lisa
caleb slid beside me on the booth and the mixed smell of cigarette and his strong perfume hit my nose. a frown immediately appeared on my face.
"hey babe, sorry that took so long." he drop a wet kiss on my cheek, making my lips pursed in displeasure. i push him away from me when he made a move to put his arms on the back of my seat. ofcourse the action didn't missed his attention.
"come on. what did i do again?" i look at him and seeing his bloodshot eyes makes me scowl deeper.
"i told you stop hanging out with people you don't know." i spat out. he let out a sigh.
"they have good stuff, lisa. you know i can't say no."
"yeah even if your girlfriend say no, right?" i huff out in annoyance.
"i already grant your wish to get away from your parents. what else do you want me to do?" he asked with an irritated voice.
before i can argue back, i saw someone stop infront of our table. i turn my attention to the person and saw a petite girl wearing a tight white blouse, the top two buttons undone paired with a black short skirt. i'm guessing it's their required uniform. her hair is tied into a high ponytail.
"can i get you more ma'am, sir? or do you need something else?" she asked politely.
the light is slightly dim so i can't see her face clearly but her voice has a hint of an accent.
"one beer please and my girlfriend will have—"
"can i have some water?" i interrupted caleb before he can finish his sentence.
i saw him looking at me with disbelief.
"really babe?"
the waitress looks doubtful, looking unsure if she should believe me or not. she probably don't get orders like this a lot specially in a place like this.
"who else is going to drive us home if you're already hammered and fucking high?" i hissed at caleb. he chose to ignore my temper and just turned to the waitress.
"you heard my girlfriend, miss." he gave her his usual smirk, while placing his arm around my shoulder.
"alright. would that be all?"
"yes, thank you." when the waitress walk away, i shrugged his arms off my shoulder with a roll of my eyes.
"what now?"
i didn't respond and just roam my eyes around. seconds later, i felt caleb's hand on my legs.
"no need to be jealous, babe. i was just being nice to the waitress." he cooed.
"i'm not fucking jealous." i told him the truth. i'm not really the jealous type. but he always assume i get possessive of him every time he talk to other girls. i'm not like those shallow petty girlfriends.
but ofcourse he ignored it again. he leaned closer to my ears.
"i only have eyes on you." he whispered before i felt his lips on my neck. i close my eyes, the words i want to say fading in my thoughts.
"i'm sorry if i failed you again. i swear that was the last. and i'll make it up to you back in the hotel, yeah? i just realized it's been awhile since we do it." he bit my earlobe before i felt his hand caressing my legs. a small sigh came out of my lips. noticing that he finally succeed, he use his other hand to turn my head and kiss me. I gave in and kiss him back.
we just stop when we heard a short cough. the waitress is back with our order. i cleared my throat as i fix my position.
the girl leaned down to put caleb's beer on the table and then my glass of water came next. as she put mine infront of me, she look up for a moment and our eyes connected. the strobing lights flash on her face and i got a quick look of feline eyes before she stood straight.
"enjoy your night." she said before leaving.
caleb continue to woo away my irritation by whispering sweet nothings on my ear. it's really hard to stay mad at him when he always say things i want to hear. after a few kisses, he excuse himself to the restroom.
i sip on my water while looking around the club. we're on the corner part of the club. i watch people on the dance floor move wildly while grinding their bodies to each other.
worry start to grow in me when caleb still haven't returned after 10 minutes. it's understandable if he's a woman because women's restroom usually have long lines but boys on the other hand.. i stood from my booth to check if ever something happened.
i push my way through the throng of wild people on the center to get to the restroom. as expected there's no men lining up outside the men's restroom. i was about to go back and just wait for him on our seat when i heard voices on the side.
"are you hitting on my girl??!" i heard a gruff voice before the sight of my boyfriend being pinned by another guy on the wall came into view. my eyes widen. caleb hold his hands up.
"whoah bro, ain't doing that. she was just offering me some good stuff."
i walk away as soon as i heard what caleb said. unbelievable!
and he promised just minutes ago that that would be the last time. i angrily stomp my way back on our seats and grab my purse from the table. i hope he get beaten up. i don't care anymore.
once i step outside, i walk towards the sidewalk. i shivered when the cold breeze touches my skin so i put my arms around myself as i look around. i'm not familiar with the place. everytime my parents get into fight, i always call caleb to get me out of our house and bring me somewhere, anywhere, where no one knows us.
i can always find my way home even without caleb. fuck him. i'm just so tired of all his promises just for him to end up breaking it every time.
"i don't need this!"
a loud angry voice cut me off my thoughts. i followed where the sound came from and saw a couple arguing inside their car.
