Rain

Chapter 5: Reckless Abandon

The girl blew a lock of hair from her eyes, staring at the red velvet wall across the room, it's smooth, silky surfaced laced with a lighter shade of crimson swirls that spread over the whole wall. Anna had gotten bored.

On the otherside of the heavy curtain whose fabric matched that of the wallpaper, a live band had gone on stage, electronic music spinning muffled into the smoking room from an unseen computer. And yet there was no text, no call, no message or anything from Liam. After walking out what seemed like hours ago, the young man hadn't returned, and as horrificly hypocritical it sounded, Anna almost wished he were here.

But the bastard had abandoned her.

After a while, the girl gave up waiting and stood, straightening her dress and hoping her hair hadn't gone completely awry before stepping out of the back room to the vibrating base of the music in the dimly lit club. Cheers and slurred voices flowed from the dance floor as Anna made her way, head down, to the bar, where the bartender was cleaning a glass.

"What can I do ya for miss?"

He asked, having to shout over the music, flashing her a smile and leaning on the counter to look at a flustered and exasperated Anna, who folded her arms over her chest.

"Oh er, I just wanted to know what time it was... but I'll take a shot of something to get my mind off things."

She said tiredly, aware of how strangely natural the words came out as she sighed and rested her elbows on the counter top while the man opposite her nodded and turned, pulling an unreadable glass bottle off the shelf.

"It's about 10:45 ma'am, and here ya go, this should hold you up alright."

The bartender said with a wink, nodding and sliding the shot across the counter before turning to help the next costumer, leaving Anna to started shocked at the small glass.

10:45. I've been here for 2 hours, 2 and a half total if you count the time Liam was actually here.

So he had ditched her after all. Anna didn't undertsnad why, but the tears were in her eyes before she could finish the thought, and the young woman downed the drink quickly before setting the glass down with a shaky hand and stepping away from the bar. The burn she'd felt in her throat from the drink earlier that night was all but blocked out from the pain in her chest.

"Er, you alright miss? Lost your date? .... That ones on the house."

The man said after serving another person, a knowing frown on his face as he polished another glass, nodding to Anna's empty shot. The girl gave a distracted, pained smile at him in thanks before hunching her shoulders and heading back out the door.

Outside, the lighting was about the same as inside The Circuit, but the music was almost non existent, replaced with the sounds of city night life, overlayed with the pitterpatter of rain on the sidewalk. Anna looked around for a moment before biting her lip and turning in the direction she hoped they had come from, moving quickly so as not to get wet, when she was suddenly stopped by a hand tugging her elbow.

"Excuse me, but are you Miss Detrich?"

She turned in surprise, heart sinking slightly when she saw it was just the bouncer, though she couldn't rightly say why, and at her affirmative nod he held out a startlingly familiar leather satchel.

"A man left this for you, said he was sorry he couldn't come back inside."

Anna clenched her jaw and took the bag, giving him a stiff thank you before pulling on the straps, but before the young woman could get the back pack all the way on, a white envelope tumbled out of it, and onto the wet sidewalk.

She stared at it for a few moments, her mind slowly working groggily to understand what it could mean, before her lips twisted into a scowl and she stepped over the slowly soaking paper, intending to leave it there. But as had happened multiple times that day, Anna's mind was somewhere far from her body, because her hand lowered and scooped it up, tucking it into the satchel.

The girl frowned and sighed before ducking her head and trudging forward, her yellow dress already starting to stick to her skin as she walked down the sidewalk.

Anna looked down at her black Chuck Taylors as they slapped against puddle after puddle, starting to squelch after Anna had walked a couple blocks. The chilly night air made the raindrops icy cold, falling like needles and quickly numbing her skin. The tears that dribbled down her chin got lost in the water that plastered her hair to her face, until the girl was one big walking, wet mess, with likely ruined makeup and goosebumps covering her bare arms. So much for the nice outfit that Meghan had chosen specifically to torment Liam, it was now being quite a nuisance, the once beautiful fabric soggy and clammy.

Dear Anna, how did this ever happen to you? Oh that's right, it was all his fault.

She clenched her jaw, hands balling up into fists and fighting the urge to hit something, anything around her. The girl was miserable, she'd been betrayed by that bastard of a man twice now, he tricked her into a date, then left her on the sidewalk like an old, worn out toy. Unwanted.

I can't believe I agreed to that bet. I'm such an idiot.

Anna thought back and clenched her fist slightly, his smirking face seeping into her mind as it drifted back to that horrific morning, and she fought to hold back the massive wave of emotions trying to gain control.

Liam was an unfortunate accident, with his perfect mess of spikey hair over top chiseled cheekbones and soft, pale, milky green eyes... Anna shook her head and grimaced slightly as her thoughts drifted back to the 22 year olds face, inches from her own as they stood in the dim light of the smoking room. What on earth was she thinking?

She choked back a sob, feeling her tear ducts act up again, bringing the waterworks full speed as her eyes leaked sloppily down her chin and down onto the cracked pavement. The rumble of an engine sounded and a car flashed it's lights over Anna, momentarily blinding the girl and causing her to stumble in her cold, clammy sneakers.

She stood there, shivering and blinking to regain her vision, as the faint sound of a car door closing whispered into her ear, soon acompanied by hurried splashes, signalling footsteps. Anna then felt a warm, smooth hand touch the freezing skin on her arm, and her lower lip quivered slightly as she squinted against the glaring headlights, trying to discern the figure.

"Oh my god... are you ok?!"

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Author's Note ≈

Hi readers ^^ I hope you got as feelsy as I did while writing this chapter, and you may also have noticed the... similarity, between the prologue and the end of this chapter, way to tie it up, eh? And who's this strange person who found Anna? Until next time!

The Dreamer