Chapter One...

"I'll take two - thanks", Molly says with her eyes down and her voice soft. The bartender looks at her with raised eyebrows and she thinks to herself, "Don't judge me, smelly hipster barkeep, just pour the shots", but of course says nothing. He sets the two shots of cheap tequila in front of her and pushes the bottle of salt across the bar towards her. "Rough day?" he offers. She snorts and mutters, "It would appear that way now wouldn't it?" 

She pulls her sleeves down over her hands and puts them down into her lap as the tears well up. 

"Another one bites the dust", she thinks.

 As she grabs the first shot glass with her left hand she pushes the salt away with her right. "Here's to hoping I forget this quickly" she says as she raises the shot in the air to cheers to no one. As soon as she finishes the first one she reaches for the second, then circles her index finger in the air as a signal for the bartender to keep them coming. She needs to forget what happened earlier tonight, and Jose Cuervo is the only man she trusts to help her do so.

One hour and 6 tequila shots later, Molly is finally feeling better. Emotionally, not physically. Physically she feels like her throat is on fire and her head is barely attached. But emotionally... emotionally she finally has what she wanted - oblivion. She's alone in a bar on a Friday night and it's starting to get busy as more and more people file through the doors. Through squinted eyes and in between drunken hiccups she sees a blonde figure coming towards her and the figure is saying her name. 

"Molly? Are you okay? Who are you here with?" the girl says.

"Oh Jackie, Jackie, Jackie. Who are you here with? Don't ask such questions it's not appropriate", Molly slurs as she touches Jackie's nose.

Jackie looks at the bartender who shrugs. Jackie is an acquaintance of Molly's from college. Sorority sisters who shared the same Greek letters but nothing else in common, Molly and Jackie aren't necessarily close. They ask how the other one is when they see each other out in social settings, but don't really listen to the answer. 

"Do you have a ride or what? Can I call you a cab?"

"No. No no no. I'm fine. I'm on a mission and I haven't completed my mission yet. You can go. Go go go I'm fine bye Jackieeeee" she says as she shakes Jackie's shoulders. As she's shaking her, she falls forward and knocks the cranberry vodka cocktail Jackie is holding onto the floor. Jackie jumps back to avoid the splash but the red drink still manages to land all over her white skinny jeans and tan leather Tory Burch flats. Molly finds this hysterical. Jackie is seething.

"Here's her tab. She's gotta go - I'm not dealing with her when she gets sick", the bartender says. 

"Molly where's your purse? Did you bring one?"

"Ha - t'son on the floor in the cranberry", Molly giggles.

Jackie squats down and grabs Molly's booze covered bag and sets it on the bar. She grabs a few cocktail napkins and wipes as much of the liquid off as she can before she opens it in search of a wallet. As she's rummaging through the bag she finds Molly's iPhone. 

"Hey it looks like someone named Brad has been trying to call you. 9 missed calls and 4 texts... can I call him to come get you?"

Molly stops doing the lewd dance she was doing behind Jackie's back and grabs the phone from her hands.

"No. No Brad. You ruined the mission thanks a lot" Molly says quickly. She purposely drops her phone into the pitcher of beer in front of her which belonged to another bar patron. 

"Molly!!!" Jackie screams as she grabs the phone out of the beer and gives "I'm so sorry" eyes to the owner of the now tainted pitcher. It's too late, though. Molly has already spun around on her heel and is heading towards the back door sans purse and without paying her tab. Jackie reaches into her back pocket and grabs the money she was planning on using for a cab later and throws it down on the bar. 

"She's sorry", she says to the bartender as she's grabbing Molly's soaking purse and phone and heads out after her. She finds her sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk leaning back on her hands and looking up to the sky.

"What's your deal, Molly? This is bull shit, you've ruined my shoes, you cost me my cabfare ... I would have walked away by now but I won't be able to enjoy myself if I don't know you got somewhere safe. Now can I call you a cab or not?" 

"Stars don't get boyfriends didja know that? They don't get boyfriends and the boyfriends don't say mean things and the stars don't get sad", Molly says somewhat childishly. 

Jackie's annoyance fades a little now that she finally knows why Molly is behaving the way she is. 

"C'mon, lady. Let's get you home."

The next afternoon Molly wakes up in her own bed with a piece of paper on the pillow next to her. 

"Molly, 

I'm so sorry to hear you're having trouble with your boyfriend. You were in pretty bad shape last night when I saw you so I just went ahead and drove you home and made sure you got into your place okay. Here's my cell phone number - we should have lunch next week some time. Give me a call! Alpha love forever!

-Jackie"

Molly uses the letter to wipe the drool off the side of her face then tries to sit up. The room moves and her head pounds but she manages to get both feet on the floor. She looks out into the living area of her small apartment and sees her shoes, purse and all its contents sprawled out on the floor. She bends down and picks up her phone which is sticky and broken from it's beer bath last night. 

"Shit", she mutters. 

After eating a quick breakfast (technically lunch) of a handful of cereal, she cleans herself up and gets changed. She grabs her car keys and heads outside only to realize her car is still at the bar. 

"Shiiiiiiit".

The sun only adds to her hangover misery but she has no choice but to walk the few miles to the bar where she left her car. As she walks she thinks about everything that she remembers from the night before. Rushing home from work, getting dressed up for her date with Brad, driving to his house and talking to her mom on the phone about how he was "the one"... then the look on Brad's face when he told her that they needed to talk.