Chapter 97: BOOZED AWAY
Monica’s lips quivered before she managed to open her mouth to speak, "I do".
Jake subconsciously released his breath that he had been holding. He released her arm from his grip, staring at her with lost hope. Those two words had shattered his heart to the extent of no repair.
Monica’s eyes moistened, tearing her eyes away from him to look elsewhere as his gaze only made her feel guilty for lying to him in recent times. She heard the sound of the bed sheets moving. Turning her head back to Jake who had suddenly stood up and ready to exit the room, she called,
"Jake, where are you going?" She asked. Her voice barely audible but Jake was close enough to hear her words. He swiftly turned to face her, sadness written on his face.
He responded, "I’m leaving". His words were short and curt and she could feel the tension in the room suddenly rise. He faced the door of the room to turn the doorknob but Monica stopped him again.
"But what about your bruises?" She asked him. She quickly applied some spirits on the cotton swabs again with the intention to walk to him but he raised his hands to stop her.
"You don’t have to worry about that. Besides, I have a bigger wound somewhere else", he said and he placed his palm on his chest, signifying the part of his body that was hurt, his heart.
Monica tried to speak but her words were clogged in her mouth, refusing to be let free. She suddenly felt guilty for truthfully answering his questions.
Jake didn’t waste anymore time in the room and he placed his hands on the doorknob, opened the door, left and closed it back. It was obvious from the sudden turn of events, their intimate relationship was over.
Monica’s fingers that wrapped itself around the wet cotton swabs, released it, letting it fall to the ground and she followed suit. The silence in the room was extremely loud as she tried to remember the events that had taken place.
"What have I done?" She asked herself, guilt making her feel the worse emotions she had never felt.
Jake had first been a friend to her, he was the one who consoled her after he heard about her scandals that led to her hiatus. She had personally revealed to him about the unforeseen moment at the hotel room. Despite their different lifestyles and schedules, he had made sure to never let her be alone or feel alone.
Feeling the silence only getting louder, Monica grabbed her keys and jacket that she had dropped earlier and exited the room as well.
At a fancy club where crazy men and woman who were born without shame were enjoying themselves by boozing their future away, a man who was seated at the counter, face covered in bruises and clothes looking dusty ordered the bartender,
"Another shot". The bartender clearly saw that the man was drunk but it was not his job to stop people from buying more drinks so he simply shook two alcoholic bottles, poured it in the glass, mixed it and served it to the boozed man.
Felix snatched his glass from the bartender and gulped all its contents in one go and handed it back to the bartender who didn’t need to be told on what to do next. Felix felt the drink burn his throat as it slide down into his stomach. He closed his eyes to savor the sweet pain before vigorously shaking his head to get rid of the aftermath.
Click
The sound of the glass hitting the glass counter alerted Felix that the next drink was ready. He grabbed it and lifted it to his face, as if admiring the odd color of the drink. Before the bartender could leave, he called him back asking,
"Have you ever been in love?"
The bartender was quite taken aback with the question but he replied politely,
"I’ve been in love, once", his voice holding the thick accent of a French man, making it a little hard for Felix to understand his sentence.
"Have you ever had misunderstandings with her?" Felix questioned again.
The bartender smirked a little before he replied,
"We usually have fights, It’s normal in a relationship. Besides, there is no kind of argument that two best buddies can’t resolve".
Felix slowly tore his eyes from the glass before landing it on the bartender who was still smirking. The bartender waved at another male bartender who winked at him in return, their actions making Felix’s shoulders slump in disappointment. What other reply could he receive from a gay?
Felix stood up from the stool and walked towards a booth but not before stumbling on a few things which only added to his anger.
He slumped on the seat aggressively, making his drink spill. "What a waste", he mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, the scenarios from his fight with Jake attacked his thoughts. The way Monica went to Jake’s side to comfort him. "What about me? Couldn’t she had comforted me instead? I mean, I was injured too", he complained to no one in particular. He regretted not disfiguring Jake’s face earlier when he had the chance.
He lifted his glass to his lips and gobbled down the remaining content that was left. "If she loves him so much then she can go ahead and be with him, I don’t care", he continued to rant.
A lady who was wearing a short dress with a deep V neck cut strode towards Felix, she took a seat without permission and rudely placed her long and exposed legs on his lap.
"Hello, baby boy", she called him sweetly, trying to sound seductive as she bit her lips and sucked it before sticking out her tongue to make a circular lap on her up and bottom lips. "Who broke your heart tonight, baby boy? Don’t worry, I will make you forget about her in just 10 minutes."
Felix sized up the prostitute before his eyes landed on her legs that were still laying on his laps. The lady suddenly felt a cold chill on her exposed legs, making her subconsciously lift them away.
"Get out", he ordered the woman. His tone was firm as if daring the woman to stay any longer if she didn’t love her life.
The woman instantly got up as if her butt her just made contact with a hot surface. "Rubbish", she mumbled under her breath and strode away.
Felix glared at the woman’s back until she got on the legs of another man. "Is this a brothel or a bar?" He wondered. In no less than 5 minutes, a guy who was dressed in pink colored top with a white shorts took a seat beside Felix and asked,
"Are you into guys?"
