Mad Love

Mad Love Chapter Eight

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Four Years Later:

I downed the shot of tequila like a pro. The crowd behind me cheered, a boozy shout deafening me. Slamming the shot glass upside down on the table, I held my cool for a split-second. My face then contorted, grimacing. "Eeeeyuck," I groaned.

"Okay, fine, are you happy?" I asked Em, glaring at her and Lacey.

"Ecstatic," she said, tilting her head and smirking at me. Lacey saluted me with a shooter full of cherry vodka, and took another shot.

The crowd began to dissolve when they realized I didn't intend to do another round. One overly enthusiastic college student was trying to buy me another drink. I raised an eyebrow in a matronly manner, discouraging him. He melted back into the crowd to find some easy skank.

I'm not a drinker. It's not in my nature, not in the cards, stars or magic eight-ball. I cannot handle alcohol to save my life.

Which is another reason celebrating my twenty-second birthday in a bar held little to no appeal for me.

"Remind me again why we couldn't go to a restaurant for my b-day?" I shouted across the table, hoping Em and Lace could hear me over the blaring dance music.

"Because I wanna get you toasted!" Em yelled. "Woman, it is your TWENTY-SECOND. You have passed the threshold of college and whatnot. Welcome to the real world. It's gonna be huge!"

"Yeah, quit acting like a librarian," Lacey added. She flicked her dark brown hair over one pale shoulder, pursing her lips.

The tequila had had an instant warming effect on me. Considering it was August, and scorching weather, I was burning up. I wasn't drunk yet, and wanted to leave before that could happen.

However, the two girls across the table were holding me hostage. "I just wanna eat something not dropped on the floor," I whined, casting a disparaging glance at the 'kitchen' of the bar. A man in a greasy apron, smoking a cigarette stared back at me from the stove area. "And I have class in the morning. I can't be hungover."

"Shouldn't of had your birthday on a Sunday," Lacey advised me. And to Lacey, this makes complete sense. Em nodded in agreement. Lacey works with Em at a local art gallery. It's an awesome, indie style place with a lot of attitude.

Em graduated college last semester with an art degree. She had been working at the gallery part-time while going to school, and after her graduation, was promoted to manager. Lacey took Em's old job as receptionist/coffee-maker.

I was still working on my last summer course. I had two weeks left before completing my degree in business.

Em was looking at me with a serious expression. As our designated driver tonight, she hadn't touched a drop of liquor. Her eyes didn't stray from mine, and the pondering look was getting to me.

"What?!" I burst out, paranoid.

She shrugged. "I just want to spend some time with my girl before you move off."

"Oh, can we not start this again?" I would have bounced my head on the table in exasperation, but the surface was kind of sticky. Gross.

"I'm just saying! It'll be the first time in four years, Maddy. What am I going to do without you?"