Danny strode in like he owned the place, and his worn plaid flannel and jeans did not match his demeanor. He leaned against the booth and made a few selections, one arm above his head keeping his balance. The other hand intermittently stroking a beard of patchy white while trying to make a decision.

June was working the table where voters sign in, and had watched a few hundred people do this very ritual already. She was small, bashful, pale, and startled the older citizens with her short blue hair and nose ring. Her eyes caught Danny’s when he was wrapping up, and he shot her a grin. She could see the black under his fingernails which told her that he worked hard wherever he worked.

As he was leaving, Danny thanked June and the other two women for their service. The impact of his boots echoed in the small room for each of his nine steps to the door. As it closed behind him one of the older ladies giggled and remarked that he still looked as he good in high school some thirty years ago. Maybe even better.

Once the station closed, June headed north on Center Street to the Howard’s Bar and Grill, where she and a couple of friends agreed to watch the election results. The crowd here leaned younger, mostly folks in their 20’s and 30’s. But tonight the place was packed. Gaineyville showed up in force to see what kind of future they would embark on tonight.

As June approached the bar for a few beers she was slowed by the frame of the man in the seat near the corner of the bar. He looked familar from behind, but she couldn’t definitively place him since he must have changed clothes from earlier. As she came to a halt at the bar and flagged down the keep, she turned to her left and said hello. She introduced herself quickly as if to rip the bandaid off of the awkward scab between them.

Danny, who she was earlier assured by his beat up flannel, dirty hands, and attitude was certainly voting for the red team. His rowdy friends extending a handful of seats toward the door propped up that assessment.

So June stood there, leaning against the counter since she didn’t know what else to do with her hands. She felt the sleeve of her shirt sticking slightly to the bar under her elbow. She decided to speak up, and offered “Saw you at the station earlier, thinking your guy will win?” as a starter.

Danny took a sip of her seemingly light beer, and upon setting the mug back down on the bar, shot a grin June’s way before replying that he “wasn’t voting for a guy”. His smile grew as he saw the clue get worked out by June in real-time. She looked confused initially, then surprised, then relieved. As she was about to respond, the bartender repeated himself yet again to ask what she was having. In the best mood she’d been in all week, she asked for “a beer for me and my friend”.