Hey you guys!!!
Is this a new book? Yes
Have I finished the other pending ones? Heh, no

But it ees what it ees.
Heal the Heart is a spinoff of String the Player, and you most definitely do NOT need to read String the Player to understand this story. New characters, new story, heck, even a new location.

Thanks to ONC, I finally have the motivation churn out Neil's story after he left India looking for new beginnings. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it.

Prompt: On a blind date with a complete mismatch, you're increasingly uncomfortable but too polite to leave. Then an attractive stranger comes over and gives you an out.

Clubs were never my scene. Not when I was seventeen and snuck in to get a glimpse of all the gyrating bodies on the dance floor and not now when an over-enthused twenty-something year old strained his vocal chords to be heard over the music.

If you want to talk, you choose a cosy restaurant with decadent decoration and enough space between tables to classify all two-seated individuals sharing a meal as couples. You don't call your date to an overcrowded, mid-priced club where drunk wannabe-adults forget the purpose of their limbs to talk.

Even I knew this. And I had been to a club, maybe a total of four times.

Henry was droning on about how the new captain of some Canadian hockey team was gay, or it could've been another rant about Hollywood not Hollywooding. Above the noise—this music is rightly classified as noise, fight me—and a group of frat boys not shying away from demonstrating the presence of their elbows, paying attention to Henry was not on my priority list.

Perhaps a club was the worst place to have a date, but I was fine with it. Maybe Henry, like me, was looking for a release, and drinking, grinding on the dance floor, and taking the party back to one of our places could've been the perfect way to find that release. At least, I was of the notion that this was what was on his mind when he texted me to meet him here.

The moment I saw Henry, I knew I had to give Krishna something worth his time for setting us up. Tall, slim, broad-shouldered, blond, pretty eyes, snug jeans, even snugger T-shirt showing off his toned chest, blond, angular face, kissable lips, fantastic ass, so so blond.

Now, two beers and a whole bunch of unnecessary words in, I wasn't quite sure I even wanted to take it back to my place. Or his place. Or any place.

He finally finished stating every single one of his unrequited opinions and took a long swig from his beer.

That gave me enough time to sneak a peek at the texts Jess had sent. Is he the one? Heart-eyed emoji.

I replied: I wanna go home

Henry finished half his beer in one gulp. That was his first bottle. It had been nearly forty minutes since we arrived. I was thinking of getting a fourth and a fifth bottle. Maybe some tequila. Or vodka. Or rat poison.

"I've been talking non-stop," Henry yelled over all the cacophony he had voluntarily trapped us in. I caught a growing shade of red on his cheeks that could've been attributed to embarrassment—though I highly doubted it. But it could also have been the laser lighting tricking my already disinterested eyesight. "What about you? How are you liking Vancouver?"

Lesser by the minute. "Not so bad," I said.

"You don't talk much."

I wonder why.

I just smiled.

He again switched to another topic I couldn't care much about, and the fake-tanned frat boys showed me how they worked their elbows by digging them in my sides.

I needed more alcohol.

Henry continued talking while I contemplated on the best method to rip my eardrums out.

I downed the rest of the beer.

It was then that I caught sight of a man on the other side of the bar staring. A handsome man. A very, very handsome man. He had a lowball between his slender fingers, and he held on to it with both hands. I watched his wrist as he swirled the drink round and round. Again, it might've been the laser, but I swore I saw a small smile play on his lips. Was he smiling at me?

The beer was midway down my throat and stopped right there. My eyes bulged out of my head as I almost inhaled the goddamn thing and it took everything in me to not cough up a lung right there.

I didn't know whether the man saw me choke—probably not. He wasn't even staring at me. Maybe someone behind me, or at the frat boys' antics, or he just zoned out. But I knew Henry definitely noticed because he stopped chattering right at that moment.

It was nice being finally noticed. Then he opened his mouth to say, "Excuse me for a second. I need to pop by the john. Too much beer and too small a bladder." He didn't even wait for a response and trotted away, swaying his hips as much as possible in this crowded house.

If this were any other occasion, I would've stared. Now, all I wanted was more alcohol. This time, in the proper tract. I signalled for the bartender and searched for the man from before. All I found was an empty spot and an empty lowball.

