Olivia's POV

Booming music surrounds us as soon as we enter the packed bar. Hailey gives me a gentle push when I hesitate for a second, so I'm forced to follow Abbey who aims straight for the bar.

"Gin-Tonic?" Abbey asks while we're waiting for the barkeeper to take our order. I nod absentmindedly and take a look around.

The place looks pretty cool, I must admit. The dark wooden floor paired with the black and rustic seating furniture spreads vintage vibes and the dimmed, warm lights create an almost homy atmosphere. If it weren't that busy tonight, I would actually feel very comfortable here.

"Livie, I think you should definitely get laid tonight!" Abbey cheers and hands me and Hailey each a drink. "I already spotted a potential candidate for you, hun!"

I follow her gaze and notice a guy leaning against the bar near us who's blatantly ogling me. Or more precisely, he's eye fucking me already. He's quite handsome, but I do perfectly without a needy fucker whose gaze alone reduces me to an object. I screw up my face in disgust and look away.

"No one-night-stand for me tonight!" I remark and decide to change the topic, "Where are the others?"

"Poor Nora caught the stomach flu, so, sadly, she can't come, and Sadie is already on her way," Hailey informs me and then looks around. "I see a lot of other hot guys already. You sure you're not up for a little fun tonight?"

I sigh, shaking my head, but can't help but chuckle.

"More than sure," I retort and take a generous sip of my drink. The cool liquor running down my throat helps me ease my tension a bit more and I lean against the bar with my elbow.

Maybe it wasn't the worst idea to go out with the girls tonight. Five weeks of hunkering down at home must me enough, and my life goes on after all. With or without Zach. I still feel a stinging pain in my chest when I think that Zach won't be a part of my life anymore. That he won't ever take me out to places like this again for a dance and some drinks.

"There you are!" Sadie's arms wrap around me and pull me out of my thoughts about Zach. Thank god, I really don't fancy starting to cry in a filled bar. "Honey, I missed you! How are you doing?"

"I've missed you too, Sadie. I'm doing okay, I guess," I reply after pulling away, and give her the most sincere smile I can muster.

Sadie grabs my shoulders and looks me over from head to toe.

"Wow, you look smashing, babe!" she states with an appreciative nod. "Got a mission tonight to drive all the guys insane, huh?"

I look down at my outfit and smile. The clothes the girls brought me were all beautiful, but one piece has caught my eye in particular. It's a white, cropped blouse with long bell sleeves. The deep v-neck and the ruffled hem make me feel both, sexy and cute at the same time. To still feel comfortable, I paired it with skintight light blue high-wasted jeans. Simple, black ankle strap heels with closed toes complete the look.

"Thanks," I say and take another sip of my drink. "How's your grandma, Sadie?"

"Oh, she's fine again. She has to visit the doctor once a month for now, but she's back to being that unshakable woman she was before the heart attack."

I give her a relieved smile. When we returned from our Vancouver trip, things with Jack and Franco happened so fast that I haven't had time to ask after Sadie's grandma, and after the break-up with Zach, I was too occupied with my own pain to care for the problems of others. Not a thing to be proud about, especially when it comes to your friends, but that's just how it is. However, I'm more than glad that Sadie's granny is okay again. I once met her and she's such a kindhearted person, just as Sadie, and I know how much she means to her since she grew up only with her grandma and without her parents.

Sadie orders a drink for herself and we all clink our glasses once again. The loud music starts to settle in my mind, and as by itself my hips start swaying to the booming beat.

"See. You're already enjoying yourself," Hailey states with a triumphant face.

"Maybe a little bit," I admit unwillingly, earning a chuckle from all my friends.

As the evening goes on, I manage to enjoy the night with my lovely friends more and more, and due to my increasing alcohol level, I almost forget about Zach and my heartache for a whole while.

Dancing freely to the music, I catch quite a few guys leering at me. Some of them even make an attempt to approach me and try to get me to dance with them by placing their hands on my hips and pressing their aroused bodies against mine, but I forcefully reject each of them and push them away. I couldn't care less about all those needy fuckers. All I want is to enjoy myself. I don't need any of those assholes who only see ass and tits when they look at me.

It's nearly midnight when I make my way to the restrooms and bump into someone's back.

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't pay attention," I excuse myself. My eyes widen as the woman turns around. "Aria?!"

The breathtakingly beautiful sister of Jake gives me a radiant smile and pulls me into a tight embrace

"Oh my god, Olivia. Hi, so good to see you!"

"Yea. I mean, good to see you too!" I retort a bit awkwardly, but Aria doesn't seem to notice.

"Wanna catch a drink?" she asks as she draws back. She's at least as pretty as I remember her with her long blonde hair falling over her shoulder in lose waves and her jade-green sparkling eyes fixed on me.

"Sure. I just need to use the restroom first. Let's meet at the bar in five?" I suggest and Aria happily nods.

When I return, I look around searching for Aria and spot her at the bar, near Abbey and Sadie. Hailey already left since Ben picked her up about an hour ago. Their initially casual romance has turned into a serious relationship by now, and Hailey seems to be more than happy.

"Here, I ordered us some shots!" Aria calls out as soon as I approach her.

I give her a thankful smile and take the pink shot from her. We clink our glasses and down the sweet liquor. It tastes like cherry and is bit too sweet for my liking, but it's alcohol and it will get me drunk which is kind of my goal tonight, so I won't complain.

"Who are you here with, Olivia?" Aria asks and tilts her head.

