Donnie and I were sitting by the window, watching the pedestrian traffic that was going by the bar. Melina and a couple others would be joining us shortly. We were celebrating the release of the first book. Not Breakout Books' first book. And not even the first release we'd made. We were celebrating the results of a particular book's release. The first book in a series that would apparently be hugely successful.

"So," the Donnie in the corner of my eye sipped on his beer, "is Blake coming tonight?"

"Blake's up in Kingston with his brother for the weekend."

"Yeah? That's cool," he almost sounded disappointed. Over the past few months, Donnie had somehow weaseled his way into mine and Melina's lives, and so had become a part of our party circuit. Well, I'm sure he weaseled his way into my life because of Melina's help and when I say party circuit, I mean backyard barbecues and dinner parties. Blake and he seemed to get along on some level. Perhaps that was mostly because when Melina and I were together, we reverted to our high school selves. I could imagine that Donnie was dreading being at a party in a crowded bar, stuck sitting at a table with Melina and I. I pitied him.

The two of us had varying expressions when we saw Melina scrambling down the sidewalk, bundled in her chic coat with her artsy but insanely loud orange hat pulled over her black hair. I laughed, grinning as she walked past the bar and paused in front of the next building looking around wildly. Donnie on the other hand, had a perplexed, almost vexed look on his face as he watched her. She caught sight of the sign over the bar and then us sitting under it behind the window and was inside in the blink of an eye.

"I am so happy we're drinking!" Melina proclaimed. "I won't be able to feel the cold on my way home!"

"So true!" I beamed. "Brandy shots for all!"

She made a face at my suggestion as she greeted Donnie; I could swear that I missed something that passed between them as I took a sip of my drink. Neither of them seemed to notice me watching them suspiciously as she shrugged off her coat and ordered a drink. Everyone else arrived shortly after and I wasn't able to speculate anymore on what I thought I'd missed.

We moved our party upstairs to where there were long wooden tables with wooden benches, and wooden beams and wall lamps. I marveled at how much the whole room resembled the dining hall of an old rustic castle. There was a fireplace at one end of the two tables we'd occupied. At some point of the night, while everyone else was drunkenly dancing about or talking obnoxiously loud due in large to their drinking, I found myself staring wistfully into the fire.

"Russ, where's Melina?"

I snapped my head up and looked to my side where my friends had only just been sitting.

"I didn't even notice she was gone," I said in surprise. In front of me sat two guys I didn't know, either friends of some of my coworkers, or other bar patrons who'd decided to join our obnoxious party.

One of them laughed when I asked where my drink was, "You drank it."

"I did not! I asked her for another beer and she didn't bring me one!"

"I think I drank it." I looked back to where Melina had been sitting, and Donnie who'd been sitting at her other side was sliding over toward me. He tilted an empty glass at me, "I thought it tasted funny."

I wrinkled my nose at him, "The stuff you drink tastes funny!"

"Typical girl," he drawled.

"Typical guy!" I shot back with a failure of a scowl.

He sighed mockingly and waved the waitress over again, "Another one for her."

"Already?" the girl raised her eyebrows but scuttled off to retrieve what was asked of her. I looked back at the fireplace, warning Donnie if he touched my beer again I'd have his head. I noticed absently that Donnie appeared jittery and abnormal, and though he flirted like he always did, something was off. I wondered if it had anything to do with Melina, and the look I'd missed, but knew held some meaning. Where was Melina anyways? Things were starting to feel weirdly awkward.

"Hey Russ," Donnie nudged me with his shoulder and I looked back at him expectantly. "I forgot to tell you I'm going to Japan in two weeks."

I smiled, "Really? That's so awesome!" I envied him- in two weeks I'd be sitting around at work feeling guilty for even thinking about a vacation even though it wasn't mine. And Japan at that! I could eat his head I was so jealous!

