FOUR

JASON YAWNED bored at the sight of the lovey-dovey couples slow dancing at the podium. He'd only attended the engagement party not only to perform for a diehard fan but also because those sorts of parties were a good location to get pretty ladies.

    Lately, he'd been so stressed out with finding inspiration for his next album and handling the rumors about him. He wasn't even close to finding solutions for either of his problems. He was in need of some sexy lady to ease his stress away. And so far, he wasn't getting any. Everyone seems to be in love with the couple.

    He looked back at the couple and snorted contemptuously. He's known Jeff Blake for quite a while now or at least what he's heard about him. 

    Jeff was a terrible playboy!

    He was a playboy himself but not as awful as Jeff. At least, he made such his conquests understood there were no strings attached and they had no future together. But not Jeff, he would coax his unfortunate lover, making her believe she was the one for him, and then ditch her hard when he'd achieved his purpose of dating her.

    "I wonder how he's got all that many followers?" Jason said to himself.

    Speaking of followers. Jason reached for his phone and went through his account. He was rapidly losing a lot of followers ever since the rumors started.

     And worst of all, some of the well-paying companies and fashion lines had threatened to withdraw him from their advertisement deal and had him pay for compensation, as stated in their contract if he didn't fix his issues.

    He needed to fix his issues. But how? There was no way he would stoop low to taking his father's offer and Kelly Davis, the teenager who was now the center of everyone's attention was nowhere to be found.

    She was now the number one top search as of today, followed by him and then—Jeff Blake?!

    That caught his attention. Jeff Blake was a well-known model. Quite alright. But his engagement wasn't worth that much. 

    Out of curiosity, he quickly tapped his name on his phone. 

    Jason shook his head. 

    Apparently, one of his heartbroken conquests had smeared his image all over the internet. 

    He looked at Jeff again who was still slow dancing with his fiancée and oblivious of his predicament. If he weren't too worried of his own problems he would've laughed at him.

    Jason felt relieved as he spotted his friend getting back from his bathroom break. "Hey! I think it's about time we bounced," He whispered to his friend when he sat down in his seat. "I'm getting a little suffocated here. With all this..." and he waved his phone in the air, "...love in the air."

    Brad laughed softly. His friend looked like was suffering. "Good idea," he replied. "Can we now go for that drink I promised you?"

    "With pleasure."

"You should stop drinking now, Dee?" Evelyn cried worriedly, struggling to take away her eighth glass of Scotch from her. Again, she was defeated by her wasted friend who downed her glass in one go. "You're gonna kill yourself!"

    Doris laughed goofily. "No... I'm... not." She slurred, waving her hands frantically. "Just... one more."

    Evelyn slapped her arm. "This is, like, the fifth time you've said that!" She said forcefully grabbing her glass away from her and steadying her to keep her from falling off the bar stool. "Get a grip of yourself, will you?!"

    "Owww-aah..." Doris robbed her arm, sniffing and whimpering. Then all of a sudden, she modulated into a loud cry. Yowling at the top of her voice.

    Evelyn grunted impatiently, glaring at her. "Keep it down you're embarrassing me." She sputtered behind clenched teeth. "It's official. I'm never going out for a drink with you again."

    She was rewarded with an even louder wailing from Doris.

    Evelyn glanced around smiling nervously at the spectators who were giving them quizzical looks.

   "Fine. You can have one more glass. But after that, we're leaving. Okay?"

    "Okay. Since... It's the last... One... I've got... To make it... Grand. Bartender!" She said convivially,  her voice a high-pitched squeak. "Lemme have... one of... your... strong...est drink."

    The bartender nodded. "Coming right up," he replied and went to do his thing. 

    A minute later he returned with a small flask, filling her glass with some reddish liquid substance. 

    Evelyn looked at the glass skeptically while Doris was too wasted to be bothered. She raised the glass to her lips, paused midway, then slammed the glass back down on the table. She placed her hand over her mouth gagging, and after a while, she calmed down. "Bathroom break!" She yelled out, walking away unsteadily.

    Evelyn sighed, shaking her head as she watched her friend staggering towards the exit door instead of the hallway leading to the restroom. She had to go get her before she did anything stupid. Doris had personally chosen this fancy and expensive bar. 

