"𝗂 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖺 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗁
all it ever says is:
𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦."
- trista mateer, honeybee
when valerie forester heads south to visit her best friend in nashville, the last thing she expects when she departs is an...
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★ ★★
as far as i was concerned, there were exactly two things to do for fun in nashville: eating and drinking. and if you weren't eating or drinking, you were doing something music-related. there seemed to be a bar, or an eatery, or a music store, or something, on every corner, and most of the itineraries layla would compile for my stays consisted primarily of visits to all three.
i liked going out for dinner and drinks. i liked messing around with guitars i'd never be able to afford, too. and i liked doing those things with layla. so it never bothered me that we didn't stray far from the path we'd worn out for ourselves.
it was when we stuck strangers into the mix that i had a problem.
i think i almost would have preferred to have spent the night alone in layla's apartment than accompany her on her stupid date. hell, i would have escorted her myself. as long as it meant i didn't have to sit through what i knew was going to be a painfully awkward dinner, and make superficial small talk with whatever schmuck layla's date ended up dragging along with him.
but she insisted.
and so i went.
with the events of the night before still fresh in my mind, i could appreciate her efforts to stick to her word. even though i wasn't exactly ecstatic about it. i didn't tell her that, but it was the truth. and i reckoned that if the evening were to go as horribly as i was anticipating, we'd at least have something to laugh about when we got home.
layla looked really cute, though. her blonde hair was done up all nice, and a little pair of gold hoops hung from her earlobes. and though i'd tried, i couldn't convince her to wear the heels she'd finally bought after months of eyeing them online. she claimed they didn't go with her outfit, but i could see her examining her tall frame next to me in the mirror before we left.
"you do realise that bringing me on this date will ultimately determine whether or not you'll see this guy again, right?" i commented as we approached the restaurant.
layla snickered, her eyebrows drawing together. "what're you gonna do, kill him?"
"if push comes to shove, then yeah, absolutely. three strikes and he's out. i'll be counting." lucky for him, i was only joking.
mostly.
"well, thanks," she said. "i guess."
she held the door open for the both of us, and we filed inside the building. the interior was nice. neat, too. minimalistic light fixtures hung overhead, bathing the room in a soft white glow. for the most part, the colour scheme was pretty bland, comprised almost entirely of black, white and a dark shade of wood. the only pops of colour came from the plants situated sporadically throughout the area, but it worked.
