Alyssa picked up the shot glass and looked at Shannon. She winked and tossed the contents of it down her throat, slamming the empty glass back down onto the bar.
"For fucks sake, I can't keep up with you," the younger girl complained. "How are you not puking your guts up?"
"I don't know. I don't feel drunk in the slightest to be honest with you. I wish I did. I might stop fucking thinking about you know who then."
"Have you still not heard from him?" Shannon asked.
"Nope, not a fucking word!" Alyssa replied, lifting a hand to signal the bartender. "Can I get another one of these please? And whatever my friend is having. Shannon?"
"I'll have half a cider. I can't handle these shots."
"Sounds good. I'll have one of those too."
"Alyssa, I think you'd better slow down," Shannon suggested.
"Relax Shannon, I'm fine. Now where are Joel and Cherry?"
"They're playing darts against those two Brummie lads, remember?"
"Oh yes, of course. Thank you," she said, tapping her bank card on the card reader to pay.
"I'm sure Seb has a good reason Alyssa."
"Like?"
"Well I don't know, but he wouldn't just forget about you."
"He would if he was fucking Sienna!" Alyssa muttered.
"He won't be fucking Sienna! He loves you," Shannon stated.
"Ok, so why haven't I heard from him in sixty bloody hours?"
Shannon had no answer for that. Despite trying to reassure Alyssa, she thought it was very strange that Seb hadn't been in touch.
"Christ, you're putting them away tonight sis," Joel said, appearing beside them at the bar.
"I'm letting my hair down brother dearest. All work and no play makes Alyssa a dull girl."
"A Bacardi and Coke, and an orange juice please," he said to the bartender.
"Do you miss drinking?" Alyssa asked randomly.
"Sometimes, like when we have a good result and everyone's celebrating, but my life is so much better since I stopped."
"Seb likes celebrating in other ways," she giggled. Maybe she was slightly more drunk than what she'd thought.
"Too much information,"Joel said.
"He's getting fuck all from me when he gets back. He's an asshole."
"Sure Alyssa. I think you need to make this your last one. Come back to the table."
Alyssa shrugged. She picked her cider and her shot glass up and followed her brother across the room. She was beginning to wish she'd worn her trainers, she was starting to feel a little wobbly on her high heels. Then again, trainers just wouldn't have looked right with the claret dress she was wearing.
She sat down at the table and rested her head on Cherry's shoulder. The older lady laughed.
"You are going to have a bad head in the morning Cherie."
"Why hasn't he called me Cherry? I thought he loved me."
"Don't assume the worst. He may have lost his phone. He may be ill."
"Oh no. What if he is ill?" Alyssa started to worry.
"He'll be fine," Joel said.
"So he's probably fucking Sienna." Joel groaned.
"Hey, do you guys want a rematch?" asked one of the young lads that Joel and Cherry had been playing darts with.
"Sure Josh, are you sure you can handle losing again?" Joel replied.
"You fluked it last time!"
"Game on. Come on Cherry, let's show these young whippersnappers how it's done."
Alyssa downed her shot. She was beginning to feel sick now. Perhaps Joel was right, perhaps she should make this drink her last.
"Shannon, I don't feel too good," she moaned.
"I warned you, you silly billy!"
"I love him so much, and I'm petrified he's changed his mind."
"Oh sweetheart. I believe he will have a good explanation. Just wait and see. Don't get yourself all worked up."
"I guess. You know, besides feeling sick, the trouble with drinking too much is it makes me pee too much."
Shannon burst out laughing. "Will you be ok, or do you want me to come with you?"
"I'll be fine. I won't be long."
Alyssa stood up and headed towards the toilets. She was pleased when she found she was the only one in there, so no one would hear her throwing her guts up.
After she'd finished being sick she had a quick wee. Then she flushed the chain, and washed her hands and face before heading back out to the bar.
Halfway across the room she was hit with the urge to hear Seb's voice, even if it was only his voicemail message. She carried on back to the table, grabbed her bag and told Shannon she was going outside to try and call Seb.
She made her way to the exit and stepped out into the warm night air. She took her phone out of her bag and brought Seb's number up. Should she do this? Was she being too clingy? Over sixty hours was a long time, wasn't it? She hit dial and put the phone to her ear.
"Hey, this is Sebastian. I can't take your call right now, or I don't want to," came Seb's laughing voice. "Please leave me a message, I might get back to you, it depends on what you want."
There came a beep.
"Hey Seb, it's me, Aly. I just... I'm drunk, and I'm missing you, and I'm worried that you're banging Sienna ...I know I'm probably just being stupid...I love you."
