the sand has all come down.

Where time then finally stops. Where we don't need to worry about deadlines, loan installments, jobs...whatever that nags us at the back of our heads constantly.

Where we break the strong undercurrent that catches us unaware and send us to our time's end. We wanted to do that. Jacques only knew too well that before you knew it during high school you will be applying for university. Before you knew what University is you already had a job, trying to survive in ever difficult situations. If time started jogging in your teenage years, your time starts running in your 20s, then by 30s, your time starts flying. After that, your heydays are over. You will be then a middle-aged man, or a woman, desperately trying to support a family or feeling desolate in your loneliness. Very generalized, I realize that.

I'm just a 19 year old boy. To comprehend what Jacques went through, I would have to experience all that. I still need some time to understand it. But, I still agree that we should all take a break from the society sometimes.

That's why I came to know this place to begin with, anyway.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Did you ever had the feeling that you want to just freeze the time?

Either in eternal happiness that you feel as if you will never experience, or in heart shattering pain that will progressively eat away at you as time goes by, like cancer in terminal stages. You feel as if you want to just hit the pause button. Most people choose the first option. Perhaps it's their shining moment in life. Maybe they proposed and their love just said yes. Maybe they just won a Nobel Price for something, anything.

People say that pain grows as time passes, but then it also goes after a certain period of time.

What if you don't want it to go away? What if you want to wallow in your sadness, because that's the best you have in your life? What if, after all the happiness experienced and pain, the memories are too strong, so that you don't want to lose your connection with the past long gone by?

What if you want to hit the pause button because you want to stay in the past?

With a shaking hand I accepted a smoke from Jacques.

I needed this.