"Izaya?"

Of course, not all days were bad. Izaya would eventually get tired of getting his pride hurt if he didn't have something to look forward to. Some days, like this one, Shizuo would even call him. Izaya was holding his cards during their poker game when he came.

"Yes?"

"I'm leaving now. Wanna go with me?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll just get my stuff, wait a minute. Sorry, guys." He muttered when the other players pouted because that meant the end of their game. Izaya stood and walked over to the counter, getting his bag and putting his apron inside of it with no hurry at all. He loved making Shizuo wait for him just because he knew he would. He felt somewhat important.

"Good night, everyone." Those who were still around answered him. Shizuo walked out with Izaya following. He could only stare at that amazing broad back Shizuo had. As soon as they got out, Shizuo got a cigarette and lighted it. Sometimes Izaya wondered if Vorona didn't mind that her boyfriend was slowly killing himself with those cancer sticks. Izaya hated it but was not going to lose these precious moments with Shizuo just because of it. After walking a few feet in silence, Shizuo asked.

"How was your day today?"

"Hn? Great. And yours?"

"No problem. We have to work harder since Kadota got sick, but we're managing."

"Good…" Izaya smiled sadly, looking down. Then more minutes of silence followed.

"Listen…" The brunet glanced at Shizuo who was looking forward with his eyebrows furrowed. Izaya knew he did that when he was thinking hard on what he planned to say. "Are you alright? Recently you've been looking… down." Shizuo stopped walking and stared into Izaya's surprised eyes. The sommelier wasn't expecting that.

Shizuo looked worried and Izaya felt his chest on fire at the mere thought that Shizuo, on his own way, was paying attention to him. Izaya immediately decided to take this opportunity.

"Oh…Yeah." He turned his head, looking to his side. He had to be convincing. "I'm not sure… Tch, never mind. You just asked me to be polite." Then he started walking again, grinning to himself when he felt Shizuo's fingers around his wrist, stopping him.

"Wait… No, Izaya, you can tell me." He let him go when Izaya turned to face him. Shizuo shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

"Do you want to talk?"

"I don't want to be a bother, Shizu-chan." Izaya looked down again.

"You won't." Shizuo answered bluntly and Izaya was still feeling his heart flying. They walked to a park and sat down on a bench. Shizuo got his second cigarette from the package. Izaya rolled his eyes; well, no one's perfect.

"So… What's up?" Izaya was well prepared for answering that; a random depressed drama with a bit of truth behind it for it to sound convincing.

"Well… I don't know. I'm not excited about anything anymore. Work is not gratifying. Living… neither." Shizuo sounded surprised.

"Oy, you're not thinking about suicide, right?" Izaya laughed a bit.

"No, Shizu-chan. Not suicide… But I need something to renew my life. I'll have to keep looking." Since forever, Shizuo wasn't very good at comforting people, because he never knows what words to use. But Izaya liked it… He could ramble about his problems and he knew Shizuo was genuinely interested. Then he inhaled and said.

"I'm… Not that great either." Wait? Not that great? Izaya raised his head and stared at the blond. That could be interesting and very useful information.

"What's up, Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo remained silent for a while, so Izaya insisted. "C'mon, I just told you my problems, you should tell me yours too."

Shizuo sighed and finally muttered. "I really like her. But sometimes I think there's something missing."

Izaya grinned and leaned closer. "Like what?"

Shizuo shook his head. "I dunno. I guess I'll figure it out later on." He was about to say something else when his phone interrupted him. He got it, answering.

"Hey, Vorona. Yeah… Yeah… I'm a bit late today. Don't worry, I'll be home soon. 'Kay? Wait for me." Then he stood up. "I gotta go."

Izaya sighed, getting up and looking at the blond a bit more, craving for those precious minutes they spent alone. "Alright. See you tomorrow."

"See you." And then Shizuo walked away. Izaya shrugged and went to the opposite side, kicking a small pebble on the way.

"That bitch messes everything up even when she's not around." Then, he tried to look at the bright side of this all. "Maybe Shizu-chan will realize he doesn't really like the bitch's sweet and annoying smile. Maybe he'll realize he's into men… That would be cool too."

And Izaya went home envisioning may ways of how Vorona would look like when heartbroken.

The next day, Izaya had a wine to evaluate. He got the bottle and opened it. He poured some into his cup, and then started to write down the name and other information about the wine. It was a white wine from New Zealand. He started filling out his information sheet.

Name: Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc
Producer: Sileni State
Region/Country: Hawke's Bay / New Zealand.
Harvest: 2009
Alcoholic content: 12,5%
Grape: Sauvignon Blanc
Price: U$33,50

All of this information he could get on the bottle, so it's the easiest part. Then Izaya went to the next step; the visual analysis of it. He tilted the bottle to one side and the other, looking intently on how the light changed colors against the light. Then he started making his notes.
'Light yellow, like straw. Reflects light.' Finally, he twisted his wrist, in a way the golden liquid inside of the cup twirled delicately. Then sniffed it; his experienced nose could easily distinguish a lot of things on that liquid. The first thing that came into his mind was… 'Fresh passion fruit.' He closed his eyes, feeling the aroma going into his nostrils, looking for secondary smells.

"Hm…" Izaya purred in appreciation, writing down. 'There's a bit of a flower scent. Mineral too… Some menthol.' He grinned. 'Intense and complex scent.' Now Izaya took his first sip. He rolled the wine against his tongue and palate, feeling all his senses focusing on that flavor alone. It was a light, acid and great wine. Izaya then took his second sip, wondering if the complexity of scents would be maintained; almost. He could still feel the passion fruit, but not the flower. Such a pity.

With his pen he made a few more notes before walking to his computer and starting to write his review on this wine. It wasn't easy to find a wine that the brunet really enjoyed. He didn't take long to review it. He gave a grade of 87 out of 100 to the wine. It really deserved it.

Albeit being in a horrible mood, tasting wines was something that really got Izaya's mind out of his problems. It was one of the few moments of peace he had during these past few years where he's working together with Shizuo. He started spinning on his swivel chair. Shizuo was probably dating Vorona for almost 5 years by now. They dated for three and a half… Damn the blonde bitch. She had one year and a half of advantage over him. Suddenly Izaya stopped his chair, smirking to the computer screen.

He would find a way to get Shizuo back. He didn't care how.