Tripp watches Big Jeff, the bar manager walk into his office and close the door behind him. He is contemplating walking into the office and asking for his paycheck or waiting till Big Jeff calls him in.

His eyes locked observing Big Jeff every move through the window blind as he cleans the counter with a cloth, pretending to be working.

"Creepy much," Adeline, Tripp's co-worker and best friend says blocking his view with her frame. 

Tripp pushes her aside with a hand as he stretches his neck to see.                                            

Adeline rolls her eyes. She puts all her weight on her hands then pushes herself up to sit on the counter. She puts her two legs on the other side of the counter then jumps down.  She joins Tripp in spying on their boss.

"I feel like he isn't going to give me my paycheck until I ask." He voices out his frustration.

"Then ask."

"I can't." He says dropping the cloth on the counter. "I am on thin ice with him. You know with the-"

Adeline interrupts him. "The coming late, your inefficiency and your rudeness towards customers," She completes with a smirk playing on her lips.

Adeline has always been blunt right from the time they met. They met three years ago when Tripp's bandmates left him. He walked into a bar to request for a gig as a solo artist and there she was; raven hair, small brown eyes, aquiline nose and porcelain skin. The Korean petite woman had her arms crossed on her chest which made him nervous.

She told him to come and sing at any time, it was none of her business.  Then he requested for the amount he was going to be paid for his service and she said, "Why don't you get an actual job here then you will get paid."

So he got an actual job as a bartender to get paid. They didn't hit it off at first, he thought she was a judgemental bitch, he still thinks she is but he now likes it about her.

"Oh, like your perfect." Tripp rolls his eyes.

"What do you need the money so urgently for anyways?" She asks.

"When do I not need money urgently?"  He mutters.

Once he hears himself speak on his reality, his heart literarily drops. But it's the truth. He lives paycheck to paycheck and a single default in this pattern can destabilize everything.

Even if it's the truth, doesn't mean it doesn't bring his spirit down when thinks about it or talks about it.  He hates to think he has given up on his dreams because there are times in his teenage years that his dreams were the only thing that woke him up in the morning, gave him the strength to go about his day and endure dreadful nights in his various foster homes.

He owes it to the person he was years ago that believed in his music and his ability to make it big and he owes it to her, Maisie.  She never left his side.

Tripp Baxter has been alone for as long as he can remember. His parents died in a car crash when he was 11, he had no other family members so he was put into the system. He was never adopted, they said he wasn't young enough for the people that wanted to adopt.

Music was the only stable thing in his life until he met Maisie. She became a constant in his life. He doesn't know how he got so lucky, sometimes he feels like he is dreaming and he fears he will soon wake.

"Since I have gotten my paycheck, maybe I can help." Adeline offers.

Tripp looks down at the raven-haired girl. Their eyes meet for the first time today, brown to green. The truth is they have both been avoiding locking eyes for a while now since the incident that happened last week.

Last week, Adeline broke up with her boyfriend and she was heartbroken. As a good friend, Tripp decided to cheer her up. They both got really drunk. At one point they were having fun, the next she kissed him.

The next morning, Tripp tried to talk to her about the kiss but she just played it off as nothing happened. He was kind of thankful about that; it meant he didn't have to tell Maisie since it's nothing.

Then he found out that she got back with her ex. He knows she is making a big mistake because she is afraid of being alone but doesn't want to tell her. He doesn't want to get involved.

"Yeah, I don't think so."  He shakes his head.

He doesn't think it's a good idea to borrow money from her. If Maisie finds out about the kiss and the borrowing of money, she is going to flip. Or she will not.

He never can really tell when she is angry. It sometimes feels like she has a lot to say but she doesn't.  That's a lot scarier.

"Come on, like this the first time you've borrowed money from me."  She raises her eyebrows at him. "I am just trying to help."

Adeline does remember the kiss, it forever engraved in her brain. Adeline is not one for risks but she took one that night, by kissing her best friend. And it was amazing just as she imagined it to be but it's a one-time thing. It is never going to happen again.

Hence the reason she played it cool the next day and got back with her cheating ex. She needed to get her mind off it, Or else she will start obsessing about the impossible which is them being together.

Adeline knows that she and Tripp can never date. He is crazily in love with his girlfriend. He talks about her like she is out of this world, Adeline has met her, she is not. She is just a regular girl.

"I know and-" Tripp pauses when he hears his phone ring.

He reaches for his phone in the back pocket of his jeans. He takes it out to see who's calling.

It's Maisie.

"I got to take this." He says putting a finger up before he turns. "Hey babe, what's going on?" He says lowly but Adeline hears.

Her facial expression changes as she becomes gloomy. She can't help it.

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I might come home late tonight. It's Maggie's birthday and we are going to a bar to celebrate with my co-workers."

"How did you get invited?" Tripp mocks.

"I don't know." She chuckles.

"Well, have fun."

"I will. By the way, you have handled our electricity bill right?"

Maisie had offered to pay for their utilities over the weekend but Tripp assured her he will handle it today. He doesn't want her to have to do it. There's a lot she does and there's just a little part she delegates to him, so he has to do it.

This is not the life he wanted for her when he asked her to run away with him. He wanted to make her happy every day but he hardly does that now.

He feels if he can do these little things right, she won't have to worry and she can be happy.

"Yeah," He lies.

"Okay then."

"I love you." He mutters.

The line goes silent for a while before she responds. "I love you too."  She hangs up.

Tripp turns to Adeline. "You know what? I am going to take you on your offer."

"Well, too bad, I withdrawal my offer." She says with a smile playing on her lips.

"Fuck you!" Tripp puts his middle finger to her face.

"I am kidding." She chuckles slapping his finger off. "But you got to cover for me tomorrow. I have this thing with my parents."

"Sure." He smiles.

Their regular day drunk walks into the bar which catches their attention.

"You attend to him." They say simultaneously as they point at each other.

"I said it first," Adeline says as the man approaches them. "Plus don't you need to appear busy for Jeff?"

The guy comes in every day, loves to tell stories when he is drunk. The problem is that he repeats his stories over and over again and it's now boring.

Neither Adeline nor Tripp want to be stuck listening to the same stories for hours.

"Fuck off."  Tripp cuss.

~~~~