WILD BUT NEVER FREE

Quinn

Westley and I stayed in the seedy bar late into the early hours, both trying to find an escape in the dregs of every pint glass we consumed.

We had strayed from the formalities of discussing the hidden facts behind the trial and had moved onto joking around, exchanging stories of our pasts and hopes for the future. It was possibly the first time since Cassi died that I felt fully at ease; genuinely happy.

At about one in the morning, the two of us realised how late it was and also how drunk we were, meaning West would have to leave his car and call a cab home instead, but in our drunken stupor he didn't seem put out by the idea one bit.

We stumbled into a cab, which I directed to my flat and within half an hour we had arrived outside by apartment complex. I expected Westley to hitch the cab back to his place afterwards, but instead he jumped out at the same time I had, taking me by obvious surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Atlas." Westley slurred, shutting his eyes closed as he realised the mistake he had made as the cab flew off down the road. "Do you mind me crashing here?"

A part of me felt anxious. Westley was a successful man, who obviously had much more to show for himself than I, and letting him into the home I had worked my arse off for made me nervous.

"No, of course not." I said unconvincingly, glad that Westley was too drunk to notice my anxiety.

I managed to walk pretty solidly to the entrance to the block of flats, whereas my new friend was stumbling behind me, tripping every time he placed one foot in front of the other. I couldn't help but laugh, seeing such a formal and presentable man lose his senses was bound to be humorous.

I managed to get the key in the front door and had to help Westley up the flights of stairs to reach my apartment, which he practically fell into, squinting as I turned the lights on.

I threw my keys onto the long table in the open plan kitchen, and shook off my suit jacket, placing it onto one of the chairs, aware from the silence behind me that Westley had either collapsed or was checking out the place, just as I had expected.

"This isn't your flat." Westley said strangely, causing me to give him a look of confusion as to what he meant. He was looking around quizzically, but the look of judgement I was expecting to see wasn't there.

"I had to look into every detail about you, you know. The flat you signed for with York..." He trailed off, making a grand gesture to the open space around him, "This isn't that flat."

His remark rendered me speechless and sobered me up pretty much instantly. Of course he knew everything about me, I had to stop being so naive when it came to everything regarding the trial.

"Shit." Westley said, slumping down into the grey sofa just to the right of where he was stood. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have been so creepy. I was just shocked, this place is great, Atlas."

He looked around at the space with wide eyes, taking in details in a way that filled me with pride. I was greatly warming to Westley, and revelled in the rare occurrence of me actually making another friend.

It was that thought that made me spill what I said next, "I moved out of that place with York after I got engaged. I moved into this place with my fiancée close to a year ago."

"You're getting married? You're a man full of secrets, Atlas."

I gave a sad smile and then sat down next to him staring into the open space in front of me, refusing to look at my new friend despite the fact his drunken gaze was heavily fixed on me.

"No. She walked out a while ago." I corrected sadly, painfully milling on the subject that hurt me the most.

"Oh shit, what happened?" Westley's curiosity was obviously the consequence of the alcohol rushing through his body, but for the first time in forever, I didn't mind someone asking.