Drunk

3rd P.O.V.

As Beatrix sat at the bar, Harley and Charis joined her, each taking a seat on either side of her. Harley slid her a drink, and Charis gave her a sympathetic smile.

Harley spoke first. "So, what's going on with you and Apollo? I saw him storm out of here earlier."

Beatrix sighed. "He's so closed off, Harley. I don't know what to do. Every time I try to get closer to him, he pushes me away."

Charis chimed in. "Maybe he's just not ready yet. You have to be patient."

Beatrix shook her head. "I don't know if I can be patient anymore. I want to be with him, but I don't want to keep waiting around for him to change his mind."

Harley frowned. "But what about your brother? Isn't he your top priority right now?"

Beatrix's face fell. "Of course he is. But that doesn't mean I can't have a life too."

Charis nodded. "You're not being selfish, Beatrix. You deserve to be happy too."

Beatrix took a sip of her drink and sighed again. "I just don't know if it's worth it. All this stress and uncertainty, it's just too much sometimes."

Charis put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to decide right now, Beatrix. Just take things one day at a time. You'll know what's right when the time comes."

Harley nodded in agreement. "And if you ever need to talk or vent, we're here for you."

Beatrix smiled at her friends, feeling grateful for their support. "Thanks, guys. You're the best." She took another sip of her drink and thought to herself, maybe it is worth it to take a chance on Apollo, despite all the difficulties in her life. She just had to be strong and take things as they come.

—

RIX’s P.O.V.

Tomorrow morning was not so good.

I never knew my life would be this intriguing.

Ever since I began to live as if I'm one of the Cartier's, my already messed up life had never been silenced.

As messed up as the tangle on my hair.

Apollo told me that he liked me. After a few days, he'll be acting so cold again.

I really don't know where I stand. Even if I ask him, he will just tell me that he likes me, that's all.

He's not planning on doing something about his feelings. like he wanted to postpone it.

For him, it's enough that he likes me, and that's all.

I know that I don't have the right to complain or anything but I just wanted to know if I am too bad or just selfish to ask.

Are these all too much? Am I overreacting?

Ha… I don't want to think about it. Let's just go back to where Andrei is.

Today, I brought Jade with me because I know that Jade would be the only one who could make my Andrei happy.

When I arrived at the hospital I was just trying to walk Jade around and then I will walk her home again.

But it's not what really happened.

Jade is pushing me to leave her to the nurses with Andrei.

I have this heart that I couldn't stand seeing a girl who couldn't do anything she wanted because she was prohibited to do it.

So in the end, I still agree with Andrei's request and Jade's wish.

As I went back to the club, I talked with Charis and Harley again.

And as I was talking with them, I was drinking alcohol.

This has become a habit, drinking the leftover alcohol from the customers.

It's not that bad though. But the thing is, what if there's germs in the leftover alcohol?

Nevertheless, I never cared about it.

When we finished working, I asked them to drink alcohol, like we bought a set of it and then drank.

At first, they wouldn't agree to it, stating makeup reasons that 6i know they were just creating in their mind to run away from a conversation i want to make.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Charis as she put a shot of tequila in her shot glass.

I was out of myself so I couldn’t react as soon as Charis asked me.

Harley asked something too. "Why are you torturing yourself always because of that man who happened to be Apollo?"

Now, I've been snapped into reality as soon as I heard the name Apollo.

I took a deep breath.

"Can we please not start talking about him again? He's the reason why I'm preoccupied in everything I do as if I am useless. So let's just shift the conversation to something else, please? Can we do that?"

Charis looks at me and there's a sign of petty in her face.

I started talking to shift the focusm

"You know guys, Jade has been bugging me all the time? Ever since she met my Andrei, she's always wanted to visit my brother and I know that it's not a bad thing. It's just that they are too young to fall in love. If they feel something ticklish in their chest, maybe that's just puppy love, right?"

Charis giggled.

"Come on Beatrix, you didn't know about that feeling? You've been there, okay? So don't try to invalidate their emotions just because they're too young. Love has no age, you know."

Harley rebutted as he chortled in between his drinks. "You know that feeling, Beatrix. Don't try to hide it or keep it from us."

I just giggled.

I've been trying to divert my attention to something else but it keeps on coming back to my mind.

But when it comes to my concern about my brother, I really feel I need to take action.

I just hope that Jade is not causing Andrei stress.

Charis tapped my shoulder because she noticed that I'm not talking for like five minutes as of now.

I smiled at her.

"I just wanted to leave all of the baggage behind. Although I know that it's my fault for falling in love with Apollo."

So love could be this hard…

"Why do you like him?" asked Harley.

When I looked at him, there was a hint of sadness on his face but he still tried so hard to hide it Charishe wanted to know everything about my emotions and understand every single thing about my personality.

I smiled at Harley.

I liked him before. But the confusion began because of Apollo.

"I don't really know, Harley. It's just that— he gives me excitement in my heart, relaxation, and comfort. Well, I didn't plan on doing this or feeling this. It just accidentally happened without warning."

Harley finished shot of tequila, and then drank another shot of tequila, before answering me. “But we all know that Apollo is not like that. He’s not the gentleman type of a person, and I know that you know that too. So how come he’s giving you the comfort or relaxation that you’ve been saying all this time?”

Charis was a little bit tipsy but he managed to talk. "Yeah, that's what's been bothering me too he’s always this grouchy man, irritating, always annoyed at someone else, and he's always giving you orders. How come you still think that he's the best man ever? Like he's not just a businessman or a man who’s troubling you?”

I looked away, finding words to say or to describe Apollo. Because when I think about it, they were right. Apollo is always annoyed at everything. He looks so grouchy all the time, and he's always bossing around his employees as if he didn't care about their welfare and only cares about himself.

Well, who wouldn’t, right? He is the son of the owner of his company. So why would he humble down to every people? it makes sense.

"Yeah, you're right. Everything you said was right and I'm not here to compete with you.

As I finish the three glasses of tequila shots, I speak again to continue my statement.

"But you know what, you only saw him when he was tired and full of workload and when he was not being himself but being a leader. Okay, I just said it— he is a leader and not a boss not what you guys have thought.

He is not just a businessman who’s rude and doesn’t care about his people. Apollo is different. I saw every side of him, and that's when I began to like him.

That’s when I began to feel like I want to know more about him. If he is like that in secret, if he could be a different person and it happens whenever no one’s looking at him.

If he is not really what he is showing when in front of other people, then there's more that he could do. There’s more that he can show me. There's more that I could know of about him.”

As I finished stating my claims, Harley looks me with a sign of gloom on his face. But now that he understands what Apollo means to me, it seems like he's near to giving up.

"How are you saying that?” asked Charis.