Chapter 5

Chapter Five  

Scarlett ran down the flight of stairs, and her vision became blurry as her eyes filled up with hot tears which streamed down her cheeks. She stumbled as she got to the sitting room and as she got up, my eyes came face to face with a life-sized picture of her and Aaron, hanging on the wall. She stared hard at the picture for a long time and shook her head wistfully as the memories came flooding. 

From where she stood, she could still hear Adriana’s loud giggles from the bedroom floating down to the living room. Or maybe it was her head. Sobbing, she looked around the house one last time and with a heavy sigh, she picked up her suitcase and left the apartment. 

Confused and tired, she walked down the street. “But where do I go from here?” She asked herself as she stopped and looked around the street and saw so many strange faces. It dawned on her, she knew nobody and had no one to run to—friend nor family—and the sad reality that Aaron had been her entire world irked her and fresh tears rolled down her face. 

“I am not your husband,” Aaron’s words reechoed in her head. “I never loved you anyways.”

Scarlett shook her head, trying to clear her head of those toxic and stinging words. Aaron, the one man who she’d taken a huge risk for, and Adrianna, the one and only person she’d ever called a friend. It was so hard to believe, and she wished it was all a dream.

With a deep breath, she began walking again, placing one foot after the other.

“Barman! One more pint of beer and a glass of whiskey, please.” Scarlett said as she gulped down the last content of the glass before her. She sat at the counter, drunk and slightly conscious of her surroundings. She was determined to get as drunk as possible, and she’d come downtown to this pub where she was sure no one at all would recognize her. 

“Here you go, ma’am,” the bartender said as he handed her. 

“Great! ” she said, slurring her words.

She took a huge gulp from the beer glass and dropped the cup noisily on the counter, reclining on her chair and scanned the rest of the pub. She watched wistfully as people went out and came in, laughing and chattering about, and images of the good days with Aaron came to her mind again. She shook her head and laughed, so hard that she began to choke. 

She raised her glass to her mouth again and in one gulp, she downed the rest of its content. 

“Hello,” A deep masculine voice asked, startling her.

She looked up to see who it was but she couldn’t make out his face in the dim light, as her vision was blurry.

“Who are you?” Scarlett asked.

“What’s a beautiful lady like you doing here, drinking alone?” he asked.

She giggled. “Wow, to think that no man would ever find me attractive.” Her words came out as complete gibberish and she laughed again, banging the table hard.

His deep chuckle ran through her body. “You are drunk, why is a beautiful lady drunk?” he said and Scarlett grinned, not caring if she looked like a maniac.

“Why do you care, are you going to take advantage of me?” She said flashing a grin, she was trying so hard to make out his face but her drunken haze seemed to be toying with her vision.

“I don’t take advantage of drunk ladies” came his deep voice and Scarlett shrugged. She smiled at him, she could dimly make out his features.

Short brown hair, he was well built. She couldn’t still make out his eyes, was it brown or black, maybe blue?

“So why don’t you take advantage of drunk girls. Do you have a moral code or something?” She said and he smiled, she could make out his well cut jaw now.

He leaned in close, Scarlett could smell the cologne on him, his manly smell.

“Yes I have a moral code. Besides, why would I take advantage of some defenseless woman when I can actually do it with her fully aware, begging me for it and not staying like a lifeless doll?” he said and Scarlett nodded, she liked this person already.

“Oohhh. So are you going to take advantage of me?” she asked and the man shook his head.

“No!” he said firmly and Scarlett raised a brow, she took another swig of her whiskey and chuckled.

“Why? Scared?” she teased. The man watched her drink for some time before he stared ahead.

“Scared? Me?” he said and Scarlett laughed.

“Here,” she said, offering him her glass of whiskey.

He took the glass from her.

“My, you must be impotent. You just called me beautiful and then you are scared to take me on a wild ride?” She mocked.

The man chuckled. “You really think I'm scared, huh? How do I prove otherwise?” he said. 

Scarlett gave him a sultry look. She leaned forward, making sure her cleavage was in full view.

“What would you make of these, then?” She asked and he laughed.

He feasted his eyes on her, staring lustily at the top of her breasts which looked attractive in the dim light. He reached to touch, and Scarlett leaned forward a little more.

“What the hell is going on here?” a voice behind them yelled, startling them. “Scarlett!”

 From the shadows, a tall man draped in a black suit appeared behind them.

“What exactly is happening here?” He turned to face the man. “Who are you?”

“I should be asking you that. Who the hell are you?” the man questioned.

The stranger stared hard at him and shook his head. He turned to see Scarlett reaching for her glass again and he hurriedly took it before her hands got to it.

“Hey!” she complained.

“No more, Scarlett,” he said. He turned again to face the guy again. “I think your time here is up. Get out, now!”

The guy furrowed his brows, looked the stranger in the face for a few seconds before he backed away.

Scarlett shot him a look. “Give me my damn drink. I paid for that. And who are you, anyway?” she said. 

“Julian, and like I said before, you’ve had enough!”

Julian hid the glass behind him and Scarlett sighed. She tried to pry his hands from behind him but he was stronger and she just ended up hugging him. She sighed as she took in his smell and stayed like that.

“Give me my drink please,” she pleaded. She needed to get her mind off Aaron’s betrayal, and the drink was the only thing helping.

“You don’t need it,” he said. His arms held her still and Scarlett didn’t object, she was too weak to even move a muscle.

“I need it badly” she said and the guy raised a brow. His hands tightened around her and she wrapped her hands around him too.

“No, Scarlett. It’s enough. What are you doing here anyway? Why aren’t you home? Where’s your husband?” He asked, looking her over. She was a mess.

“My husband?” She asked and gave a dry laugh. “I don’t have a husband, and I don't have a home either. And I’m not going back there.” She said, she pulled away to stare at him.

“What’s the matter?”

“The matter? No, there’s nothing wrong, actually. He chose Adrianna over me after everything, so I understand.”

“He did that? After what you did for him?”

“Look, I don’t know and I don’t care. Now, if you would hand me my drink?” she said and Julian shook his head.

“You need to go home,” he said firmly and Scarlett sighed bitterly, annoyance engulfing her.

“Home? Where’s that?” She asked, shooting him a look. Her mind wandered to Aaron and Adrianna making out in her bedroom again and she hissed. “I just want something or someone to help me forget my pains, and since you won’t give me my drink, then why don’t you make me forget?” Scarlett said, running a hand along his chest, then lowered them till they were at his belt.

Julian caught her hand, and pushed them away. He stood and in the dim light, she made out his face, but her alcohol-addled brain couldn’t place who he was.

She started to feel dizzy, probably from too much drink. She stumbled and Julian grabbed her before she could topple to the floor.

**********

Scarlett woke up in the early hours of the morning and found herself nicely tucked in a lush hotel room. She squinted and sat up. How did she get here?

She scrambled around for her phone and found it next to her. The time said 6:53am, and she sighed and stretched, then sank back into the softness of the bed. Her mind wandered, trying to remember the activities of the previous night.

She’d been drinking, yeah, and then the guy who’d flirted with her, and then the second guy who had taken her drink from her. That was all she could remember. Who was he?

Something caught her attention and from the corner of her eye, she saw a note on the side table. She opened it.

You fell unconscious. That’s what happens when you drink too much. Call this number when you see this, if you need anything.

Julian.

Scarlett was puzzled. “Julian?”