"Hit me." I demanded, slamming a twenty down on the counter.
"What are you doing here? I thought you had that dinner tonight." Eric asked, confused.
"I came here for a shot of tequila. Why aren't you pouring me any tequila? You see, Eric, I know a big part of a bartender's job is to engage in conversation with their customers, but you can't forget about your main duty. Pouring drinks. I'm waiting."
He gave me a funny look while he filled the tiny glass with the golden liquid.
"Keep them coming, darling. The more you pour, the more I tip."
So he poured another, then another...
"I'm cutting you off until you tell me what's up." He took my glass and looked at me in the way a father would look at his crying daughter.
"Have you ever watched someone die?" I asked. "Have you ever witnessed someone take their last painful breaths before completely leaving this world?"
"I can't say I have."
"Hmm... well, it's not something I'd recommend."
"What happened tonight, Evelyn?" He even sounded like a concerned father.
"I watched a man drown in his own blood right on top of my dining room table."
"Enzo." Was all he said.
"My adoring husband, yes." His face twisted in disgust as I said those words. "Enzo killed a man in my honor, right before my eyes. I guess that must strengthen its effect though. You know what they say, actions speak louder than words."
"Don't you dare defend him." He warned, his teeth clenched and his hands balled into fists.
"Oh God no, he absolutely repulses me at the moment. I'm just trying to look at this from a logical point of view. Logic is dry. There are no opinions, no emotions attached to it. And if I were to acknowledge how I feel right now...well, let's just say it's water best left uncharted. You have customers waiting, Eric." I said, pointing to the other end of the bar.
He was hesitant about leaving me alone, but duty called so he walked away.
I sat there, not touching the bottle of alcohol that he had left in front of me, but instead, staring at my reflection in the mirror on the other side of the counter.
The woman who stared back at me looked so sad... not that I even knew what sadness was anymore, because I was numb. Her brown eyes were so empty, so lifeless. The diamonds that sat around her neck and hung from her ears looked painfully heavy. Her head began to tilt to the side from the weight of the expensive jewelry, but she quickly straightened herself upright, afraid that if she let herself fall even just a fraction of an inch, she would never be able to get back up. She would fall and fall and fall into the darkness that was her existence.
"You are so desperate." I heard a familiar voice say. "The woman is married, let it go!" He begged.
"I didn't come here for her. I wanted a drink."
"Yeah, because you're so f*cking thirsty."
"So what, I'm not allowed to come to this bar anymore? Besides, you were the one who dragged me here in the first place."
"You're not desperate." I interrupted, tearing my gaze away from the woman in the mirror. "You're stupid, but I think I can get past that. And I don't believe we've formally met. My name is Evelyn. Yours?" I asked, extending my hand out to Lucas's friend. The one who initiated the bet the first day we met. The day that ended up ruining my entire life as I knew it.
"Justin." He awkwardly placed his hand in mine and gave it a weak shake.
"It was very nice meeting you, Justin. Now if you would please excuse us, I'd like to speak to your friend alone."
"Uh, yeah, sure. No problem. I'll just be waiting-" He tripped over a table. "Over there." He chuckled.
"What is this?" I asked after he left. "Are you and all of your friends part of some club suffering from really low self esteem? Why are you guys always so nervous?"
"Because you're so beautiful."
I laughed. "Hmm... perhaps you don't belong in that group anymore." I glanced over to see Eric wiping up a table with his back to us. "I still think you could use some work though."
"Do you?" I loved how Lucas took everything. Every mood, every sarcastic remark, and my insanity without judgement, without getting offended.
"I do and I think I know exactly how to approach it."
"I'm intrigued."
I gently took his hand in mine. I remember it being so warm, so comforting. "Meet me upstairs. Room 731." I stood up from the stool, slipped a fifty dollar bill into the tip jar, and walked away from him.
Reckless, impulsive, idiotic... all very accurate words to describe myself, but I did not care. I wanted to break free from the chains. I wanted to defy him.
Aside from my anger, I was also desperately seeking comfort in someone who would be willing to give it to me, someone who didn't know why every inch of me was screaming in pain.
I guess I could defend myself in saying that I was drunk. The tequila went straight to my head, but that wasn't it at all. I was completely present, I knew exactly what I was doing, and I knew that in that moment, I wanted it more than anything else in the entire world.