"Listen," he began again, this time quieter than he'd been before. "I was going with a friend and he backed out. He can't cancel his ticket either so I've been looking for someone else to take it. I think I might have found someone, but then I remembered you mentioned Japan once so I thought I'd ask you. I mean, if you can afford to take a vacation on such short notice, and if you don't mind paying half the ticket. Would you? I mean, would you like to go with me?"

"Um..." I fumbled stupidly, my lips feeling three sizes bigger than they were supposed to.

"Here's your drink!"

I looked at the glass gratefully and took a gulp. "I'd love to go to Japan, but I don't think I can take the time off now."

He frowned, played with the empty glass in front of him and then looked back up at me.

"Melina told me your boss has been trying to force you to take a vacation. And you're in charge at Breakout, so you can pretty much take your vacation whenever you want. And this is your dead season."

I glanced at him, determined not to stare outright, despite my dumbfounded surprise. What? Melina told him??

"Just say yes, Russ."

"No," I mumbled. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Lots of reasons."

"Is Blake one of these reasons?"

Suddenly I knew why he'd asked if Blake was coming, and why he'd looked so annoyed because Melina had arrived in the middle of that conversation. I couldn't even voice my startled "What?".

"Stupid question. He is isn't he?" Donnie looked back down at the empty glass in his hands. "You know, Russ, I keep trying to ignore the fact that I like you. But then, when I think about you with him, it just annoys me. I don't know if you're just oblivious, but even I can see that you two aren't... You're just not!"

Aren't what? I wanted to demand but my voice was still stuck.

"I don't know," he sighed. "It feels like you and Blake aren't really a couple, like you're not meant to be a couple. Okay, I sound like Melina now. I keep thinking that one day you'll notice that we have this great chemistry and... I'm not sure what, but I have a feeling it won't matter anyways. You won't give me a chance, will you? Not with him around. And I was just asking for you to join me as a friend."

The breath that was traveling in and out of my throat felt ragged and itchy as I stared at him in shock. He didn't look at me, still staring intently at that glass; better it than me anyways.

"So, yeah I have another friend who wants to go with me, but I don't want to give him the ticket. I don't want to go with him; I want to go with you. I've been holding out to ask you, stupidly hoping that something would change." He pulled something from his pocket, and slid it over the table to me, "Here's the ticket. And the contact information for the guy who wants it. Keep it, or give it to him. It doesn't matter- just don't tell me what you decide."

I looked at the little envelope on the table, refusing to touch it.

"Russ, just take it. Consider it at least!" and I knew by it he meant him. "Just give me a chance! Blake doesn't even have to know about it!"

When I still didn't move to take the envelope, he sighed again and got up. I looked at him as he walked away; he was getting increasingly blurry. Melina had disappeared on purpose, I knew she had. That look that I'd near missed and hadn't been able to read, I knew it had something to do with this. I blinked roughly a few times and saw Melina approaching me with a mix of concern and euphoric content. "So?"

"So?" I asked her, my voice sounding oddly loud to my ears.

She nodded her head down to the ticket, "He asked you?"

I looked down again and noticed that the glass in my hand was still full of beer. I tipped the glass back and drained it in one long and painful gulp. "He asked me," and I don't know what to do. Why couldn't all the answers be written out for me? With a jolt I jumped off the bench. I threw my coat on hurriedly and yanked the envelope off the table, stuffing it roughly into my pocket.

My answers were written out for me! I could easily just check the book till I found the answers, like a chemistry test in high school! Tipsy or not, tired or not, I was getting my answers tonight. As I ran from the bar and hailed a taxi, I wondered how I'd forgotten about the book. My book. I guess I'd been forcing myself not to read it so much that I'd pushed it from my head altogether. When I got home, I was just as hasty as I'd been leaving the bar, only this time I smoothed the envelope containing Donnie's ticket out neatly on my bedside table.

"Okay, Andrea, let's see what we're doing."

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What do you think of what Donnie asked her?

What will the book say?  Will Ruslana go with it?