She disconnected the call and put her phone back into her bag, which she then hung over her shoulder.
She sighed and leant back against the wall of the bar. What would she do if he'd changed his mind about them?
She'd have to move out that's for sure. Joel would take her in so at least she'd have a roof over her head. As for work, she'd definitely have to look for a new job. She wouldn't be able to cope with seeing him around all the time.
She stood there for a few minutes just thinking about worst case scenarios. Finally, she went to head back inside. She found the way blocked by a hard body.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she apologised, assuming it was someone who'd popped out for a cigarette.
"You ought to pay more attention to where you're going," said an all too familiar voice.
"Dean!" she gasped, her heart starting to pound with fear.
"That's right darling. Dean. Remember me? The man whose life you ruined."
"You did that when you raised your hand to me," she replied, trying to sound braver than she actually felt.
"You look ravishing. A bit sluttish, but I guess that's just who you are. I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with your body."
"Not happening, now please could you let me past. My friends will be wondering where I am."
"If you're talking about Joel and those two women, they were rather busy with their darts match. Why hurry away? We have lots to catch up on."
He grabbed her wrist. "Let me go Dean. Please." She began to panic. What was he planning on doing to her?
He applied pressure on her wrist with his thumb, a menacing look appearing on his face.
"Never. You're mine Alyssa. It's time to come home."
"Never!" She knew she'd rather die than go back to him.
"You don't have a choice." He started to walk, dragging her after him. She fought his hold but he was too strong. "The more you fight me, the worse it's going to be for you."
The old Alyssa would have given up and gone quietly. She'd been a scared little mouse. This Alyssa was different. Seb's love had given her confidence in herself, given her the belief that she deserved better.
"I'm going nowhere with you. You can do what you like to me but your hold on me has gone. You are nothing to me Dean Talbot. I'm not going to waste one more second being your punchbag."
"I like this feisty side of you. Where did that come from?"
"It came from getting away from you. It came from finding out what love really is."
"Love? You think someone could love you? You must be joking. Only I will ever love you Alyssa. I've always loved you."
"No, you're wrong. You never loved me Dean. If you had you'd never have hurt me. That's not love. And yes, someone does love me. I've found someone who adores me for who I am, and he would never, ever hurt me like you did."
"So where is he then? Hmm, as I thought. He's in your imagination." He pulled her along the path a few more feet. She tried prising his fingers off of her wrist but he clung on tightly, his grip beginning to hurt.
She was petrified but she knew she had to resist. There was an alleyway a few buildings up. If he got her there it was going to be over. She'd end up dead because she was going to fight him until her last breath. Dean Talbot was not going to break her again.
She looked around to see if there was anyone nearby who could help but there was not a soul in sight. Any other time the street would have been full of people.
"Help!" she screamed. She felt Dean grab a handful of her hair and pull it hard.
"Shut up you pathetic little whore." She lashed out at him, striking the side of his head with her bunched up fist. "You'll pay for that you bitch."
She fought and fought but he finally got her to the alleyway. Once inside he pushed her against the wall, his hand at her throat. Her bag slipped off of her shoulder and fell to the ground.
"Did you really think I'd let you get away with what you did to me? I spent four years of my life in prison because of you. Now you're going to pay."
He leant forward and kissed her hard on the mouth, his free hand pushing her dress up.
Alyssa bit down on his bottom lip, tasting blood. There was no way she was giving in to him without a fight. It was time he learnt she was no longer the girl she'd once been. He roared in pain and took a step back.
"You bitch!" He bunched his hand into a fist and punched her in the jaw.
Teetering on her heels, Alyssa lost her balance and fell to the floor, smacking her head on the concrete. She felt an agonising pain shoot through her skull, and her vision went blurry. She also felt a pain shoot through her ankle after twisting it on her way down.
She looked up and saw Dean crouched by her side. His face was twisted with hatred. Blood was dripping from his lip, his white shirt stained by it.
"Look at you now," he said quietly. "You can't escape me. I'm going to fuck you, and then I'm going to take you home. Once there I'm going to fuck you again and then I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't forget in a hurry. If you're lucky I'll just beat you into next week, but if you make things difficult Alyssa I might just have to take a knife to that pretty little face of yours." She felt his hand on the inside of her thigh. She felt sick as she thought of having him inside her again.
"Fuck you Dean!"
He slapped her hard around the face. Leaning closer she could feel his breath on her cheek. She could feel his erection pressing into her side. She closed her eyes bracing herself for what would happen next, but nothing happened.
All of a sudden, he was gone. She opened her eyes and saw Joel driving his fist into Dean's face again and again.
"Alyssa! Oh my God, are you ok?" Shannon gasped, crouching down beside her.
