"absolutely, yes," he agreed. "Took me longer than I care to admit to see that for myself. "Wouldn't quite call or a relationshiT, but it wasn't good either. Hence, I am here alone," he held out his arms with a laugh. "Like, yeah, my girls are so important to me, but like she was, too, and I thought I did a good job showing it but the longer things went on the less it was reciprocated until it just flat out wasn't at all. So I walked away because it's not fair to me to put in a hundred and ten percent and get nothing back. Same goes for you," he pointed with the index finger of the hand that held his glass as he lifted it to his lips for another sip. "Bartender," John motioned for two shots which were delivered promptly and he scooted one towards her. "Here's to better," he held up his shot glass and connected the glasses with a soft clink.
"Absolutely, cheers to better," Nina said, raising her shot glass with a smirk. "And to not settling for anything less than what we deserve." She clinked her glass against John's, taking the shot and letting out a satisfied sigh. "You know, it's all about the give and take. If it's not a two-way street, then it's just a dead end, right?" Nina leaned back on her barstool, looking at John with a mischievous glint in her eye. "But hey, at least we're here now, free to enjoy our drinks without any dead weight dragging us down." She waved her hand playfully in the air. "So, do you think we should cheers to the next round of shots, or is it too early for that kind of commitment?" Taking a sip of her drink, she looks at John, "Do you miss them? Your girls?"
"oh, no, we're cheers-ing right now," he laughed, motioning for another round to the bartender. His laugh faded at the mention of his daughters, replaced with a sad smile as he met Nina's face. John nodded with a tight lipped smile, a sad laugh bubbling out. "All the time. I don't miss the fighting with Emily, but god, I miss tucking then I'm physically every night, their hugs..." He didn't intend for his voice to crack the way it did and he was grateful for the distraction of the bartender placing two more shots. He nodded his thanks and dared to look back at her again, with a sad smile still on his lips.



















