-Chapter 3-

-Chapter 3-

-POV Clarissa-

We went to a very fancy bar and I ordered a glass of whiskey because I wanted to drown my worries in alcohol.

“Seriously, how did you guess I was here to see you?” I said, remembering what he had whispered in my ear.

“Since you came here for me, don’t you want to leave this dive bar for a classier place?”

He rolled his eyes before saying in a falsely pretentious tone, “I’m irresistible, it was only a matter of time.”

I looked away, forcing myself not to laugh, and said, pretending to be annoyed:

“Maybe I was here to take my mind off things and hook up with a random guy.”

“Wow,” he said, stopping short, pretending to be shocked by my words.

He placed a hand on his heart and said, pretending to be on the verge of tears, “I’m shocked, sweet and gentle Clarissa wanting to hook up with a random guy.”

I rolled my eyes and said, “Don’t be vulgar, please.”

He laughed, then said, “No, honestly, I wasn’t sure you were here for me, but I took a chance, like I always do.”

“Taking chances, that’s something you have in abundance, isn’t it?”

“Why do I feel like I’m not going to like the rest of this conversation?” he said, making a small grimace.

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-POV MC-

“Why did you hit your superior?” she asked, looking into my eyes with her beautiful blue eyes.

“Because he called me a nigger,” I said, looking away, knowing that wasn’t a good enough reason for a soldier to hit his superior officer.

“Damn, you’re really too stupid,” she said, downing her glass of whiskey in one gulp.

“Thanks, Mom, but my dad has already told me that enough,” I said, annoyed at being reprimanded by my date.

“Don’t take it that way,” she said.

A small silence hung before she asked, “How did the father-son reunion go?”

I sighed and said, “Considering I got kicked out of the army without a pension, kicked out of my house, and even the cops don’t want me, I’d say everything is going perfectly wrong.”

“They kicked you out?” she asked, shocked by the news.

I nodded, then she asked, “Where are you living?”

“At the Glorious,” I said, grabbing my glass of whiskey.

“Wait, you’re living in a four-star hotel when you have no income?!” she said, surprised at the hotel’s name.

“So what, I have some savings,” I said, trying to defend myself.

“Not to me, you were just complaining last time about having spent everything before going on your mission.”

“I sense a hint of judgment in your voice,” I said, squinting.

She raised her hands in the air before saying, “I wasn’t judging you before, considering you had a logic that was, if I remember correctly: ‘Spend everything before the mission because, dead, the money would be useless,’ even though I always found that idea a bit stupid. I always respected your flashy mindset, but now look at reality: you need to quickly find an apartment, and then a job.”

“Do you think I haven’t tried? Every time I apply, whether it’s with the firefighters or the cops, I’m immediately rejected because I was kicked out of the army for being ‘a violent, unstable element incapable of taking direct orders,’” I said, annoyed at having to talk about my job search.

“And for an apartment?” she said.

“I have a few leads.”

“A few leads,” she repeated my words in a tone that meant ‘You haven’t looked for anything.’

“Okay, enough about me, what about you, Princess? How’s Billy?” I said, trying to change the subject.

“First, for the 10,000th time, his name is Brad, not Billy, Bob, Brandon, or Bobby, Brad. Second, I know you know we broke up and, third, I know you tried to change the subject, and I’ll allow it for now, but we’ll come back to this topic later.”

I smiled and said, “I know his name is Brad, but calling him something else annoys you, which makes you look cute, and don’t change the subject either.”

“Compliments only work when a person is sincere and doesn’t have an agenda,” she said before taking a small breath and telling me what happened with her ex-boyfriend, whom I didn’t care about at all.

“Basically, I found that asshole at my place with… my little sister.”

I stayed silent because she had just confessed that to me, knowing her sister who was about a year younger and who was a sweetheart, and I couldn’t imagine her betraying her sister that way.

“Damn.”

That’s all I could say. Clarissa rolled her eyes and said, “Indeed… Damn.”