"My mom asked about you again" he said stiffly. Slumped over the bar, defensively clutching his scotch.
She stared, no words could fill the tension. No witty jokes, not even the music lightly pounding in the back ground of the night life pub. The warm tones of the bar should make it feel cozy or homey, which is a reason for why the pub was popular, but Anna's back was aching from how straight she was sitting, scared to relax. She sat next to a stranger not her old boyfriend, not her old best friend. She didn't know this man, and honestly she didn't want to.
He laughs gruffly, "lost my job, my girl, my apartment, Everything. Only one thing that's stayed consistent, only one thing that will."
"Oh yea, James? what's that?"
simply, he raises his drink and shakes it, the ice rattling like a grueling reminder of where they were and why they were there.
Abruptly, she stands, no longer able to take the weight on her chest that had been pressing on her for the past three months. She was ready to let go. ready to move on and to let the beams of happiness warm her face after the constant winter of what was his love. Winter came and slowly but surely it went, the ice was melting away and she was better for it. She wasn't sure why she was here, why she was veering away from the warmth, from the sun.
pulling the 20 dollar bill from her pocket like her last defense, "get it together James. Sober up, put your life together, quit this pity party and find a job, but don't you dare pull me into this, don't you dare blame it on me." is all she could manage, before starting towards the freedom of the outside world.
"You always had a way with words, mon amour." James grimiced.
He knew, he knew it hit a nerve. Turning on her heels, she looks him dead into the eyes. Nothing there but burning hate. The song playing on the jukebox filling their ears because the magic was gone. They were faced with the cruel reality. People fall out of love, they cheat, and relationship ends. You can extend the end of a good book the same way you can keep a dead relationship alive, it's not in anyone's control, and when It dies It leaves a hole that you will feel whenever you see them, holes can not always be filled and they shouldn't always be filled, because when he left her for another girl, she knew it would be a punishment to herself, and she decided that wasn't what she wanted anymore. No one really knows how to fill that hole, so no one does.
"You won't be able to make me stay, so don't call me again. don't look me up or try to find me. do me a favor, if you've ever loved me. Stay away doll," she spits out. walking away with more conviction then before.
"Anna!" he cried.
"What, James!"
"You deserved better" his voice cracking
Sadly, she smiles " I know that now."
