Aveline Parker climbed up the rickety stairs to her boyfriend's tiny one room apartment with a bag of groceries dangling from her hands.
Her zeal to pleasantly surprise him, projected from her eyes.
As she walked into the room, the first sound that greeted her ears was a moan.
She stopped dead in her tracks, the smile on her face vanishing faster than it formed.
Her eyes stumbled on the couch, and the scene she saw forced a scream out of her mouth.
"What the fuck, Ave!" Laura jolted on hearing Aveline's scream, but she didn't stop riding Craig.
"Cra-ig," Aveline called out in a broken voice, as the grocery bag slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground.
"You feel so good, Lau. Don't stop," was his response.
"I know, baby. I know."
Aveline's frozen body began to vibrate, as she turned right around, and fled out of the room.
"They didn't stop. My best friend and my boyfriend saw me, but didn't stop," she kept muttering in tears, as she ran to the side of the road.
The dark sky suddenly rumbled, a warning that it was going to rain soon.
Too deep in pain to give a damn, Aveline just stood with her hands wrapped around her body in an embrace, and cried away.
A taxi pulled up beside her, and the driver's head shot out through the window.
"Hey ma'am, going somewhere?!" He called out to her.
She looked up, and sniffled. "To where it doesn't hurt," she replied.
A few minutes later, the car came to a stop in front of a hotel, and she alighted.
She stretched some cash to him, but he drove off without returning her change.
"That's part of the loan I took to give to Craig!" She screamed after the disappearing car.
Broken, she turned around in a daze, and walked past the glowing billboard that read, "Welcome to Sin city."
A few minutes later, she was seated at a bar.
"Need another shot ma'am?" The charming bartender asked.
Her lips quivered. "I took out the loan to help Craig with his business. I can't even pay my rent, but I decided it was better to help him. Laura said he isn't her type. How could they hurt me like this?"
"Yeah, you do need another one." The understanding bartender slid another shot to her.
She took it immediately, and as it trickled down her throat, it burned a hole through her heart.
"Oh God, it burns!" She blurted out with a contorted face.
The man already at the bar before she walked in, scoffed.
She whipped her head to the side. "Sorry sir, do you have a problem with me? Are you one of those wicked men too?"
The stranger turned her way too and their eyes met.
She didn't know if it was the alcohol- she had never been a heavy drinker. But the man looked like he was spinning.
"You're so many!" She threw her head back, and cackled as she pointed at him.
Atlas watched the strange woman who hadn't stopped crying about her woes laugh at him.
One thing was very clear from the very first look though, she was a doll.
"Or it could just be the alcohol messing with your head," a voice inside of him said.
"I'm sorry for laughing so much. I just— I just— It just hurts so much!" She burst into tears again.
The bartender offered her yet another shot, this time, an amused glint in his eyes.
"Thank you. You're the only kind man I've encountered today. You won't believe the cab guy ran away with my change. I hate men!" She declared, before taking the shot.
That shot went directly to her brain, and for a second there, the world went completely blank.
"Well you're not the only one with problems," Atlas mumbled.
Aveline's swaying head paused, and with a robotic movement, she turned to the stranger with a voice deeper than the deep blue sea.
"What could possibly be worse than catching your best friend and boyfriend going at it? Tell me," she slurred, her wobbly finger pointing at him.
"Not like it's any of your business, but trying being forced to marry someone you find utterly insufferable. But like I said before, it's none of your business." He shrugged.
"That's sad too." She bobbed her head, and then followed it up with incoherent mumbles.
"Hey Derek, give me a bottle to take up to my room. I'm done here," he said, rising to his feet.
"What?!" Aveline's head shot up. "You can't leave without me. We're comrades in pain," her hand stretched out and grabbed the first part of his body it reached.
Atlas' heart skipped a beat when he felt her hand on his crotch.
"Damn," Derek the bartender muttered under his breath, as he hurried to grab the drink he had been ordered to bring.
"Have you absolutely lost your mind?" Atlas asked with a slightly raised voice.
"No," her head swayed, ignorant of what she had done. "No," she repeated, and her hand on his crotch dropped. "I'm just sad. It hurts here." She pointed to her chest.
Atlas sighed. He was tipsy himself, but she was clearly further gone.
He could see how dangerous things could get for her if he just walked away and left her to her fate.
"Keep the drink. I've changed my mind," he turned to Aveline. "Let's go."
"Yay!" Aveline jumped to her feet.
In the same breath, she staggered. Atlas stretched his hand and caught her before she could fall.
She laughed as he held her firmly, and pulled her along with him. "See? You are my comrade."
Atlas rolled his eyes hard, wondering what he had gotten himself into.
They arrived in his room, and as he let go of her long enough to lock the door, she staggered again.
He turned and saw she was about to fall.
Hissing through his teeth, he charged at her. "Could you just stay still?!" He screamed into her face, as he held her firmly in place by her shoulders.
Her body rocked, and her lips quivered. In a heartbeat, tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry. I don't mean to be clumsy. Please forgive me. Don't send me away. I just want to—" she bit her lips.
His eyes softened. "You want to do what?" He asked, too close to her flawless face for comfort.
"Forget. Even if it's for one night. It can hurt tomorrow, but tonight, I want to forget. Can you please help me?"
Atlas brows lifted. "Do you know what you're asking for?"
To his surprise, Aveline fully opened her eyes, and looked directly into his. "I might be a little buzzed out, but I'm not stupid, neither am I completely out of it. I know what I want. And right now, it's you," she said.
He shook his head. "No, you're drunk. I won't take advantage of a drunk woman. Come lay on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor," he said, pulling her to the bed.
However as he tried to lower her on the bed, a strength he didn't know she possessed surfaced, and she pulled him along.
He fell on top of her. "Help me forget," she pleaded.
For a moment, he hesitated. But the desperate sadness in her eyes finally won him over.
"Your wish, my command." And he claimed her lips.