A short melodic sound woke me from my poison induced slumber. I checked my phone - a message from someone named Nicole Chu. Who in their right mind would dare to disturb me at… I glanced at the phone again. 5 pm?! That Nicole or something, has some balls…
Another message sounded. Fine, fine, I'll take a look. It's not like there's anything for me to do, but to wallow in my own misery these days…
It's been three days since Liz saw me and that elf. Since then, I tried desperately to explain myself, but Luna would always interrupt and she had already spun her a story that was so convincing that even I started to doubt my own memories.
The worst part was that Elizabeth wasn't angry or disappointed with either one of us, she was simply sad. That broke my heart the most. The very next day, she got back to her house keeping duties. Haggard, with eyes red from crying, adorned by bags underneath them, she simply got back to serving the man that she thought cheated and discarded her and the woman that he cheated with.
I couldn't stand any of that. I tried to explain myself once, when the elf wasn't around, but Liz simply smiled and told me that there was no need to explain. I thought that I was forgiven, or that she understood the elf's deception, but then she added. "We were simply never meant to be."
This broke me. Her sad smile - implying that she wasn't worth being with me, or some shit like that and the fact that she believed Luna's words over mine. The fact that she forgave me, that she understood me cheating on her, even though I never did, it all felt so painful.
I didn't know what to do, so I ran. As far away as possible. I ran and ran until I found myself in some small town in but fuck Kalamazoo, entered the first of many liker shops lining the streets and began filling up a cart.
The next few days spent in a cheap motel were a self destructive marathon of drinking until pissing blood mixed with various poisons by the bucket. Childish - yes, smart - no, pathetic - yes again, but, at this point, I didn't really care whether I lived or not, so my pride was the first thig that went out the window. Once again, I had lost the only thing that I cared about, once again it was all my fault, once again I was alone.
In this half living half not, barely continuous state, I picked up my phone to read the two messages from some Nicole. "Hey, Alex, when I gave you my phone number, I did it with the understanding that you'd call me, or, at the very least, text, but it's been weeks with no news… :("
"You still alive in there somewhere, or did the organization that kidnaped you and your whole class get you back?" The next message read.
"Sorry, who this?" I replied.
"Oh, you're still alive? Good. It's Nicole. Nicole Chu. Have you already forgotten me? This makes me kind of sad…"
"Jog my memory, I'm not good with names."
"...We met at the mixer a few weeks back and even went to the party after. I was the girl in the white jacket. Here, give me a sec…" A moment later I received a selfie of a gorgeous Chinese chick.
"Right… That Nicole Chu… So what do you want? I'm a bit busy at the moment and my schedule is packed for the rest of the month, after that, I'm leaving."
"What are you so busy with? Can I join you?"
"Wallowing in self misery and drinking mostly. Plan to continue for a while more."
"...Well, as the saying goes - misery loves company. Would you care to join me for some food and drinks?" She asked.
"I donno, I'm very comfy where I am now."
"You could tell me about all your woes and sorrows, I am a good listener, believe me or not." She persisted.
"Yeah, no. I don't think so."
"...I'm paying."
"...Send the address and time."
_________________________________________________________________________
Nicole Chu
I waited in the restaurant for more than half an hour after the agreed upon time, just drinking water and glancing at the clock, when a commotion was heard at the front desk. "Sir, this isn't really an establishment for someone like you. May I suggest a local diner a few blocks south?" The maître 'd said.
"Shut it, or I'll split you in two!" Another voice roared. "I was invited here."
"May I ask by who?"
"Monica Chuchu… Or something by those lines." The voice answered.
What the hell is happening there? I thought. Another drunk wandered into our restaurant thinking that it was his home, or something? And who is this Monica Chuchu?
"Sir, I'll ask you to leave before I'm forced to call the security." The maître 'd said. At this point, the entrance was already swarmed by curious onlookers.
"Go for it, you wuss." The voice taunted. "What? Too afraid to fight by yourself? Back where I'm from cowards are the ones to either die first or the ones to sacrifice their teammates in order to preserve their pitiful lives."
This sentence struck something familiar within me. The voice was haggard and unhinged, not a shred of manners or elegance was carried by it, but the message was one that he'd say. I stood up and rushed to the door. "Alex!" Everyone's eyes landed on me.
What I saw wasn't the composed, yet powerful and imposing, nicely dressed gentleman, but a disheveled mess of a human that you smell before you see, wearing dirty, casual clothing to an upscale restaurant. Our eyes met and I asked. "What happened to you?"
"Life." He answered, then turned to the maître 'd. "See, you wuss, she invited me, now back off."
The maître 'd turned to me. "Young miss Nicole, is he really someone that you know?"
