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She sits on a high chair at the bar counter close to the front door, which’s opened and closed every other two minutes. One of her legs is bent over the other, and she's sipping her drink slowly. Her hair's blonde and it falls nicely from her shoulders down to the middle of her back. She's in a quite short white dress that has a slight blue undertone to it. The blue of the dress brings out the colour of her eyes, which shine brightly from under her eyelids, that are covered in deep black eyeshadow. She's a sight to behold, and it seems like she knows it.
She eyes everyone in the bar, even Alex, who’s hiding in a far, dimly lit corner. If to judge by the way she bats her long eyelashes at all the other customers, she's a flirt, and a good one, too. Just like Miles.
Miles, who seems to have become a constant in Alex's mind these days. His thoughts are about his best mate more often than not, and it’s bordering on being ridiculous. Come to think of it, something has always been there. It seems that at the back of his mind, Alex has always been mesmerized by Miles. By his boldness, by his looks, by his chattiness, by his way of expressing himself, by his – everything, basically. But, as of late, this fascination has developed much further.
Alex was startled when he thought about Miles in that way for the first time. Not in a sexual way, mind you! (Though now he sometimes allows himself to think of Miles in such a way.) That first time Alex just got a nice, too nice to be friendly, feeling of anticipation when he remembered him and Miles were going to a pub that evening. He realized what was going on seconds after that feeling sprung and was properly shocked. Thank god by that time Alex had already known he likes men, too, because finding out that he is romantically attracted to his best mate and that he’s not straight, at the same time, would’ve doubtlessly been the death of him.
It’s been a few years since the big realization, and, despite Alex’s wishes, his feelings haven’t disappeared. On the contrary, nowadays he seems to be incapable of not thinking about Miles for as long as five minutes in a row. Every idea Alex comes up with, he wants to share with his friend; every new place he wants to visit, he wants to visit with Miles. However nice it can be to think of your loved one, it’s gravely frustrating when you know your feelings aren’t reciprocated.
Or maybe they are? Their relationship has been slightly different lately. Alex doesn’t want to trick himself into believing in things that aren’t true, but it feels like, after all, Miles might be at least just a little bit attracted to Alex. Miles’s jokes have become even more sexual (though one could argue if it’s been possible in the first place), his touches – more frequent, and his hugs – tighter. Alex has caught Miles staring at him a couple of times and has been greatly shocked by the hungry look in Miles’s eyes. In one of these instances the dirty fucker even licked his lips!
So, Alex’s figured his love (it was scary to admit, but he indeed loves Miles) might not be unrequited. That brings him here, to this bar, where he’s asked Miles to come, with a full-on intention of confessing his feelings.
Alex is shaking with anxiety, but he believes he’s doing the right thing. Of course, it won’t be easy if Miles doesn’t want their relationship to become one of a romantic nature, but they’re Alex and Miles, for Heaven’s sake! They’ve been through a lot, and they will get through this, too. Though Alex doesn’t want them to be through it, he wants to call Miles his for the rest of their lives. And if he wants it, there’s no way of getting it without telling Miles.
Alex has been restless for the whole day, so he is early at the bar. Which leaves him with nothing to do, but to people-watch. Thank god there’s this pretty and mischievous-looking blonde, who’s so nice to rest one’s eyes on, because otherwise Alex would’ve been bored out of his mind and even more anxious.
The door opens once again, and Alex glances at the entrance to see if the new customer is the one and only that matters to him. To Alex’s delight, it is indeed Miles who enters the slightly overcrowded bar.
Miles’s searching gaze crosses the bar and Alex sits up straight so that he is easier to notice. Turns out hiding in a faraway corner wasn’t the best decision of the evening as Miles fails to spot Alex right away. He eyes the place once again, and then for a third time for a good measure. Alex realizes that Miles won’t notice him if he stays where he is. So, Alex places his hands on the table for support and proceeds to stand up, looking down briefly to make sure he isn’t going to trip on his own feet.
