Chapter Text
"Hey, I'm almost here. Why can't I find the address and the sign?" The young woman asks on the phone, her voice filled with irritation. She got out of the car and walked in the lonely, dark, and empty street with long, winding alleyways remaining dreadfully still. Her white ankle boots' heels clicking against the pavement. She walks down the street, the lamp posts being the only source of light. "That's the bar's concept. They want the bar to be private." A rough male voice answers.
The woman scoffs. "They should focus on promoting the bar as much as possible instead." What an odd bar, a private bar? Was it a bar only for the elite?
"You'll be meeting the head bartender. His name is Eren."
The woman stops dead in her tracks. "Eren?" A wave of uneasiness goes through her body making her tremble. Her heart races with a desire to turn around and go back to the car. The last thing she needed to hear was that name. But that was a common name…Isn't it? She kept walking until she saw double glass doors with 'XX' in elegant cursive letters. This must be the bar. She tugs her lavender silk dress down and adjusts her white blazer before tucking a few loose blonde hairs behind her ear. She contemplates whether to open the door or not. The faint sound of music and people chattering echoes emptily in her ears.
"Alright, I'll hang up now." The blonde woman says without a proper goodbye before she puts her phone away in her purse. She entered the bar and was immersed in the bar's interior. The bar was not huge, not that was surprising. It had a sort of a retro vibe, elegant yet classy, an old vintage style to it. There were different glasses ready for the customers in the bar. Large yellow size Bocana chair stools accompanied the wooden bar balancing the color scheme and light scheme to which the bar was lighted by the large and tall glass cabinet they extend to one end to the other showcasing to what seems hundreds of different bottles of alcoholic drinks such as Perrier Jouet champagne, Cabernet Sauvignon, A classic Rosé, Pinot Noir, Martini Blue, Sangri-la, Scotch whiskey, A classic Margarita and more from different regions. The small wooden tables in either circle or rectangular shaped, giving the bar a classic look. The music went along with the feel of the bar, an indie song playing softly with the laughs and conversations of the people who were in either group, couples, or solo.
"Hello, would you like a table?" A young woman asked. Her tag displaying her name, Mina. Her bright blue eyes shone with a friendly smile.
"Uh, sure."
"Please, wait a moment." She says with a nod as she goes. Just as she turns to the bar, her light blue eyes meet bright teal ones. Her whole body froze the air that was once in the atmosphere, absolutely gone. Gone was also her will to speak. Her fingernails itch to scratch the cuticle of her thumb. She desperately wants to escape this situation. It took her forever to get a hold of her breathing. She reminds herself again of the reason why she is here.
"I'll sit by the bar." She called out. Not breaking her gaze.
There was silence between them as she slowly sat on one of the chairs stools, facing the young man. Tension bares its fangs. It skulks in the shadows, lurking behind every glance and every breath. Eren did not spare her a glance at all as he wiped clean the silver muddler and mixing spoons. His thin brown bangs falling over his beautiful eyes.
"It's been a while," She chided. "The least you could do is say Hi."
Eren settled one of the mixing spoons down and faced her. His arms extend on each side, leaning a bit close to the blonde woman. "We're not close enough to greet each other Annie." His green eyes narrowing at her, almost as if he was looking at the most wicked thing he's ever seen.
"It's been three years, don't you think we should start talking again? Anyway, prepare me something nice…please."
Eren bit the tender flesh of skin inside of his mouth before he pushed his bangs back and began to prepare a cocktail. "I should've visited this place sooner if I knew we were in the same line of work," Annie says. Eren remaining silent, as he put a perfect ice cube on a small glass. He popped open a bottle and poured the drink into a cocktail maker along with lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar.
"I'm the CEO of Lion Heart, Were you aware of that?" Annie said with a tilt of her head, her thin pink lips stretching onto a tiny smile.
"Lion Heart. Clever," Eren said in sarcasm, not a hint of amusement. "Why would I be interested in any of your affairs?" He incorporates the white egg into a dry maker, shakes it, and pours the white egg after he puts a perfect ice cube in first and then the mix from the cocktail.
"That's hurtful," Annie says with sarcasm. "But you know Lion Heart, yes?" Annie holds up a black card with gold along the edges. "We're the best bar in the country." She says as she slips the card towards Eren with her two fingertips.
"Famous places usually don't have business cards when they're already frequented and known," Eren says as he uses the muddler to bring out the strong flavor of the drink. "I guess your bar is not famous," Eren says, his voice dripping with venom as he sets the cocktail drink on top of the card, sliding towards Annie. She holds up the cocktail, looking at it before she drinks. "This is vodka-based."
"Vodka is the cheapest," Eren says not paying any mind to her. She glares at him. "What is the name of the drink?"
"Adiós," Eren begins, before staring right into those icy blue eyes. "Bitch."
