"Are you feeling better?" asked Will as he sat next to me on the bench.
I took a sip of my hot chocolate and tilted my head, searching for the right words to answer.
Outside, the sun gently caressed my shoulders, reminding me that summer was approaching quickly.
I started thinking about Leon's birthday, realizing that I didn't even know the date.
A wave of sadness overwhelmed me, my eyes starting to moisten as I tried to dismiss these thoughts, waving my hand.
As I glanced at Will, I realized that he too was lost in his thoughts and finally addressed him, apologizing.
Will jumped slightly, but his smile remained kind.
"Don't apologize. I'm glad to see that you're feeling better," he replied, his eyes shining with warmth.
I started thinking about the conversation I had with Leon earlier, realizing that Will's advice would probably be a good one.
"Will, if I tell you something, can you promise to keep it a secret?" I asked him in a soft voice, knowing that deep down he would surely understand.
I started telling Will the story of my "friend" who was having problems with her boyfriend.
He grimaced as I continued my story, immediately stopping me. My heart stopped for a moment, realizing that he had understood that I was talking about myself.
"Sorry, it's just that it surprised me. I didn't know you had a boyfriend. In fact, I hardly know anything about you, it's scary," he said, crossing his arms, trembling slightly.
I looked at him, surprised that he had understood so easily. He dropped his head and laughed slightly.
"It's crazy, damn it," he said in a slightly broken voice.
I bit my lip, feeling a wave of guilt overwhelm me, and gave him a worried look.
To my surprise, he didn't get up and stayed by my side, ready to listen to the rest.
"So, I... I don't know. I've reached a point where I've never loved someone so much, but it just doesn't work like that. I find myself alone at home, painting depressing things and drinking wine when all I want is to have just one more second with him... " I confessed, my voice trembling a bit.
I calmly wiped away the tears that began to form at the corner of my eyes, thinking I had cried enough for the week. Will sighed at my words and quickly summarized.
"So if I understand correctly, he's ignoring you because he'd rather work?" he asked as my eyes widened in horror.
"No, it's not that, it's not his fault..." I quickly replied as Will shook his head in denial.
"Even if it's not his fault, it doesn't work. The fact that I found you like this, in this state, makes me think he's not even trying. If there was a minimum of trust between you or commitment on his part, you wouldn't be in this situation," he explained as I stared at Will, helpless.
He was right, but I couldn't just give up. I nervously crossed my hands, almost crushing them together under pressure, and felt Will's hand rest on my shoulder.
"Sometimes, it's okay to give up. Really," he added.
His sentence was the final blow and I began to cry harder, not knowing what to do anymore.
"Hey, hey, don't cry! It'll be okay, really!" He tried to reassure me as he gesticulated all over the place, trying to cheer me up as best as he could.
As I wiped away my tears once again, I forced a smile, as if trying to make him believe I was feeling better.
It's not that big of a deal, the fact that Leon even wants to go out with me is huge, and...
I covered my face with my hands.
I feel like I'm the only one projecting...!
After a while of calming down, I finally stood up, clenching my fists as I looked Will straight in the eye, a fierce determination in my gaze.
"Will, is your invitation to go to the bar still on?" I asked him as I stared at him in the eyes.
He seemed lost for a moment before nodding.
I grabbed him by the arm to pull him up from his seat.
"Then we're going to drink. Right now." I suggested to him.
He freed himself from my grasp, placing his hands on his hips as he looked at me intently.
"No." he replied firmly.
I grimaced for a moment, leaning my head closer to his ear while placing my hand on his shoulder.
"This is the only time you'll get such an offer, are you sure you want to say no?" I hinted at him.
He rolled his eyes, weighing the pros and cons, before finally accepting.
-------------------------------
"Wooh, I've never felt better in my life!!" I screamed as I put down the shot I had just downed on the bar counter, my head swaying slightly thanks to the magic of alcohol.
As I saw my vision starting to get slightly blurry, I smiled, almost innocently, when Will entered my field of vision with what seemed to be a glass of water.
