Chapter 3: Drowning In Alcohol

LIANA

“Where to now, Boss?” I inquired, not knowing his full address. He had just told me the area he lived in, not the exact location. “Which block do you live in?”

“Well…” Zaylen twitched his lips as he thought. “Keep going straight for a bit.”

I kept driving according to his instruction, and when we were passing by a park, Zaylen spoke up abruptly, “Stop here.” 

Immediately, I hit the brakes. “What happened?” 

He shrugged and opened the door. “I want to take a walk at the park for a while,” saying so, he stepped out of the car, leaving me alone and absolutely clueless. 

Should I leave him here? I was assigned to drop him home, which I had done already—technically. But surely, the park wasn't the place he called home, was it? So in other words, I still had to stick with him.

Instead of waiting inside and getting bored, I decided to follow him.

Looking up at the dark sky, I thought I would spend the entire night crying in my bed with a sad tub of ice cream in my lap. But here I was. With no time to be even sad. Because my demanding boss wished to walk around the park this late at night and I had to be his caretaker.

“Argh! I hate my life!” I grumbled and looked at him, only to find him crossing the road instead of going in through the park gates. Where was he off to now?

I saw him go into a bar-like store and frowned. “What does he need to buy so urgently?”

I waited for a few minutes, standing near the park entrance with my arms crossed. The weather was nice tonight—not too cold, not too hot.

My eyes drifted around apprehensively as I thought about how much I wanted to go home and curl up in my bed. Crying by myself would be my only solace. After all, I had no other friends to pour out my heart to. 

My friends from college all cut me off, and it had been too long since I talked to any of my high school friends. It would be too weird to reach out to any of them.

Thankfully, my chain of thoughts were interrupted when Zaylen came out of the store after a while with a transparent bag in his hand. There seemed to be whiskey or tequila bottles in it.

I really wanted to ask him, what are you thinking drinking during a work week? But I decided to keep my mouth shut as I already wasn't in his good graces with what happened at the office. Besides, it wasn't any of my business if he wanted to deal with a headache on a workday or not.

Zaylen walked past me into the park, and I ended up following him inside.

He stopped walking and looked at me over his shoulder. Arching an eyebrow, he asked me, “Why are you following me like a stalker?” 

I was taken aback by his comment. He was the one who assigned me to drop him home and now he was asking me this? 

“I am waiting for you to finish drinking so that I can drop you home?” I let out, sounding confused.

A subtle smile took over his lips as he turned around completely and softly shook his head, a few strands of his hair falling over his forehead.

Damn, he looked handsome. 

“No, I mean, you should walk beside me. Don't just quietly walk behind me like you are a stalker.” 

“Oh, I just didn't want to bother you,” I mumbled.

“Why would you walking by my side bother me?”

“I don't… know,” was all I could say.

“Come on, let's find a good place to sit together,” he urged.

I nodded, and we started walking together on the walkway until he came to a stop near the small pond in the park.

He plopped down on the grass of the park and took off his royal blue suit. I stood beside him, watching as he loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his white shirt. 

My throat went a little dry as he rolled up his sleeves and raised a hand to mess up his hair. I could literally see the muscles on his forearms as he did that.

I almost couldn't recognize him. My stoic, perfectly kempt boss was suddenly looking like a sexy model with messy hair. 

At that moment, he seemed ‘normal,’ approachable like any other person.

“You don't need to keep standing there like a bodyguard. Sit down,” Zaylen said once he noticed I was standing frozen.

“Yeah, yeah.” I quickly sat down beside him, taking a polite posture with my legs tucked underneath me. “So what did you buy from the store?” I decided to strike up a conversation.

“You know, there are some days that you just feel like drowning yourself in alcohol? You can say it's one of those days for me,” he shrugged as he reached out for a bottle in the bag.

“I see.”

He popped open the cap of the bottle and offered it to me. “Here you go. You can have some.” 

I shook my head instantly. “No, no, thanks. I will be driving, so I have to be sober. You can go ahead and enjoy yourself.” 

He twitched his lips, seeming a little playful. “On second thought, I don't want to drink this anymore. I want to have it on the rocks.” He again held the bottle out in front of me. “Since we don't have any ice with us, for now, you can drink it. I will drive you back home later.”

“How will you go home after that?” I questioned.

“I will take a cab,” he simply replied.

My nose flared in petty anger. “Then, why didn't you take it in the first place and have me drive you?” I blurted out and immediately regretted it. “Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said—”

A small chuckle escaped his lips and I was shocked.

I was prepared to have him berate me but was not expecting him to laugh.

“You meant it, alright,” he said, a hint of tease in his voice. “But it's fine. You don't have to say sorry. If anything, have a sip of this. It will make you feel better.”

“Alcohol never makes you feel better,” I honestly responded.

“You are right. But it will be good to forget about everything else for a while, don't you think?” he suggested, his eyes sincere.

Letting out a deep sigh, I hesitantly took the bottle from his hand and started by taking a small sip from it.

I never thought a day would appear when I would be drinking with my boss!

Everything was going so wrong in my life today as if I was gonna die and be reborn tomorrow. 

