Story 56/1001

• implication
• routine
• positive

“Irene? Is that you?” Nigel approached a blonde girl.

“Nigel?” Irene smiled, moving away from her friends.

“Hey, it’s been a minute. You look amazing.” Nigel smiled.

“Thank you, you don’t look bad yourself. You’re here for the party?”

“Yes, I almost cancelled, but the guys made me go out, said I can’t be alone on New year’s eve.”

“What do you mean, ‘alone’? Aren’t you and Nicole-” Irene looked at him, confused.

“We broke up.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s- it’s a positive change, actually. Being alone. And it’s not actually recent, we broke up like six months ago.” Nigel shrugged.

“But you’ve been together for ages. It must have been hard.” Irene said and took his hand. “C’mon, I’ll buy you a drink, one for meeting again.”

Nigel smiled, letting Irene lead him to the bar. Her white dress was reflecting the club lights, and he couldn’t help but stare. They waited for a few minutes and got their drinks. He noticed that Irene seemed different, like this was the first time he was actually looking at her.

“Okay, did she break up with you?” Irene asked, drinking her cocktail.

“The implication is that it’s my fault?” He smiled, looking her in the eyes.

“No, I-” She blushed, looking away.

“Actually, I broke up with her. It hasn’t been good for a while now. And we have been together since high school.” Irene put her hand on his, encouraging him to continue. “I feel like you either find the one true love the more you spend time with someone, or the love fades. With us, it was the latter. It just became-“

“A routine.” She said, sighing. “Yes, I know how that feels. It’s not that you don’t care about that person, it’s just that you become friends, roommates; anything but lovers.”

“She knows.” Nigel smiled. “What have you been up to, these two years?”

“Failing at love.” Irene looked down. “So I decided to be solo this year. To get to know myself and what I really want in life.”

“Cheers to that.” Nigel said and lifted his glass. The glasses clinked.

Irene blushed, looking at Nigel’s blue eyes. Something about him seemed different, mature. He is not the same boy she met in college.

“It was really nice seeing you again.” Irene said.

“You too.” Nigel smiled. “Happy New Year, if we don’t bump into each other again, tonight.”

Irene wished him a happy New Year, and turned around to find her friends. Then, she bit her lip and scolded herself.

And she turned around, catching Nigel still at the bar, looking at her.

That was the moment she knew she wasn’t going to be single this year.