Blue Sun

"She Loves Him"

"I'll take a Bloody Mary, a Mojito and a Tequila Sunrise."

"Is that all?" the bartender asks.

"Yes. Thank you." Anya finishes ordering at the bar and walks back to her table, fully aware that the bartender didn't ask for her I.D.. You can't blame him. She looks 25 with work outfit and reading glasses on.

"So Anya dear, have you called the devil yet to ask if it's okay to even travel this long for work? Or are you gonna ask him to actually come with you and stress you out even more?" Alex sips on his water to shut himself up.

"Alex, stop calling my boyfriend the devil. He's not that bad. And no... I haven't told him yet. But he has to let me go. How am I going to pay for his new Xbox I'm about to buy him and the shoes he wants for his birthday...and those floor tickets for that basketball game?" Anya defends her boyfriend of almost 4 years. They've been together since high school. Right after she turned 17 and he was 15.

Their relationship was "fine" until 2 years ago. Anya found out Nick had cheated on her several times and almost kicked him out. But she can't live without him. She loves him. They've been through so much together and she needs him. But sometimes, when Anya is home alone at 2 AM waiting for Nick to come home from a party, a small piece of her thinks of what her life could be if she never paid attention to the little 15 year old scrawny gamer kid.

What if her 17 year old self decided she was worth it and could actually find a better guy? Where would she be? Probably single. But she would have fun on her own and not get yelled at for wanting to go out past 12 AM. She could sleep over at her friends houses and have a girls night. Or hang out with her guy friends. Anya would have all the freedom in the world... but she can't let go of him. He's her rock.

Over the years, Nick became strong, built, and tall. By his Senior year, he had girls begging to be with him. Obviously he liked the attention he was getting and would always do stuff with the freshman girls, using them however he wanted. They never went against him because he was hot and if they tried to say no, he could easily over-power them.

Just like he overpowers Anya. Anything she does wrong, she gets slapped across the face. Or hit on her arms. Maybe even kicked. So to work, she wears long pencil skirts and long sleeve button-up shirts to cover all the marks. She's gotten good with makeup and can cover up anything. So it doesn't bother her anymore. She doesn't really feel the pain. She doesn't cry.

They were each other's first.

First relationship, first kiss, first time having sex. Anya doesn't want to loose those memories. Hopefully he doesn't either.

"Here's the three drinks you ordered. I have a Mojito, Tequila Sunrise and a Bloody Mary" Finally a waitress came with the drinks. Anya can finally get her mind off of the stress talk. She takes her Tequila Sunrise and starts gulping it down without hesitation.

Carla looks worried but grabs her Mojito and sips it. Alex takes his Bloody Mary but sets it in front of him, looking at Anya across him. He's worried. He wants the best for Anya but she'll never realize what a real relationship is like if she stays with Nick.

Alex turns to look at Carla, "Can we go to the bathroom real quick?"

Carla gets up from the booth and follows Alex.

"Carla... Nick can absolutely not go on that trip with her. She needs to be alone and find herself and have fun. He has her wrapped around his finger. She doesn't even realize he's using her for money. We have to help her." Alex flails his arms around dramatically.

Carla starts nervously braiding a small piece of her hair and thinks out loud, "How could we even help? Every time we want to call someone for help, she screams 'NO' then won't talk to us for a day. If we want to actually do something this time, we need to do it ourselves. Anonymously."

******

After the trio finishes their drinks, it's 7 o'clock in the evening. Alex's boy-toy (hehe) picks him up for a nice dinner, leaving Carla and Anya.

"Do you want to grab dinner?" Carla asks.

Anya shakes her head no, "Can't. I promised to cook tonight. And I need to tell Nick about the trip. He'll take the news better if I cook his favorite food."

They head over to Carla's car and get in. "Are you gonna ask him to come with you? Of will he even want to go? When does he start collage?"

"He starts next month I think. So I can't ask him. He's gonna want to come but he can't. It even said on the info packet that only people who work with the company are allowed. My dad would make sure of that."

Carla starts driving, "Oh. Well would you want him to go?"

Anya looks out the window, "I don't know..."

Carla stops at Anya's apartment and looks at her best friend, "Hey, happy birthday. Stay safe. I love you."

Anya hugs her goodbye, "Thank you for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

She gets out and smiles at Carla then closes the car door. She turned around towards the apartment building.

"Here we go Anya..."

She walks into the building and into the elevator thinking to herself, "Should I ask him if he wants to go? Or do I even want him to go? Ughh this is so frustrating."

*DING!*

The elevator stops at the 4th floor and opens. Anya walks slowly down the halls, trying to form the correct speech to win Nick over.

Finally shes about to turn the last corner but she hears a quiet conversation.

"You need to leave. My main bitch is coming back and if she sees you, then I can't take you to the basketball game that shes paying for. And I really want to get in to that thing for free 'cause it's a lot of money for that shit."

Anya peeks over the edge to find out its Nick. But he isn't alone. He's brought a girl home.

"How could he do this to me?! AGAIN."

Anya waits for the girl to leave and watches Nick go back inside their apartment.

"What do I do? That's the 5th girl I've seen. Of course I haven't told him that I know about it, but that would ruin us... but he's the one ruining us right now. Right? Right... Ah shit here we go..."

Anya calmly unlocks her apartment with her key and walks through the door, "Hey I'm home!"

"Hey how was your day?" Nick asks while looking at his phone smiling and texting. No doubt he was probably texting some other girl.

"That's what I needed to talk to you about. But before that, I'm making dinner. It'll be ready in 25 minutes."