I ended up having to call a taxi, it was around three am and the rain was coming down in torrents making the already dark night seem impenetrable. The buses had long since stopped running and even the bar was a good few miles away.

I had a feeling the taxi driver was glaring at us the whole ride, I can’t say I blame him though. The two of us were shivering and soaked to the bone, to make matters worse Tiran was still clutching the umbrella I’d given him. I can just hear his thoughts, “If you damn kids had an umbrella why didn’t you use it!?”

Ha ha ha, sorry mr.taxi driver…

We dropped Tiran off at his house and then me at my apartment complex. The price for it all was pretty steep and I swear he charged me extra for leaving a puddle of water in his back seat. It couldn’t be helped though, it’s as they say no good deed goes unpunished.

After heading inside I immediately changed and threw my soaked clothes and coat into the washer and then the dryer.

As I waited quietly listening to the hum of the dryer and the roar of the rain outside I let my thoughts slip back on the events of this past night.

In the end I’d acted without thinking and then pushed straight through and somehow came out on the other side.

The more things changed the more they stayed the same I suppose. Then again I guess that’s just the kind of person I am.

As we had waited Tiran had been rather flustered, going on about the whole “we’re both murderers” phrase I’d used. I’d meant just to shock him with it but he seemed to think he’d insulted me somehow.

Poor kid had no clue.

It was nice for a while to share the company of a fellow murderer. Oh well, this is how it should be. Regardless of what you do there are some things that can never be fixed. I know that more than anyone. In the end I suppose that’s what drew me to Tiran. In that regard I suppose he was lucky things turned out the way they did.

Now it was up to him what he’d do.

If he decided things were still too much then there was nothing I could do. You can’t force a person to live, but you can give them a chance to.

In all honesty that cheesey talk about the future and opportunities was akin to pouring salt in old wounds for me. I gave up my future back then, just like how I forfeited my right to be happy. All I have is the present.

I suppose in the end I followed through on all this because I didn’t want to see anyone else make the same mistakes I had.

My brain wanted to continue thinking about things, about the past and present, about people here and gone but my body was on the brink of exhaustion. I’d gotten my second wind at the diner but there still was the fact I hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest last night.

All the exhaustion from the evening was finally catching up to me, and I ended up just dropping my clothes on the floor and passing out on my bed. Welcoming the dreamless sleep I was so accustomed to.

I woke up to my alarm blaring that familiar catchy rock song. I still couldn’t remember where I’d first heard it but nevertheless I liked it. Turning it off I came to the unfortunate realization that I was ravenously hungry. Come to think of it I’d only had one meal yesterday.

“Damn you past me, why can’t you be more responsible.” I muttered at the unpleasant feeling like my stomach had been completely hollowed out in my sleep.

So it was that I had my normal breakfast, two pieces of toast, two eggs, and four strips of bacon before heading out and catching my bus.

Disembarking at that familiar corner of Lily and fourth I took in that nostalgic scenery. Even with the rain pouring down the vastness of the ocean still hit me as usual. But well, I’d just spent an entire night lecturing a kid about this kind of thing didn’t I? What kind of lame adult would I be if I let myself get caught up in these twisted feelings that wrapped themselves around my heart?

There are levels of hypocrisy even I would rather avoid. So I tore myself away from the the stormy gray blue void in front of me and hurried my way down the familiar path.

“And now you’re on time? Jeez Mei just when I thought I’d got you all figured out you go and throw me for a loop these past three days.” Came Boss’ greeting as I opened the door to the bar.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Hey wait, where the hell’s my umbrella?”

“Sorry, don’t got it on me right now, was that one worth four hundred dollars too?”

“Tch like I’d pay that much for a damn umbrella.”

Yet he’d do that for sunglasses? Christ this guy…

Jirard was there as usual patiently waiting for the bar to open, looking up as I entered he gave me a soft smile.

“Boss said you weren’t feeling well yesterday, if that’s the case you really should call in. However I’m happy to see you’re doing better today.”

“My bad I’m sorry, my head was all messed up yesterday. I’ll be sure to do that next time I’m not feeling well.”

