FIVE

EVELYN, NOW fully dressed, folded her arms and fixed an intense gaze on Jason who was wincing and massaging his forehead with an ice bag. 

    She'd been so startled and enraged at the same time that she'd bashed his head with a bedside flower vase the moment she realise he was the one in bed with her. Luckily for him, no serious physical damage was done. Just a swollen forehead and probably a concussion.

    Jason banged the ice bag on the coffee table. The coffee table was the only bridge between the both of them, separating them from murdering each other. He shoots his piercing glare at her.

    She was almost taken aback by the anger in his eyes. She could practically feel the heat of that laser beam gaze burning a hole through her forehead and was surprised that there was no smell of smoke or a scorch mark on the wall behind her.

    Wait a damn minute. He shouldn't be the one angry here. She should. He was the one who had violated her. And now he's mad? What for? Okay, so maybe she went a little far bashing his head with the vase but considering everything he's done, he deserved every single bit of it and more. 

    She wasn't about to be intimidated by him. With her fingers clenched in her palms, she slammed her fisted hands on the table, making him flinch a bit.

    "You perverted swine!" She spat out fuming. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on me? Oh! Now it makes sense. Every single rumor about you. You old sexual abuser!"

    Now, he was taken aback way more visibly than earlier when she'd hit the tabletop. No one has probably ever said such things to him before. Evelyn was filled with satisfaction. He has no clue what he's gotten himself into. She intended to blow this out of proportion.

    "Old. Sexual. Abuser?!" He repeated, emphasizing each word. "Have you lost your mind? I had no idea what happened yesterday. I was under the influence of alcohol."

    "Oh really? If your loved one was murdered and the murderer said he was ‘under the influence of alcohol’, would you let it slide?"

    "This is a different matter..."

    "What's so different about it? What if you had killed me last night? Huh? Well, coming to think of it, no one would have the slightest clue about it. Ain't you Lyndon's so perfect at covering your dirty tracks?"

    His eyebrows squeezed closer together but his gaze focused laser-sharp on her face. 

    What exactly is wrong with this lady?

     "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He growled. Her reply was a little tilt of her chin, scowling down at him from under her nose. "And if I'm not mistaken, you were wasted as much as I was last night. So, this isn't entirely my fault."

    Evelyn was about to counter that when the hotel room door flew open and good looking guy walked in. He was dressed rather formally and carried a briefcase in one hand. He looked exactly like the guy Jason had drunk with last night. 

    Jason gave a low shuddering sigh, looking at his friend with relieved filled eyes. "Thank God you're here." Then he flashed a look of contempt at Evelyn. "This lady is driving me crazy."

    He'd called Brad earlier to redeem him from the mess he'd gotten himself into. What other time would you need a friend who happens to be a lawyer if not now? Brad was good at getting him out of a lot of trouble that he's lost count. He was certain he'd get him out of this one too.

    Brad smiled at him, then at Evelyn. "Good Morning. Brad Bruce." He said stretching forth his right hand.

    Evelyn took it without hesitation. He looked more like a decent person compared to his friend. Besides, he had the most charming smile. One that could create sweet havoc on any woman's stomach. "Evelyn Rodriguez." She said returning his smile.

    Brad sat beside his friend, right in front of Evelyn, and placed his briefcase on the coffee table. "First off, I sincerely apologize on behalf of my friend..."

    "Why are you apologizing to her?!" Jason snapped at him. "I'm the one with a swollen head here."

    Brad jabbed his elbow into his ribs. "...I think we all should come to an agreement and settle this matter."

    "Settle?! There's no way I'm settling this matter!" Both of them yelled in unison.

    "See?" Evelyn said to Brad. "We both want the same thing."

    Brad shot Jason a warning look and then looked up to the ceiling taking a long-suffering breath. He reached for his briefcase and pulled out a laptop and a flash drive.

    "There are no CCTV cameras in the hotel rooms." He fixed the flash drive into the laptop and played the video. "So I requested for the CCTV footage of the hallway leading up to your hotel room."

    Evelyn stood and joined them at their sofa as they watch the video together.

