what does "of having a cold one"mean? And maybe Abra would get off his back. And if under it he proved to himself as much as to her he could walk into the village bar, have a beer, with no problem, so much the better. He liked bars, he reminded himself. He liked the atmosphere, the characters, the conversations, the companionship of having a cold one in company. Or he had. Added to it, he could consider it a kind of research. Writing might be a solitary profession—which he’d discovered suited him down to the ground—but it did require seeing, feeling, observing and the rare inter-action. Otherwise he’d end up writing in a vacuum.