Roxas had just finished his second beer when the waitress asked him if was willing to move over to the bar. It had been an hour and a half and Namine still had not shown for the restaurant reservation. His stomach churned, upset. Sighing, Roxas removed himself from the table and moved over to the bar. He would wait a half hour longer and then go home. Maybe he would pick up a case of cheaper beer along the way.
He missed her secret smiles. They had been just for him and the key to her seducing him in the library back in high school. She had needed him then, but that was five years ago. Sighing, Roxas ordered another beer. Having sex with Namine in the library's bathroom had been a mistake he would never forgive himself for. Now he was engaged to his greatest regret and on the cusp of ending up like his parents.
Roxas looked around the expensive restaurant at all the happy couples engrossed in their love for each other and stopped short at the sight of a table not far from the bar. It was a group of men, all wearing perfectly tailored designer suits. They were laughing and enjoying their own success. But their stark contrast to Roxas's Walmart-on-clearance dress shirt and slacks and his two minimal wage jobs was not what caught his attention. Axel was with them. Unlike Roxas's messy hair that was in desperate need of a trim, Axel was clean-shaven and his vivid red hair perfectly styled. He looked like an Armani model.
He felt his insides tighten and he looked back down at his beer. Axel—warm, loving, kind Axel, the best friend he betrayed for sex and lies—was sitting no more than ten feet from him, looking beautifully healthy and happy. Roxas wanted to go over there, get down on his hands and knees, and beg for forgiveness. He wanted to clasp Axel's warm hand between his own inferior ones. But that was impossible. Axel would never forgive his betrayal.
Longingly, he looked back over at the table and his breath halted in his lungs. Axel was looking at him. He breathed again and with the air came the consuming memory of the pain he felt when he lost the warmth and kindness of the man looking back at him. His eyes filled with unshed tears and he frowned. Slowly, a warm smile spread across Axel's face and he gestured silently for Roxas to join his friends and him. Abruptly, Roxas stood. As his stomach churned again, Axel's smile turned into a worried frown and he began to stand, but Roxas threw money on the counter and dashed from the restaurant.