= POV Chris =
We didn't want to consume any splinters or shattered glass accidentally, so we bought the booze and cigarettes and headed over to Amber's place. Amber only lived two streets away from Heather, which explained why she could jog to Heather's place that morning. She lived in a one-bedroom apartment with a loft space, and the place was elegant, with only a rolled-up tissue on the floor that was very close to the dustbin.
"Alright, put the crate down over near my table. I want to give the impression that I've been binge-watching erotic anime while drinking copious amounts of liquor," Amber said as she dumped several bottles and random medicine on her table to look like she was also recklessly self-medicating.
I did as she suggested and returned to my car to gather the other crate of beer we had bought. Before going to the store, we had taken a hired car to work to pick up my car, as we didn't want to explain to anyone why we were buying so much alcohol and cigarette packs.
When I returned to Amber's apartment, she had already lit up a cigarette, and as it burned, she waved it around, allowing the ash to fall on the floor.
"Wow, you are so bad," I chuckled. I then brought the other crate and dumped it in the kitchenette.
"Oh, Heather hates it when she sees or smells cigarettes. It is enough to trigger her OCD. She'll be on her hands and knees, trying to scrub this shit from the floor" Amber grinned and lit up another cigarette " Ok, here, practice," she said and handed me a cigarette.
I took it, took a drag, and immediately started coughing.
"Fuck, I can't; I haven't done this in years," I said, hitting my chest to get rid of the smoke in my lungs.
Amber lit up another cigarette and leaned against her desk. She took a long cigarette drag and blew the soup into the air.
"Picture this, Sarah, dressed in a sexy little number, standing in a sea of good-looking queer people. Your competition will be fierce, so you need to do something to draw her to you, and when she sees you, keep her attention so that she sees you and only you.
It has to be something big, something intense. Something different," Amber said, putting out the cigarette on her desk, leaving a burn mark and spreading the ash along the surface. " So yeah, I get it. I don't like the idea of jeopardizing my health either. Still, it's going to kill me to see Heather with someone else literally, so a little cigarette, a little alcohol, is nothing in comparison to the thought of never seeing her again," Amber said and shrugged.
"Fuck it, give me another one," I said, dropping the one I had to the ground and smearing it with my boot. Amber was right. One way or another, I was going to nail smoking.