CIGARETTE

-anonymous

The sunlight made its way down on her face, strong enough to make her wince by the heat it brought. The curtains were hung open, in a manner that was supposedly intentional. Maybe it was Taeyeon who did it. Speaking of, where was the woman?
She rubbed her eyes while wondering. She stretched, it felt good, feeling the strained muscles ache with satisfying pain. She remained lying on the soft bed, heavily scented with the smell of tropical fruits mixed with the strong stench of cigarette smoke. Rather an odd combination but the girl liked it anyway.
It was just like how she felt right now.
Remainders, quick glimpses of the events that occurred last night brushed past her eyes. She couldn’t remember it all but she remembered some. Damned alcohol.
***
She remembered the banging of the bass, echoing across the floors and walls of the club while the DJ for the night played on. Sweat trickled down her neck as she danced. Bodies, also drenched with sweat, bumping and rubbing against each other as the night surged on. The place was jam-packed and she wondered how—in that sea of a crowd—did she managed to take a glimpse of a girl seated by the bar, also staring straight right at her. She ignored it. She was used to getting sticky stares from everyone and she knew everyone would get used to being ignored by her.

She was tired of it all. Been there, done that, that was her mindset. They were all the same anyway, men or women. All the things she went through, the past relationships she had that all turned out to be a complete waste of her time and effort. Maybe that’s why she grew numb of all the attention that was being thrown at her all the time. They all wanted the same thing from her, and it was not love.
Love. What a pathetic excuse. For her, love was like a cigarette. Once you start, it’s almost impossible to let go. To make matters worse, it leaves a burning hole inside of you that will stay forever and you can’t do anything about it. It leaves you aching, scarred, for the rest of your life.
Time flew by fast and she got bored already, the suffocating air inside she could take no longer and all the men that tried to hit on her wasn’t up to par. They didn’t even catch the tiniest amount of her attention.
Maybe it was time to go home. She moved out, the cold breeze of the night greeting her.
She always loved the temporary deafness clubs caused her after a night of partying. For her, it served as a getaway from all the crap that revolved around her and her life. But just like anything else, that getaway was also temporary. She racked her purse for a cigarette but was failed when she found it she didn’t have a lighter. She mumbled a curse, silently enough so that no one would hear.
But apparently, that wasn’t the case.
“Here.” It was the girl from the bar.
She looked at the lighter in the girl’s hand with slight disgust, thinking what was this strange girl doing. Was she stalking her? Again, she ignored it.
“Go on. I don’t bite.” The stranger tried again.
She reconsidered and studied the stranger’s face. A pale face, about the same height as her but slightly shorter. The stranger was strangely beautiful, she couldn’t deny that, but still creepy.
“Are you stalking me?” She asked.
The stranger’s expression remained neutral, calm and cool. The stranger shrugged and took her lighter back. Maybe her arm was getting tired. The stranger lit her own cigarette.

"You wish.” Stranger retorted. Puff, puff, smoke.
She shrugged, maybe there was no harm in accepting this strange girl’s kindness.
“Can I have a light?”
The stranger looked at her and smiled wryly. Stranger handed the lighter.
“What’s your name, stranger?” She asked, ha