Relinquish - His Second Chance

Chapter Fourteen

Sebastian

"Are you happy, Beth?" I ask aloud as I shower. "You should be; I'm going out tonight," I announce sourly. I'm not sure why I'm blaming her; it's not as if she asked...

Heck, what am I saying?

Of course, I know why I'm upset with her. It's because she left me again, and I'm going out to spite her.

Getting ready for the evening seems somewhat surreal because it's been a good while since I've done anything for myself. But there's no point in moping around the house alone whilst Tina has Melody. I don't think my mind would like where it wanders.

So I shower and trim my newfound beard, letting the dark hair stain my face as I run in some oil Beth had once gotten me for Christmas through it.

I also gel my hair back for the first time in months. Yet the man staring back at me in the mirror isn't someone I recognise.

His eyes are sunken and hold a pain like no other. A pain that once upon a time I had never dreamed of, but now I'm walking alongside as if we were the best of friends walking through life together.

The man that greets me disgusts me, for I've been taught not to show my emotion, yet here I am, exuding sorrow and heartbreak, amongst other things.

"Get it together, Seb!" I spit at myself, yet my reflection shows nothing but defiance, so I turn away, unable to accept the person I'm becoming, replacing the man who was so sure of himself.

"You're hurting, Seb... remember my warning," I imagine Beth telling me. And yes, I mean, imagine.

You see, she's completely disappeared. Her usual daily visits are a thing of the past as I struggle to move through the days.

Life seems lonelier than before, especially now Melody isn't here in the evening.

I suppose that's why I'm adamant about joining Josh and the boys this evening.

Spraying my aftershave, I leave the bathroom and my reflection behind.

I want to say we attended up market places, that my visit was to a renowned bar or even a place that served good food. But that isn't the type of place my friends like to attend for a weekend.

No, I enter the club that houses sweaty bodies, people from the lower end of society.

This place is for those who barely work or the ones who grind themselves to the bones to earn minimum wage.

But that's exactly where my friends came from. And funnily enough, so did my family until my father made a name for himself.

And though I might have inherited my wealth from him, he inherited nothing from the man before him or the one before him.

In hindsight, perhaps that's why he's so hard on me. Maybe he wants me to earn the privileges he gave me and my family.

Can I blame him?

Why, of course not.

I walk to the bar, being one of the first to enter the building. There's no one dancing yet, and there sure isn't a crowd. Yet I find my seat, smiling at Aaron's sister Michelle.

She's a younger girl, around seven years younger than I, but she's always been part of our friend group.

"Chelle," I greet her with a smile. Her eyes raise to me with excitement. She's always had a thing for me, and that's always proved troublesome. My Beth never hated anyone, but I'm sure this girl before me was the closest thing to someone she hated.

Ah, no. No, I know what you're thinking... I didn't cheat. I've never touched the girl. But she has made pass after pass at me.

"Seb!" She exclaims, "Your usual?"

"Please," I nod, smiling despite not feeling remotely happy about being here.

I watch her bend to the fridge that we class as the elite, finding me the whisky of my choice and measuring it precisely before passing me the tumbler.

She nods behind me, alerting me to Josh and the gang.

"They've missed you," she smiles shyly. "We all have."

"Yeah... I've missed you all too," I lie.

Truth be told, I haven't missed them. I haven't taken a moment to think of them at all. I was all too consumed in my grief and my holding onto Beth.

"Sebby-boy!" Josh calls me from across the dance floor, his voice loud, as usual.

I haven't seen him since the day I laid Beth to rest, and he's a sight for sore eyes. Instantly bringing a smirk to my face.

Greetings seem to last forever as everyone says hello and asks after Melody and me, but it isn't until I see Lottie that I really start to rethink my choice of attending tonight.

She's the only one to have hated Beth, her dislike evident from the very moment we got together.

I used to be naïve in the belief that her being Josh's sister meant she had a deep need for me to find someone worthy of myself. But that belief had long since died when she made a pass at me on my stag do.

That's not to say there hasn't always been a mutual attraction between one another, because let's face it. She's a beautiful blonde bombshell.

But things didn't move as I once thought they might. Beth crashed into our inner circle, and that was the end of that.

"It's so good to see you," she grins, coming in for a cuddle that I rebound as I turn the stall.

"You too, Lottie."

She side-eyes me, looking butt hurt, but I couldn't care less.

"So, how's little Melody?" Josh asks me as he drags a good mouthful of beer into his mouth.

"She's good, adjusting..." I shrug.

"I heard your mother took her," Lottie chimes in from my left.

"Where'd you hear that?" I ask with a roll of my eyes.

"I have my ways; Beth was my friend too..." she shrugs.

Hardly, I want to say, but then, before we got together, she was friends.

Lines blurred after our marriage, and life took the pair of us away from our group of friends. Beth's life more so. Her work ethic was always strong until we found out about Melody.

"She's actually staying with Beth's mother tonight..."

"Good old grandparents, free babysitting and all," Josh laughs.

But it's then that I stare at his sister.

Lottie looks thoughtful, nodding her head as if this is news to her.

"So you want a good night out, do you?" She asks me over the loud, bassy music.

"Yeah, something like that," I nod. Picking my glass up in a nod to Michelle.

She refills my glass almost immediately, leaving just as quickly.

A good night... sounds good, I doubt it'll happen, though.