13th August 2012,

As the sky wept down at me, I walked slowly on the lonely yet loud streets. The rays of streetlights seemed to dance among the raindrops like peacocks at the advent of the monsoon. Head bowed and hands in the pockets of my jacket, I walked amongst the ghosts of the dead unsuccessful lovers.

After a mile long walk of reflection, I finally sat down in a stranded bus stop, tears rolling down my cheeks and flowing among the rainwater that slowly dripped from my forelock. Just then my phone rang but I did not care. Finally, it went silent again.

As I covered my face with my hands, the phone rang again. I heaved a sigh and flipped it open. The screen read Coe's name with a shirtless pic of him flexing his muscles that he had chosen as the display picture. I took a deep breath and pressed the receive button.

"So how did it go?" His loud chirpy voice from the other end almost deafened me. "Did she accept ma boy?"

Tears once again surged down my cheeks and a loud sob escaped my throat.

"Meet me at the bar." He said in a grim voice and cut the call.
I nodded and put back the phone, turning around and starting to retracing my steps.

A few minutes later, I finally reached the bar which was currently full of people, waiting for the wrath of Zeus to finally calm down. The smell of petrichor was overpowering the smell of the beer, which was desperately trying to fight back but with no luck. Only the iconic sign outside and the number of alcohol bottles around was giving way to the fact that it was a bar.

I quietly went towards the bartender and jumped on a bar stool.
A few minutes later, Coe entered the bar. He was wearing a thin white shirt which had gone wet and clung to his body, revealing his toned, six-pack body. As soon as he entered, many heads turned towards him and as many pair of eyes twinkled at the sight of his body, but, the forever playboy was surprisingly oblivious to all the attention, as he scanned the room for his friend.

He finally spotted me and waved. I gave a half-hearted wave in response and patted the empty stool beside me. He nodded and slowly moved towards me.

"Showoff," I mumbled as I turned back and resumed sipping my drink, shaking my head.

After an eternity, he finally reached me and sat down on his seat. He grabbed my glass and took a sip, immediately making a face and pushing it away from us.

"You had a heartbreak", he said, "you cannot drink such piss right now!"
'God, this guy has tasted everything!'

He then looked at the bartender and raised his hand, pointing his index and thumb fingers to the ceiling, "Two glasses of Aecht Schlenkerla." He said, carefully pronouncing each word.

The bartender nodded and smiled at his choice. I knew what he must be thinking- Here's a man who really likes his beer!
Not the first one to think so.
This was just another one of Coe's qualities, he knew the names of everything drinkable by men.

The bartender poured us a glass each and mumbling an 'enjoy your drink, sir', silently left.

"Cheers!" Coe said with a smile, as he lifted his glass. I smiled and clicked mine with his.

Twelve glasses later, we both were drunk as Davy's sow on a frosty night and were laughing as if we had drowned a dog.

"I thought you were sad" he giggled.

"I am!" I hollered back, making half of the people look at my direction. I sobered a little and whispered, "I am."

"Did she like, reject you?" He asked in a serious tone.

I shook my head, " No."

"Then?"

I snickered and came close to him, whispering in his ears, "Her boyfriend visited her before I could flower her."

"Flower her?" Coe asked in a funny tone and we both started guffawing loudly and slamming the table, making others shoot angry glares at us.

When we noticed the angry looks, we quietened down and came closer to discuss the affair at hand.

"So what would you do now?" Coe asked in a hushed tone.

"Nothing," I replied back.

"Nothing?"

I sat straight and continued in a normal voice, "Look, I love her. And if she finds happiness in that bastard, I am all happy in her joy. In fact, I am ready to keep our relationship to strictly friendship if that's what she needs. I am ready to be friend zoned by her. For her."

"That's bullshit! You should confront her, tell her how much you love her!" He exclaimed

I dismissed his suggestion by a wave of my hand and he sighed angrily but said nothing.

"Let's talk about something else," I said.

Just then a man entered the bar and that's when I noticed that the rain has finally stopped. The smell of beer was again prominent but the bar was now almost empty. While the beer won, the bar lost.

The handsome man gave me a warm smile and slowly moved towards, sitting beside me. I gave him a nod to acknowledge his presence while Coe, like a friendly bear, extended his paws for him to shake.

The friendly males exchanged their names and Coe took the liberty to introduce me to him. The man looked at me and then extended his hand.

"James", he said in a crisp voice.

"Joseph", I replied, meeting his strong grip and putting on a fake smile for his genuine one.

"You can call him Joe, I know I do", Coe butted in, trying to wiggle in his perfect little butt in our barely holding conversation. I glared at him although I was slightly relieved that he had taken the reins of the conversation. Conversation with a friendly stranger was after all the last thing I needed, especially in my drunken state.

"So you live nearby?" Coe asked.

James shook his head, "Nope. Came to meet my girlfriend. You?"

"Oh, I live in Ravenhawk Lane. Just an hour ride from here." Coe answered nonchalantly.

'Great Coe, tell an unknown stranger your address. Why not even ask him to come over to your place for a sexcapade? Surely nothing could go wrong! After all, what are the chances for a random friendly stranger you met in a bar to be a killer who murders and rob people !' I thought, sipping my beer as slowly as I could.

"What about you Joe?" He asked, suddenly steering the conversation at me and crushing me underneath the wheels.

"I live... nearby," I said, not trusting the questioner at all.

"He lives in God's Acre Apartment", Coe chimed in, telling the potential killer my address without skipping a beat. I glared at him, but he was too busy staring at the man's bulging biceps to notice.

'I hate this guy when he crushes on someone!' I silently sipped my beer, mentally noting the man's features. Tomorrow I would have to go to a sketch artist so that the police could know who killed and robbed me.

"My girlfriend lives there too!" he exclaimed.

'Yeah, and you are Clark Kent while I am Captain America. I know, why don't we go to Hogwarts and play a Quidditch match to see who deserves to sit on the Iron Throne?' I thought, giving him a fake surprised expression while slowly sipping my beer and looking straight at the bartender who was getting more and more nervous by my stares.

James then gulped down the contents of his beer glass and signaled the waiter for the bill.
"I should go now." He said with a smile, shaking our hand one last time.

"Can't you stay for some more time?" Coe asked, a bit sad at the mention of his departure.

James shook his head, pouting. "It's late. Hopefully, we would meet again. Someday."

'Not at all creepy' I thought, sipping the last of the beer in my glass.

"Hopefully," Coe repeated with a smile.

Just then the lean and thin waiter arrived with the bill, which the man paid with a generous tip. Turning to us, he gave a nod and headed out, waving at us without turning back.

Three more glasses later, Coe and I stumbled out of the bar.

"Should I take my car?" He asked

"Pfft", I said, " stay with me tonight."

"Yeah", he said, " you need me tonight."

I nodded and gave him a peck as he slid his hand under my shirt. We started heading to my place as fast as we could.

I have no idea about the time when we reached the door to my apartment, but what I do remember is Coe slowly nibbling the back of my neck as I pushed the door open.

Once inside, we tore each other's clothes, kissing and moaning all the way to the bed, where after seven to eight rounds of pleasuring each other, we finally fell asleep, drifting into a deep slumber.