Chapter 1: “He's back.”
Loud music, neon lights, different kind of drinks, and such smokes welcomed her. This became her safe haven everytime she feels alone and lonely. Her life is at it's finest but she finds it miserable, well, for her it is.
She has visited almost every bar in the city. She's called as "Social Butterfly" not because she's friendly or what but because she knows almost all of the people in every bar or club that she goes and vice versa.
Martini strode her feet towards the bar counter. She sat at one of the stools there.
"The usual, Miss?" the bartender asked as soon as she position herself to her usual seat.
"Yes, please." she said. The bartender smiled at her and turned his back. He started mixing up her usual drink—Martini—her name.
"Here." he handed her the drink. "So, what's the problem now? You won't go here unless you don't have one. Plus, you only go here when I'm the one who serves the drinks." he stated as if he knows her. Well, kinda true tho.
"He's here." Two words. Just two words and the smile on his face became a frown. He knows what or who is she talking about.
"Who?"
"Gosh, stop being dumb. It's him, duh." Martini uttered in a oh-so-obvious tone.
"So?" he spoke as if he doesn't care about it.
"Look, okay? I don't know what am I going to do. What if we met, how will I act? How am I going to face him? Should I talk to him? Or am I just going to ignore him? What? I don't know." Martini poured all the alcohol in her mouth. Her gorgeous face looks so stressed. Her eyes looking a little red as if she's about to tear up.
"I thought you already moved on, huh, Martini? If you already do, then let him see that it's true." he stopped and he look directly at his eyes. "Tell me, did you already moved on? Based on what am I seeing right now, you haven't moved on." He earned a deadly glare from the woman she's talking to. Looks like he hit a nerve, huh.
"Whoah, coming from you? You're telling me as if you already moved on. Come on, Lance, we both know that you didn't. We're both experiencing the same feeling here." she said, mocking him. Her brows furrowed and her lips turned into a frown.
"Look here, we are talking about you! You—Martini, not me. So don't turn the tables here." Lance—as what Martini called him—accidentally raised his voice at her. He lost his self control as well as his emotions conquered him. Shaking his head, he turned his back at her. He started mixing up some alcohol beverages again.
Martini's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. She couldn't believe that the man in front of her shouted at her for such reasons.
On the other side, Lance was disappointed in himself. He shouldn't raise his voice at her, not with someone as vulnerable as her.
As soon as he finished mixing up, he then put it at the counter. He looked around to find someone who can switch places with him. He spotted someone and he signed him to go for his place first.
Martini's eyes never leave him, she's observing everything. Curious as why Lance is looking around and signing someone. Her curiosity got answered when the latter made his way to the stool beside hers.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you. That was an accident, I let my emotions have a control over myself." He chugged the bottle of beer that he served for them. He then continued speaking, "If ever he come back, I will make myself free just to help you. I can even pretend as your lover—that is, if you still have feelings for him. So tell me, do you still have?" he crossed his arms aboved the counter then he looked at Martini with his eyes.
The latter didn't like his stare so she averted his gaze. She silently prayed that he would stop questioning her because she don't have the strength to answer him. But he didn't, he started poking her arms so that she'll look at him.
Finally, she got iritated and decided to answer him. "I honestly don't know, he still have a place in my heart but I don't know if I still love him. Maybe, maybe he still has a place in my heart. Or maybe, just maybe I still love him, like the good old days." A tear escaped her eyes which she quickly wiped away.
The whole place went silent and is started to have a lot of noises. They were gossiping about someone, admiring how good looking he is and how he can make you feel flattered even without doing anything.
Martini started composing herself, not minding the noise of the people around her. She looked at her side and noticed that Lance is looking towards the direction where the other people are looking too.
As curiosity filled her, she then turned her head to that direction too. What she saw got her mind and whole system blown.
"He's back."
