“Between you, me, and the wall, I don’t know what to do!”
‘“The wall? Do I look like one to you? Is that why you never take me seriously!?
“Every.. Single.. Time” –She swung her purse aggressively — “You don’t care about me! You always stick your lustful eyes on those chicks with plastic surgery that are about to tear their faces apart! I’m telling you, John, I had enough of you. We’re done.”
“Wait, Kayle, listen. Talk to me,” he chased her and shouted. However, Kayle slammed the door and left without looking back.

For a brief moment, John was stunned. His heart broke as his first love from high school dumped him.

“She was never patient enough to listen,” he thought. John sat on his bed while scanning around the room filled with pictures and gifts. Then, he took a deep breath and walk outside.

* * * *________________________________________________________________________________________

“Yo, is anyone free tonight?” John texted his friends while walking in central park.
“I’m down, what happened?” Jen reply
“I just broke up with my girlfriend, just wanna chat.”
“Sure, I see you at the 86 bar.”

John turned back home,put on his old t-shirt and ripped jeans, and then hopped on the motorbike.

The night was colder than he expected. Wind slipped under his sleeves and wrapped around his ribs, reminding him of days riding with his ex-girlfriend. Kayle’s words echoed in his mind, no matter what.
Before he realized, a neon sign of the 86 bar flickered ahead. Inside, just like any local bar, the place smelled of citrus and old wood. In the low, buzzing music from the old speaker, Jen was already there.

She sat at the far end of the counter, hair tied back, fingers tracing circles on the rim of the glass of Rum. As John swung open the door, Jen gave him a steady smile like she always did.
“Well, well, well, look who it is. Like… a defeated warrior. ”
“Looks like you know everything,” John sighed.
He talked first, explaining about Kayle’s anger, about the accusation, about the way she treated him.

“She thinks I never take her seriously.” He said. “That I … only look at other girls.”
Jen didn’t laugh. She didn’t defend him either. She just listened quietly.

“You do look,” she said gently.
John was stunned. “What?”

“You look at everyone like you’re shopping for something better,” She continued, not accusing, just stating. “You’ve always done that. In high school, in college. Even now.”

“That’s not fair.”
“I’m not trying to be fair,” She replied. “I’m trying to be honest. You keep thinking the next person will make you feel more alive. But you don’t even stay long enough to see who’s already here.”

Her words didn’t sting that way Kayle’s did. They sank, slowly, in his mind.
John leaned back, staring at the white glass of the drink. It reflected the unsettling feeling inside of him.

“I don’t know what I’m looking for,” he admitted
Jen turned slightly toward him. “Maybe you’re not supposed to look so hard.”

A silence fell between them. John looks like there is a storm going on inside him.
He began to notice things he’d overlooked before.
The way she tucked her hair behind her ear when she was thinking. The small scar near her wrist from when they both fell off the bikes at sixteen. The faint laugh lines at the corners of her eyes.
“Why are you always here?” he asked quietly.
Jen blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” He hesitated. “Every time something goes wrong. Every time I mess up. You’re just here.”

“Because you’re my friend,” She replied.
Friend. He thought about it for a moment. Then, about Jen, about the years that stretched behind them like a long road he had driven without noticing. About how natural it felt to sit beside her. It felt like recognizing something that had been quietly growing for years was waiting for him to finally look down.
The neon sign flickered again, casting blue light across the bar.
For the first time, John wasn’t searching around.
He was looking at her.