"That was the only drink, I could think of." He says, wiping down the cocktail shaker. Annie's lips stretched into a thin line.
"If you're just here for market research, finish the drink and get out," Eren says. Annie puffs and ignores his hasty attitude. "Eren, would you like to come to our bar?"
Eren glances up at her.
"I'm here to scout you. I'm opening another bar. I need a head bartender." Annie says as she finishes her cocktail. "I'll pay you a great amount. Working in a tiny bar won't get you any far you know." Annie fiddles with one of her gold heart hoop earrings.
"Look at the interior and choice of music, your boss must be old," Annie says as she turns around looking over the bar.
Eren sets a bottle of scotch down and glares at her. Annie's eyes dared the young man to say something. That is until her thin eyebrows shoot up in a realization. "Oh...Oh," Annie chuckles slowly. "I see, this is you… Isn't it? You were always sorta old-fashioned." She purred. Now it brings back memories. The old days where she would pick him out nice, flashy clothes to wear. The times where she would surprise him by buying him expensive clothes and shoes. God, she has never seen someone so dense and bad at choosing something decent and nice to wear. A sweater vest in the middle of May on a sunny day in the university? An abomination.
Eren scoffs, his lips breaking into a grin. "I think I remember now. Lion Heart, you said?" Annie crosses her arms, a warning in her eyes. "I think that's the place, our customers kept dissing for serving such poor quality drinks." He says as he puts the bottle of scotch behind him in the glass cabinet along with the other bottles. Annie's expression is unreadable as she tries not to show her anger. Her eyes staring at the back of Eren's slim thick figure. Noticing how Eren grew his hair a bit more, covering the back of his neck completely, a darker shade of brown.
"Something about putting too many cubes to the point that it makes their drinks so bland," Eren says looking at Annie, obviously trying to provoke her. "I'll refuse your offer, maybe you can visit our bar some other day." Annie clicked her tongue. His stubbornness has not changed at all. "It was nice seeing the hard-headed Eren." She said as she slipped her card towards him again. "Think about it."
He shook his head. "No. Don't waste your time."
With that, Annie got off the stool and made her way out of the bar. More memories brought her back to the old days where they would have a nice and simple dinner in their apartment yet they treated it as a pricey banquet with the main dishes and desserts being cooked and baked together. Dancing the night away under the kitchen lights. In the old days where everything seemed simple and easy.
✘✘
"How dare she visit you." His best friend says, laying on the side of his bed, next to him wearing a face mask. His long blonde hair barely stopped at his shoulders was tied up in a loose, messy bun. Eren didn't say anything, only stared up at the white ceiling. His bangs held back by bobby pins, wearing a face mask. They are in Eren's bedroom, an indie song playing softly in the background. Eren has his eyes closed, trying hard to forget Annie's face and her voice. He doesn't want to walk down the awful memory lane. Annie being the victor of the pageantry, the only trophy she deserves is a catastrophe.
"After all, she did to you? And why would she scout you?" The blonde asks sitting up, taking off the mask. "How thoughtless and shameless can she be?" He gets up and paces back and forth. "She shouldn't have shown up at all." He says looking at his face in front of Eren's mirror.
"I wished she didn't at all, Armin." He thought. Eren prefers being dead to each other. With no remorse and nerves to run into the other and have the nerve to ask how the other's been without thinking of painful memories. There's no need to think about the past. No need to think about memories that only ruin his mood. It's not worth it but it pisses him off. Eren yanks his face mask off his face. Whatever he doesn't want for both of them to continue talking about her. "Let's just eat something, this is all making my head hurt," Eren says.
"I'm up for it, let me just call and order the usual," Armin says leaving his room to retrieve his phone that was left charging.
✘
Bar XX balance
33,042.05 dollars
Eren stared at the screen of his phone. He knows that he still has a long way to go to have enough money to buy the bar. He needs to work harder, maybe in a year or two, there might be a chance where the amount of money would double and be even closer to taking over the bar. Armin came into the room with the pizza box, setting it on the bed. He sat next to him as he opened the box to greedily munch on a slice. "Are you still checking that?"
"As always."
"You know it's not healthy checking that every ten minutes of the day." Armin teased, wiping the sauce off his lips.
"I think I'm just paranoid and believe that the numbers would go down to zero." Eren sighs, taking a huge bite of his pizza.
"It won't go to zero, you work hard to get this far!" Armin's bright blue eyes beamed at him. "I'm sure you'll reach the money that you need and boom! Get that bar of your dreams." Eren chuckles. "Yeah, I hope so too."
✘✘
Annie sat in front of her mirror, brushing her long blonde hair then using her fingertips to split her hair into two parts. The buzz of a message went off as she set her brush down to check her phone.
