Lucid Vows

CHAPTER3: Threads of Crochet

“Whhmm… arhmm… you…” silent grunts murmured around the four corners of the room. Longing and pain can be felt through the reverberations of her words that seem louder than the annoying sound of the morning alarm ringing at the moment.

As she slowly opened her eyes, a single teardrop flowed through her messed-up mascara, slowly traveling through her cheeks and down to the floor. Slapping the alarm clock would be an understatement. She smacked it with all her remaining force, which actually made the clock shut up, for good though.

“Damn it” The girl cursed under her breath. It was either because of the broken alarm clock or the constant pain of her headache. She tried to stand up but slipped back to the ground to step on an empty whiskey bottle.

“#&*$!” She cursed again, but this time it was louder. The impact brought her back to the happenings before she feels like a wreck of a human, called hangover.

It was the weekend, as usual. She hung out with her lady friends at a club, dancing along to the heart-trembling beats coming from the speakers. They were having fun when a group of guys tried to hit on them.

It would have been fine if they hit off one of her friends, but most of them tried to hit her up, without knowing that she had the same preferences as them, fellow ladies.

The constant persuasion of the guys annoyed her, and she bid goodbyes to her friends, leaving them at the club.

As she walked along the street to go home, her craving to get drunk tugged her to pass by a different street. She doesn’t know why, but she felt compelled to go there. Not too long after, she saw an open bar, or more like a pub.

“There might be no dancing, music, or potential girlfriends, but this will do” she murmured. When she was about to open the door, it was opened by another customer who was going out, "Oh my, thank you for opening, miss". She thanked the timely exit of the customer and smiled at her as another gesture of gratitude, in which the customer returned a kind smile.

The place has a nice air around it, like a classic pub for locals to drink, antiques that give off a peaceful vibe to take shelter from the bustling cities of the modern world. She scanned around the room and saw a drunk man on a table, sleeping. She then looked at the bartender. He looked quite young to be running this kind of business, but then she realized that he might only be an employee.

"Excuse me sir, still open for last order?" She asked the man at the bar top who seemed shocked for unknown reasons. ‘Maybe he’s annoyed? He was about to close, but then I came’, she thought to herself, but she seemed not regretful of her choice. The signboard still hung “OPEN” and she wanted to drink, so she brushed off the thought and just went anyway.

The man looked around and fixed his eyes for a while on the old man sleeping at the table. He then checked the time, "Well, we're technically still open, but can you enjoy your drink within 7 minutes?" The man said.

She pondered about what to make out of it. 'Is he trying to kick me out or is he being sarcastic? I hope it's the latter' she thought, to herself, which she also responded with sarcasm.

"Then I'll take it out in a disposable cup or a plastic bottle" she shrugged and gestured to the man to start getting her order.

"You know what, take your time, sit down and let me get you your drink." He replied with a bit of excitement in his voice. She hoped that he'd not hit up on her, since it was the same reason why she left the club.

She thought about what to drink. She didn't really know what she actually wanted, as usual. Whatever came to her mind first would become her order. She thought about gin, but she didn't know what exactly.

"I want a gin cocktail, but it's up to you what mix you'll get me" she said to challenge the man’s expertise.

The man started to mix a variety of ingredients while she kept on looking at the place. It might be made mostly of wood, but it was all polished well and looks all clean, "Nice place, by the way" she complimented the beauty of the place.

She looked at the man to see his response, but he was too immersed in the drink that he might not hear her. The way he focuses on his work made the girl flutter; she didn’t know why, but it was strange for her. She never felt any attraction or even admiration for men, but this time, she admired the man’s focus, and it is clear in his actions how passionate he is in his work.

By the time the drink was finished, the man placed it on the table. The finished cocktail was green, from dark olive green at the bottom to light mint green at the top. The girl felt pleased, it was her favorite color. "Fantastic! It's pleasing to the eyes mister!" she exclaimed with excitement.

She then went and grabbed the glass to take a sip of the drink. The taste was also incredible. She didn’t think that drinks could taste this great, especially for an alcoholic drink, "And it tastes great too!" She happily said as she made a cute little dance with her shoulders.

The glass was kinda large, so it would take her some time to finish it, but the drink tasted perfect, so she thought it was just juice. By the time she was finished, she saw a half-finished whiskey bottle at the side of the table. She grabbed it and placed her payment, for the cocktail, the whiskey, and for the tip. She didn’t know how much everything was, so she just placed an amount she thought it all cost. “Yo mister, here’s the payment, thank you for the drinks!” and then she straight up walked to the exit.

She went home while carrying the bottle of whiskey in her left hand. She looks like a drunkard walking along the chilly night street. By the time she went home, she silently entered their house trying not to wake her parents up, and straight up went to her room upstairs.

She then started to drink alcohol. She was quite passionate about drinking it. It might be because of some problems she’s facing, if there are any. It might be because of a past relationship she had, or because of the current girl that she likes, who only sees her as a friend.

Until she was unaware that she was already drunk, and passed out from all the drinking. She had a dream, but due to her drunkenness, she didn’t remember anything, aside from feeling in love to someone.

As she stood up from falling down, she tried to look for her phone, she scrolled through countless notifications from her friends which she left behind last night. She was so engrossed in scrolling that she belatedly realized something was missing. By the time she had finished looking around the phone, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“My keychain!!! Where is it!!!” she exclaimed with worry and nervousness in her tone. From her actions, it seemed that the keychain was something important for her. It might be memorabilia from her previous relationships, maybe something that holds great sentimental value for her, or just a plain old accessory for her phone.