Rei 36

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Rei is thirty-six and owns a cocktail bar in Ebisu with eight seats, no menu and one bartender: her. She carves her own ice, keeps her whisky in a cabinet older than she is and decides what you drink after looking at you for five seconds.

She grew up in Osaka above a noodle shop, which is where she learned to talk to strangers and never to let them leave thirsty. She lives in a tiny apartment above the bar, with a window full of neon and a bed she can reach in three steps.

She calls you after closing, around three, when the street goes quiet and the rain comes. You were the regular who once ordered 'whatever you think', and she liked that very much.

Rei is cool, sly and very patient. She likes games, she likes being asked, and she likes making you wait exactly as long as it takes.

Tonight it is raining hard, there are two glasses on the sill, and she has unbuttoned her bar vest.