Endless Collisions ⚜ McCall

{EC} 29. 1995

please ensure that you read chapter 28 beforehand. i've noticed when there is a double update, the second chapter is read before the one leading it. 

happy reading!

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Red Oak, CA

March 19, 1995

12:21 A.M.

For it to be well pass midnight in a small town like Red Oak, the streets were alive. Usually it would be covered in fleeting vagrants looking for their next resting place until the sun rises again. 

There was a man, however, straggling along the roads- desperate to arrive at a bar he and his friend would often visit. He felt that a drink would solve this unsettling feeling he was experiencing.

He thought that it was because he had a few couple hard weeks. But, the man was restless and felt as if something was being drained from him, every minute, and every day. 

He loathed it. He absolutely abhorred not being at his full capacity. Weakness is a disgusting plague that he tries to avoid at all costs. 

"I thought you would've never came." The man's friend greeted him as her eyes finally spotted her companion. "You look like a cat on hot bricks."

"You know that I hate when you use those silly metaphors with me, Julia." He iterated, sliding into the bar seat next to her. 

"And, you know that I constantly ignore your dislike for them." Julia responded as she waved, gaining a bartender's attention. "And for your information, Gale. It's an idiom." 

"Hey! What can I get for ya?" The bartender greeted the pair after slinging a towel over their shoulder. 

"A Manhattan, please." Julia responded with a smile and a nod. 

"I'll get what she's getting. Just make it stronger." Gale groaned out, settling his head onto the table. 

"Hey, man. You sure you're fit to drink?" The bartender queried, a concerned expression wiping over his face. 

Slowly raising his head to display the glare on his face, Gale pulled out his wallet and took out a large sum of cash. With his glare stagnant, he slid the money over to the bartender. 

"You heard my order." Gale blandly spoke. "Keep the tab open."

Hesitantly, the bartender took the money away with a nod. 

"Jesus, you look terrible." 

Gale and Julia's head then turned to look at the unwelcomed source of the foreign voice. It was from a lady. Her eyes were dark but slanted enough to staple an intense expression on her face. Her straightened brunette hair that framed her slim face fell perfectly along her shoulders. 

"Well, uh. I don't remember him asking for your opinion." Julia hopped in, defending her good friend from the criticism of a total stranger.

"First the bartender, now you." Gale dragged out, rolling his eyes in annoyance. He then straightened up his posture, attempting not to look the way he feels. 

"I only said that to say, I've been there before." The lady spoke, her head then turning to quickly give her order to the bartender who had appeared in front of her. "Ya' look like you're getting the life sucked out of you."