Contingency- [H.S]

III

~S o f i a   O l i v e r i a~

"My friend owns part of this bar," I explain, pushing the door open with my hip to be met by Contingency's familiar red glow.

It's warming somehow and yet floods my senses with this impending dread.

"Really?"

I nod at Jake, looking over my shoulder at him following behind me.

He's my date for tonight. Ez met him in one of her classes and said that all he ever spoke about was needing a girl who was confident in herself and her choices. It took a bit of convincing but finally, she managed to get me to allow her to give him my number.

After texting back and forth for about two weeks, we decided to actually bite the bullet and go on a date.

While Jake suggested a club, I thought a bar would be a little bit more laid back and easier to talk to one another.

Jake is... how would I describe him?

Kind of... short?

Stumpy?

I know height isn't everything but when a guy tells you that they're six foot and then they show up being shorter than you, it's a little concerning, to say the least.

With sandy blonde hair and hard eyes that are a darker shade of blue like the murky bottom of the ocean, a red hue illuminates half of Jake's face as he steps through the door and pushes me slightly in the process.

Keeping my hand splayed on the door to keep it open for him, he brushes past me and knocks his shoulder into mine with more force than what would be considered accidental.

"You're so welcome." I sarcastically snark, already mentally marking one point off his score already.

Sauntering up to the bar like he owns the place, Jake walks with an authority that causes me to scoff under my breath and roll my eyes at the arrogance he was oozing.

For someone who I was quite literally having to look down on, he sure did have a whole lot of confidence in himself.

I watch from a few paces back as I spot Harry behind the bar again. This time he was joined by Persis as well as another bartender who was a lot older than the two of them. Thinning hair that was greying and a face of speckled stubble that litters his cheeks as he chats to Harry while shaking a drink.

Harry looks different. I don't know what it is about him but in the last month where I haven't seen him, something has changed. His hair is a little shorter now, like it has just been freshly cut but the top still maintains enough length for soft curls to form and fall down to his forehead.

From here, my lips part as he rolls the sleeves of his almost sheer black shirt up his arms. Cuffing them just below his elbow, half of his tattoos are covered.

Finding a gap in the crowded bar, Jake powers ahead to shuffle through the hoard of people and sits himself on a high stool, turning to look over his shoulder expectantly for me. I follow through the crowds of people, meandering my way through the bodies to get to the empty stool beside him.

Flicking my eyes up, I once again find Harry behind the bar, three different liquor bottles skillfully tucked between his large fingers as he breezes his way through people's drinks orders. The furrowed brow is still resting on his forehead, a frown directed at one of the patrons who must have been asking for something stupid.

Once again, I have to fight the urge to slap Jake when I see him raise his fingers and click in Harry's direction with an air of superiority that he should be served the moment that he sits on the leather stool.