    The video showed a drunk Jason and his driver dragging a wasted Evelyn, one of her arms over each of their shoulders, towards the hotel room door. She looked lifeless as her feet slacked behind them. The video ended when the three of them got into the hotel room.

    Evelyn scoffed and went back to her seat so she can face the both of them. "Well, on the contrary to what you said earlier, Mr. Lyndon. It is entirely your fault." She said with a wave of her hand. "Everyone is gonna side with me. You dragged a drunk woman with your henchman to your hotel room and took advantage of her. Anyone that sees this video will agree with me."

    Jason exhaled, robbing his forefinger and middle finger, in a slow circular motion on his temple trying to calm his throbbing veins. 

    "So what is it that you want?" He said sluggishly, drained of energy. "Money? I can give you any amount just name your price"

    He wanted this over with. The quicker the possible. After this ordeal, he was never gonna call for a fling ever again at least not when he was drunk. In fact, he was going to delete every single female gender from his contact list.

    Evelyn was about to give him a snide remark, lecturing him on how everything wasn't about his money when the chime of her phone distracted her.

     It was a message from Doris. Goodness! Doris! She'd left her staggering towards the exit all by herself. She'd forgotten about her friend.

    She tapped the message.

Evyyy! You're such an evil friend. I can't believe you left me all by myself at the bar yesterday. Now I'm at the hospital with a broken leg. 

    She ended the message with crying emojis.

    Evelyn stood up abruptly, tapping out a hasty reply.

Send me your location, ASAP. I'll be there shortly.

    She looked up at both men who were staring at her confused. "I have got to get to an important appointment." Then she looked directly at Jason. "About what I want? We would talk about that later. This conversation is far from over." 

    She walked towards the door, stopping midway, then she turn and walk back towards them. "Before I forget," she stooped, pulling the flash drive out of the laptop, and with a grim look, she waved it at them. "I'd be needing this for... y'know... evidence."

    Evelyn could hear the muffled argument between Jason and his friend as walked away. 

    She wasn't bothered about them right now, she was more concerned about her friend. Besides, she needed time to think carefully about what she actually needed from that Perv. Something she needed to strike him hard where it would hurt. Somewhere it would take years to recover from. 

    She wanted him to feel the pains, every single bit of it, she's been feeling all these years since her only sister was taken away from her. 

"Are you seriously gonna let her walk away?!" Jason grimaced at his friend. "Without any agreement?!"

    "Just let her go," Brad replied dismissively.

    "Let her go?! She has the CCTV footage which is if you didn't notice, very incriminating. And we should just let her go? What if she does something stupid with it? I already have enough on my plate to deal with it."

    "So do I!" Brad snapped back. Then took a deep breath. "Look, I assessed her the moment I stepped in. She seems logical and well aware of the consequences of any rash decision. That's why she wants to think about it." He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and added in a calmer tone. "I'm certain she's not going to do anything stupid. Give it time, she'll be back for sure."

    Jason looked at the sincerity in Brad's eyes and relaxed for the first time since that morning. There was no one he knew that was as smart as Brad. And there was no one he trusted as much as he trusted him. If he said it's going to be alright, then it will. 

    He stared at Brad in silence who was gloomily packing his briefcase. "Is everything alright? How did the family emergency go?"

    Brad exhaled grimly. "Nora had another seizure last night." 

    Nora was Brad's three-year-old Epileptic daughter whose mother had walked out of both her and her dad's life a year ago. 

    Apart from his parents' ridiculous relationship, Brad's relationship with his ex-wife had destroyed what little faith he had in love or commitment to any sort of relationship.

    Jason changed to an upright sitting position. "What? No! She hasn't had any seizures for a quite while now." Jason cried worriedly. "Is she okay?."

    "Yeah. She's okay right now. Luckily, her nanny was there with her last night." Brad said forcing a smile but in an instant, his countenance changed back to gloomy at the thought of what he had to face. "I'm more distressed by the lady I hit with my car hurrying back home last night." He stood up lifted his briefcase off the table and walked towards the door. "I've got to go see her and pay for her hospital bills too. We'll talk about your girl issues later."

    Girls! Jason shook his head as he walked toward the refrigerator for some fresh ice for his swollen forehead.

    He was so going to give himself a break from them all.