As he steadies himself and smooths his shirt, Alex lifts his head up to once again set his eyes on his (hopefully) soon-to-be boyfriend. The man in question, however, isn’t still searching for Alex. Instead, Miles is moving through the bar in a completely opposite direction.
Alex pauses at that, puzzled. He follows Miles’s gaze and notices that his friend is approaching the bar counter. ‘Oh, he must want to get a drink’, Alex thinks and exhales deeply, his nerves on high alert. Alex wants to steady his breathing a bit before coming up to Miles because he doesn’t want to come across as a nervous wreck. When he feels calm enough to move from his hiding place, Miles has already reached his destination.
Oddly enough, it’s not the bar counter. Well, Miles is actually standing at the counter, but he’s not speaking to the bartender. Instead, he is having a conversation with that beautiful girl in a baby blue dress who Alex was appreciating earlier.
Miles seems to get along with the stunner. As far as Alex knows, they’ve never met before, but both of them are already laughing at some joke no doubt Miles’s cracked. This sight puts Alex off a little, so he makes no attempt to move from near his table. He thinks hard, weighing his options. He can come out of the so pleasant dark corner to greet Miles right now and might be ambushed by tons of people who want to take a picture with him, or he can wait for a couple of minutes when, inevitably, Miles looks around again and finally notices him. If you put it this way, it’s an easy choice. So, waiting it is! Now that Alex knows he is hard to spot, he will wave his hand at Miles when the latter looks for him, so everything’s going to be fine. Waiting has never done anyone harm.
Oh, how much Alex wishes to sit in a spot the pretty lady is at now! She’s chatting with his friend, which, of course, brings her lots of fun. Her fascinating eyes are lit up even more by her wide smile. Miles’s back is turned to Alex, but by the way his shoulders move, it is clear that he’s laughing wholeheartedly. The girl moves to the edge of her chair so that her knees lightly touch Miles’s thighs.
Alex must’ve missed the moment when Miles’s ordered his drink, because what other reason can make him stay at the counter for so long?
A few minutes pass. The couple at the counter continue talking animatedly. The beauty leans up closer to Miles and whispers something in his ear.
That’s strange. Why would she need to talk so low in a crowded bar?
As the girl’s lips brush Miles’s ear, he gets hold of her knee. Alex can see that she giggles, and he can also see that Miles takes it as an encouragement and starts rubbing circles into her thigh with his fingers.
What the fuck is going on? Miles’s drink must be ready for a long time now! Alex’s annoyance takes the better of him, and at long last he decides to make a trip through the whole bar to get to Miles, strangers and their possible desire to take photos with him be damned.
He raises to his feet again, and just as he does it, he notices Miles and the stunning lady share an intense look, and the next second they’re kissing passionately.
Alex’s feet become wobbly and weak, and he drops back to his seat. There’s a loud ringing in his ears, and the only thing he can hear at the moment is the pounding of his heart. Everything feels numb, but everything hurts. The couple in front of Alex doesn’t stop their make out session. Alex’s never thought kissing can be so revolting, and yet, he would throw up right now if only he could move.
Alex’s eyes are fixed on Miles’s nape and her hand on it. It is so, so, so painful to watch, but he can’t look away. After roughly five minutes of making out, Miles takes the stunner by the hand and uses his other hand to type something on his phone, while they leave the bar together.
Alex is completely frozen. He is still gazing at the spot where Miles’s head was minutes ago. He can’t believe what he’s just witnessed is true. It just can’t be so, can it? It definitely shouldn’t be. All these looks that Miles’s given him, all his sexual innuendos, all his attention. Has it all been only a game? A simple joke? Has Alex misinterpreted the signs? He knows Miles so well, he couldn’t have been wrong. Does he really know his friend, though? It seems like Alex’s been imaging things about Miles for a while now…
Alex is brought back to the real world only two hours later, when someone from the staff asks him if he was going to order anything. Alex shakes his head and reaches for his phone to order taxi home where he can have a quiet drinking night in. He unlocks the device and sees a notification that, apparently, appeared there several hours ago.
Sorry, man, couldn’t find you at the bar, see you next time?