A sudden pang spread across my chest.

Disappointment.

I shook my head. The only disappointment of tonight was me not trying hard enough. Again.

What am I even doing here?

I brought out my phone to text Jess and then call an Uber. Enough of stepping outside my comfort zone. I had a decent amount of alcohol pumping in my system to get a good night's sleep, and that had to account for something.

"Can I get you the next one?"
A warm voice, similar to smooth, honeyed whiskey. It glided down my neck, warming my skin and settling down at the back of my skull. I could feel the heat radiating off of him and onto me. Even in this brimming club with people everywhere, I could feel him. His knee behind mine, his arm extended on the bar top, his body angled to see me. Everything.

I met his gaze. If he was handsome from afar, then he was absolutely breathtaking up close. He was tall, as tall as me, maybe an inch taller, and we stood so close, the space we shared could've been insufficient for one person. The lighting enhanced every single one of his features: cheekbones, lips, the hollow in his throat, eyes. Oh God, his eyes. They were a light blue that reminded me of the ocean in the early mornings, right before the sun rose.

At that moment, the frat boy party backed into me.

"Hey! Easy there," I said. They were drunk and happy enough to move their chorus elsewhere with not much rebuttal.

Their absence gave me enough leeway to move back and maintain an amicable distance.

"You're having the time of your life," he said and inched closer.

"That obvious?"

"I'm surprised you haven't left yet. I could see—even from there," he pointed to where he sat previously, "how much you wanted to."

"I'm surprised I made it here in the first place." I looked away as his eyes raked my body from head to toe.

"I'm glad you did," he said.

I coughed and spread my palm on the surface, focusing on the way my index finger tapped rapidly on the counter. "I don't even know why I agreed to a blind date. It's not me."

Lies.

You know exactly why you agreed.

Twenty and single and so desperately averse to mingling. This wasn't how university life was spent. There were only so many Instagram stories I could scroll through while tucked under a blanket without getting that dratted FOMO.

Clearly, as my outing so wonderfully pointed out, I wasn't missing out on anything. Well, maybe one thing. Two things. Sleep and a peace of mind.

"Blind date in a club? And you guys are hanging out near the bar? Chivalry still exists."

He was poking fun. Lightening the mood. But the truth gnawed its way out in my head. Chivalry? More like shyness and inability to act on whims.

"Is this your first time?" His voice was soft. Gentle. He wasn't yelling or screeching like the others, yet I could hear him over everyone else.

"On a blind date?"

"On a date."

I shrugged. "Didn't do a good job of concealing my awkwardness, huh?"

"I saw you with that man, and I thought, wow, that's a disaster. If I play my cards right, I can take that cutie home. Now, I think I'm the first who has ever asked to buy you a drink."

I flushed. From head to toe. My blood was rushing everywhere, and I was beginning to feel lightheaded.

Cutie?

I swallowed. "You are."

"And will you allow me to buy you one?"

I heaved in a breath. "Yes."

The stranger beamed as though a thousand suns showered their light on him. His eyes crinkled when he smiled, hiding those blues and infecting me with the same contagious smile. "But I don't want to stop at just that. I want to buy you dinner. Take you on a proper date. Talk to you. Is that okay?"

My heart clenched in on itself. He was so kind. Every word that came from him pierced my chest. If he kept this up, it wouldn't bode well with my heart. This organ of mine didn't do well under such stress.

"Yeah, that's—that would be nice."

"C'mon then. Let's get out of here." He held out his hand.

Jesus.

My breathing went haywire, my heart pounded so hard. This stranger had to have heard it. Maybe he felt it too, with how close we were standing.

Tonight was going in all the directions I hadn't anticipated, even in my wildest imaginations. Was it okay? Was it safe? Maybe I should just thank him for his momentary company and be on my way. I was about to leave after all. This wasn't me. Nothing here meant anything. Not in the long run. Not even in the short run. Not when all I had waiting for me was an empty room, a barely there roommate, and a lifetime's worth of regrets.

I didn't need another regret piled on top of all the other ones.

I took his hand and smiled. "Lead the way."