"Thank yoooouuu!!" I sang while quickly drinking the entire glass of water, leaving Will perplexed.
"I don't understand how you managed to ingest so much alcohol... You, who said you couldn't handle it, just drank the equivalent of ten pints!!" he remarked, his eyes wide open.
I opened my eyes wide and pouted, still smiling stupidly.
"Well, it's to avoid people telling me to drink. Alcohol is bitter and not good, but I've been drinking it all my life so I can drink..." I started telling him as I felt queasy, which pushed me to stop in the middle of my sentence and run to the bathroom.
If only I had managed to get there as planned and not fallen off my stool like an idiot.
As I remained on the floor for a moment, looking at the ceiling with a strange fascination, I saw Will lean next to me, saying things that I wasn't even listening to.
"It feels good toniiiight..." I said as I started dancing with my arms while still lying on the ground, while Will signaled for me to stand up.
"Lucy, I'll take you home, can you stand up?" He asked me as I nodded my head, indicating no.
"No, no, no!! I won't go home until Leon comes to get me!!" I sang as I started to stand up, my head still spinning a bit. I grabbed my phone and ended up looking at the time for about twenty seconds.
Wow, it's reeeeeally late!!
Will leaned against the bar next to me, holding my things while I dialed Leon's number.
When he answered, I laughed euphorically.
"Whew, I didn't think you were going to pick up!!" I laughed as I heard a sigh from the other side.
"Did you drink?" was the only thing he asked as I moved my face away from the phone, a little disappointed.
I ended up bringing it back to my ear, a smile on my face as I looked at Will, who was chatting with the bartender.
"So what, I'm not allowed to?? I'm with Will and he, AT LEAST, wants to spend time with me!!" I remarked as I heard him sigh once again.
I took advantage of a moment of silence to ask the bartender for another glass of water while playing with my hair.
"Where are you? I'll come get you." Leon finally asked, which made me frown, not finding it funny.
"Gueeeesss!!" I sang to him as I smiled at Will, who had an oddly twitched face as I unbuttoned my shirt even more, feeling too hot, which meant that a good part of my cleavage was visible.
"Lucia, please. Tell me where you are." he calmly asked again as I pouted, finally giving in when I felt a hint of concern in his voice.
As I hung up the phone, I had a moment of confusion where the alcohol finally started to subside, and everything suddenly seemed less joyful.
"Lucy, are you okay?" Will finally asked me as he sat down next to me again, putting my jacket on my shoulders as I gave him a desperate look.
"My life is RUINED," I finally told him as he covered his hand with his face, suddenly seized with a fit of laughter.
I touched his arm with the tip of my finger.
"Why are you laughing, Will..." I asked him naively as I repeated the gesture several times until he finally stopped laughing.
"No, it's just that I wonder how you're going to handle it afterwards!!" he remarked as I grimaced, pretending to sulk as I turned my head to the other side of the bar, hiding my face behind my hands.
As I gave him a fleeting glance, our eyes met, and we burst out laughing.
It was the moment when we knew how ridiculous the situation was, but we didn't care, and we laughed as we pleased.
My laughter instantly quieted down when I saw the shadow of what seemed to be Leon entering the bar.
Will, who was laughing with me earlier, understood from my expression that it was indeed him I had called and his face quickly tensed up.
He quickly turned to me, approaching his head to my ear as he whispered to me: "Why do I have the feeling that your boyfriend is going to kill me?"
I laughed at his remark as I stood up, slapping Will on the shoulder as I grabbed my bag.
"No, no, don't worry!!" I replied to him as I headed towards Leon, who quickly grabbed my arm, his eyebrows furrowed as Will continued to stare at us from afar.
"Don't look at me like that, man, it's only the result of your bullshit," he finally said as my face fell apart, seeing Leon's eyes turn black because of anger.
Feeling the danger approaching, I quickly placed my hand on my chest, trying to calm him down as he didn't even look at me, his eyes glued to Will who was looking almost victorious.
I quickly waved at Will to try to shorten this staring match and leaned, standing in front of Leon's eyes to force him to look at me as I smiled stupidly at him.