There are Many Ways to Deal With This Pain, Choose Wisely

C12: There are Many Ways to Deal With This Pain, Choose Wisely

Depression, sadness, emptiness and pain. Call it what you may, each and every one of them hurt a place deep in one's soul that make the ugliest injuries seem like child's play. But thankfully enough, times of hurt equally call for a time of remedy. There are many ways to deal with this pain. Choose wisely.

"Give me another bottle of whiskey Sam", Shelby said half-drunk to the surprisingly decently dressed bartender adorning a white t-shirt and black pants.

The booming music all around the bar evoked a notion that this palace of blunt and broads was by far the only place in Exasthen that lived with its lid uncovered. Besides, people needed an opportunity to let loose a little. Have some "me time", contemplate a dwindling and non-stop life. So whether it was a profound business man having another fling with a dancer, or it was a poor beggar who lived as the king of the bar on such dark and gloomy nights such as this one, "The Salamander", as the club was often referred to, was perhaps the pride of Raven. Ironic, isn't it? Here, it really seemed nobody cares about anything. Neither the fact that the Lautner case was still under wraps, leaving a terrifying question of a lingering murderer on the loose, nor the fact that the two people in charge of that very case we're seated right among them.

"How bout you Malcolm? You're looking at me like you're new to alcohol", she continued, giggling to herself. "Come on", she said, gently pushing the almost empty glass of whiskey towards him, "Let loose a little".

Malcolm slowly sat up, on the tainted stool just by the bar and looked a little shocked by how Shelby was behaving. He gently pushed the bottle of whiskey back to her and said, "you should know I don't drink Shell. I'm just not—"

"—not what?" Shelby sharply interrupted. "You're just not what? You're just not going to take that risk? The Alcohol poisoning back at Raven was just once you, scaredy cat", she sarcastically said with a devilish grin on her tender babyish face.

Shelby was a different breed, and her frequent mood swings – a party life, then a seductive enchantress, then a serious worker who would risk almost anything for the success of a job or mission – although tiring, often heightened the unpredictability of this rare female specimen. Maybe it was a disorder though, she never seemed to notice it herself. Perhaps it was the alcohol talking, or maybe it was just some suppressed and repressed side she would often lock down, she knew how to let her tongue loose and knew exactly the places to hit to get a reaction out of a nigga. Besides what'd she have to lose anyway, her whole life was already burning before her eyes, why not go out with a bang?`

"Oh please Malcolm, don't be such a joy kill", she slowly dropped the bottle of whiskey the bartender just gave her on the round, brown table that already had two empty glass bottles and 3 cans scattered all over it. She bent closer to Malcolm, her plump, tender lips gently brushing his ear, and said in a calm, silent voice, "You should've told him Malcolm. That was your chance". She slowly placed her hands on his dark pants, gently running her soft fingers on his wooly material, and continued, "That was your one chance to tell your friend that…", she slowly took her hands further up his trousers, "…that you successfully seduced his w…"

"Shelby!", Malcolm said grabbing her wrists and making her visibly uncomfortable, "You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying", he said in a voice oozing guilt.

Shelby's drunk, smiling face swiftly changed to an angry, disgusted countenance. She instantly freed her hands from Malcolm's tight grip, staring at him in noticeable resentment and said, "Sometimes Malcolm, you just come off as such a pussyboy", she said, caressing her wrists. "You're just chickening out again, like always. Grow a pair of balls you coward. Do I always have to be the one who's prepared to do the any and everything's for our relationship to work out? It's Just like how it was when we were in Raven. You never for once disagreed when I said we should run away and leave everything behind." Her resentment becoming less visible to hide. "You didn't show the slightest ounce of refusal. In fact, when it was just you and I discussing how and when exactly we'd leave, you were always the one coming up with those sweet poems, those gentle pecks and those oh so cringy quotes about how we should never give up on the love we shared." She mockingly mimicked. "But now look at where we are? They say that-", she hiccupped mid-sentence in her drunken state, then continued. "They say that everything and everybody changes. I mean for fuck's sake even nature switches up every once in a while. But you're just the same ball-tucked, spineless little pussy boy you were in Raven. It's been Five years. Five years motherfucker…", she splashed the cup of whiskey on the dark hoodie he'd earlier borrowed. "But you're still the same old…"

"Enough Shelby", he said raising his voice, immediately dowsing the whole party nature and enthusiasm in the bar. "Way Too Sexy", the song that was booming around all four corners of the bar, immediately stopped, and everybody, from the naughty strip dancers, to the poorly dressed men looking for an obvious night fling, instantly turned and focused their gaze on a trembling Malcolm and a clearly upset Shelby. Their movement was so perfectly unanimous, it was scary. Almost like they were robots. That's if Robots were prone to losing themselves in erotic moments, completely forgetting the pros and cons their careless activities would birth the next morning.

"Everything okay Miss Shelby?" Samson said, gently placing the tumbler he was cleaning on the bar table, reaching into the drawer just under it. His soft, tender looking hands reaching for something that the people of Exasthen knew all too well.

"We're fine Sam", Shelby said gently touching his right hand that was still on the table (as he was left-handed) knowing what was going to happen next. "Just a little disagreement. We're leaving right now", she said with a wry smile, tiptoeing to peck the young barman then turning and giving Malcolm the eyes. picking up her things and quickly disappearing from the bar, Malcolm immediately took the hint and scurried out after her before things got a little messier.