Roses and Flames (It girls series, #1)

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. I know there are going to be a lot of mistakes, grammatical errors, and character errors in this story, but I’ll try to write better. If you ever come across any offensive jokes or anything offensive, please do not be scared to call me out on it. And also, don’t be afraid to voice out your constructive criticisms. I’ll gladly take them. In this story, it won’t 100% represent the accurate procedure when it comes to criminal procedure. I am young and learning, so please, bear with me. Thank you. Happy reading. Have a good night/day! * “Please, maawa ka, I have a family to feed!” I grabbed my documents and bag to leave the courtroom. Family, huh? I smiled as I watch him getting dragged by the police. It satisfies me to watch one of the people who ruined my life pleading for my forgiveness. Seeing criminals making amends for their actions made me love my profession even more. Them, who ruined my life, who took away my freedom, who made me cry every night, who made me question my existence, made me stronger. Three down, another three more to go. Michael, Ivy, and now Ethan. All behind bars. In jail. What a bad place to have a family reunion. Everyone greeted me with smiles on their faces as I walked out of the courtroom confidently. I greeted them back and smiled at them. I called Delilah—my best friend, to tell her the good news. “Hey!” I entered my car and started it. “Guess what?” "You won another case?” She asked. I said yes and heard her squeal in the other line. I rolled my eyes and smiled, low-key missing her. It's been a week since we last saw each other because of our tight schedule. "This deserves a celebration, ano, g ka ba?" I told her I can’t, I have a lot of things to do. But I just found myself greeting my friends, almost screaming because of the loud music. “Wow, sosyal naman talaga. May bodyguard pa’ng kasama sa club!” Heather teased me when she saw my bodyguard at the back. "I’m one of the best lawyers here, I’ve got a lot of enemies. Big enemies.” I sat down at the table with them and filled my shot glass with tequila. Being that it's Sunday tomorrow, I don't really mind getting drunk. I chuckled and added, "There's definitely someone out there scheming on how to kill me." They exchanged glances before laughing awkwardly. “Hey, girl friends!” We all turned our gaze to the girl who called. “Sorry, late. What did I miss?” “Wag ka na mag-sorry, palagi ka namang late. Sanay na kami.” Delilah hissed, jokingly. Ophelia just rolled her eyes at her. “Hey, kids, don’t fight, this is her day!” Jolene pointed at me. I shook my head because she seemed drunk already. “Cheers to Lois for winning another case!” Jolene raised her shot glass and so we did. “Cheers!” We talk and laugh like there’s no tomorrow. I looked around and saw a familiar figure laughing with a girl. I didn’t realize I was staring at them until he looked back at me. He turned his head aside, but I could see him smirking and licking his bottom lip as if he was pissed seeing me here. Well, sorry, 'cause he doesn't own the world. I looked at him up and down and scoffed. I just didn't mind him and focused my attention on my friends again. We continued talking about random stuff, mostly about our lives. I excused myself para pumuntang bathroom dahil hindi an 'ata kakayanin ng intestine ko ang alak na nainom ko. After I did my business, I went straight to the smoking area. I leaned on the railings and put a cigarette in my mouth, I was about to light it when someone came in too. I was shocked when I saw the guy from a while ago. He looked shocked as well. Hindi ko alam kung nagkukunyari lang siyang nagulat at sinusundan niya talaga ako. He stood beside me and lit his cigarette too. “Long time no see. I thought you stopped smoking?” “It’s none of your business,” I said, without looking at him. I heard him laugh. What’s so funny about that? None of us talked, we just stayed silent for a minute when he decided to break the silence. “I’m sorry." He said in a low voice. Everything came back. The good memories, the bad memories with him. The day we first met, the day we confessed our feelings to each other, the day I felt happy with someone for the first time, the day we fell apart. Those days I want to forget but I can’t. I tried. We kept running away from each other to forget our history. To escape the past. to escape each other's presence. But it seems like we’re running in circles. Because every time we try to escape and run from one another, we just ended up meeting, again, and again.