CHAPTER 2

Amber’s POV

“Here,” I placed the handmade bracelet in his palms and looked up to him with a grin. “Yours has my name on it, while mine-“ I showed him my wrist. “Mine has yours.”

His smile was enough to light up the world and his electric blue eyes sparkled. “I love it,” he snaked his hands around my waist and pulled me closer. He bent his head to gently touch my forehead and whispered, “I love you Amber Dally, and I’m never letting you go.”

I gulped another shot of Hennessey to drown the painfully memory. He had let me go, he had left me all those years ago, but yet, he still looked dangerously handsome as I remembered. The same slender physique, only this time he was muscular, like he had been working out throughout the years. He still had the same electric blue eyes that I had melted to many years ago.

“Girl, that’s your fourth shot tonight, are you okay?”

I sighed and shook my head in response. 

“Wanna talk about it? Instead of chugging down alcohol?”

I smiled and looked up at the cute bartender friend. “I saw someone I vowed never to have anything to do with again.”

He nodded with understanding. “My abuela usually tells me that it’s a small world you know.”

Ken was afro-latina. He has the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen on a guy and a face that one could mistake for a woman. Ken was a pretty boy.

“Ex boyfriend ?” 

I nodded. “First boyfriend to be precise.”

He shook his head solemnly. “I hear you. But maybe it was just a onetime thing and you’ll never see him again.”

Hope fluttered in my chest. Ken was right. I may never have to- 

My shoulders slumped as another thing occurred to me. “I saw him at the restaurant. What are the chances that I won’t bump into him at work?”

Ken opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a microphone screech. I turned on my stool to see a familiar face on the stage. The announcer tapped on his microphone before speaking. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the beautiful and ever talented diva, Shanice.”

Cheers erupted as a curvy black beauty climbed atop the podium. My best friend looked dazzling in her off shouldered mustard colored gown that hugged her curves and fell to the floor. Her braid was styled into a high bun and her face glowed with flawless makeup. Shanice could easily pass off as a celebrity.

“Thank you so much Jay,” she blew the announcer a kiss and then faced her audience whose cheers had dulled. Lights in the bar dimmed as the pianist opened up her performance. Shanice waited for a minute, drew in a deep breath and started singing.

Shanice moved to my childhood town in 10th grade and we’ve been inseparable since then. It was me, her and Caleb until he left and it became just two of us. We had left the comfort of our small town a couple of years after high school for the big city, to earn money and live our lives. We rented our first one bedroom apartment together, a shitty leaky one until we recently moved to a more decent two bedroom apartment.

Shanice was a natural born singer, but she never made any push until she was offered a gig by Jay, the bar’s manager. Her first performance was so good that the owner of the bar offered her a permanent job with excellent pay.

“You made that dress right? It’s sexy as hell.”

Ken’s compliment made me smile in satisfaction and I took a sip of fruity flavored drink that he had swapped my Hennessey shots for. 

I would deal with the Caleb issue later. For now, I was going to enjoy Shanice’s performance.

~~~

“That guy was really getting on my nerves,” Shanice said as soon as we entered our apartment later that night. She slumped to the sofa while I made my way to the kitchen.

“I mean, maybe you should give him a chance?” I yelled from the kitchen while opening the refrigerator to take out the lasagna.

Shanice laughed. “Never gon’ happen Amber. The guy doesn’t even look fuckable.”

I cringe at her choice of words, but shrugged it away. “Everyone is, Shan.” I rolled my eyes before scoping some food into my plate. 

“Girl, you know I don’t do commitment,” She reminded me. Since we moved to the city, Shan has never been in a relationship. All she had were hookups. “I ain’t got time for such.”

I nodded while scoping lasagna into another plate for her. She didn’t eat much so I made hers smaller than mine. “Then, let him know you’re not interested.”

Shanice sighed loudly.”He’s like a bee or something,” I saw her waving her hands frantically in the air from the kitchen door. “How about you? Did anything interesting happen? Did that silly boss of yours accidentally fall and broke her legs?”

“I saw Caleb.” 

Silence followed and the next thing I knew, Shan was leaning against the kitchen door frame. 

“As in Caleb Bancroft?” 

I nodded and put my food into the microwave.

“How? When? What happened?” she came close to me with a worried expression. “Are you okay?”

Shanice obviously knew how my breakup with Caleb wrecked me. I cried to the extent that I fell ill and was rushed to the hospital. She never left my side throughout my healing process.

I narrated how and where I saw him and she nodded slowly. “He posted a picture on his I* of him in a plane. I never thought he was coming to LA.”

“Of all the places, he chose to come to the very restaurant where I work,” I scoffed, exchanging my food for Shan’s in the microwave.

“That don’t mean a thing,” Shan said. “He’s old news, he’ ex and he’s your past. Even if you have to serve him, do it with a straight and professional face.”

I exhaled air through my mouth. Shan was right. Caleb is my past, not my present and never my future.

“You have a boyfriend now,” she nudged me playfully. “And y’all might be getting married sooner than expected.” She collected her food which I had taken out of the microwave and sashayed to the living room.

“Wait what?” the reality of her words dawned on me and I bolted to the living room. “Sooner than expected? What do you mean by that?”

Shan rolled her eyes and I had to wait until she finished chewing. “Girl, don’t overreact okay? All I’m just tryna say is that you and Dave have been dating for two years now. I mean, wedding bells are around the corner.”

“Oh,” I relaxed. A nervous laugher escaped my lips causing Shan to stare at me confused.

“You love him, right?” 

He’s a good man. I said in my head. He’s a good man. He’s good for me. 

“Hello??” Shan snapped her fingers, pulling me out of my chant.

I forced a smile and nodded as convincing as I could. “Sure. He’s a good man.”

I was able to distract myself for the rest of the night by watching kdrama until I finally fell asleep.

~~~

Caleb came to the restaurant the next day around 3pm. I really tried doing what Shan advised; to attend to him with a straight and professional face, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t face him. So, I let one of my colleagues do it instead.

Luckily for me, he sat at a front corner facing the glass panel and focusing on the view beyond. That gave me the chance to attend to guests that sat far from him. While working, I would frequently glance in his direction.

Why was he alone? Was he okay?

I shook my head to dismiss the thoughts and unnecessary concern. It wasn’t my business, and I didn’t care. As if he heard, he turned his head to my direction and I swirled so fast that I almost tripped. 

That was close. I placed my hand on my chest trying to soothe my poor heart that was beating thrice as normal. I continued working until after my shift ended, and when it did, I spent longer than usual in the locker room busy with my phone.

I don’t know why I felt this tug to check the restaurant’s main hall, but I obeyed. To my greatest surprise, Caleb was still there, but instead of sitting straight like he was, his head was on his table and one of his hands fell to his side.

For a moment fear clutched my gut, until I sighted the bottles of wine on his table. 

I wanted to leave. I really wanted to mind my business and go home. But instead, I found my feet walking to him.