make-up, which has completely melted.
I wash my face and take a few deep breaths
before opening the door and going back out there.
Luckily, the place isn’t very crowded tonight
because I’m telling you I don’t have it in me to
smile at a bunch of people tonight. Not a joke in
me. I take a few steps towards the counter where I
find Patrick talking with Alan, one of the regulars
atOnly4You,a middle-aged man who prefers
spending most of his nights here instead of at
home with his wife. I offer a half-hearted smile
and grab the tray to collect the empty glasses on
the tables when Patrick lets go with one of his
typical comments that normally don’t bother me.
However, tonight could be the final straw.
“Hey, what’s going on over there, you were
gone forever!” he tells me. “I have to go on break
too, ya know.”
“Sorry, I was on the phone.”
“Problems inparadise?”
He’s making fun of me and he has no idea how
much it hurts.
“Nothing that would interest you, Patrick.”
“You can be sure about that. I think no sane man
should be forced in any way to have just one
woman.”
I turn slowly, pursing my lips and trying not to
burst out sobbing before answering him.
“And yet your friend doesn’t seem to be having
a bad time of it,” I say, referring to Liam, Rain’s
