My eyes fluttered open, and I winced at the sunlight that's coming in through my window. I slowly get up and make my way to the bathroom.
Once in the bathroom, I stripped of all my clothes and got into the shower. I let the hot water fall onto my face for a long time before grabbing the shampoo bottle and squeezing a quarter sized amount onto my palm. Slowly, I lathered up the shampoo and worked it into my hair. A tear escaped my eye. I let it fall down my cheek and then blend into the shower water.
All I've ever felt since that night was pain. Nothing else, nothing less. Crying was usual for me. Sometimes I can't even tell when I'm crying. It just happens.
I carefully washed the shampoo off of my hair and put some conditioner in. I grabbed a bar of soap and washed my body, rinsed off, then washed the conditioner off of my hair.
I turned off the water and reached to grab a towel. The tears were still falling down my face. I just ignored them, like I usually did.
I went into my room, changed, and then sat on my living room couch. After about five minutes of nothingness, I told myself:
You need a drink, Kyle.
So I got up off the couch and grabbed my car keys. I went outside, made sure I locked the door, and stepped inside of my car.
I drove to the bar that was two streets down my house, The West End.
I opened the door to the bar and was immediately greeted by the bartender.
"Hey Kyle!"
"Hey Gary.
"I haven't seen you since like, pfft, twelve hours!" Gary joked around.
"Shut up, Gary."
"Geez, okay. You want the usual?"
"Yes please."
The "usual" Gary talked about was a tall glass of whiskey on the rocks with a cherry on top.
"There ya go, buddy." Gary walked over and left my drink on the table.
I heard the bar door open, but I was too uninterested to look.
"Do you have water?" I heard a woman's voice ask from beside me.
"Just a plain water?" Gary asked.
"Yes please." She replied.
"Are you sure?" Gary continued to press on.
"Just give her the damn water, Gary." I said in a monotone voice.
Gary turned around and walked to the back for a water bottle.
"Thank you." The woman said.
I replied nothing.
After a period of silence, she said;
"I'm Grace." And extended her hand.
I turned to look at her slowly.
"Kyle."
I shook hands with her.
"Well nice to meet you, Kyle."
And I didn't answer. I was taken aback at how beautiful she was. She reminded me of someone, but I couldn't quite place my finger on who exactly that was.