Promise of Forever by Jessica Wood

whore yourself out to someone who actually wants your STDs and leave me the fuck alone.”
    Just then, a splash of water hit the side of my face. “Asshole!” the blonde lashed out before storming off.
    I knew I was a bit too harsh on the girl, but she was coming on way too strong and didn’t seem to get my subtle hints. And tonight, of all nights, was just the wrong night to test my patience. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and motioned for the bartender again. He filled my glass without waiting for me to ask.
    I wasted no time and gulped down the liquid. “Leeet me tell ya somethin’,” I began to slur as I slammed the empty glass on the counter. “Life’s really fucked up.”
    The bartender raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond. Instead he humored me and stuck around to listen.
    I raised my index finger and waved it in front of me. “You think you finally got it figured out. You think you—you have it all. And when you’re just about to be happy with the girl you’ve wanted for the last twenty-three years, life just shits all over it. Life’s a fuuuckin’ shitter—a Goddamn shitter.”
    As the room started to sway around me, I groaned and dropped my head down against the bar to steady myself. “Shit—shitting evvverywhere,” I muttered into the              cool, wooden surface.
    Then I lifted my head back up suddenly and looked at the bartender. “Does life shit on you, too, Jack?”
    “It’s Joe,” he corrected as he wiped down some of the bourbon that had spilled on the counter.
    “Ohh…really?” I shot a doubtful look. Then I bursted into laughter. “That’s right. You’re Joe. I’m Jack.” I hit my chest a few times with the palm of my hand to let him know who Jack was. “That’s what a lot of people at work call me. Jjjjack.” Then I huffed out a heavy sigh. “And then there’s one person who calls me Jax. She’s the only one that calls me that, and she…” I quickly shook my head in a knee-jerk motion, trying to shake her out of my head. I  lifted my glass up again. “Hit me with another one!”
    “Buddy, I think you’ve had enough.”
    “Come on, man. Just one more.”
    Joe sighed and shook his head in pity. “Okay, but after this one, I’m cutting you off and calling you a cab to take you home. I think you’ve had more than enough for tonight.”
    I grunted. “Fine. After this one, I’ll hit the road, Jack, and I won’t-cha come back. No more, no more, no more, nooo morrre.” I threw my head back and laughed.
    He just stared at me and continued to shake his head. 
    “Get it?” I looked at him expectantly, “Like that Ray Charles song—oh except…that’s riiiight, your name’s not Jack.” I drained the glass Joe just refilled. “Daaaamn, I keep forgetting.” I laid my head back down on the counter and hummed the Ray Charles song to myself.
    “Alright, Jack,” came Joe’s voice a few minutes later. “Your cab’s on its way. You need help getting in the cab?”
    I threw two hundred-dollar bills on the counter and waved his offer off with my hand. “No thanks, man. I’m really not that drunk,” I said just as I got up from the barstool and stumbled over an empty chair nearby. “I had a lot of fun tonight.”
    “Drink some water when you get in, Jack. You’ll thank me for it in the morning.”
    ***
    When the cab dropped me off in front of my house fifteen minutes later, I wasn’t ready to go to bed. I needed to see her. I needed to talk to her.
    So I stumbled over to her house and pulled out my phone to call her.
    She didn’t pick up.
    I went over to the side of the house and looked up into her bedroom window. The lights were off.
    I dialed her number again. “Pick up, Clo,” I muttered.
    Finally, after five or six rings, I heard a click.
    “Hello?” came Chloe’s half-asleep voice from the other end. “Jax?”
    “Heyyy, Clo. What you doing? You busy?” I watched as her window seemed to sway back and forth in front