The man with the gloves [bucky barnes ff]

70

Isla's POV

I knew it was going to happen eventually. I never ask Sam about him but I know they've been in contact with each other recently and obviously I don't like on the moon so I've seen the news about him and Sam saving the world and everything. But I wish our first encounter would've been at any other time. When I wasn't drunk. When I didn't just come out of the bathroom with a guy. When I wasn't wearing the shortest dress in my closet.

I shouldn't care. I shouldn't care about how he sees me or what he thinks of me but the way he looks at me makes me want to jump off a bridge. I can't exactly describe what it is. Shock? Anger? Please don't be disgust.

"Sam, hey." I give Sam a hug to buy me some time. What am I supposed to say? Do I say hey? Do I ignore him? Ask him how he's been? I break the hug with Sam and look at him. He looks so good. Seeing him makes me want to wrap my legs around him and give him a hundred kisses. Pathetic. "Hello."

Hello? Seriously? I try to find Gen and Orla but they're somewhere in the back of the bar so I can't spot them. I wish they were here.

"Hey."

That voice. I missed that voice.

"Hey." I say again. Seriously, calm down. I can't let it show how much I still care.

"What are you doing here?" Sam inquires, probably sensing the weird tension in the room. "I thought you were in California for a few weeks?"

"Yeah, we just got back like two days ago. A friend of ours is celebrating his birthday and he was talking about this bar so we wanted to check it out." I babble, avoiding eye contact with James. If I see him I will cry so I won't look at him. I fix my dress and pull it down a bit because until now I didn't realise how short it is. I feel his eyes going over my body and a sudden wave of insecurity washes over me.

"Who is that guy?" James asks.

"A friend." I look at him with a challenging look. That guy was obviously not a friend. I don't even remember his name. What I do remember is that he bought me a drink and the next thing I knew we were in the bathroom together.

"A friend?" He raises a brow. He doesn't believe me. Good. Maybe this can be some sort of payback.

"I mean, he was really friendly after all." I smirk and take a step closer to him. I will regret this once I am one. "Not that it's any of your business though."

He starts looking at my dress again. "You look good."

"Yeah, I didn't spend an hour in front of the mirror to not look good." I say without any emotions. He thinks he can show up out of nowhere and say those things. Who does he think he is?

"Isla?" The guy from earlier calls from me.

"I am coming!" I shout back and then glare at James again, getting closer to him and whispering into his ear, "That's the second time I said that to him tonight."

When I see his jaw clench and his hands balling into fists, I satisfyingly smirk at him one last time before smiling at Sam.
"It was nice catching up, Sam. I will see you around." I turn around on my heel and walk to the guy whose name I still don't remember. I even let him put his arm around my waist even though I hate public display of affection but at least I am ninety-nine percent sure it will piss James off so it is worth it.

When we reach the table Orla is talking to Saeed while Gen is busy with her phone. Her eyes shoot up when I sit down at the table with the stranger behind me. "That was a long bathroom break."

I don't reply. Instead I grab her martini and swallow it down with one sip. When a server passes our table I ask her for another round of shots. She smiles and writes down the order.

"I'll be right back." The guy announces and disappears in the crowd.

"Please don't." I murmur.

"You okay?" Gen lowers her voice. Orla and Saeed are still entangled in their conversation.

I shake my head. "He's here. James."

"Wait what? Here? Like right in this moment?" Her eyes scan the room. "Where?"

"He's sitting on one of the stools at the counter." I rest my head on my hands. This is too much. My whole mood is ruined now. "With Sam."

"Did Sam know we were going to be here tonight?"

"No." I know Sam had nothing to do with this. I know we were going to cross paths sooner or later. But why couldn't it be later?

"Did you guys talk?" She stresses.

"Yes." I respond. 

"How was it?"

I take a deep breath. "I don't know. Weird? I messed up."

"What did you do?" She leans back in her seat.

"He saw me when I walked out of the bathroom with that guy from earlier and when Sam called me over he was saying all those things. Like, I don't know, he said I looked pretty. Like what the fuck? How dare he compliment me after everything? And I was mad so I provoked him." I am ashamed of myself for how poorly I handled the situation. And I can't just blame it on the alcohol.

"Well, did he look uncomfortable? Pissed?"

I nod.

"Good. He deserved it. Fuck that whole maturity slash be-the-better-person bullshit. You've been beating yourself up over this for months so it's only right that you let him suffer, too." Gen rants. This is so unlike her. She normally liked him and always tried to convince me that he had his reasons and that I shouldn't be so hard on him. "You should fuck that other guy on the counter in front of him just to spite him."

I start laughing. "Okay, calm down for a second, Betty Rizzo. We don't have to go to those extremes."

"Here are your shots." The bartender sings when she approaches our table with a tray in her hands. She places the shots in front all of us.

"Thank you." I smile at her.

"Hey, I hope this isn't weird but I saw you talking with Sam and Bucky earlier. Are you guys friends?"

My stomach turns. And my blood boils. She called him Bucky. I take a closer look. She's pretty. She has a pretty smile. Prettier than mine. Her hair is shiny. She's taller than me and more slim. Her name tag says that her name is Leah. "I, um..."

"Bucky," Gen mocks her, "and Isla dated."

Leah's smile falters. "Really? Oh sorry, I had no idea. He never mentioned an ex girlfriend."

Of course he didn't. "That's ancient history."

"Oh." She just nods.

I can't help it but ask her if they are dating. Why else would she call him Bucky? And he even introduced his best friend to her. Am I overthinking?

"Oh, I don't know if I should talk to you about that. I don't want to make it uncomfortable."

"No worries." I assure her. "We are over. For good."

"Well, um..." She stutters and looks down at her feet. "We went on a date. And he bought me flowers the other day. I'd say we're in our talking stage."

She looks so excited and happy. I want to cry. "I am happy for you. He will treat you really good."

"Thank you." She grins from ear to ear. "Can I get you guys anything else?"

We shake our heads and she leaves our table. I avoid looking at the others. I simply drink the shot in front of me and excuse myself from the table. The strong liquor burns in my throat and is making me even more dizzy than I was before but it doesn't stop me. I walk out of the bar and go to the back alley.

Once I am sure that I am alone I slide down the wall with my knees drawn up.

Part of me had hoped that he was miserable. That he missed me as much as I missed him. That he couldn't even look at another woman without thinking of me.

But I guess I was more forgettable than I had thought.