Redemption (In the City that Never Sleeps)

Chapter 01- Someone

Two months have passed after that night out with Zac. That night, a trigger has been pulled, and a bullet hit me like a freight train. My world suddenly came to a halt. I never envisioned that this day would come- that one day, I would reach the end of a cycle that has been reiterating for years.

Night-outs became my comfort. They were once my warm duvet sheets and warm cup of coffee on a Saturday morning. They posed as cuddles on a rainy day and as napkins to dry away my tears.

Don't get me wrong, it's not something I could not live without. I'm not an alcoholic. It's just that I became used to the cycle of woking hard, then partying harder for years.

I had my first sip of alcohol at a Thanksgiving Party when I was probably 7, back then I didn't like the taste of it- it was too strong for my taste. I wanted everything nice and sweet, so I swore I would never drink in my whole existence ever again. Adults laughed at me with knowing eyes, and kids my age gave the same disgusted look once they took a swing of it.

Joke's on me.

I never realized that it could take away thoughts that want to drown you, or pain that slices through you. I never knew then that when you have it with good company, you forget every silly problem you think you have and you get all the courage to dance and kiss the night away with a stranger. Yes, kiss. Nothing more. Taking it to another notch would go against my beliefs.

It became my solace ever since I went to University. I was so uptight when it came to my academics, so when a dormitory friend told me I had to loosen my screws a bit in order to survive, I did. I went with them to a party that was thrown by a junior year neurobiology major whose face was on a freshman the whole night, so much for being the host. But other than that, my friends and I had so much fun that the week after that, we went to the only bar near our campus.

It was parties that kept me going through the years of all-nighters and research overload. It was something I looked forward to at the end of the week, sort of like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Now, the knowledge bombardment days are over, yet still I was left with the coping mechanism that I learned to ease my stress. Years have passed since I graduated from Harvard. I'm 25 years young and my party days are officially over.

"Oh my god, you're not out partying!" was Taegan's reaction the first time she saw me past six in the evening stuck inside my office. It was a Friday night and I wasn't worried of having way too much fun in a bar just around the corner. Usually, by this time, I'd be betting with my friends on who can get more boys lined up for the night.

There was a low knock on my office door before it finally opened "Will you be sleeping at Dad's this weekend?" asked Taegan. She's probably heard from Dad that I haven't been visiting much since then. So I tell her I'm busy trying to look for a company to collaborate with for the lingerie line that we're opening. No, I'm not pretending. I'm simply trying to avoid the interrogation that was bound to happen if we ever had a conversation.

But it happened anyway.

"Meg, are you alright? You haven't been this way since-" I stopped her before she could utter another word. I know what she was gonna say- I haven't been this way since mom died.

Sixteen was supposed to be the sweetest year of your life, but it was nothing but devastating for me. Sixteen years was not enough for me, I wanted my mom for a hundred years more.

It took me more than a month to grieve for her death and another month of trying to fix my life back to the way it was before her passing. As if I could really have my old life back, I knew for a fact that nothing could make her come back. Within those months, I became more invested in my passion for arts and literature.