Word by word, piece by piece, she exposed the truth.
Each day a new letter came, until there was nothing left to tell.
No secrets to hide, no stories untold.
This is the story of Layla.
Even though it took a bit more than a few careless smiles and a pretty face, it wasn't hard to love him.
However, it wasn't love at first sight. There is no such thing. 'Love at first sight' is simply just lust disguised by fairytale-like fantasies. I was not delusional.
I was out with my friends one night when I saw the broken man sitting at the bar, a Corona in his left hand and some coins in his right. He almost instantly caught my attention as we walked in. I immediately honed in on how feeble he was, an emotion not often expressed by men. He sat hunched over the bar, swirling his beer around in its bottle, peering up past his lowered eyebrows to stare timidly at the overhead television broadcasting the news. From the moment I spotted him, I knew he was broken. Everything about him screamed 'wounded'. I saw his weaknesses before I even saw his face.
The stubby in his hand soon became drained so he flagged down the bartender to order another. I watched him count his change from the previous drink as another stubby was placed in front of him, hoping for enough coins for pay for the new beer. He didn't have enough.
I left the table I was sitting at with my friends and removed a twenty from my clutch purse as he began raiding his pockets for extra cash. I slide onto the barstool next to him and slapped down the note down in front of the bartender with the comment "Make it two."
He looked at me, some of the hurt expression fading from his face as he offered me a grateful half-smile; however the pain was still evident in his eyes. The bartender accepted my payment and put another Corona in front of me.
"I'm Layla." I told the complete stranger I just shouted a drink.
"Jake." He replied and offered me his hand.
That was how I met him.
Yes, it was basic.
Yes, it wasn't anything spectacular.
But little did I know, it was the grand opening of my love story.
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