closed starter → @livlis
It wasn't Dominic's first time in a hall like this one -- an old building never remodeled probably after the '80s, tile floors and folding chairs in a circle around the room. The speakers in he meeting he'd just attended were all good, but in a lot of ways, Dom didn't feel like they were relatable. He sort of felt like an outsider even showing up here, because after all, at least his dad hadn't kicked the bucket yet. Maybe the grief was in knowing that it would be a matter of time, but he didn't feel like unpacking that right now. Not when everyone else was mingling. He hadn't even realized the meeting had ended, and when it had, he found himself trapped in a social connection ring of fire, and he needed out. He brushed passed a woman standing near the exit -- and he didn't really take much consideration for her presence, because he was bursting through the double doors and desperately breathing in the fresh air. He found his chest rising and falling more rapidly than normal. Reaching into his back pocket, he grabbed a pack of cigarettes and decided to light one up, inhaling the tobacco and exhaling relief. "Fuck, man," he sighed, feeling a bit of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. That's when he noticed the woman he'd nearly ran into behind him, and he shrugged away an apology.
"Look, I'm sorry, I just needed the nicotine."