    Dionysus Bar was specifically known for its discretion eccentricities, she didn't want anyone taking pictures of her drunken state and posting them on social media. The security was no joke. It took them about 30 minutes of assessment before they could get into the bar. It was made for high-class people. Where they relieve their stress without the fear of reporters and lots of them.

    Why do people have to go through all that hassle just to drink?

    Evelyn was just about to pick up her bag and go after her friend when her eyes caught someone.

    Just sitting three tables away was the man she detest the most, wearing fancy sunglasses and drinking with some other guy she didn't recognize. They were both in formal attire and despite his disguised, she could tell by one look he was Jason Lyndon!

    How could she not? She'd spent years gathering as much information on this guy as she possibly could. She had over a dozen pictures of him taped behind the doors of her closet, looking for clues to his involvement with her sister's murder.

    She fixed a piercing glare on him. It was fierce and intense. It was quite surprised there wasn't any hole burrowed right in between his eyebrows. How could he be smiling? How could he be so happy when her sister had died such a terrible death?

    Just then, the other guy who was seated with him tapped his shoulders and left. She could see his face clearly now and for a moment he glanced at her, meeting her gaze.

    Evelyn could feel the tears of anger and grief that stung behind her eyes which she blinked off. A flash of memory surged through her brain, hot and wild. Her sister had been the nicest and most selfless person on Earth. And she was going to get her the justice she deserves. Everyone might have forgotten so easily but she would never. She would make sure every member of that wretched family face the consequences of their crimes.

    Desperate for composure, she grabbed the glass of drink that her friend had ordered earlier and downed it all at once. She regretted her actions almost immediately. The drink went straight to her head. She could see the entire place whirling around her. She stood up, resting her slender hands, splayed out, on the table trying to steady herself. She exhaled, shaking her head which made the feeling even worse. The effect of that drink was really strong it was probably made to knock people out. 

    As she was struggling for composure, her eyes wander right back to Jason's table. He was now on his phone, laughing like a lunatic with whoever it was at the other end of the phone.

    That was the height of it! She could take it no more! She was sick of seeing that smile on his face.

    With anger, coupled with the alcohol effect, she stumbled towards Jason's table. Grabbing a bottle of Scotch in her hand.

Jason blinked down at his half-empty glass. He had come to drink and spout about his problems to his friend and get a little relief, but he'd left even before his second glass. Useless pal. It was all his idea to come here in the first place. Well, it was for a family emergency he would cut him some slacks for that. 

    He drank what was left in his cup and refilled his glass. He was going to get wasted today. He didn't have to worry about drunk driving as he had his driver waiting for him. He just needed one more thing to make his night complete.

     Yeah! A fling! No strings. No commitments or promises and no emotional mess. Just two people enjoying one another for a casual affair.

    He brought out his phone drunkenly blinking at it, waiting for it to recognize his face and too wasted to realize he still had his glasses on. He grunt in frustration as tried his password instead. He tapped it over and over until the fifth time it finally opened.

    "Madeleine. Avery. Elsa. Ingrid." He slurred as we scrolled down his contacts. Laughing as he wondered why he still kept their numbers saved after their affair. He made a mental note to delete the useless ones later. "Lia. Erica. Yeah! Juanita. My pretty pretty Juanita. Just who I needed."

    He dialed the number and she picked up immediately as if she was waiting for the call. "Hey! Juanita?!" He muttered. "Are you free tonight? Yeah? Okay, come over to Dionysus I'll be wait... Oh? You're close by—" he laughed wackily. "Good. Hurry up then."

    Next, he called his driver telling him to get ready and book a room at any nearby hotel while he was at it, and just as he was about to get another bottle for his black-haired beauty, a bottle of whiskey slammed down on his table. She stumbled, struggling to stabilize herself.

    He smiled, blinking boozy eyes at her. "Juanita?! You got here quicker than I thought and from the looks of it, you've had too much to drink which means, we won't be needing any more drinks. Here. Let's go to my car."

    Just as he was about to get up, she collapsed right into his arms.