[006] two miserable people

                                   Margo chose not to tell Patrick that Tashi had been at her match. She wasn't even going to tell Patrick that Art was going to be in the challenger event with him. If Art continued on with his losing streak, it wasn't as though they'd be competing anyway. So, Margo thought it would be better idea for her to keep it a secret and let Patrick focus only on winning.

                                Admittedly, her thoughts were clouded because of it. And that, combined with her feeling a little tired, made her not be as focused and into the practice as she needed to be. And it was already a bad sign when Patrick was actually managing to overpower her. Even he was confused by it, light concern painted on his features when he made another point and the ball just whizzed past an exhausted looking Margo.

                                 "Are you okay?" Patrick asks, approaching Margo who wiped the sweat off of her forehead in irritation. 

                                 "I'm fine. Let's keep going," Margo insisted.

                                 "Are you sure?" Patrick asked.

                                 "Come on, Patrick. We need to keep training. By the time we announce to everyone that you're going to be playing at the event, I want you to be absolutely ready," Margo replied. She wasn't about to go easy on him anytime soon.

                                 "How are you so sure that I'm not ready now?" Patrick asked, brows raised.

                                 Margo raised a brow. "You're good but you're too fucking cocky to take criticism and do better. There's always room for improvement. And if you don't learn to accept that, you might as well just drop out of the competition now."

                                 "I think we need to take a break. Because obviously you need it. You're about to pass out," Patrick shakes his head.

                                "Why do you care?" Margo scoffed.

                                Patrick laughs, almost wondering if Margo was joking or not. But when he saw that she was serious, he instantly frowned. "Is it weird to assume that I care about you? I'd like to think that this marriage is more than a business deal."

                                "Isn't it? We're both benefiting from it, right?" Margo retorted.

                                Patrick chuckles before he just hands Margo his tennis racket, a sign that he was through. Margo gingerly takes it while looking over at Patrick with disbelief. She was mad that he was just throwing in the towel so easily. And while he claimed that it was for her, she refused to believe that. It had to be because he just was too tired, and he was throwing the blame on her.

                                Or maybe Margo just couldn't accept the fact that Patrick did actually give a shit about her.

                                "We're done for today," Patrick says, now beginning to walk back towards the house.

                                "Pussy," Margo taunts him.

                                 Patrick pauses for a moment and Margo waits for him to say something. She hopes he does just so it'll give them an excuse to fight, and Margo won't feel like such an asshole. But he walks away, and it makes Margo feel like the bad guy this time. She didn't even know why she often started fights with Patrick.

                               Perhaps she could see how much she could get away with. It was like kicking a dog and seeing if it would come back. Margo often kicked Patrick and he'd come back each and every time. She wondered just how far she could go before he never came back.

                               Margo didn't want to stay in the house all day and have to deal with the thick tension that would undoubtedly follow from the fight. So she decided to do what she always did best: she was going to run away and find a way to escape.

                               Even though it was late into the afternoon, Margo headed over to her favorite bar. She took one of the seats up front, keeping her shades on in the hopes that no one recognized her. She just wanted to drink and be left alone. But that seemed to be the last luxury Margo could afford.

                             Just as Margo was making herself comfortable, she could hear someone else sitting in the seat beside her. Margo wouldn't have budged, except for the fact that she'd soon hear a familiar voice which made her blood immediately run cold.

                             "Can I have another one of these please?"

                             Margo reluctantly turns her head and sees Art standing next to her. He looked exactly like he did in the pictures in all of the magazines and adds. The last time the two of them had been in the same room though... it had been the worst day of Margo's entire life.

                             "What the fuck are you doing here?" Margo harshly questioned. It was bad enough that she had to see Tashi. But seeing Art was like a stab to the heart. It just reminded Margo that she had been deluding herself the whole time: she hadn't gotten over Art like she thought she had.

                             Art turned to look at Margo, looking just as shocked as she was. "Margo?"

                             "Did your wife put you up to this? Are the both of you following me around or something?" Margo narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

                             "What are you talking about?" Art shakes his head.

                            Margo faltered. With how sincere Art looked, Margo considered the possibility that Tashi hadn't told her husband. Was it shocking? Not really. Tashi told Art what she wanted to tell him but then again, Margo was no different.

                            "Forget about it. I was just leaving," Margo huffed. She'd just have to find another bar.

                            Art grabs her hand, gently pulling her back before she could get very far. Margo looks down his hand on her arm before she looked back up at him, instantly making him pull his hand away.

                            "I'm sorry. I just... I don't want you to leave because of me. You can stay," Art insisted.

                            Margo debated on just leaving right then and there. She wasn't about to stick around and drink with her ex. But Margo didn't want to go back home. And besides... if Margo was going to get back at Tashi somehow, it wouldn't hurt to rub this little meeting in her face. Purely out of trying to get back at Tashi (and not because she missed Art), Margo sighed before she sat back down at the bar.

                            "Um, you haven't changed at all," Art talks first.

                            "No? I'd like to think I changed a lot since we last saw each other," Margo remarked.

                            "No, you look the same. It's a little unfair actually. I'm the one looking old while you still look nineteen," Art compliments.

