A Night of Secrets and Betrayals

The neon lights of The Blue Moon bar flickered against Mia's glass, creating purple shadows across her untouched martini. She traced her finger around the rim, watching couples laugh and dance under the dim lights. Everyone looked so happy. So normal. So unlike how she felt inside.

Her phone buzzed. Another work email at 9 PM. She didn't bother checking it. Instead, her eyes drifted to her phone's background - an old picture she couldn't bring herself to delete. Two teenage girls with bright smiles and similar friendship bracelets. Mia and Olivia. Best friends forever. Or so they thought.

"What a joke," Mia mumbled, finally taking a sip of her drink. The bitter taste matched her mood exactly.

A group of girls at the next table burst into laughter, reminding her of all those Friday nights when she and Olivia would sneak into her basement, sharing secrets and hopes until sunrise. Now those memories felt like scenes from someone else's life.

The bartender, Jake, gave her a worried look. He'd been watching her stare into space for the past hour. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Mia managed a weak smile. Jake was nice, but he wouldn't understand. Nobody did. How could they? The truth about what happened that night with Ethan was buried so deep, sometimes Mia wondered if she'd imagined it all.

Her fingers unconsciously touched the small scar on her wrist - a tiny white line that most people wouldn't notice. But Olivia would. Olivia was there when it happened.

The bar's door chimed. Cool night air rushed in, carrying with it the sound of city traffic and the faint smell of rain. Mia didn't look up. She didn't need to see another happy couple or group of friends having the time of their lives.

"You know what's funny?" she said to Jake, who was still hovering nearby. "I used to love rainy nights. Olivia and I would..."

She stopped herself. Why was she thinking about Olivia so much tonight? Maybe it was because of the charity gala announcement she'd seen in the morning paper - Olivia Chen, rising star in the business world, hosting a million-dollar fundraiser. Perfect Olivia with her perfect life, while Mia sat alone in a bar on a Thursday night.

"Another martini?" Jake asked.

Before Mia could answer, a deep voice spoke from behind her. "Put it on my tab. And make it two."

Mia turned, ready to tell whoever it was that she wasn't interested. But the words died in her throat.

He stood there in a charcoal gray suit that fit him perfectly, raindrops still clinging to his broad shoulders. His dark hair was slightly messy from the wind, and his blue eyes held a warmth that made Mia's heart skip a beat. A small scar above his right eyebrow gave his handsome face character, making him look more interesting than the usual suits who frequented The Blue Moon.

"I'm Derek," he said, sliding onto the barstool next to her. His cologne smelled expensive but not overwhelming - notes of cedar and something else she couldn't quite place. "And you look like you could use some company."

Warning bells rang in Mia's head. Guys like this - gorgeous, confident, probably rich - they were trouble. She'd learned that lesson the hard way. But there was something in the way he looked at her, like he could see right through her carefully constructed walls.

"What makes you think I want company?" Mia challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Derek's lips curved into a half-smile that made him even more attractive. "Because lonely people don't stare at old photos in bars unless they're hoping someone will ask them why."

Mia quickly locked her phone screen, but not before Derek caught a glimpse of the photo. Something flashed across his face - recognition? Interest? - but it disappeared so quickly she thought she must have imagined it.

"I'm not lonely," Mia lied. "I'm working."

"At 9:17 PM on a Thursday, in a bar, without a laptop or notebook?" Derek's eyes sparkled with amusement. "That's quite an interesting job you have."

Despite herself, Mia felt a smile tugging at her lips. "Maybe I'm a secret agent."

"Ah, of course." Derek nodded seriously. "That explains the martini. Very James Bond of you."

Jake arrived with their drinks, and Derek raised his glass. "To secret agents and lonely nights."

Mia should have gotten up and left. Should have made an excuse about an early meeting. Should have done anything except clink her glass against his and take a sip while holding his gaze.

But she did.

And that's when everything changed.

"So," Derek said, turning his body to face her fully. "Tell me about the girl in the photo. The one wearing the purple friendship bracelet."

Mia froze, her glass halfway to her lips. She hadn't shown him the photo clearly enough for him to see that detail. The bracelets were tiny in the image, and the bar's lighting was too dim to make out colors.

How did he know about the purple bracelet?

Derek's smile remained friendly, but something shifted in his eyes. Something that made Mia's skin prickle with unease. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small purple thread - exactly the same shade as the friendship bracelet she and Olivia had worn ten years ago.

"I believe," he said softly, "we have a mutual friend."

Outside, thunder rumbled across the sky. The neon lights flickered once, twice, and then went out, leaving them in darkness.

And in that moment of blackness, Mia could have sworn she heard Derek whisper, "He says hello."

Only one person could have sent that message. But he was supposed to be dead.

The lights came back on, and Derek's face was perfectly composed, as if nothing had happened. He took another sip of his martini and waited, watching her with those impossibly blue eyes that now seemed to hold secrets darker than the storm clouds gathering outside.

Mia's heart pounded against her ribs. She had two choices: get up and walk away, or stay and find out how this stranger knew about a past she'd spent ten years trying to forget.

The smart choice would be to leave.

But Mia had never been very good at making smart choices.

She picked up her martini, drained it in one gulp, and said the words that would change her life forever: "Tell me what you know about Ethan."

The storm outside grew stronger, rain pelting against the windows like tiny bullets. But Mia barely noticed. Her entire world had narrowed to Derek's next words and the purple thread he held between his fingers - a thread that shouldn't exist, from a bracelet that she'd watched burn to ashes on a night she'd tried so hard to forget.

Derek leaned closer, and in the shifting shadows of the bar, his handsome face took on an edge that sent chills down Mia's spine. He opened his mouth to speak, and...

The bar's door burst open.