Leave Before You Love Me

DR. WINE

Michelle Dee has been working as a bartender for a year at a bar called Dr. Wine, a pub owned by her friend Max Collins in BGC. She has a degree in psychology, but to her parents' disapproval, Michelle had the fascination in bartending. Although she promised her mother that she will soon practise her degree, she asked if she could do this one first.

The salary wasn't that high, but it helped her get by. She owns a condo near her workplace, which is a great convenience for her. Helps her to save money for transport and her car's gas. She could have everything if she wanted to, her family being a member of the upper class, but she chose to live in the down low. Low key life was far better than being out there in the limelight like her parents and siblings.

Whenever she has free time, she spends them holed up at home, seated in front of the enormous windows of her condo, admiring the city view, that's where she writes. She loves everything that involves literature, but poetry has a special place in her heart.

There were days when she got inspiration about work experiences, meeting different people at the pub every night, that's where it starts. Floodgates of words of poetry and song lyrics were written in her notebook.

Call it mediaeval, but she prefers it that way. Her friends are expecting her to even write a novel, but she knows it would take a lot of time to write one, but the hardest and stressing part about it is finding a publishing company that she could interest in her writings.

—

She arrived at the pub at ten to start her shift. Max, at first, was hesitant to let her work for her as her bartender, knowing full well what her parents' best interests were for her friend. But at the same time, hiring her has become one of her best decisions because most of their customers and patrons love the way she does her job.

Also, because the ladies who needed a drink loved talking to her. Sometimes, she engages in a conversation with them, you see, their regulars knew that she's bi, so whenever a guy who's new to the pub starts to bother her, their men patrons would be there to the rescue although they needn't have to do that because she certainly could take care of herself.

Michelle flirts with the ladies sometimes, especially when she knows that they're interested in her. She doesn't go around much, doesn't date anyone either. Having a warm body beside her in a hotel room or at the girl's place for the night is more than enough for her, but rarely. Dating and being in a serious relationship isn't at the top of her priority list.

And it has something to do about what happened to her in the past. She has been in a long-term relationship before, and has been engaged, but in the end it didn't work out. Not because one of them has cheated, but she guessed, the two of them being in love just withered away without them even noticing it until they got engaged and it was too late to save it.

They fought more frequently, and then they made up, then fought again. On again and off again. It's an endless battle that has become a routine that the two of them, especially her, have tired of.

So they broke up and called off the engagement. The hardest part was leaving the place that they both lived in for the years that they've been together. Michelle decided that she's gonna be the one to leave instead of her ex.

The ex-couple see each other from time to time, when her friends visit the pub. There's not a single ounce of animosity between them, not even bitterness, because the two of them understood.

Last she heard, Rhian is now engaged and will be married next month and here she was still single. She was single because it was her choice and it had nothing to do with being still in love with her ex-fiancée.

—

The pub is in full swing as soon as it opens, with various types of people having their drinks, some having late dinners after work. The people love this pub because it's the only pub in its location that has a live band performing every Friday until the weekends.