Yesterday

Jasmine sat perched at the bar while she waited for her friend Natasha to arrive.

In front of her sat a glass of cheap white wine. She had ordered their house chardonnay and got exactly what she asked for–a drink that was simultaneously sweet and bitter, with an acrid finish that made it obvious the bottle been left out for a little too long.

She held back a grimace as she took a gulp of the sour drink, willing herself to get to the part of her buzz where the taste of it didn't really matter anymore.

Suddenly there was someone beside her, olive skin flashing with tones of gold and shining black curls falling around her face: Natasha. Jasmine smiled and got up to hug her best friend, the sight of her always soothing her soul when she needed it.

Natasha and Jasmine had been best friends since college. They even worked together at the same local bar. They had spent four years together partying, getting into trouble, growing, fighting, learning, dealing with the trauma of family, relationships, and everything in between. But through it all, they were there for each other unconditionally. They were each other's person.

That means that Natasha was also there for Dylan.

Everyone has that one person; you know, the one that you fall in love with hard and fast and hopelessly and helplessly, yet ultimately ends up emotionally traumatizing you past the point of recognition. Yeah, that person. That was Dylan for Jasmine. He was her boyfriend through most of college and, especially according to Natasha, was a real jerk.

It was a passionate, intense, and toxic relationship—and as most relationships like that do, it ended in flames. It had been almost a year since the breakup but Jasmine still hadn't had the capability of dating anyone else yet. The scars had still felt too raw and the healing process felt painstakingly slow.

Thankfully she was in a better place than she was in the beginning. The first few months after the breakup consisted of cathartic sob sessions, blackouts that ended up over the toilet, and nights spent shaking with so much anxiety she couldn't sleep at all.

Although the sharp, stabbing pain of heartbreak had become more of a quiet, dull ache, she still struggled with the thought of ever having feelings for someone else. It felt like an impossibility after the emotional thrashing she had taken.

This was why she was meeting Natasha at the bar today. Natasha was there for Jasmine through the entire relationship and break up with Dylan, and while she had been a huge supporter of Jasmine taking the time to be single and figure herself out, she also wanted her to know that it was possible to heal and move on.

"You're still drinking chard, huh?" Natasha prodded.

Chardonnay had been Dylan's drink of choice. During the course of their relationship, it had inadvertently become hers as well. It wasn't ever really something she was fond of, but it was always easier to get what Dylan wanted and just deal with it.

"Yeah, force of habit I guess." She scowled as she looked into the yellow liquid, the late afternoon sun illuminating fingerprints all over the glass. She hadn't actually noticed she was still ordering it.

“So, have you given it any thought?” Natasha asked as she sat down and draped her jacket over the back of her chair.

“I’m here aren’t I?” Jasmine joked.

“Well, that’s not surprising considering you’ll take any excuse to drink,” Natasha hit back.

Jasmine laughed. It was true.

Natasha ordered herself a rosé and pulled out her phone. “Here, just look at a few pictures. He’s super handsome. Literally your exact type.”

Jasmine leaned into Natasha’s shoulder and looked down at her phone. On the screen she found a good looking guy who was, as Natasha correctly described, exactly her type.

Natasha caught the blush that fluttered across Jasmine’s face. “See! I told you. And you guys have so much in common. Every time Liam talks about his weird nerdy stuff at work, I just think about how perfect you guys would be together.”

Natasha loved to make fun of Jasmine for how much she was into “nerdy stuff,” as she liked to call it. Jasmine loved fantasy books and sci-fi movies and video games, and while Natasha never understood it, she was only kidding when she teased her. It never bothered her that Jasmine enjoyed it.

Dylan, on the other hand, could never stand it. It was just another part of her personality that he had felt compelled to quash.

Jasmine pulled another sip from her wine glass, her disdain harder to hide this time as the chardonnay got warmer. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll meet him for a drink.”

“Ha!” Natasha clapped her hands together and flashed a big, toothy grin. “Finally! I am so excited. I’m gonna set it up ASAP!”

Jasmine took a deep breath as Natasha excitedly began texting Liam. She felt a flutter in her stomach, immediately regretting agreeing to this stupid idea. She didn’t even know this guy. She hated the idea of a date. She hadn’t even been on one in years. Before she knew it she was grabbing the bartender’s attention and ordering a whiskey.

