November 1977

The cold wind nipped at my red, tear-stained cheeks as I walked along the street ahead of me, turning my once neat hair into a wild and chaotic mess. Around me, the sound of traffic and people rushing by rung loudly in my ears, although I never paid much attention to my surroundings or what was doing as I only had one destination in mind.

My footsteps were clumsy and slow, not to mention all over the pavement as I tried hard to stay in a straight line the best I could. Hiding my face with my jacket from the wind, while continuing to use the wall next to me to keep me upright, I accidentally bumped into a couple of people, quickly uttering an apology to them before I continued staggering on.

Ahead, I could see the illuminated, welcoming sign of where I'd been heading to - The Three Arrows. Also known as the third bar I'd been to tonight. Approaching the building, I could hear laughing, shouting and chatting coming from within the walls, whilst a couple of people having a fag stood outside it. A friendly local pub; I knew that this place would do just fine. However, my head kept desperately trying to tell me to rethink stepping through that front door.

I'd had my quota for the evening when it came to the amount of alcohol I'd consumed already. There was no debating that. And I was certainly in no emotional, nevermind physical, state to be wandering the streets at night on my own, with no way of defending myself if anything were to happen. If I had any common sense whatsoever, I would make the sensible decision of getting a cab home and going to straight to bed.

But I was going to stop here. Oh no. The dangerous mix of hurt, anger and confusion had clouded my conscience, as well as creating a lack of care for where the hell I went and what I did. Most people would tell you that drinking away your problems solves nothing, and they're right. But right now, the idea of drowning my sorrows in a cold glass of vodka was so much more appealing to me than calling it a night.

So, composing myself as best I could, I strode towards the wooden double doors in front of me, pushing one of them wide open before stepping into the bar room, the smell of stale beer and cigarettes overwhelmingly strong. Putting that aside and making an immediate beeline for the bar, I felt the eyes of every man in the room burying into me as I walked past them, which was unsurprising considering I was practically the only woman in this building.

Finding an empty stool next to the bar, I sat down at the counter and exhaled deeply, knowing that I really should quit while I was ahead. But before I had any chance to reconsider my decision, a bar man appeared in front of me and asked me what I wanted. Guess I was staying, then.

'Vodka. Double.' I told him hoarsely, my throat dry from the alcohol I'd necked beforehand, as he nodded in reply and got to work on getting me my drink.

As I sat there patiently at the counter, I looked around the room curiously. People chatted away at their tables contently with one another as a thick cloud of smoke hung in the air, which made it almost impossible to breathe. Not that it seemed to bother them. At one point, a fight even broke out between two older gentlemen, but the row was quickly distinguished when they were both chucked out the front door and onto the street by a member of staff.

In the midst of all the commotion, I hadn't noticed the bar man had placed my drink in front of me and was waiting for me to pay, but when I realised I awkwardly handed him over the money.

Staring down at the counter, my thoughts wandered to a different place when unwanted images of earlier's events flashed through my mind. My jaw clenched in anger as the horror film that unfolded just hours ago repeated itself once more. How could he do that to me? After everything we'd been through? I asked myself that question for the millionth time tonight; my blood boiling furiously. If my grip around my glass were any tighter, I might have possibly smashed it to pieces.

But before I could think about launching it at the nearest wall, I felt a pair of icy blue eyes watching me from across the bar, snapping me out of my wretched thoughts. When I looked up, I was met by the gaze of a blonde-haired young man wearing button up shirt, black velvet trench coat, and a smile that could kill...

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Hello everyone!

This is a the start of a little side project from my current books which I've been focused on for a while now. I just wanted to try writing something different, a bit of a change. If you guys like the sound of this and what to see what happens next, then I'll happily continue it. I'd love to hear what you think of this first chapter, though, so please feel free to leave a comment and perhaps even a vote.

Many thanks!

- Anna :-)