Boris 3:41 P.M
Mr. Martel offered to pay him a lot of money but Eren said he wasn't interested. He says he likes the current place.
She slaps her phone carelessly on the dresser before she opens up her bottle of pills, popping one with a glass of water. When will Eren give it up? It's frustrating. She places butterfly pins to the sides of her hair, a final touch to her hair, a simple look. Her phone rings, the caller ID with the name Zeke. She quickly picks up her phone, swiping green to accept the call.
"Oh hey, how's your business trip so far?" She smiles.
"It's good, but I miss you." A deep and rich voice says over the other line. "Didn't you go to scout someone last night? How did it go?"
Annie froze. "I visited him,"
Beautiful green eyes, the way they're always bright, crinkled with a vague sweetness and mischief. That very day, the hue lost its brightness. It lost its fire. The fear to approach him, to see him up close, to smell his scent, to talk to him, to apologize to him. Her body was on fire, trembling, panting as she walked close to him on the table he was sitting. Clutching the 'A' charm from her necklace for courage to be able to speak. There’s much she needs to explain. There’s plenty she doesn’t. Too many things are too sensitive to say, many that are too shameful to tell.
"But he has no plans to move just yet."
He looked up to her, his beautiful green eyes over her hand clutching the charm. His shoulders sagged as he gathered his textbooks and stood up as he walked past her,
"Oh? Did he not like the conditions?" Zeke asks.
but not before he merely whispered two words to her that made her regret coming to the library where she knew he would always be.
"I don't know," Annie says, her eyes pricking with tears wanting to flow down. "But I'll try harder, I'm not going to give up."
✘✘
Armin opens the door into Eren's room. He silently sits on the stool next to the mirror. Clutching a small bag of trail mix. Eren looks at him baffled, Armin still hasn't changed from his joggers and white plain shirt. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"Yes, but I'll show up later. It's my place anyways." Armin says. His blonde hair was kept in a neat half bun, with a few wavy strands poking out. Eren applies a rosy lip balm before his phone rings, the caller ID being his boss. He grabs his phone swiping green to accept the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, are you at the bar?"
"No, I'm about to go, what is it?"
"I need to tell you something.." The older man's voice faltered, his voice trembling.
"What's wrong?" Eren asked, his eyebrows knitting together. He heard a shaky breath from the other line.
"Somebody came in early at the bar and they offered to buy the bar today."
"What?" Eren rasped out. He looked at Armin alarmed, his heart pounding in his chest. He prays to whatever is up in the sky to not grant his worst nightmare.
"I needed the money.."
Eren sighs, he licks his lips before he hesitates to ask the atrocity. "Did you...did you sell it?"
"I couldn't say no, not while somebody was willing to buy it immediately, I'm sorry."
Eren shakes his head as he leans to the headboard of his bed. Closing his eyes, wishing he didn't hear the awful news. His only will to live to get sold, just like that? Something he invested practically for the past three years to just get loose from his grasp. "You could've given me a heads up. You told me that you'd wait until I saved up enough money. You said you'd let me buy it!" The bar was all he worked hard for, it was his first priority, his love, his blood, sweat and tears. The pit of disappointment in his gut didn't go well with the pizza he ate a little while ago.
"Eren, I'm so sorry, I truly am. I was in need of the money and you know how my wife is, she's been pressuring me to sell it. But they'll keep the current bartenders. I made sure of it. Anyway, thank you for everything so far. The new owner will be visiting the bar today."
Eren sighs, with disappointment. "Okay, thanks." He hangs up and tosses his phone next to him. Armin looks conflicted as he gets up from the stool to sit on Eren's bed.
"He sold it? I thought he was going to let you have the bar."
"It's not like we signed a contract or whatever." Eren says bitterly. It was only a promise, an empty promise with no contract.
"Why did you thank him? It's not like he gave you no bonuses and raised your pay by at least $80.00 after 3 years. This is madness." Armin says as he chews harshly on the trail mix.
"Hey watch it! don't put your spit on my bed."
✘✘
Eren and Armin arrive together at the bar. The bar still hasn't opened yet. Though, the tables seemed cleaned and chairs have been put back in their place. Fellow bartenders have been put on the task to be on cleaning duty to tidy up the place before they open up again for later. A young woman with long dark appeared behind the bar as she settled a box down, taking out a cocktail mix shaker, several muddlers and mixing spoons. She spotted the two chattering and quickly greeted them with a sly smirk.
"Are you guys really roommates?" She quickly asks, a teasing tone on her voice.
"Yup, I already told you that Mina, remember?" Eren says with a chuckle. Setting down his bag on the bar as well as his leather jacket.
"In a two-room apartment, remember?" Armin said, raising two fingers a slight mock in his voice with a friendly smile. Mina raises her hands in defense as she goes back to sorting the equipment out.
