14 – Dancing on the Edge of Hope

*ARLENE’S POV*

He had avoided me since our last encounter, disappearing like a shadow in the night, but that didn’t stop me. Maybe it should have. Maybe my heart should have listened to reason. Instead, I chose his bar for my on-the-job training. It was reckless, bordering on foolish, but what else could I do? My heart refused to stop beating for him, no matter how much sense told me to let go. I couldn’t command my mind to stop obsessing over his every move. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up whenever I thought about him.

Even if the entire world screamed that he was wrong for me, that he would never love me back the way I needed, my heart—stubborn and irrational—still insisted on loving him.

“Are you even listening?” The sharp voice of the bartender snapped me back to reality.

“H-huh? I-I’m sorry,” I stammered, embarrassed.

She gave me a look, somewhere between frustration and amusement. “If you want to survive your first night here,” she said