“Hey hey hey who do you think owns this bar? Apologize to me too?”

“Why? It’s not like you contribute anything to this place, if anything why don’t you just apologize to Jirard too for being so lazy.”

“Oy oy did you hear that Jirard? Kids these days I swear…” Boss said with a huff and pretending to sulk.

Before I could enter the break room Boss stopped me.

“Did you settle things?”

“I don’t really know. It’s up to him I suppose. All I did was point him in a different direction.”

“Hah, I like that. So Mei, what drove you to help him? Why bother in the first place.”

“I told you didn’t I, I did it for myself. I couldn’t stand the sight of him like that, so I intervened for my own sake.”

“Oh really, quite the cold cucumber now are we?”

“Hah look who’s talking. All I did was take a page from your book.”

So it was that after I changed and headed out of the break room there was a familiar face waiting for me.

“I brought your umbrella.” Tiran said, his voice was still quiet but it seemed like he was at least making an effort to speak up. He was carrying a backpack this time, it looked rather heavy, maybe he was studying before coming here.

“It’s Boss’ but thanks, you can leave it by the door.”

“Hey no, if he does that someone might steal it.” Boss interjected from where he had his face buried in his newspaper “At least put it in the corner of the room kid.”

Tiran nodded before approaching where I was standing at the end of the bar.

“I did a lot of thinking last night, I thought and I thought but I still couldn’t find the answer.”

“That’s fine, if it was easy then you probably would’ve solved things a long time ago yourself.”

“Yeah.. so that’s why…” Suddenly he turned on his heel to address Jirard. “Sir could I have one orange juice please?”

“Tiran, I told you before-”

“I know, but I think this is worth it. Could you put it on my tab?”

“Oy kid your tab?” Boss slammed his paper on the counter and stood up. “You’re really testing my patience you know, I already told you I wouldn’t serve you.”

“When do you collect your tabs?”

“Ugh, we don’t really get anyone with a tab but the end of the month. Why?”

“I’ll come back at the end of the month to pay it off. Then I’ll order another orange juice and put it on my tab for the next month.”

I couldn’t help but snicker a little at this. I know I’d told him to try and find something small that he had to do, but this was a little silly.

“Ugh Mei, do something about this kid…”

“I don’t see what the problem is Boss? If he’s buying juice and stays away from the bar then it should be fine. We need the customers anyway right?”

Boss shot me a dirty look, and the scowl on his face seemed to scream “traitor”

“Look I know I told you I hired you to attract more customers but this wasn’t what I had in mind!”

“What? I don’t see anything wrong with him, what about you Jirard?”

“Seems perfectly fine to me.”

“The kid can’t even buy alcohol!”

“When I come of age I will.” Came an unexpected response from the corner of the room where Tiran was putting the umbrella down before sitting in his usual spot.

“On the day of my birthday I’ll come here and buy a glass.”

Boss finally gave a sigh of defeat, neither me nor Jirard were helping him with this and he didn’t have the will to fight the three of us. “Alright alright, but you better damn well promise.”

I couldn’t help but see a hint of a smile as he plunked back down on his chair and picked up his newspaper. I was about to go prod him when Jirard gave a well mannered cough.

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Mei, it seems like one of your regulars is here.” He said with a sly grin hidden beneath his well trimmed moustache. “You should be sure to greet him properly.”

With that he slid me a glass of orange juice.

Ha!

It was just like him to do things like that.

“Heya kid! I’ve been expecting you. Hope your mom didn’t yell too loud at you last night.” I said bringing him his drink and placing it next to a text book he’d pulled out of his backpack.

“Well she wasn’t happy, that’s for sure…”

“Mei aren’t you forgetting something?” Boss yelled back at me from where he was sitting. “If you’re gonna greet a customer you gotta do it right.”

“Yeah yeah get off me Boss” I yelled back at him before turning to Tiran.

And with a smile on my face, I greeted my very first customer with all my heart.

“Welcome to the Devil’s Solace Tiran, I’m glad you stopped by.”