Amy's Love Story

Amy wanted to get drunk and get laid. It had been a long and exhausting day. She was emotionally drained. Dealing with jerk ex-boyfriends was never easy, especially the abusive one. He had slapped her hard, drawing blood from her already bruised and cut lips.

She wanted to forget everything and get laid. Have great sex and forget about this day altogether. She had ordered a drink absentmindedly, a vodka martini and decided to just sit there until she found somebody hot enough. Or just okayish to sleep with.

He was sitting in another corner, completely hidden behind the darkness. He probably had the same mood, Amy gathered. What was his name again? It was something very uncommon. Something with an 'A'? She thought hard. Aaron? Oh what the hell… she would just talk to him.

She risked getting rejected or getting her dignity dented. After a year with Josh she doubted if there was any dignity left for her. She had put on make up, so her bruises should be covered well. "Hey, Aaron, right?"

They had met just a couple of days back, had a great conversation, so he might remember her. Assuming he was not in the same mental state as she was in.

"We talked the other day, remember? Jace introduced us?" she smiled brightly, hoping it didn't look fake.

"I remember you, Amy Darling."

Her heart skipped a bit. She talked to him for a long time that day, even though he didn't respond the way she wanted him to, he listened. She didn't notice how deep and sexy his voice was. She looked at him, properly saw him in teh dim light of the bar. She wanted to evaluate him before diving in.

He was tall, not freakishly, but tall enough to be standing out in a crowd. Muscular body, but not too bulky. He looked grim, but not to the point of being depressed. His features were sharp, almost like chiselled with utmost care and love. His eyes, eyebrows, long nose and beautiful, thin lips–everything was just too beautiful. They were unique, like those carefully sculpted statues in the museums she would visit with her father as a child.

"So, drinking alone?"

He looked up at her face for the longest moment and said, "Do you want to talk about something?"

She was taken aback. That was not the reply she was expecting to hear. "Well, I just wanted to say 'hello', but if you are not in the mood, then I'll go."

"Don't go," he said with a sigh.

"It's fine, I don't want to bother you," Amy started leaving.

"It's Arin," he said in a low voice.

Amy stopped short in her track. "What?" confused, she looked back at him.

"My name is Arin, and I would like to have your company." He stood up and raised his hand to meet hers. "Sorry, if I sounded rude earlier."

She decided to stay. He was very attractive. It was going to be fine. She was probably goingt o make another bad decision like she made before, but she would manage. Like she had managed before.

"I was just asking why are you drinking alone, and would you like to drink with me." Amy said, with another bright and partially fake smile, "It's no fun drinking alone, you know."

"I was thinking about someone. Didn't really feel like talking. What about you?"

"I just wanted to have small talk, a lot of it, so that I don't have to talk about anything serious. Who were you thinking about?"

"A man. Do you want to hear about him?" Arin looked interested. He really wanted to talk about him, didn't he?

"Don't mind me asking, but are you gay?" Amy slapped herself menatlly, but waited for the answer.

"I have had both male and female lovers, but I want to talk about this one person right now. I want to tell someone about him. He never liked to talk about himself, nobody ever talked about him. I want to talk about him. Listen to me, will you?"

He started speaking without her permission. "He liked to stay hidden, kind of behind the curtains, but whenever there was a problem, he was called upon. He had cute, sparkling eyes, but they always looked sad. He was very handsome, but nobody ever noticed him enough to fall in love with him."

"He sounds interesting. Did you fall for him?" Amy couldn't help herself. Her plan was to take this man home, but what is the point if he continued talking about one of his exes.

"I couldn't remember falling for him, but I definitely had sex with him. Does that bother you?" he asked gently, like they put ointment over a deep wound. Or maybe like a shrink talked to his patients.

"Why would that bother me? You can sleep with anyone you like." Somehow, Amy found herself unable to get angry. So, she asked again. "Tell me more about him."

"I don't remember much about him. He was handsome, and whenever he called me, i went to him. I had something deep with him, a connection. Whenever he felt sad, I went to him to make him smile. Whenever he felt anxiety, I would go to him to calm him down. I was bound to him in some ways."

"Yet, you claim not to have loved him? You were a playboy, weren't you?" Amy laughed loudly. She was on her fifth drink. Everything was going very well, everything was bright and colourful, and the man in front of her was amazing. "Let me tell you a story then. It is a legend, actually." she giggled for no reason, and spoke again.

"There was a man who was an excellent artist. People loved his work, they'd come from different countries to meet him and buy his work. But the man was not happy. Day after day, night after night, he'd just work. He had no life, no love, no happiness.

One day, he decided to work for himself. He decided to make something for himself, something only for his own happiness. He created the statue of a woman, the most beautiful woman there could be. He sculpted each inch of that statue with so much love and care, that one day, the woman came into life. And they fell into love.

But the woman was not human, so one day she had to leave. When she left, the man went crazy in grief. He lit up the whole town. And then a curse came down on him. After that night, he couldn't sleep. He couldn't fall sick, he couldn't die."

Arin frowned. "That is one weird story, but where is the legend?"

"The legend says," Amy downed another drink, she promised herself that it was going to be her last drink but the night was still young. "The legend says that the man and the woman are still around, and one day they will meet again. One day when she says her name to the moon and the sun, he will return to her and the curse will break."

Amy tried to stand up. The world spun around her. Arin held her by her waist and looked down at her face intensely. "Why'd you tell me this story?"

"It's not the greek mythology, you know. It's a story my dad told me." she realised her voice was now shaking. She sat down and started playing with his hands. She drew small stars in his palm with her fingers. One small, one big, another small one… "My dad said, that lovers who are bound to each other will one day find each other. So, this man, whoever he is, if you are really bound to him as you think, you'll find him again."

Amy took him home, finally after getting too miserably drunk. She said a lot of other things, she could hardly remember them. She remember that she kissed him. It was tender kiss at first, then she gently slid her tongue in his mouth. She was taking her shirt off but he stopped her.

They ended up just sleeping together, fully dressed.

The next morning, Arin made her breakfast. She had a terrible hang over. He made omlette, toast, coffee; he got some juice too, in case Amy didn't like coffee.

"What are you doing?" Amy said. "Are you trying to make me fall for you?"

"What?" Arin looked confused.

"Well, you didn't take advantage of a drunk girl last night, and now you're making breakfast for her."

Arin laughed loudly. "Your stories made me stay with you. Tell me, do you have more stories like this?"

"I might have, but you have to pay for those."

That was the first day of their relationship. Two years had passed after that.

Today was the first time she had made a decision without telling him. She had called that Emma girl for that project they talked about. It was silly to most, but knowing Arin, she was worried. He would not say anything to her. He would listen to her and do whatever she wanted him to do.

But he wouldn't be happy about it, and he wouldn't share his true feelings with her. He never did.