| Flat And Broken

𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀

VANESSA

I took a sip of my Negroni cocktail at — I glanced at the old grandfather clock in the corner — two in the afternoon. Lucky for me, my family owned this damn restaurant, and no one who worked in Biloxi would question my motivation for drinking a cocktail this time of day.

"It's a bit early for you, isn't it?"

Except for Daniel.

I shrugged. "I don't know. According to whose standards, mine or yours?"

He took a seat next to me at the bar and eyed my cocktail. "Negroni. Gin. That's some hard liquor."

I ignored him and took another sip.

"Everything okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Oh, I don't know." He held up his hand, signaling to the bartender to give him one of his usual—bourbons. "Maybe it's because you're not a big drinker, and you hardly ever come down to the restaurant."

I placed my empty glass on the counter. "Or maybe I'm just not a big drinker according to you, and maybe I finally realized my life isn't family-orientated enough, so I decided