"Man, even she thinks we're together." Eren says with a slight pout.
"Even I refuse for you to ruin my love life." Armin says, adjusting his indigo blue turtleneck.
"What is that Eren?" Mina says, pointing to a flask that Eren was holding.
"A new cocktail glass, It looked nice to me, so I bought it."
"This isn't even your bar and yet you're being charitable. Didn't expect that, it isn't you." Armin said as he opened a new message from his phone. Eren glared at Armin, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Don't look at me like that. Your boss is the one who sold the bar!" that caught Mina's attention.
"Wait what? The bar got sold? When did that happen?" Mina asks.
"Yeah they sold the bar. Just earlier today." Eren informs.
"So everyone is getting fired?"
"No."
Armin looks up from his phone. "Well, I better head out now. Later guys and good luck!" He says with a wave, turning his heels to go out the bar.
"Well, even so, I'm probably not gonna stick around much," Mina says, in a low tone.
"Why not?"
"As much as I like it here, I think it's time for me to put my diploma to use." She looks up to him with a weak smile.
"Oh.." Eren had forgotten about Mina's dream of becoming a teacher. She did have her certificate. But wanted to quickly earn money before she was to dedicate her life to teaching
"It's alright though! I couldn't be more grateful for this," She said looking around the bar. "Especially you, you did hire me after all. But I'll still come here." Eren gave her a small smile. He tells Mina that he'll go change before the owner comes to which Mina nodded and tells him she'll probably start playing songs from the bar's playlist to make the bar seem alive.
One of the convenient aspects of the bar is the soundproof three spare rooms that are available only for the employees. Eren was absolutely shocked in just seeing the rooms that have been used for different purposes, though mostly are for changing rooms for those who were in such hurries and keeping materials for the bar. Though the bar didn't really have a strict dress code, it was required to dress in a professional manner as in having the same black or white dress shirt, implemented with their own golden name tag.
As Eren looks at himself from the metal bevel mirror that is placed in the wall as decor, he hears a familiar song. A song too familiar, yet he's never heard it played before in the bar. Must be a new addition to the playlist. The tune of the song seems very familiar though, he's heard it before. He bites his bottom lip, he furrows his eyebrows as he looks up to see his eyes. He continues to stare, slowly slipping away from his consciousness.
Dazzling sunshine, feels pretty good
I'm clumsy in everything
I've always been, I know
His body immediately tenses up, he fails to stop the collision with the mirror, snapping him back to reality. He leaned his forehead against the mirror, closing his eyes as he faced the floor. His knuckles, on each side of his head holding his crumbling posture despite his fingers trembling to fully close a fist. The lucid lyrics induce abhorrent memories, that have his chest heaving, in pain. Memory lane leaving no thought alive. Dragging him down, drowning in the batch of emotions.
Two pairs of shoes, scattered along with clothes; a white sweatshirt, cropped shirt, jogging pants and a denim skirt that he's seen before. His eyes roamed around the apartment, immediately spotting an open wine bottle with two empty wine glasses. He lowered the volume of the song he was listening, taking an earbud out, he drew in shaky breath and,
It's complicated in many ways
these days, but now I can forget about it
Eren exhales, a hand coming down over his stomach. Finding that same rhythm to breathe properly, remembering how his stomach is supposed to be filled with air not the chest. His anxiety never stops to hinder him from his daily lifestyle. He open his eyes and,
Sees a necklace, more specifically the 'A' charm, it's simple yet in a way beautiful. He took a few steps to pick up the necklace from the small wooden table and halted as soon as he heard a loud moan coming from his bedroom. He slowly walks to the door of his bedroom, thinking,
Everything is gonna be alright
His hand trembles as he grabs the door knob, turning it slightly before pausing, letting go off the knob and sitting down on the couch near the abandoned wine. He turns up the volume of the song and waited,
You and I will walk together
You will hug me warm and tender
looks up to the mirror, unblinking. He draws a hand under his eye, wiping away the semi-dry tears. He stands up straight, his legs no longer faltering. Running his fingers through his hair he walks to the door opening it to head out.
Until the doors opened, a tall and beautiful woman appeared, her dark eyes widen, immediately on her knees before the brunette. "Eren!.. I… God…I.. I don't know what to say…. " Her fingertips pushing her raven strands out of her face. Hot tears streamed down his face, at the sight of her. He winced at the pain in his chest, his breathing, uneven as he heaved. He shook his head, shook off her hands caressing his face. He stood up and headed out of the apartment.
I don't want to know the story of past love, hold me now and kiss me everyday
You sing so smoothly and I know
It's just imagination of love
Eren helps Mina with cleaning the cabinet full of wines and champagne, hearing the main door opening, heels clicking loudly against the floor. He turns around only to meet his eyes with his worst nightmare, the Lioness, Annie Leonhart.