The Letdown [Noah Sebastian]

Chapter One

"Call me when you get the chance
I can feel the walls around me closing in"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Hey, I know you're probably busy but I just want to let you know I'm leaving for work. Uh, call me back when you can, see you later." Rose Harris sighed as she ended the voicemail message to her boyfriend of four years that had once again stood her up after making dinner plans.

The worst part was that she was used to it by that point. He had become consistently more unavailable since taking a job as a personal trainer and even though they were living together she rarely saw him. Although Rose worked two jobs, she still always made time for him but he wouldn't do the same for her. They met shortly after she moved from the UK and had settled into LA where she worked at Santiago's, a small, quaint dive bar in the downtown area. He was all sparkly blue eyes and suave personality and she was hooked from the get go. They spent a long year chasing around each other, cat and mouse until she finally gave in and finally popped the question.

They were dating for just over a year when they moved into their sweet little apartment not far from the bar and it was perfect for a couple of years. She started her tattoo apprenticeship not long after they moved and she loved it, it was truly her calling but Dan was becoming colder by the day. Their relationship had become a shell of what it was and she was clutching on to the last little bit of hope that they could stay together because she did love him, really loved him.

Rose caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror and groaned. Dark bags surrounded her mossy green eyes and her auburn hair looked limp from stress and exhaustion. Her skin seemed so pale that the heavy black chest tattoos that peeked over the collar of her Knocked Loose T-shirt looked dull. She was tired, maybe it was the two jobs she worked six days a week or her failing relationship, but she was just so goddamn tired. She turned from the mirror with a huff to grab her bag and left the apartment to walk to the bar.

It was a Tuesday night. Tuesday's were always quiet and it just made the night drag so much more than usual. She pushed the heavy doors open and strutted into the bar, Metallica playing loudly as she approached the bar.

"Ayup Donny, how's it going?" She grinned. The tall, stocky forty-something spun around from stocking the liquor shelves with a huge grin.

"Rosie! You're early, I thought you were going for dinner?" He raised an eyebrow as she pulled herself underneath the bar hatch.

She brushed her hands off on her jeans and shrugged. "He was working late, couldn't make it so I thought I'd come in early. Seems like you don't really need me though." She chuckled, gesturing to the lack of customers in the bar, not even a regular in sight.

He laughed. "Yeah, it's super slow. But if you don't mind, I have a few errands to run so would you hold the fort for a few hours."

"Of course!" She nodded.

"You're a babe." Donny squeezed her shoulder as he pushed past her, tying his long brown waves into a ponytail. "Call me if you need anything." She nodded, watching him rush out of the bar before she got to work wiping down the already clean tables so she had something to do while the bar was empty.

An hour later the door opened as she lounged in one of the booths scrolling through Instagram. She looked up from her phone and smiled, sliding over the bar to serve the customer. Her eyes scanned the twenty-something year old man that approached her. He was easily over a foot taller than her five foot one frame and his brown hair hung limply just past his jaw. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans, white hoodie and a denim jacket and she noticed colourful tattoos covering his hands and throat. He was attractive but what really threw her off were the sad brown eyes that stared back at her, so full of emotion that her heart dropped into her stomach.