Every Man I Liked Was You

andelier, and a neatly arranged cabinet lined with bottles of skin products. An alarm clock buzzed loudly on the bedside table, about to ring

her eyes hollow, staring into empt

-and drank it while standing. With urgency, she darted into the bathroom to scrub off the stench of the previous night. One of her most

on a small table that was usually tucked under the bed, water still dripping from her skin. She looked like someone hanging onto the last threads of

scratch, and this job was supposed to be her big break. Her money was running low, her patience even lower, and if she

muttered, clicki

reen l

ation has be

walked to her bed, and sank into it. Her heart felt like it had dropped into a deep, empty pi

ars spilled down her cheeks just as her phone

her by now? Are you a kid? And why are you still

out a word. She sighed deeply, overwhelmed. How could she end the break when her mind kept spiraling?

haunted her. "I can't go back," she whispered, tears flowing until she fel

raindrops tapping against the roof woke

ould cheer me up,"

te cropped top, and a pair of black boots. "The style is monochrome," she chuckled.

er," she said under her breath

ing lightly as she moved. "Not one of these people could guess how I'm feeli

ndow, sipping slowly. She observed around her, people were laughing with friends, some engaged in serious conversations, others sit

'd have done this three months ago," she thought. "Maybe the

went to pay-but he

e," she mutter

said a warm, femini

, a bright smile, and almond-shaped blue eyes. The woman

etty," Ed

had settled on her shoulders was beginning to lift. Maybe that phrase, "two heads are better than one," wasn't such a c

she held back, but she did not want to seem intrusive. She settled for exchanging numbers, hoping

. I want to start having fun again. I want to shatter all my false realities-one by one-and maybe see the

ded and smiled. Sometimes, just being there was enou

alking, ste

ls like it's not so far away, An