While heading out of the restroom, someone bumped into David, rushing past him. The person—a young man in his late teens—stumbled to the sink and immediately began throwing up.
David stood in the doorway for a moment, watching. He glanced at his watch: 6:40 PM.
After what had happened with Travis, it was clear he was going to lose this job. It was only a matter of time before he got called to the manager's office. But he didn't care about that anymore. In fact, he almost wanted it to happen. He needed the severance pay—whatever little he could get—if he was going to begin his plan.
"Are you okay?" David asked.
The young man turned on the tap and splashed water on his face. "Yeah, I just had a little too much to drink," he struggled to say, clearly not in his right frame of mind.
"I think you've had enough for the day. You should head home," David suggested.
The boy nodded weakly. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."
As the young man tried to stand, his legs buckled. David caught him before he hit the floor.
"Careful," David said, steadying him.
"Ugh, my head," the young man groaned, pressing a hand to his temple.
"Are you alone?" David asked.
"No... I came with my... friends."
"Alright. Can you manage?"
The young man nodded, and David helped him out of the restroom. The boy staggered off down the hallway on his own, one hand braced against the wall for support.
"What do I do now?" David muttered to himself after a deep breath.
He started walking back toward the main floor, but as he passed through the hallway, something—someone—suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into a room.
"What the—?" He was about to scream, but a hand covered his mouth.
He calmed down just enough to register where he was—one of the private rooms. The club doubled as a motel, but the services were only for the well-to-do. He looked at who had grabbed him.
The moment he saw her face, he yanked the hand from his mouth and pushed her away.
"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.
Eveline stood before him, her eyes wide and desperate.
"I just wanted us to talk," she said, looking up at him.
"We have nothing to talk about." David turned to leave, but she suddenly threw her arms around him from behind.
David froze, shocked. Never in his life had he been so caught off guard.
"What the hell are you doing?!" He forcibly freed himself from her hold and spun around. He scanned the room quickly, half-expecting Travis to burst out from somewhere with a camera. Some kind of setup.
"I missed you," Eveline said, her voice trembling.
All David felt was anger.
"You did what?" he asked, staring her right in the eye.
"Look, I know what I did was wrong," she began, her words coming out in a rush. "It was callous of me. But you have to understand—I was desperate at that time. I needed money for my dad's operation. There were also a lot of pressing matters I needed to handle, and my meager salary wasn't going to cut it. I couldn't ask you because I already knew your condition. You didn't have that kind of money."
David frowned. "What?"
"Yeah," Eveline said, letting out a shaky breath. "My father got into an accident at that time."
David's anger faltered slightly. "An accident?"
"I don't know how it happened, but somehow during work, the car he was working on fell on him. By the time I got the call, he was already in the hospital. They had to take him to the ICU." Tears began streaming down her cheeks. "They said... he needed an operation, but I had to provide the money first. It was well over ten thousand dollars. I couldn't get the money from insurance—before they would even start the process, it would already be too late. And we didn't even have that kind of insurance to begin with."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, but the tears kept coming.
"I was losing my mind, Dave. I didn't know what to do. Then... that's when Travis showed up. I don't know how he came to know about it, but he promised to cover everything. All I had to do was..."
She trailed off.
"Become his girlfriend," David finished for her.
He scoffed and massaged his brow. He'd never thought Travis would go to such lengths to take Eveline from him. This was the first time he was even learning about any of this.
After a moment of silence, David spoke. "You're telling me this now because...?"
Eveline bit her lip. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just... I don't know. At first, I refused. But Dad's condition grew worse. The doctor said if nothing was done soon, he was going to lose his life. And you know I can't lose my father—he's the only family I have left."
David stared at her, unsure how to feel anymore. He'd hated her from the day she left, thinking she'd only chosen Travis because she was enticed by his wealth and sick of being with a broke guy like him. But it turned out there was more to the story than he'd ever known.
Still, it didn't change what had happened.
"You still haven't told me what you want," he said flatly.
Eveline reached up and held his face gently in her hands. "I love you, Dave. I always have and still do. And I know you still have feelings for me."
She tried to lean forward, but he turned his head away.
"I don't," he said. "I honestly don't."
"Come on, you can't say that." Her voice cracked. "I know you're mad at me for leaving you without as much as a reason. Maybe you even hate me. But you can't stop having feelings for me. That's not possible."
Her hands trembled slightly against his face.
"I don't," he repeated.
"That's the anger talking," she said with what could generously be called a smile.
"It's not." He grabbed her hands and gently pulled them down from his face. "Maybe you didn't mean to hurt me. Maybe the situation was out of your control. I get that. But you still did hurt me. You left when I needed you the most, and it hurt me so badly. I've only ever felt that way once before, and it was a long time ago."
He took a breath.
"I made a vow to myself, Eveline. I was never going to love anyone ever again. I'm sorry, but I don't feel that way anymore."
Tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She hugged him tightly, desperately.
He didn't hug back.
"You should go, Eveline," he said blankly.
"Please. I still love you. Don't do this."
"I'm not doing anything. You're with him now. That's it. End of story. Let's not make this any harder for either of us. Go back to him."
"I don't love him," she said, her voice breaking. "I'm only with him now because I owe him so much money."
David stared into her eyes for a long moment. Then he let out a breath.
"Goodbye, Eveline."
He pulled away from her and opened the door.
"David!" she called after him.
He didn't stop. With every step he took down that hallway, his resolve solidified.
He knew what he had to do now.
Whatever feelings he'd had for Eveline—whatever small part of him had still held onto the past—were gone now. Burned away by the reality of what his life had become.
There was no room for love in the life he was about to lead.
Only survival. Only success.
Only revenge.