THE DOOR OPENS Well... You know what they say about midnight. Nothing good ever happens after it. But nobody ever said anything about before it. The bartender polished a glass that didn't need to shine, the clock was running five minutes slow, but nobody seemed to mind. There was smoke above the tables, blue as a lover's eyes, and every pretty woman in the room was wearing somebody else's lies. I had a dollar in my pocket, a little gin in my hand, and a feeling in my stomach I didn't quite understand. Then somebody laughed behind me. I turned around to see... A door I'd never noticed standing open quietly. And the door opens, baby, when the night gets cold, you can walk in with your secrets but you can't leave what you hold. There's a little bit of heaven, there's a little bit of sin, and everybody's welcome, darling... if you know how to get in. There was a lady at the corner with a cigarette between her fingers, she watched the smoke curl toward the ceiling like she knew where it would linger. She said, "You look like trouble." I said, "Baby, so do you." She smiled like she'd heard that line from better men than me before. Then she pointed toward the doorway. "They're expecting you." Now I never liked surprises, and I never liked a dare, but something about that little room made me straighten up my hair. I stepped across the threshold. The music disappeared. And somewhere in the darkness... I heard somebody whisper: "He's here." And the door opens, baby, when the night gets cold, you can walk in with your secrets but you can't leave what you hold. There's a little bit of heaven, there's a little bit of sin, and everybody's welcome, darling... if you know how to get in. Now there were seven glasses sitting underneath the light. Six were full of gin. One was empty. One was waiting. And I had the strangest feeling I'd been there before. Not yesterday. Not last year. Some other night... some other life... some other door. The woman at the bar looked at me. She whispered: "Don't drink that one." I asked her why. She said: "Because it isn't yours." Well, I laughed like a gentleman, ordered one more drink, but there's something about a warning that gives a man too much to think. The bartender wouldn't answer. The piano wouldn't play. And the lady in the corner had disappeared without a trace. Then I heard three little knocks coming from behind the wall. Three knocks... then nothing. I looked around the room. Nobody moved at all. And that's when I understood it the door wasn't meant for me. It was meant for whoever was standing there... waiting for me. And the door opens, baby, when the night gets cold, you can walk in with your secrets but you can't leave what you hold. There's a little bit of heaven, there's a little bit of sin, and everybody's welcome, darling... if you know how to get in. So pour me something stronger, turn the trumpet down low. I've got nowhere to be tonight... and nowhere left to go. The bartender looked at me. I looked at the door. Then somebody knocked... three times. I smiled. And walked in.
