for â @eviehvrtleyâ
location: balboa bar
time: friday, 10pmÂ
These days, Mason left his home in Crystal Cove for three things: coffee, women, and alcohol â although with his well-stocked bar, his Nespresso machine and the dating app renaissance, there was really no need for him to suffer through traffic to get his necessities. But even still, his minibar couldnât replicate the atmosphere of a physical storefront (and really, he had started to miss real human contact), so he set out for a night out on the town, feeling a bit more cheerful than he had been for the past couple of weeks.Â
Although, really, he had no right to be cheerful, even if it had been more than nine months since he was discovered; eighteen, if you counted since it started. It was his mistake that he had to own up to â yet there was no one there to plead with, to beg to stay. A single text, and then radio silence, and heâd been afraid to reach out. It was silly to be afraid of the inevitable, but there was a part of him that thought if he ignored it, things would go back to the way they were after a while. Heâd return to the house and sheâd be there, sitting by the kitchen island with her phone in one hand and a spoon in the other, dipping into a pint of ice cream.Â
But Mason pushed the picture of her out of his mind, shifting his focus on the bar patrons. Of course, it being a Friday night, there were plenty of them roaming around, all done up and dressed up in their best adornments. As he headed towards the bar area, he zeroed in on the perfect distraction: a young blonde, probably one of those influencer types, imported straight from the midwest to chase her Californian dreams. Right as he passed by her, he immediately flashed a smile, brushing just the slightest bit against her shoulder â then, she buried herself into her group of friends, wide-eyed and giggling.
But his pleasure had been short-lived. All of a sudden, right as he turned, his stomach dropped â because after all this time, she was the only one he could pick out of a crowd in a heartbeat, was she not? It was only the tail end of her hair, the nape of her neck, but he could recognize her anywhere. Before he could stop himself, he pushed past a crowd of college bros and followed her through the crowd. âEvie?â Out of breath and in disbelief, he reached for her shoulder, grabbing onto it so she couldnât move any further.
        Since Evie had caught onto her husband having an affair, sheâd been going out once in a while after sheâd moved back to Newport. It was a place she hadnât been since she left all those years ago for Berkeley, and thankfully, her hometown had been fairly good to her. Of course no one really knew the inner turmoil she was dealing with, the broken heart she was nursing with the liquor sheâd consume at these bars. But Evie had preferred it that way, if no one asked questions or gave her pitiful looks then she didnât have to talk about it. The amount of times her memory punished her with what she had seen had been torture enough, and that wasnât including all the possible scenarios that ran through her head.
        The only people that actually knew her state were her family; they all felt bad and they all pitied her. With her sisterâs only words about it being something along the lines of I told you so. For months Evie had wallowed and sank into depression --- if it hadnât been for her job she might not have even pulled herself out of bed. She imagined that he was likely running around the city with her, hand in hand, blissful smiles upon their face completely uncaring to the amount of damage they had done. That was something Evie had hated about the affair and her broken heart --- how badly it had wounded her. But she really loved him though and she supposed that was the difference. The wedding band she had stuffed into a drawer had only become a reminder of what a fool she was.Â
        Unlike her husband, she hadnât been seeing anyone. Not even a one night stand since she had left, and it wasnât because she cared one iota over hurting him. No, it was because Evie didnât want to risk any chance of getting close to someone and the only reason she came out was to drink and dance, to force her mind to shut off. There was still something hanging over her and that was the fact that she had to file for divorce, sheâd spent so much time getting her ducks lined in a row and now Evie needed to execute. Tonight though, she had been meeting with her boss at the security company and a new client that wanted to meet her and thank her personally for her research. The exchange lasted all of twenty minutes before she was off, looking to put a fresh drink in her hand.
        Being so small and likely looking like prey with how dead in the eyes she likely appeared, it wasnât uncommon for a man to hand her. So Evie spun at the grasp on her shoulder as the all too familiar and painful voice rasped into her ear. Shock and horror expressed with her eyes wide and mouth agape --- yanking her own shoulder back and away from a touch that made her sick to her stomach. Newport was supposed to be the last place he would ever go. âMason,â she shot back, her voice soaked with disdain. âWhatâre you doing here?â Evie took a step back, she couldnât stand how close his presence was, which caused such a weird twist in her gut. Before January, Mason was comfort and solace, he was love, and now --- she felt nauseated.
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