CHAPTER 6. STACIE?

A YEAR AND SIX MONTHS.

He'd fantasized about this moment for a year and six months. This moment –supposed to be surreal– when he gets reunited with her. He'd spent nights making out the questions he'd ask, the thousand 'i missed you' he'd say, but they wouldn't be enough. He'd fantasized it all, but now it seems to be happening, he found himself weak in the knees. Words eluded him, after he'd said her name with so much surge of emotions.

But then, the thoughts came. The hopelessness. The possibility that this could be another god-damned mirage. Another trick to get him at his edge. Another lie. Another reason to leave him more sullen.

But as much as Arthur tried to convince himself that this was a mirage, it wasn't working. The voice was so vivid. And this time, he'd found someone who seemed like she owned the voice.

His shaky fingers grabbed the shot glass and he took its content in a quick draught. Dizziness crawled up his eyes, but he definitely shook it off.

Jostling through t