"Uhm, with my friends, Abbey and Sadie." I point towards the two wildly dancing ladies on the dance floor.

Aria and I both chuckle as we watch the girls throwing their hands in the air and hopping around like crazy.

"They look nice," she states and faces me again.

I nod and smile at my exuberantly dancing friends.

"They are great, yea," I agree, and look back into Aria's face. "Who are you here with?"

Aria uneasily bites her bottom lip and hesitantly turns her head. I follow her gaze and hold my breath. Right there, only a few feet away, is Zach. He's standing next to Jake with a glass of wine in his hand, and they seem to be deep in conversation. Without even realizing it, I take in the beauty of the man who left me heart-broken only a few weeks back.

His dark brown, wavy hair has a soft shine in the dimmed light of the bar and falls into his forehead like it always did. I watch as the corner of his mouth slightly pulls up into a smile. A breathtakingly beautiful smile. A huge lump builds in my throat and grows bigger the longer I keep staring at Zach.

My heart starts racing and suddenly I feel like there's not enough air to breathe in here anymore. "Will you excuse me for a second? I think I need a bit of fresh air," I mutter and stumble towards the exit.

Before I reach for the door handle, I risk another glance at Zach and freeze as I find him looking directly into my face.

Zach's POV

I feel like my heart stops beating as I find two grey blue eyes focused on me. The same bright eyes which haunt me every night in my dreams and steal my rest. Olivia is standing next to the exit, the door handle already in her hand, and stares at me as if she just saw a ghost. Not knowing how to react, I just stare back at her and can't help but eye her from head to toe. God is this woman beautiful. The skintight jeans she's wearing, perfectly hug her legs, and that plunging blouse shows dangerously much of her cleavage. What genuinely surprises me is the necklace around her neck. She's really wearing that compass necklace I gave her for Christmas. Why does that even affect me so hard? What the fuck?

I get pulled out of my thoughts as she shakes her head, opens the door, and rushes outside. Without a second thought, I put down my glass on one of the bar tables and follow her.

I find her leant against the wall with her arms crossed, staring straight ahead.

"Olivia," I say warily and watch as her head snaps in my direction.

"Zachary," she retorts in a whisper.

There's so much vulnerability and pain in her eyes. It's almost unbearable for me to see her like that.

"How have you been?" I ask awkwardly and scratch my head. It feels weird standing here beside her after all this time. It feels weird talking to her. Hearing her voice. Looking into her captivating eyes.

Liv thoughtfully looks at me for a moment before she lowers her gaze.

"Okay, I guess, and you?"

"I got a job," I tell her as I don't know what else to say. I planned on never seeing that woman again, and the fact that she's standing right in front of me now takes my breath away and makes my mind dizzy.

"That's great," Liv remarks and gives me a faint smile. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." I bite the inside of my lip. Feeling the urge to pull her into my chest, I know I need to leave now before I get any stupid ideas. "Well, I have to go. It was..." I pause, searching for the right word, "...nice seeing you again!"

With that I turn away. I don't even go back inside to tell Jake and Aria that I'm leaving. I want to be alone right now, and the cool night breeze is exactly what I need to clear my head. When I look back over my shoulder once again, Liv is already gone.

With a deep sigh and a heavy heart, I light myself a cigarette and continue my way home.

Olivia's POV

The moment Zach turns to leave, I rush inside and head straight for the restrooms. I lock the door behind me and sink down onto the closed toilet seat. My head falls into my hands and I finally allow the hot tears to fall. I wasn't prepared for that. Looking into the same hazel eyes which used to tell me how special I am, but now remind me of nothing but the pain I went through the past weeks, was just not what I signed up for when I agreed to go out with my friends.

After what feels like hours of trying to calm myself down, I wash my face with cool water and look at my reflection. Great. My eyes are swollen and the tiny bit of mascara I applied is a mess now. As well as possible, I try to wipe it away. With little success. Screw it! I'm going home now anyways. My mood is ruined and all I want is crawling into my bed and forgetting about this evening. I unlock the door and return to the bar to tell Abbey and Sadie that I'm leaving. When I don't find them on the dance floor, I look around, searching for them, but there's no sign of them.

"How amazing," I huff and roll my eyes. Abbey has my wallet and keys in her purse since she convinced me of the unnecessity of us both carrying a bag with us in a packed bar on a Friday night. She told me, this way I could fully enjoy the evening and wouldn't have to worry about my stuff being stolen. Now I wish I wouldn't have agreed. Generally, I shouldn't have let them talk me into going out at all. Okay, I admit, I enjoyed the evening at first, but seeing Zach again has shook up the whole thing. I'm just glad I put my phone in my jeans pocket and not into Abbey's purse as well. With a deep sigh, I reach for it.

"This can't be true! For fuck's sake!" I curse and throw back my head in annoyance. It's dead. Of course, it is.

I exit the bar and think about what to do. Abbey probably drove to Liam, and I have no idea where he lives, besides, I wouldn't want to disturb them. Hayley is with Ben, Nora has the stomach flu, and Sadie lives on the other side of the city. Can this evening get any worse?

I could find myself a guy to hook up with and, like this, have a place to stay tonight, but I really don't feel like doing that.

"Fucking shit!" I curse and desperately rake my fingers through my hair.

After some minutes of thinking, I make a decision I'll probably regret.

*****

So, Zach and Liv met again although they both didn't expect seeing each other ever again. What do you think of their reencounter?

Also, what do you think is the decision Liv made?

Please don't forget to comment and vote.🦋

Katie🤍