I hesitated for a moment, weighing the embarrassment of being associated with someone that looked like that and the curiosity of how Alex ended up that way. The curiosity won. "Yes, this is an acquaintance of mine - Alex Jones. Don't be fooled by his current appearance and… Smell, he is someone worth your utmost respect."
I turned to Alex and grabbed his hand. "Let's go, you're causing quite the commotion here." I dragged him to a private dining room and pushed him onto a chair, then sat opposite. "Really, what happened?" I asked.
Alex scratched his balls, sniffed his hand, then produced a cigarette from somewhere and lit it. After taking a long drag, he began coughing, then took another drag.
"You know, you can't smoke here, right?" I asked, slightly irritated.
"I know."
"So why are you smoking? You don't even seem to like it."
"Because I simply don't care anymore. As for why I started smoking in the first place…" He gave me a look of a man that had given up. "I'm playing around with the idea of a slow and painful death due to lung cancer."
"Jesus, did someone die, or something?"
"Yeah, the only thing that brought me happiness." He said, taking another puff.
My eyes widened. "Was it that girl? The red head I mean? What happened? Can I help in any way?"
"She's alive, but our relationship is not."
I sighed with relief. "You scared me there." I hesitated for a moment. This guy that once radiated such power and confidence, surrounded by mystery, intrigued me to no end. I even gave him my number, something that I do not give out lightly, yet he had the nerve to never use it.
I won't lie, I was interested in him, he was so much different than the rich second generation kids that I usually hang around, that endlessly try to impress me and gain my favor for either my looks or my family's wealth. He was someone that wasn't interested in me at all, that made me want him even more.
But now that I look at him, he's nothing - a shell of his former self. On one hand, I could take him in, nurture and take care of, but the former Alex might never return. On the other hand, I could help him fix things, fixing him from this sorry state and then fight fair and square. I was conflicted. I was leaning towards the first option in the beginning, but the dead look in his eyes made something in my conscience stir.
With a sigh, I said. "Tell me what happened and I might be able to help you fix it." Just having the former Alex as a friend, or even a distant acquaintance would be far better than having 'this' all for myself.
He looked at me, took another drag and said. "I'm here to eat and drink, not to tell stories."
"Are you really that petty? What's more important - a chance of fixing your relationship, no matter how small, or the embarrassment of telling me your fuck up?"
"..."
"Just how pathetic are you?! Do you not care about your relationship anymore, or what?" I scratch my head. "Fine, let's eat first, then when you're feeling a bit better, we can talk."
"Fine."
By the time the food was served, the floor was already littered with dozens of cigarette buds and the man kept going at it. "What the hell is this?" Alex asked.
"High end traditional Chinese cooking. You're half Chinese yourself, right? You should know these dishes by heart."
"Oh, right, forgot about that…" Alex admitted.
You forgot about being half Chinese?! When was the last time you took a look in the mirror? Seeing as you probably haven't showered in days, I'd understand not seeing a mirror for some time, but still… I thought, then briefly introduced the food on the table.
"Right… I've eaten some weird shit in my life, but pork snouts are going to be a first for me." Alex said.
"Oh? Like what?" I asked, intrigued.
"Internal organs, eyeballs, essentially the whole animal, if I could get my hand on it, maggots, spiders, anything that moved. Oh, and mushrooms - the 'do not eat' kind. I think that there's no need to elaborate how I figured out that the mushrooms were the 'do not eat' kind, right?" I nodded to his words. "Hell, I even had MacDonalds a few times, so a few snouts aren't intimidating at all."
"You actually ate at MacDonalds?" My eyes widened. "How are you still alive?"
"It was painful - yes, but hardly life threatening." Alex smiled for the first time today and a bit of his previous aura returned.
I smiled as well. "See? The more you talk, the better you'll feel. Why don't you begin your story?"
"Hold up." He said munching on a pig's snout. "This shit good, let me finish first."
After eating, Alex slowly recounted the incident with Luna, leaving me speechless. That girl actually used poison to essentially try and r*pe him? And now that she has ruined Alex's and Liz's relationship through such means, she actually believes that she can be with him? Wild.
After finishing the story, he finally asked. "What do I do now?" I looked into his eyes and, for a fleeting moment, I saw something akin to hope. What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to help? I didn't know. Then, a thought crossed my mind - a thought that would end my relationship with Alex forever.
I hesitated, weighing my options and finally asked. "Do you love her? Do you love her more than anything or anyone in this whole wide world?" He nodded. "My heart sank. "Well. there is one way, but I have to warn you, if you do this, there's no coming back."
"Don't worry, I've killed plenty before." Alex said eagerly.
Why is that his first thought?! "Ehem… No need to kill anyone. This is what you have to do…"
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