What the alcohol did do was make me sloppy. It caused me to ignore the big bold lines that led back to Enzo.
But for five years, all I thought about were the consequences that followed my actions. I was never truly living in the moment, because all I could think about was what awaited me in the future.
I confidently walked into the elevator and gave the couple beside me a big smile.
"We just got married!" The woman beamed.
I couldn't contain my laugh. "Well you certainly have my condolences." And with that I stepped out of the elevator and continued down the hall until I reached the door that had the golden numbers 731 nailed onto it.
The top two floors weren't actually a part of the Five Star Hotel. They were owned by people who were involved in the business, by people who were close to Anthony.
Maybe Lucas had some experience with meeting women in hotel rooms because he gave me the perfect amount of time to fill two glasses with cold champagne, and neatly hang my clothes up in the closet.
By the time he arrived I was sitting on one of the chairs at the small round table that the drinks sat on, in nothing but my red bottoms and Enzo's favorite black laced lingerie.
Lucas didn't have a key because I didn't have the nerve to go to the front desk and ask for another one, so I left the door propped open, and took the risk of saying, "Come in," when I heard a knock.
Luckily, it was him, and the look on his face as he stepped through that door confirmed that I did not want to be with anyone else.
"Whoa." He breathed.
"Sit." I demanded, patting the chair beside me with my foot.
So he sat. "You seem tense." I stood up, walked over to him and began to rub his shoulders.
"I'm not."
"Don't lie to me." I then tilted his head up so he was facing me. "You're tense, you're wondering whether or not you should stay."
"I want to stay." His voice was firm, maybe he was trying to mimic mine.
"Of course you do. I want you to stay too, but we both know that you shouldn't." I knew on some level we would regret that night which was why I kind of wanted him to back out. "I'm married. I have a husband with a hideous temper. Can you honestly tell me that you're okay with that?"
"I don't care about him, and clearly you don't either." Again, he was trying to copy my confident attitude. Little did he know, I was a fraud.
And I did care, just not at that moment. Never in the moments that mattered most.
"Good." I extended my left hand out to him. "Take this off then."
Lucas very slowly, slid the monster diamond off of my finger.
I had him do it more out of a safety precaution than some deep symbolic reason. The number of injuries caused by that ring was enough to prove that the devil himself had crafted it.
"What about you? Are you... unattached?" I asked hesitantly.
Hypocrite!
"Yes." He breathed, standing up from the chair and taking my hand in his, his eyes everywhere but my face.
"Let's propose a toast." I reached over and picked up the two glasses of champagne, giving one of them to Lucas. "To a night that will mend the past and pave the way to a brighter tomorrow." What a load of crap.
"C-cheers." He stuttered, clinking his glass against mine before taking a sip.
I downed every last drop and was tempted to do the same to the rest of the bottle.
But I didn't. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck and gently pulled him closer to me so that we were practically breathing the same air. Lucas, in return, gently placed both hands around my waist and that's when I realized that it was going to be different. Much, much different than anything I had ever experienced before.
"This night is supposed to help get you out of that little club you and Justin belong to." I teased, running my hands through his hair. "So are you going to make the next move and overcome it, or should I?"
"I don't want to put your brilliant idea to waste." There was a smile playing at his lips as he pushed me back a step, securely holding me in his arms before he pressed his lips to mine.
And that was the end. That single kiss was what destroyed us all.
***
Don't come crying to me when sh*t hits the roof.
I love you, amore.
Don't you dare defend him.
Curiosity is a dangerous thing, my love.
Don't force some other poor innocent bystander to be a part of your life.
Oh, but I'm a huge idiot, that's nothing new.
It's a weakness, love is a weakness that he can't afford.
Take the damn day off. Just don't make me regret it, Evelyn.
Don't be foolish, amore, you don't make eye contact with a vicious dog. These men are no different.
My wife? You want my wife?
I closed my eyes, trying to get rid of the sound of Joseph's screams... Jasmine's screams. I tried to get rid of the blood that stained my vision, the blood that was smeared across all of our hands and everything we owned. The chaos, the horror, the look of pure evil that took over his face as he viciously ended another man's life.
Enzo was the vicious dog, I thought, as I made my way home, as I tried to control my nervous heart that beat faster and faster with each step I took. He was no different.