𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑, j.mori

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

—— CHAPTER FOUR / the lonely hearts club

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"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" SHE QUESTIONED, HER BROWS PINCHED IN ANNOYANCE AND HER ARMS CROSSED. Mori scratched his cheek with a finger with a shameless smile. "My friends were busy so I thought I'd hang with you."

She flashed him a smile, her lips in a thin line, when in reality, she wanted to just punch him in the throat. "But there are customers here," the girl gestured to the whole bar, which was filled with its regulars. "And I'm going to be busy, so..." she placed her hands on shoulders and turned him around, pushing him towards the door, "you can come back later."

"No, but I wanna get to know you better!" he whined, turning around, "We're friends, right?" he asked with hopeful eyes—eyes Aella couldn't refuse. Her lips sandwiched together in a thin line as she robotically said, "Yes. Friends."

More like enemies.

"So can I stay?"

"Yup, you can stay." I never thought I'd say those words...

◇

"'The Lonely Hearts Club,' don't you think the name's a bit depressing?" querried Mori, popping a salted peanut in his mouth.

"I don't know, I didn't name the bar." shot back Aella as she wiped a wine glass with a dry cloth.

The bar was merry as ever, filled with laugher. A bunch of old men occupied a table, playing Poker, some college kids occupied another. Mori opened his mouth to remark on something else when he was interrupted by another voice. The young man, around the age of twenty leaned against the counter, his chin resting on his palm. "Hi," he said, looking Aella directly in the eye with a dazzling smile that showed off his pearly whites, "one martini, please. With olives."

"One martini, coming up,"

Aella began mixing drinks, with pouring vermouth and gin in the mixing glass and adding ice. Mori watched, his interest piqued, as she stirred the mixture of alcohol and then strained it in a cocktail glass. The way she did it was smooth, not missing a beat in her actions in making the drink, as if she had been doing this for years. With a small smile, she slid the glass filled with the drink, garnished with three olives across the counter, saying the words, "Enjoy."

The man didn't move, instead he sat across her on one of the bar stools and smiled at her as a thanks for the drink.

"Do you do any martial art?" blurted Mori, his mouth full with peanuts.