Home is Always You

Something Happened Part 2

Last Night

Since its Jade's last night in town, Jake decided that they all go out for drinks at their local pub called The Watering Hole. It's owned by the family of one of their childhood friends, and it's a chill place in contrast to the club / pub across the street called Wave.

They were all at The Watering Hole by 10 PM and made their way to the table near the bar. They all had dark beer to start the night.

"How is it that it's already your last night in town?" Claire, Jade's childhood best friend, said. She added that the days seem to go by fast and they haven't really hung out much because of work. That is true for all of them, except for Jake, Jade, and Sean who are all just visiting.

Claire, though, has been working non-stop as a Junior Editor in one of the local publishers in Fairways county. She's working hard to get promoted to Senior Editor so she devotes most of her time at work hence she hasn't spent much time with Jade with her unannounced vacation this time. Jade completely understands her because they're both workaholic.

Sean, Jake's best friend and their band's bassist, is also part of their core group. He was also classmates with Jade in college. After graduation, they took their music seriously and were fortunately recruited by their current manager, Eric Park, from one of their local gigs. It was not too long after they signed with one of the biggest recording company in the country, Apex Records.

While their music and popularity has made them busy, they still remained close with their friends from Fairways. Sean and Jake are on break from touring so they decided to go home. They'll be on the road again within the next month.

Jade, on the other hand, is on leave from work after working non stop for 5 months for The Century's anniversary event. She figured she needed time to rest and be away from her busy life from Fort City.

"I know! It's been a while but I always feel like my vacation here isn't enough. But, gotta go back to the real world tomorrow."

"Alright, let's not get sappy here. Tonight let's loosen up and enjoy our time. It will be a while until the next one so I suggest we all have a great time." Jake said, raising his glass then the rest followed and their glasses clinked.

"Hey Jade, why don't I visit you when our tour stops in Fort City?" Jake asked casually in between sips of beer.

"Fool, you didn't even visit her when we went to Strike City, which was just a 20 minute drive by the way. You chickened until the very end." Sean exclaimed. Jake tried so hard to signal him to stop talking but he's not backing down. Sean gets too honest and straightforward when he's buzzed.

"What do you mean? You're crazy, you must be drunk already!" Jade said laughing, Claire agreed.
"Oh gosh, are we revisiting old unexpressed feelings?" Claire excitedly asked.
"Babe, don't start." Brandon, Claire's high school sweetheart, reminded her that Jade and Jake don't really talk much bout their feelings, as they didn't even address others' presumption of them dating back in college.

Both Jade and Jake just looked at each other and just smiled, both cheeks turning red from the buzz. They're sure it was just the buzz and nothing more.

In between downing rounds of beer, Jake asked Jade what her plans were after their time at the bar. She answered that she hasn't thought about it but that she might stay longer at the bar or go to the city park near the city hall to watch the sunrise.

"You're crazy! That's not a plan, though catching the sunrise is a good idea." Jake burst out laughing.

"No, really. But I might check in to The Plaza hotel so I could sleep and prepare my stuff tomorrow. My parents can't take me to the airport becuse they're both busy. Mark has a meeting and our youngest, Kevin, has a class."