Alyssa couldn't answer. Her head hurt so much. She found herself drifting in and out of consciousness. "Seb," she moaned.
"Alyssa, stay with me. Try and stay awake. I'm going to call an ambulance."
Joel punched Dean once again, knocking him to the floor. "You sadistic bastard. I've waited a long time to do this. I should have done this a long time ago. This is for my sister!" He kicked Dean in the ribs.
"Joel! Stop!" Cherry yelled from the alleyway entrance. "You'll kill him!! Alyssa needs you with her, not in a prison cell. Let the police deal with this scum."
Joel froze. Cherry was right. He wanted nothing more than to beat the life out of Dean, but he knew Alyssa needed him. He ran to his sister's side. Shannon was on the phone to emergency services.
He held Alyssa's hand. "Alyssa I'm here, I'm here. Help's coming. Hold on. He's never going to hurt you again. I promise you."
"Joel," she moaned. "How did you find me?"
"I thought you'd been gone a long time. Shannon looked on Snapmaps to see where you were. She saw you'd been near this alleyway. We couldn't see you on the street so we began looking!"
"It hurts."
"I know sweetheart, I know, but I guarantee you that bastard's hurting just as much."
"I want Seb."
Alyssa fought to keep her eyes open but the combination of alcohol and the blow to her head were too much. Her eyes shut. She could hear Joel talking to her, telling her he loved her and to hold on.
"Seb," she mumbled, before everything went silent.
***
"His phone's off," Joel said to Shannon outside the hospital. "Sienna's not answering."
"We just have to keep trying. He needs to know."
"I need to go back in."
"I'll keep trying."
"I'll give you Sienna's number. Hers is ringing, his isn't. Actually, just use my phone. She might not answer to a strange number."
He handed his phone to Shannon before heading indoors. He made his way to the room where Alyssa lay, still unconscious. She'd had a CT scan which had ruled out any damage to her skull or brain. The doctors said she was just drunk and concussed.
Her ankle however was broken and would need to be put in a cast. He slumped down onto a chair, rubbing his eyes. Cherry looked at him sympathetically. She could see the emotional pain he was in.
"She'll be ok. She's a strong girl."
"I wish I'd finished him off. I can't believe he managed to disappear before the police arrived."
"They'll get him. They know where he lives."
"They'd better get him, or I'll find him and kill the bastard."
"You and me both. Any luck getting hold of Sebastian?"
"No."
"He doesn't care," came a weak voice from the bed.
"Alyssa!"
She raised a hand to her head, wincing at the pain. "Dean?"
"The police are looking for him."
"I can't believe I was stupid enough to come back here. I thought the chances of seeing him were slim. I'm an idiot."
"Hey, I could have said no. I knew he was here. We're all stupid."
"I feel sick."
Cherry handed her the small cardboard bowl the nurse had left on the bedside cabinet. Alyssa immediately began retching. Cherry stroked her hair comfortingly as she emptied her stomach. Joel sat there, his hand on his sister's shoulder. Where the fuck was Seb?
Was Alyssa right? Did he not care? Joel didn't believe that. He knew Seb cared, so why wasn't he answering? Why wasn't Sienna answering? Surely they weren't back together? Seb wouldn't do that to Alyssa. He loved her, or so he'd said.
"It's ok Alyssa," he said. "I'm here. I'm not leaving you. I'm by your side. I love you sis."
Alyssa laid back on her pillow. Her face was as white as a ghost apart from the livid bruise that had appeared on her jaw.
"I want Seb," she said.
"I know sweetheart. I know."
Alyssa shut her eyes. She wasn't going to sleep but she didn't want to talk. She just lay there thinking about Seb. Were they over?
***
Shannon paced up and down the pavement outside. She kept alternating between trying to call Seb and trying to call Sienna. All she got was Seb's voicemail, and Sienna still wasn't answering. It was late in Greece. Maybe she'd turned her phone onto silent.
Finally she left a voicemail for Seb.
"Hey Seb. It's Shannon. Please get in touch with Joel. It's Alyssa. Try not to worry. She's ok but something's happened and she needs you. Please just get in touch."
She slid Joel's phone into her pocket before heading back inside.
***
In Greece Sienna smiled at Seb as she refilled his wine glass. She glanced at her phone. She could see the display said eight missed calls. She'd turned it onto silent. Whatever Joel wanted could wait. She wasn't going to let anyone ruin her time with Seb. Things were going well. She was confident that they'd be leaving Greece as a couple again.
Her phone lit up again. She turned away from it. She'd call Joel back in the morning. Tonight, it was all about her and Seb.