[18+] - CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Traumatized by life and grief-stricken, a young ex-soldier returns to his hometown hellbent on pursuing the woman he loves - a woman who is now someone else's fiancée.
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When she was fourteen, Love Johnson wrote a lett...
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The yellow lights above the board of 'Kelly's Bar' teased his eyes. Jonathan sat inside his car, drumming his fingers over the steering wheel. His other hand was on his chin, rubbing with his thumb over the dip under his bottom lip in disinterest. He sat there waiting for the pain of his life — Landon Furey — to step inside that bar.
It was a private space for a confrontation, away from Love and his family.
"You sure he would be here? It's half past seven," he grumbled, glancing at his wristwatch.
"He's always there. It's his daily routine to come and drink. I have seen him countless times at that bar," Benny said over the phone, his call placed on the loudspeaker making his voice echo through the enclosed space of the car.
Jonathan dragged a knuckle over the center of his forehead, feeling more irritation as seconds ticked by. The first thing he did once he arrived in Scarlett Hill was to call his Mom and tell her that he wouldn't be home at night. He had lied about having an important meeting regarding his father's insurance claims and Clary had believed it. He felt guilty for lying to her but also knew that if he told her the truth — that he had made up his mind to confront Landon — Clary would be very disappointed in him.
It seemed no one understood why Landon's presence disturbed Jonathan this much. How could Love be hiding secrets at the same time from so many people? It irked him.
A car stopped, its headlights flashing over the board of the bar. Jonathan dragged himself to the edge of his seat, looking to find Landon getting out of the taxi.
The man was dressed in a blue Hurley and slacks, his lips puckered as if he whistled a tune. Jonathan watched him as he dragged his pitiful ass inside the bar, letting the wooden double doors clap shut behind him.
"He's here."
"Jonathan, I need you to think over this. It's crazy man!" Benny warned. "You can't be this crazy about this one woman."
"It's not just about her, Benny," he said. "It's about the secret she is hiding. I have the feeling that she is in danger from this man."
"But Jonath—"
Jonathan hung up the call without letting Benny finish. He got out of the car, put his phone inside a pocket in his pants, and started towards the bar.
The street was occupied by a low scattered crowd, primarily consisting of men drinking and smoking. The weather had a chilly atmosphere even in spring; it took a nip at the skin of his bare forearms as his T-shirt sleeves were pulled up to his elbows.
He pulled the doors open, immediately greeted by lowly whispered chats of people, bright fluorescent lights that flashed a yellow glow over the crowded bar, and the scent of bad things. He had never liked this particular bar in town. It was a place all the morons and youngsters went to steal drinks, play poker, and lose their parents' money. If he were the mayor, he would have shut this place down as his first great step towards cleansing Scarlett Hill.