                               Margo shrugged. "That's what being rich and successful does for you. I can see all of your gray hairs, by the way."

                              "Shit, I thought I was doing a good job at hiding them," Art chuckles, running his fingers through his hair.

                              Art was making it difficult for Margo to be rude to him when he was turning everything into a joke. He was acting like that same charming schoolboy Margo had fallen for. And she hated it.

                              "What are you doing here anyway? Tashi finally let you out of her cage?" Margo raised a brow.

                             "She's not in control of me, Margo," Art quickly argued. But if anything, the way he grew so defensive was only proof for Margo that she basically pulled the strings in Art's entire life. The moment Art said I do, he had given up full control of his life.

                            But one could argue that he had already been under Tashi's spell far before they walked down the aisle together.

                             "Mm, why do I find that so hard to believe?" Margo scoffed.

                             "You can believe whatever you want to. The both of you are stubborn that way," Art answered with a shake of his head.

                             "I'm nothing like Tashi," Margo frowned and it quickly turned into her being the defensive one now. But being compared to Tashi would always be a trigger for her.

                             "You two are alike. That's why the two of you got along so well. You two were unstoppable once upon a time," Art responded.

                             "Are we going to sit here and talk about Tashi all day? Because if that's the case, I can just go back home," Margo scoffed.

                             "To Patrick?" Art frowned.

                            Obviously, Art knew that he had no right to be hurt. But it had hurt like hell when he found out that Margo and Patrick had been married years before. He expected Margo to move on but he never thought it'd be with his ex-best friend. A part of Art wondered if Margo had done it just to spite him. 

                             "He is my husband," Margo shrugged.

                             "You know, I never could understand why you married Patrick. I thought you hated him," Art shakes his head.

                            "I never hated him. Sure, he always drove me crazy, and I wanted to strangle him most of the time. But I didn't hate him. He's one of the few men I can tolerate, believe it or not," Margo quickly corrects him.

                             "Who are the others?" Art asked, despite already knowing the answer.

                            Margo frowned. "It was you. But now that's changed obviously."

                            "I, uh, figured. Look, we never got a chance to talk after everything that happened but -," Art began to say.

                             But Margo quickly cuts him off, not wanting him to bring up the past. She already knew what he was going to say and she didn't want to hear it. "What is there to talk about? You chose Tashi over me. Big fucking deal. You got what you wanted, and I hope you're happy."

                              But Art wasn't happy. He was absolutely miserable, trapped in a life he didn't want with a wife who only loved him for his tennis career. Art was exhausted but he didn't know how to get out of it. The happiest he had ever been was with Margo but he didn't realize that until it was too late.

                             "Are you happy with Patrick?" Art questioned.

                             "You don't really have a right to ask me that. It's none of your fucking business," Margo shakes her head.

                             "Maybe. But if I know you as well as I do, then I know you're not happy either."

                             "So what? We're just two miserable people in a bar? How cliche."

                             Art chuckles. "It is painfully cliche."

                            "I've become my mother basically."

                             "Now that's insane. You're not like your mother. She's a psycho and you're just really mean. A little broken but mean."

                            "There's a difference?"

                            "Of course there's a difference. Do you want me to buy you a drink?"

                           "No actually, I can buy my own. Are you sure you don't want me to buy you a drink? I've heard about some of your games lately and... it's not looking good for you."

                            Margo waves her hand around, catching the attention of the bartender nearby so she could finally order her drink.

                           "There's the Margo I remember. I was wondering when she'd show up," Art remarked.

                          "I'll just have whatever he's having," Margo remarked, turning to look at Art afterwards. "If we want to be really honest with each other, I think you should be honest with me this time. Do you even want to be a tennis player anymore?"

                          Art shrugged. "I don't know honestly."

                          "Bullshit. Of course you do. Is Tashi forcing you to do this?" Margo questioned. But she already knew the answer to that.

                          "Tashi isn't forcing me to do anything," Art shakes his head.

                          "She's living through you, Art. She can't play tennis, so she'll settle for having you play tennis. You're afraid of what might happen if you stop, aren't you? You're scared that she'll leave you for someone better. Your spot isn't guaranteed, is it?" Margo continued, poking the bear now.

                         She did it with Patrick and now she was going to do it with Art too.

                         "Stop it," Art frowned.

                        "I'm just talking honestly, Art. I thought that's what you wanted," Margo shrugged.

                        The bartender returns with the drink and she raises it in Art's direction before she drinks it all with her head tipped back. When she finished, she flips the small shot glass over and nearly slams it down onto the counter.

                        "What happened to us, Margo?" Art asks, looking at Margo with his chin comfortably placed in the palm of his hand.

                       "Do you want the simple answer or the true, complicated answer?" Margo questioned.

                      "I don't know," Art admits.

                      "So much happened. I mean, where do you even want to begin?" Margo replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "The good or the bad?"

                      "The good obviously," Art responded.

                      Margo sighs in relief. "I was hoping you'd say that."

( 🎾👱🏻‍♂️💎 )

word count: 2172
notes: so art and margo met up. it was tense and angsty but a little soft at the end. now the next chapter will be jumping back into the past and that update shall be coming back very soon!