HIS (Complete ✅)

Chapter 1 (The boring shoe analogy)

Tay shifted uneasily on his feet, his terrible attempt at dancing in the semi-crowded bar. He would rather be anywhere else. But today was Arm's birthday so he had to suck it up and celebrate with his friends. After dancing (if you could call it that) for some time he excused himself and found a seat at the bar. The bartender was a beautiful brunet with dark kind eyes. She immediately smiled at him when he sat on one of the tall bar stools.

"Rough night?" She asked whilst wiping down the counter. Tay simply nodded. "Would you like a drink?" She asked.

"I'd like that. Thank you."

"Do you have something in mind or do you want me to surprise you?" She didn't wait for him to reply. "You know what, let me surprise you."

Tay was already tired as it were so he didn't put up a fight. He silently nodded and watched her go about her business. A few moments later, she slid a glass half-filled with an unknown liquid over to him. "You'll love it."

"Thank you." His senses were drowned with the spiky smell of the liquor before the bitter liquid went down his throat. He scrunched up his face in disgust. He quickly straightened it when he saw the bartender looking at him with amused eyes. "I like it." He lied. She shook her head and laughed. Then turned around to attend to other needy customers.

Tay twisted in his stool to watch his dancing friends. They were lost in their own world. He wondered if they even noticed his absence. If he just disappeared would they care or miss him?

He shook the sad thoughts away and focused on watching the other patrons of the bar. Everyone seemed to be in groups. Dancing. Talking. Laughing. Or drinking around a table.

They all seemed interesting but a particular group caught his attention. Unlike the others, only one person was dancing whilst the other three were happy non-participants. They watched his outrageous moves and laughed amongst themselves. One of the men laughed the hardest. Tay's eyes zeroed in on him.

Time seemed to stop. The man was looking up at his friend. Smile wide. Eyes almost nonexistent. Tay's stomach clenched. His mouth tasted bitter but he could not blame this nameless liquor in his hands for that. He was jealous.

He wanted the man to look at him like that. To smile at him just like that. He wanted to be close to him. To know him.

Tay lifted his hands to adjust the glasses on his face. He swore when he realized he wore contacts for the night. He had learned to live with his poor eyesight. But tonight, he despised this shortcoming. He couldn't see clearly. However, even from a distance, it was obvious the man has paler skin than everyone at his table. When he threw his head back and laughed, his jawline cut through the air. Sharp. Tay's eyes fell on his lips. He shifted on the stool when said lips lean closer to another man's ears to whisper something.

He has seen many attractive people. He has very attractive friends. His line of work permits him to be in close proximity to beautiful people. Yet, there was something about this man that Tay couldn't put a finger on.

He quickly looked away when the object of his admiration glanced in his direction. With his heart in his mouth and mind scuttling with many thoughts, most of which cannot be said out loud, Tay looked back to the bartender. She gave him her attention again as there were no other people at the counter.

"Want anything?" She smiled.

"No thank you." He hadn't finished the first glass yet. He twirled the liquid in the glass to show her he was good for now.

"You no longer look like you want to run out of here." She observed, brows arching.

Tay could feel his ears turning red. Of course, he no longer wanted to. As a nervous tick, he moved to push his glasses up again. He groaned inwardly at their absence. And rubbed the nape of his neck instead. "I_erm," he stuttered.