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"How's work, Bill?" Jessa asked leaning onto the bar top.
"It's work," I mumbled, slumping down into my usual stool. Every day it's the same tedious job, same stuck up boss, and same dull lunch. And every night it's the same bar, same stool, and same usual people.
I stared past a blonde women, with a dreary look in her eyes, and at the walls. They looked dirty and cluttered with the amount of graffiti that littered them. A man slid up next to the blonde women with the same look in his eyes. They carried on a conversation I couldn't hear, and didn't really care to.
The crowd around the television groaned a collective "AWE" before they began yelling at the screen.
"How 'bout I get you a drink?" Jessa shouted.
"Thanks Jess," I mumbled before closing my eyes and trying to shut the world out. I didn't need to watch to know what would happen. Whether the team won or lost, all those guys would go home drunk, some with women on their arm, some with vomit stained T-shirts. Most of the girls would go home together just as they came, and as always I would be the last one out. Other than the staff, of course.
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Jessa slid a glass towards me; it was filled with ice and had a slight pink tint to it. I nodded a thanks back to her and she grinned. She always loved having me try her new creations, and I haven't had a bad one yet. I saw excitement in her eyes as I raised the glass to my lips and I smiled--on the inside. The drink was good, spicy but sweet at the same time. It burned slightly as it went down, but I was numb to it by that point.
The room started spinning and the music, usually just a bare background noise, grew louder. I was about to ask her what was in the drink when everything stopped. I glanced around the room and it flowed with color and laughter. The blonde woman and the man laughed, and something besides boredom grew in her eyes. I saw the graffiti on the walls and it seemed exciting. Doodles of dragons and hearts with initials in them battled and danced beside each other.
"What do you think?" Jessa's voiced asked, flowing through my ears.
"What was that?" I breathed. I took in the colors of the TV screen, the intensity in the men's eyes while they watched it, the florescent signs behind the bar that have never seemed so bright, and finally, I took in the most beautiful thing in the whole world. The world around me became nothing but a blur; her golden eyes, her perfect olive toned skin, and the way little curls stuck up out of her ponytail near her forehead. Jessa smiled at me. Her teeth were gorgeous, with a cute little gap between the front two.
I watched her lips as she spoke and her voice sounded angelic. "I call it Love."
The End
This story was first published on Monday, August 17th, 2015
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