“Have a great night, you two! Thank you~!” I waved a couple goodbye after they left the bar, and through the opened door they left behind a new customer slipped through I didn’t see just yet, as I went and picked their glasses off the counter to clean them right away.

Tonight, with Lisa having left early, I was alone during the closing shift. There was an hour or so left until I could go home, and so far, it had been a great day, and I kept a smile on my face to turn and greet the new customer, only for my mimic to completely slip up.

The corners of my mouth drooped, and my eyes widened in a confused stare, flickering back and forth, when Vincent sat down on a barstool right in front of me. 

These days, he terrified me. I could only gulp and continue on drying the glass I had just washed, my breath turning snappy as if I’d just run a marathon. Without looking at him, but forced to serve him because he was a customer, I mumbled: “What can I get you?” 

Why did he have to bother me again? Wasn’t it enough I’d gotten fired from my last job? Did he wish to ruin me more, and more?

And even despite knowing everything he was, I couldn’t help but think about how handsome he was, even as he cautiously smiled at me with an audacity I couldn’t believe. In a loose button-up, he sat across from me, toying with a coaster beside him. It clacked every time it fell onto the counter stone, making me more and more nervous. 

His hair was fluffy and wild, and his eyes as intelligible as ever. I never knew what he was thinking. 

“Just a beer,” Vincent responded with a voice a little too friendly for my liking. As if we hadn’t fought the last time we’d seen each other. As if he hadn’t blamed me for his girlfriend leaving him. As if he hadn’t struck me across the face! The normalcy he embodied angered me.

Did he forget everything that had happened between us? Did he care that little?

Carelessly, I drafted his beer, foam overflowing at the glass rim, and when I placed it right in front of him without giving him the honor of eye contact, he slightly chuckled. Pulling the pint closer towards himself, I felt his gaze stuck to me. “Have one, too. You’re done soon, right?”

“I don’t want to.”

“You’ve never said no to a beer.” I had only had them because Vince had given them to me. If I had the choice, beer wasn’t even in my top 3 of preferred drinks. But, of course, he didn’t even know that. 

“… Why are you here?” I sighed, slipping my towel off my shoulder and onto the counter, right beside the hidden sink where I had just washed the glasses. 

I really, really, really don’t want to see you! 

Already, I could feel the tears burning up my eyes, and it really was true: I was a weepy, stupid crybaby! Every time something happened, I just wanted to cry! I couldn’t control myself at all! 

“You ignored my messages,” Vince sighed.

“Because I blocked you.” 

He laughed, like an idiot. Does it surprise you, seriously? My eyes practically growled at him, and he shut his stupid laugh immediately after, chewing on his lower lip right after. A frown now dominated his face, turning angrier by the minute. “I wanted to apologize. Unblock me, alright?”

“…” All I could do was sulk. My heart raced at his words, and I hated myself for it. 

“I thought I could drive you home,” Vince now said. “You’re done soon, yeah?” 

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, refusing to answer, and that seemed to upset him all the more.

“Hey, didn’t you miss me? What’s with that attitude, when I came all this way to make it up to you? We can drink at your place, like in the old days. I’ll sleep over, how about it?” 

My heart cramped up completely, being wrung out by pain, twisted and turned. My chin quivered, and I turned away as I tried to collect myself. Before I could answer, the entrance jingled open, and a heavy, confident gait clacked across.

Immediately, I knew, by the sound and the slow steps alone, that those were Thomas’ fancy oxford shoes. When he turned towards the bar, they squeaked ever so slightly, because they were just that clean, and I twisted towards him, keeping my gaze low. 

But my heart, it was definitely going crazy, harder than upon seeing Vince. It thumped, remembering our late-night phone conversation we had had, and blood rushed to my face just thinking of all the compliments he’d flooded me with. 

As he took off his suit’s jacket, showing off his broad shoulders, and that nice vest he wore, and his entire figure overall, he looked over at Vince for just a quick second, and then back at me. He must have noticed the agony in my eyes, because even though the entire bar was empty and at his disposal to pick whichever seat he liked most, he decided to sit at the bar, leaving only one stool empty between him and Vince. 

He must have immediately deciphered that this was the ex I always complained about. With how I had described him, there was definitely no mistaking Vince for who he was. 

“T-The usual?” I stuttered, and Thomas nodded. An Old Fashioned. I immediately began preparing it for him, when he spoke up once more. 

“Can I buy you a drink, as well, for the end of your shift?”

I gulped, gazing over at him, trying my hardest to ignore Vince’s glare.

Did Thomas do this on purpose, now? Was he provoking my ex, or playing around, or did he truly just want to buy me something? Somehow, I couldn’t refuse, and I was glad my blush was hidden away by how dimly lit the area was. 

“S-Sure,” I stuttered. “Then, I’ll have a highball … Thank you, sir.” 

Thomas only scoffed, but I didn’t dare call him by his name, because Vince already sent invisible daggers my way, his gaze screeching only one thing: You won’t let me buy you a drink, but you let this guy? What’s that about, huh?

I could already hear him complaining about it, but Vince, who cared most about his own optics, wasn’t going to say anything outrageous when other people were around. In a sense, Thomas’ presence had diffused the situation, and ended the conversation between Vince and I for good.

And I was happy about it. Somehow, Thomas being here made me feel at ease, and I found myself standing closer to him than to Vince behind the counter, enjoying my highball sip for sip, while Vince grumbled as he drank his beer in loneliness. 

As always, Thomas took his time drinking his Old Fashioned, enjoying each sip, and eventually, Vince muttered he’d go to the restroom after having finished his pint. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, Thomas’ worries came to shine. 

“Are you alright?” 

“Y-Yeah,” I whispered, but tears already shot up into my eyes.

Smacking his lips against one another after another sip, Thomas sighed and took a peek at the time on his watch. 

“He’s waiting for your shift to finish, I suppose.”

“He … asked to take me home.” 

“Surely you blew him off.” 

“I … tried.” But I knew Vince waited, nonetheless. Because he had a car, and I had to walk home, and he could follow me with his car until I gave up and got in, anyway, giving him exactly what he wanted. There was no way he’d leave me alone until I agreed to let him sleep over. 

In the way Thomas scoffed and continued on drinking, slightly shaking his head at the same time, he must have thought Vincent’s behavior rather pathetic, and honestly, I could only agree, but I didn’t know what else to do when he didn’t care about what I said and only pushed and pushed and pushed. 

Vince returned from the restroom, paid his drink and left the bar, but I could see him entering his car just outside, and it didn’t go anywhere. He scrolled on his phone as it illuminated his face, and patiently awaited for me to finish my shift, giving me a nervous stutter in my stomach. 

I knew I was too weak to keep on pushing him away. In the end, I still liked him lots, and if he said he wanted to apologize and make it up to me, a part of me truly hoped he would.

Maybe we would cuddle, and watch a movie, and simply fall asleep? Maybe we would talk, and share a gentle kiss, and sleep as he spooned me? There were all these wonders of what if, and ridiculous hope. 

Even though I knew I shouldn't. 

That uncertainty and fear inside of me continued to reign just as much, so when he honked at me and waved me towards him through the opened window of the passenger seat, panic rose up within me.