The bar was crowded with regulars. Men whose lives had turned upside down and were attempting to drink away the pain. Desperate women trying to get any man they could to come home with them. The usual crowd of people; drunk, hopeless and lifeless. All except one. One woman who sat at the end of the bar. Women like her usually were not seen in bars like this. Successful, beautiful business women. The Bartender approached her.
"What'll you have?"
"Irish, neat."
He put a glass in front of her and filled it up with the drink. She tentatively reached for the glass before she picked it up and shot it back. It burned her throat a little. She wasn't used to drinking anything except champagne at parties. She put the glass back on the counter, silently asking for more. The bartender filled her up then looked at her.
"I'll leave the bottle."
She looked up for the first time since she had arrived and a sad smile spread across her face in a silent thank you. The bartender left and she took the drink and shot it back down her throat again. It burned a little less this time. It helped numb the pain in her heart though and that was why she was here. She refilled the glass and stared at the drink. She could understand why it was his favorite. It almost instantly numbed the mind and erased all thoughts. No wonder he loved it so much. Just like he loved that thief. She sighed and shot the drink back.
She couldn't think about Nate. It hurt too much. She had accepted a long time ago that their marriage was over and she was ok with that. She had hoped they could be friends and for awhile it looked like they might have had a shot at that. But all Nate cared about was his precious little crew of thieves. And out of them all, he loved his little grifter, Sophie Devereaux. She was his world, his life, his everything. All he talked about was her and how amazing she was and how worried he was whenever she wasn't with him.
Yes, she was jealous. But not because she still loved her ex-husband. No, she was jealous because that woman had stolen her best friend away from her. She saw Nate as the one person in her life she could always talk to. And lately things had been hard for her. She needed her best friend at her side, but where was he? With Sophie. She refilled the glass but this time she didn't hesitate to drink it. The burn didn't even register that time. She was too upset to think about it. Didn't Nate see what he was doing? He was abandoning her when she needed him the most. He never asked her if she was ok or how she was dealing with things. Everything with him was his team and Sophie. They were his new friends, his new family and she was nothing anymore. Nothing but a distant, fading memory.
She refilled the glass and sipped it. She wasn't used to drinks like this and she was already dizzy. But she still couldn't get him out of her head. He forgot about her, he didn't care anymore and all she could do was take it silently. She had voiced her opinions at times but he blew it off, like it meant nothing, like her thoughts meant nothing to him. He wouldn't take the time to listen to her; he wouldn't try to understand where she was coming from. She was losing her best friend. Nate's new friends, his team, his Sophie, they were the only thing in his life that meant anything. Couldn't he see how much that hurt her? How much she wished things could go back to how they used to be? When they were friends? But she wouldn't say anything…she couldn't. He wouldn't understand. She pulled money out of her purse and set it on the counter. She made her way to the exit and just as she was walking out, 5 new people arrived. They walked right past her and didn't even notice her. Her best friend, leading the group. She was nothing to him. Invisible.