[ WP ] Just because you love them , does n't mean they have to love you back .

A waitress goes past my booth and I call out to her. 
 
 `` Hey, miss, another shot of whatever the hell this is. ``, I tell her gesturing to an empty shot glass near some other shot glass and some bottles of beer. 
 
 She stops and looks at me and then at the pile and says, `` Have n't you had enough?'' 
 
 I swear I said something witty to her before she rolled her eyes at me before disappeared to the bar. 
 
 I take a shot of whatever the hell poison I got left in the table. It burns my throat and hits me hard. 
 
 I put the glass down the table and one of the bottles decide that he's too good for this pile and he rolls across the table, does a freefall and rolls off to god knows where. Or it broke, I'm not quite sure because a short brunette stands in front of me and it's like we're the only two people at the bar. 
 
 She's pretty. The type of face that could launch a thousand ships. Plus, I'm wasted right now so her face could launch a million ships right now. That's how it works right? 
 
 She's wearing a blue dress, short and tight in all the right places. The ship launching count just went from million to billion. 
 
 Looking at me with a mixture of sadness and disappointment, she sat across from me. 
 
 `` Hi. ``, I say to her. Or slur to her? I'm not quite sure. 
 
 She hello'd back and she smiled a faint smile. Scratch that, a trillion ships. 
 
 A few seconds of silence and she speaks. 
 
 `` I just wanted to see how you were doing.'' 
 
 `` Doing shittily at the moment. Thanks for asking. Now go away.'' 
 
 She looked hurt. Good. I feel hurt. 
 
 `` That's not fair. You know it's not fair.'' 
 
 I do know. And I do n't care. 
 
 `` You chose him over me'', I tell her. 
 
 `` He's my husband, we have a child. You're just a kid with a crush.'' 
 
 Apply cold water to burned area. 
 
 `` Yeah. ``, I say dejectedly, `` but you're not real. You're in his arms right now. On a flight where I'm likely never to see you again.'' 
 
 The hallucination smiled. She spoke again. 
 
 `` Just because you love them, does n't mean they have to love you back.'' 
 
 
 And she's gone. Just like that. As drunk as I am, it's not enough. Not seeing her there, the pain just hit me even harder. 
 
 
 The waitress comes back with another shot and places it on the table. 
 
 `` I know. ``, I say to no one in particular. 
 
 I take another shot and ask the waitress for another and a couple of beers. 
 
 I'm not okay. I do n't think I'll ever be okay. 
 
 But I know I will. 
 
 I just need time. 
 
 And alcohol. 
 
 Mostly, alcohol. 

