m o m e n t s

Another Night

She was in a green shirt the first time he saw her. That time, her hair was in a bun and her heart-shaped face was determined. People would pass her and the signs she held on paint-covered hands; she'd open her mouth and strong loud words came out. Words so convincing, words were spoken to make a difference.

Now he was staring at her once more. This time, her dress was redder than wine, and her hair curled around her bare shoulders. Her actions were hesitant, and her lips were on a scowl. A drink was being held by her hand like it belonged there. It was being drunk like the liquid longed to touch her lips.

"Another drink for the lady, please," he hears himself say to the bartender who seemed to be eager to please him.

She didn't look for the face that brought her a drink. She didn't even glance at the one who made it. She muttered a 'thank you' and held on to the drink, bringing the rim of the glass to her lips. She was lost in her own world for the time being. He moved closer to where she was and he got to see just how her eyes looked beyond their range.

"Come here often?" he asks. He finally grasped the courage to whisper in her hair-hidden ear.

She sighed but turned to face him, her lips curling in slight distaste but she was heeding the attention that he had given her. A second to look, and she had deemed him worth her time.

"Not often enough," she says.

"Anything a stranger can help with?" His left cheek quirks up as he was given all the encouragement he needed.

"A lover just left me," she narrated with a straight face. "I just don't want to be alone for the night."

The pulse in his wrist quickened at what she just said. Was it disappointment? Was it empathy? Was it hope? Or was it his opportunist nature taking over?

"I see." He clicked his tongue against his cheek. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Her nose wrinkled but then he was faced with a slight smirk. "She betrayed me."

Again, the girl managed to surprise him. "Oh," was all the sound he could produce after the information was bombed and drilled on his now disappointed brain.

"Yeah," she drawled. "Thanks for the drink, by the way. It's everything I need for the night."

He started thinking of ways to end the conversation that he started to find painful. She wasn't who he imagined, and whose fault was that? He could only blame himself. But the clock ticked minutes yet the conversation didn't end. He just couldn't resist admiring the way the girl in front of him was forming words. "Let's talk about other things then, shall we?"

She hummed her agreement. "It's true; life is too short to dwell on breakups." A half-smile found its way to her lips. He would have found it beautiful if it didn't stun him. "Should I know who I'm talking to? Or do you prefer to remain a stranger?"

"Jackson Elliot, I'm a corporate lawyer."

Her eyes flashed at that. "Then maybe you can help me sue the company that built a shopping center near the public market," she says thoughtlessly with a bitter tone. But then her face lit up again. "China Stacy, I'm technically jobless."

He tasted her name on his lips just to hear what it sounded like for the second time. Her first name leads to a conversation that he just knew he couldn't forget even if the night ended in a hangover. China Stacy was charming. She seemed to know the words that intrigued him the most. She was good company even in a state of bitterness.

Soon, her laughter was heard and he thought that he had done something right for the night. But then she stopped, and she zeroed in on his blue ones. "Hold out your hand," she requested with an unfaltering smile.

He would have asked why if he wasn't so hypnotized. "I just don't want to stumble when I get off this high stool."

"Are you leaving?"

"The music's good, I want to dance." She gracefully got off her seat while she gripped his hand.

"I see."

"You want to join me?"

He wanted to say yes so badly.

"Jackson."

"Yeah?"

"I swing both ways," she smirked as she walks away, swaying her hips as she reaches the dance floor.