Chapter 2
Seven years ago – December
Luke
If you asked me who you thought I’d find when I walked into a dive bar—one I’m supposed to be interviewing for a job at—Annie would’ve been the last on the list.
She always talked about a bar she used to go to when she was a kid, one that her dad knew the owner of, but I’m sure it was Larry’s, not Lenny’s. And I didn’t think it would be across town from where we grew up.
She hasn’t seen me yet, and it gives me a second to appreciate what I’ve been missing these last four months.
Her brown hair is longer than when I last saw her, tucked behind her ears and putting her high cheekbones on full display. Her big brown eyes are locked on the drink she’s making in front of her, and I watch as she sets the glass down in front of an older gentleman, her lips curving into a small smirk that makes my heart skip a beat.
Annie left Grant’s party without a trace back in August when we all got together before everyone left for college, and I haven’t seen her since .
I was supposed to take her home, but she was nowhere to be found when the night was wrapping up.
She was supposed to help me move into my off-campus apartment the next morning, but she didn’t answer any of my calls or texts.
I went to her place, but no one answered.
I had planned on asking Annie to move in with me that night. But, I figured it was a conversation that could wait until the next morning, and it ended up being one we would never have.
These past four months at school, I’ve tried reaching out—but it’s been radio silence—and it didn’t take her long to block me on everything.
Everyone was downing drinks in celebration that night before we all headed to our respective colleges, but I decided to stick to water after a bit of a crazy night with the hockey guys the day before.
I tried to ask the girls I saw her with before she disappeared, some girlfriends of my buddies from the hockey team—old friends of Annie’s—but I had a feeling they didn’t give me the whole story.
According to them, Annie got drunk and admitted that she wanted to break-up with me. “A clean break before we go to college” is what they called it, and it caught me completely off-guard because it didn’t sound anything like the Annie I knew.
She barely drinks, and the community college she’s going to is walkable from my university.
When I asked them for a little more clarity, they avoided giving me an answer.
I know that Annie’s friendship with that group of girls was always hot and cold. They were all close in elementary and middle school, but it’s like something shifted in high school .
Since then, they’ve never been too nice to Annie, but I always chalked it up to jealousy.
Annie didn’t care to blend in with what the “cool kids” were doing when we got to high school. While Devin, Eliza, Bea, and Penelope went the cheerleading route, Annie joined theater.And I think her friends were jealous of her ability to be herself and not care what everyone else around her was doing.
Annie had always been quiet and shy, but you’d forget it the second you heard her voice or saw her on stage. I still remember the day she got the lead in the school’s musical our freshman year. She was so surprised, and humble as ever, as if she wasn’t the most talented person in that whole school and deserved the leading role more than anyone.
Annie always told me it was easier to feel confident when she wasn't playing herself, but I knew that confidence was inside her, begging to come out.
And by the looks of it, it finally has.
I have a few minutes before I'm meeting with the owner for my job interview. And instead of finding him, my eyes find Annie again, and it’s at this moment that I realize how weird it is for her to be a bartender, especially at a place like this.
The Annie I knew didn’t do too well in crowds that weren’t there to watch her perform on stage. She always sat by herself when she came to watch my hockey games, and she stayed by my side at parties. Aside from the last one, when I let Devin convince me that she and the other girls wanted to spend some time with Annie before they all went their separate ways.
Looking around, I see a group of men who I can assume are regulars seated at the bar, and the booths and high top tables are filled with patrons a few years older than Annie and me, most likely enjoying their time off from classes for the holidays.
Annie just turned 19 in September, and it’s hard to imagine someone as soft-spoken as her here.
“Bill, does it look like I want to sit here and listen to you?”
Or not.
Her voice has an edge to it that I’ve never heard, but it’s one I could definitely get used to. I watch as she rolls her eyes and starts wiping down the bar, and my body moves on its own.
I don’t know if because I want to protect her—not that she even seems to need it—or because I just want to be close to her, but I’ve seen Annie almost every day of my life since we were six, and these four months without her have been like I lost a part of myself.
The most important part.
I’m a few steps away from the bar when I hear the man respond, but I can’t make out what he says with his back turned to me.
Annie tucks the towel she was using to wipe down the bar into her tight jeans. She puts her hands on her hips, making her Lenny’s tank top tighten around her chest. “You really want me to tell Emmett you’re pissed he mentioned switching hard seltzer brands? I’m sure he’ll say the same thing as me.”
Leaning forward on the bar, she rests her elbows down right in front of the man. She leans in just a few inches from his face. "Fuck off". I watch as her cherry red lips accentuate each word, and I freeze.
My mind is spinning because I see Annie in front of me but I don’t recognize her in the slightest.
Annie doesn’t swear.
Annie doesn’t speak up for herself.
Annie most definitely does not say what’s on her mind.
She turns around and grabs a liquor bottle from behind her, saying over her shoulder, “You don’t even drink hard seltzers. So, drink your stupid whiskey and leave me the hell alone.”
What the hell is she doing?
She shouldn’t be talking to him like this. There’s no way she knows how he’ll react, especially if she pissed him off. I hate that it’s the truth so many women have to face, but men have a track record of not taking too kindly to being told off by women.
I glance to the other side of the bar as my feet finally close the distance between her and me, and there’s another bartender behind the bar, a tall, built guy with dark hair and tan skin, but he doesn’t pay Annie any attention, which worries me even more.
Does Annie have anyone looking out for her here?
Right as I get up to the bar, I hear Bill and the guys he’s with roar with laughter, one of them saying how he remembers when he first met Annie and how she treated him the same way.
What?
I have so many questions circling my brain.
He remembers Annie talking to him like this?
Who the hell is this girl?
And what did she do with the Annie I knew?
Before I can fully process, Annie turns and we make eye contact. Her face pales, and every ounce of confidence I saw from her a moment ago fizzles.
My heart sinks to my stomach at the thought that the sight of me made that happen.
Her brown eyes cloud, and my chest tightens, and so many emotions begin to flood my senses.
Happiness because I finally found her.
Anger because she left without telling me where she was going.
Sadness because something happened to her.
Frustration because I have no idea what that something is.
Someone clears their throat, drawing our attention to the other bartender. “Everything okay, Ann?” he asks, his harsh eyes giving me a once-over before looking at her with concern.
It occurs to me that Annie mouthing off to some guy at the bar didn’t faze her co-worker, but her looking at me with this look on her face did.
It takes her a second, but she shakes her head, relaxing her shoulders, before turning to him. “Yeah, all good, Eddie.”
Annie sets down the drink she was making in front of one of Bill’s friends. She looks at me again, this time her brown eyes swimming with confusion. The same confusion that I’m sure is reflected on my face.
I’m confused about what happened that night at Grant’s.
I’m confused as to why she refuses to talk to me.
I’m confused how she ended up here.
And, most of all, I’m confused about what the fuck happened in these past four months that turned her into someone I recognize on the outside, but who I am convinced is a complete stranger on the inside.
“You guys know each other?” Eddie asks Annie.
“Not really,” she says to him, but her eyes are locked with mine. “Not anymore.”