What We Have

𝕆ℕ𝔼

1997

The bar was lively and packed. She was lucky enough to find a seat at the bar. Two guys had gotten up, so she had luckliy just hit the jackpot.

The dimly lit bar, with black furniture and medium-toned wall panels, was lined with people from different boroughs of the state, and yet she hadn't spoken to anyone.

The music that blasted on the stereos around them was all of the newest R&B and Hip-Hop songs. People were dancing and having the time of their lives with friends and their spouses. All while Tommy sat at the bar lost in her thoughts.

She had thought about her best friend and how they could've been exploring Times Square together. Yet Tommy was here and she was there.

Maybe she shouldn't have come.

She had been here for a week and she was feeling lonely. Well, she couldn't say lonely. She could've had someone to spend her week with, Andre, but she broke up with him because of how unavailable he was sometimes and in more ways than one.

But his biggest issue was how he constantly distanced himself from her emotionally. It was either him not comforting her in her time of need. Or something affected him and she knew it did and instead of expressing himself, he'd bottle them up and shut down.

But it's not like this happened once and she broke up with him. This was how he was for the six years they were together. She tried to help him the best she could. But at some point, you have to stop helping others and look after yourself.

As she sips on her martini, a man brings her out of her thoughts by occupying the seat to her left. He had turned to get the bartender's attention before she could see what he looked like.

So instead of staring at him, she minded her business.

That was until he turned to her and extended one of his hands out to her.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Owen." He spoke over the loud music.

When he turned to face her she finally got the eye full she was looking for. His hair was brown and his eyes were as blue as the ocean.

Even though she was pleased with him introducing himself, it was still kind of weird that he was. Right?

"I'm Tommy." Extending her hand out to him as well; he took it. His touch lingered for a moment and it was getting a little awkward.

"Sorry. I uh, noticed this was the last seat in the place. So I felt if I was going to sit by you the least I could do was introduce myself."

"Well, I appreciate that." She smiled and turned back in her seat.

It was nice that he had introduced himself to her, but a conversation wasn't really what she was looking for.

"It's been a while since I've been out when I have days off because the job keeps me busy." She could see that he wanted to talk so she gave him what he wanted. "Oh yeah? What do you do?"

"I'm a firefighter at station 252." As he said this she had seen how his eyes had lit up. She could see how dear his station was to his heart. "And it's the second best thing I have in my life."

Seeing that he didn't have a ring on his finger he couldn't be talking about a significant other. Though she would hope a girlfriend would come before a job she didn't get the vibe that it was a woman he was talking about.

"You have a kid?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's my life." Pulling out his wallet and opening it the first thing that was seen was a small picture of a boy who couldn't be any older than three. "His name is Tyler and he just turned two."