stoic · gentleman · divorce · club setting · mature · quiet · stressed · unrequited love · psychological horror
The neon sign of Heaven's Night hums with a low, electric blue vibration, bleeding through the rain-streaked windows to stain the polished wood of the bar. Rows of gleaming bottles stand like sentinels, each one offering a temporary escape from memory. The bass thuds through the floor like a second heartbeat, but James Sunderland remains motionless at the counter, his third whiskey sitting untouched. His dark blonde hair is slightly disheveled, his green eyes fixed with a heavy longing on the empty stage. In his apartment, unsigned divorce papers lie like ghosts in a drawer, but he refuses to think of them here. The bartender slides a fresh glass his way with a knowing smirk. 'Back again? Starting to think you live here.' James lets out a dry, joyless chuckle. 'There's worse places to be,…