She tuned back into Natasha’s words as she asked her, “How’s Saturday night? He said he’s free any time after 6.”

Jasmine paused for a moment and gathered her confidence before tipping her head back, throwing back her shot, and saying “Alright. Saturday at 7 it is.”

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Jasmine shifted nervously in her vinyl seat while she checked the time on her phone. She was at the same bar she had been with Natasha just two days earlier, but this time instead of waiting to see the familiar face of her best friend, she was anticipating the arrival of a complete stranger.

She didn’t have too much time to be nervous. Not more than five minutes after she arrived, she saw a guy walk in with rich, dark brown hair and eyes to match. She instantly recognized him from his pictures. It was Liam.

She felt her palms begin to sweat as he approached her.

“Jasmine?” His voice was deep and raspy, so much different than Dylan’s. It took her aback.

She smiled and introduced herself, inviting him to sit. “Thanks so much for meeting me,” Jasmine said, unsure how to start.

“Well Natasha wouldn’t stop telling me all these great things about you, so I figured I had to find out for myself.”

Jasmine blushed as she laughed. She didn’t want to know what embarrassing stories she had told him.

The bartender came over and asked for their drink orders. Liam ordered a beer, and Jasmine, a chardonnay.

Their date began with some small talk for a while. Boring talk about work, current world news, and a few Natasha stories. He was nice, but Jasmine could feel her expectations falling flat.

She was getting toward the last few sips of her wine when she failed to hide a face of disgust.

“Doesn’t really seem like you like your drink too much,” Liam observed.

Jasmine had once again ordered it out of habit. “Yeah, you know, I actually don’t really like chardonnay. It was an old… friend’s drink of choice, and I got in the habit of drinking it too. It’s kind of stupid.”

Liam smiled curiously. “Well, what’s your favorite drink then?”

She pondered the question for a second before landing on, “Red wine. Merlot, specifically. It’s so smooth and decadent.”

Liam laughed. “You don’t say. I love red wine.” Without hesitation, he beckoned over the bartender and ordered them a beautiful bottle of merlot, one that Dylan would have never considered in a million years.

She watched as he poured them two full glasses. And as soon as the deep, plum liquid touched her lips, she could feel herself warming up from the inside out, the familiar and unmistakable hug of a good red wine.

As soon as the merlot began flowing their conversation finally hit its stride. They talked about books they were reading, movies they loved, games they were playing, and everything in between.

Jasmine felt herself open up in a way she hadn’t been able to in a long time. She wasn’t hiding who she was to avoid bother someone, as she often did with Dylan. She was actually talking about these things with someone who loved them too and who actually cared what she had to say.

They drained the first bottle of merlot and were just finishing off their second one when the bartender called last call. Jasmine’s head was buzzing with wine and chest with excitement, making it difficult to decline the offer to go back to his place.

She had a great time, but she wasn’t ready for anything more yet. They exchanged numbers and parted ways. He waited with her until she got into an Uber, and once she was in she let the ride lull her mind with dreamy thoughts of a guy with brown hair, deep eyes, and a raspy voice.

**********************************************************************

Jasmine woke up to the noise of chattering of birds and the throbbing sensation of a headache. It took her a minute to realize she was in her room, safe and alone.

She rolled herself out of bed and went to the bathroom to release her bladder full of wine… red wine. When she was finished, she looked in the mirror and took inventory of her face, running her hands over her lips that were still stained with a garnet-colored ring.

Jasmine curled her lips into a smile. Merlot. She had spent the night on a date with a sweet, funny guy and drinking favorite wine. She had laughed, talked, and drank. And although her headache told her she had seen better mornings, she couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

It was just a first date, but the impact was so much bigger than that. She didn’t expect Liam to fix her—she didn’t even know if Liam would be someone she’d end up with. But what she did know was that this proved was capable of moving on. There was a possibility she could love again. She didn’t think of Dylan once last night, something she previously thought was impossible.

She felt a profound sense of freedom knowing that she could go on to love someone else without feeling the ghost of her past relationship breathing down her neck. For the first time in a long time, Jasmine felt like she had closure. She felt the final suture on her heart beginning to close.

Jasmine began to brush the cherry-red stain off her lips while she dialed Natasha to tell her all about her date. And as she heard the beautiful, familiar sound of her best friend's voice answering the phone, Jasmine became overwhelmed with the feeling that everything was going to be okay.