I started to drink silently as I stared at the full moon, getting lost in its beauty.

Before I knew it, I was already on my third bottle, sitting on the grass comfortably unlike before.

“Wow, you do drink a lot,” I heard Zaylen say in amusement.

“Only when I am in too much pain,” I whispered.

I noticed the moon was starting to become less fuller as the clouds moved away and I could see it clearer. It wasn't a full moon tonight as I had thought earlier. It made me a little sad.

“The moon is beautiful tonight, don't you think?” I slurred out.

He hummed.

“It is so fascinating to watch it all the time. I love watching the moon, you know? People always gaze at stars and say how pretty they are, but I always search for the moon in the sky—full moon, to be precise. Ask why.”

Zaylen arched an eyebrow. “Why?” 

“Such a silly question,” I giggled. “Now that you have asked, I have no choice but to answer you. What other reason do I need? It's because I love the full moon. Just like I thought James loved me…” as soon as those words came out of my mouth, the pain ripped my heart as well. 

My eyes started to get watery.

“But that's not true, is it? I got fooled... He made a big fat idiot out of me,” my voice got hoarse and loud. “He betrayed me! James cheated on me!” I shouted, angry tears slipping out of my ears.

Zaylen had an unknown look on his face. He shifted a bit closer to me and handed me another bottle of alcohol. 

“Life is indeed unpredictable,” he stated as I lost control over my emotions.

“My best friend and my boyfriend! How did I not see this coming? They were cheating on me behind my back. And I have left them together a lot of times thinking they would get to bond as friends! How did they act all normal with me afterwards? They acted so nice on my face.” 

I let out a humorless chuckle. “Who knew it was all a facade? I got betrayed by my own people. I lost both my closest friend and my boyfriend. I considered them my family.”  

“That's what families do—betray and hurt their loved ones,” he uttered as I furrowed my brows in between my hysterical crying. He had a look of bitter anger on his face. 

“Huh?” I let out.

Zaylen changed his expression to a normal one. “My apologies. You were saying?”

It seemed like he didn't want me to pry into what he said earlier, so I went with the flow. “You know what the worst part of all?” 

He waited quietly, as I stared at him blankly with my teary eyes, waiting for him to ask ‘what.’

When he didn't, I touched his upper arm and leaned closer to his ear to whisper, “You have to ask me what, otherwise how can I answer?” 

He chuckled, finally asking, “What?”

“I have to see their faces every fucking day and I cannot do anything to them!” I cried out and chugged down more liquor. “I feel like going away to a far-far-far land.”

“Look, Liana, it’s okay to have breakdowns, but getting stuck in them isn't,” he started, “You have to learn to face your problems. Running away from your problems isn't a permanent solution. It's only temporary. But facing your problems is a permanent solution. You have to be a warrior, okay?” 

I nodded with a pout. His words didn't make sense, yet they did. I didn't know why.

“I want to be a warrior…” I muttered in a daze like a child. 

“Very good. Do you know what a warrior does?” he asked, trying to ignite curiosity in me.

“Sacrifices their lives for other people?” 

He chortled and shook his head. “No, silly. They fight back.”

I glanced at him quizzically as a question appeared in my mind. 

“Boss…” 

“Yes?” 

 “What would you have done if you were in my shoes?”

“I don't think I would ever be in your place because I think dating is pointless and a waste of time. However…” He twitched his lips as he thought of an answer for me. “If I were in your place, I would have a breakdown like you first so that I can get every ounce of feelings for those people out of my chest, and then the next day, I would come back stronger than ever and plan a revenge. I would make sure they pay back ten times more than what they did to me.”

“Revenge? You really would take revenge?” I asked curiously.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Why not? Those who mess with me, get their lives messed up in return. I believe in tit-for-tat.” 

“You are right,” I muttered under my breath as I nodded, a fire of vengeance burning within me.

I couldn't let those people get off the hook so easily, now can I? I couldn't be some heartbroken, sad, innocent girl. Why should I have to hide myself from them when they were the ones who betrayed my trust and trampled all over my feelings? I should be a warrior who fights back.

“So what will you do now?” Zaylen’s voice brought me out of my trance. “Will you strike back?”

“Yes,” I responded with full determination as my tears dried way long back.

A wide smile spread across his lips. He seemed proud?

“This calls for a celebration.” He took the bottle from my hand and finished off the remaining liquor in it. “Oh, and you can count on me to help you with it.”

“Really? You would help me?” I was astonished as he nodded casually. “But why?”

“Because cheaters deserve to get punished. They should never be let off the hook easily,” he responded, a hidden anger in his voice, while a grin formed on my lips. 

“So… how do we start, Boss?” I was excited for this. I was done being sad and pathetic. With all the alcohol, I had washed away the remaining of my feelings for those two. It was time to strike back. 

Zaylen furrowed his brow, probably thinking of an idea. “Hmm… To begin with, you should call me Zaylen instead of Boss.” 

I gasped at the idea. “But you told us we cannot call you by your name without your permission.” 

“Exactly, and now, I'm giving you the permission. Call me Zaylen, Liana.”