"you think this will fix us again? you think this will make me magically forgive you for what you did again?!" she yelled, hitting the guy with the flowers.
"babe stop!" the guy tried to block the hit but the girl is too angry to care.
"go fuck that bitch i'm done with you!" she throw the poor flowers on him before pushing the door open and stepping out. the girl rounded the car and march towards my direction. i squinted my eyes as she came nearer. feline eyes. wait isn't that the waitress from the bar?
the guy quickly slid out of his car and run after the cat eyed girl. he hug her from behind to stop her.
"come on babe calm down. i know you don't mean that." the guy said. when his girlfriend didn't move to push him away, he move infront of her.
"it's you that i love, babe. she means nothing to me." he softly said while caressing the girls cheeks.
i can see the girl's defense starting to melt. and somehow, i see myself on her. she mentioned 'again' so i'm assuming he cheated on her and this isn't the first time. she gave him a chance multiple times just like how i keep forgiving caleb like an idiot.
witnessing the scene right now, i realized how pathetic this looks. how pathetic i've been for forgiving and believing caleb's words again and again. it made me toughen my resolve to cut caleb out of my life.
and i want to help this girl too. feeling the new determination in me, i rush towards their direction. they aren't that far from me and before the girl can completely make a fool out of herself for the nth time and forgive him, i snatch her hand and pulled her with me as i start to run.
"hey—" the girl gasp in surprise.
"what the fuck?!" the guy yelled in confusion but i didn't stop and didn't look back.
i think the girl was too stunned to pull away from me. we run and run and run until we reach an empty space. i release the girl's wrist as i catch my breath. i look back to see any sign of her boyfriend but thankfully he didn't followed us.
"mind to tell me why you pulled me out of nowhere and brought me here?" i turned my gaze on the girl and swallowed seeing the furious look on her face.
—————
"was it the third time he did that?" i asked, pulling mindlessly on the grasses near me where we sat. the view of the city lights in front of us is so breathtaking.
the girl took a while to answer.
"5th." she murmured with a sigh.
"damn." i muttered.
"you must be thinking how stupid i am, right?" she doesn't even sound offended. like she herself is well aware about her actions and stupidity.
"i wouldn't judge because that will make me a hypocrite." i told her in return. i tilt my head on her direction to watch her reaction. seeing her lack of response, i decide to ask her again.
"why do you keep forgiving him?" she lick her lips before taking a deep breathe. she run her fingers through her hair, messing it more. her gaze became distant, her thoughts going elsewhere.
"i just love him.. that's all. he makes me feel loved, like i'm the most special girl in the world. well except when he cheats on me." she answered quietly. i look away from her face and stared at the blinking lights from the city from the distance.
"caleb is good to me. he helps me escape whenever things on our home gets hard. but he also loves drugs and alcohol which mostly gets him in trouble." i opened up. this time, i can feel the girl watching me.
"he kept saying he's going to change and stop." i paused for a moment before resuming. "but ofcourse he keeps breaking that promise.."
i shift my eyes to the girl and found her still watching me with curious eyes.
"i see myself in you awhile ago, you know. that's why i drag you away from him." i admitted to her. her forehead creased.
"how so?" i avert my eyes on my hands, playing with the ring on my middle finger before answering her.
"when you're about to forgive him again. it made me think how many times i did it with caleb. i'm sorry for the word but you look stupid and pathetic. and i realized that i was like that too. lowering my worth and dignity just for love." it was silent for a few seconds. i was prepared if she'll take my words the wrong way. but she surprised me when she didn't.
"i think there's a term for that."
"what?" i turned my attention to her face again. i just can't help it. it's like i'm drawn to her feline eyes.
"lovesick? was it lovesick? yeah i think that's it." i scrunch my nose in confusion.
"is that even a word?" she let out a small laugh which made me pause and watch. she looks carefree and young.
"what's your name?" i blurted out, making her paused. she tilt her head slightly to the side as she regard me. maybe she's thinking if she trust me enough to give me her name.
"jennie." she said after a few moments. she offered her hand to me while keeping her gaze on me.
"lisa." i gave her a smile and shook her hand.
we both turned infront and just let the comfortable silence enveloped between us. the only sound was the distant noise of honks from the cars.
this is nice. it feels good to just get away from the noise and trouble of life and find tranquility and peace with someone who can relate to you.
"what's your dream destination?" i ask my companion curiously. jennie didn't answer right away so i waited. i thought she isn't going to reply so when she did, i let out the breathe that i was holding.
"i've always wanted to go to las vegas." she said, her voice tinted with longing. i turned my head and wait for her to meet my gaze. when she did, i tell her my thoughts.
"do you want to run away from here and go to las vegas with me, jennie?"