Tim called Summer’s phone, but there was no answer. He instinctively felt that something was wrong. Just as he was about to inform Leonardo about it, he called.
“What took you so long? Haven’t you picked her up?”
Leonardo sounded especially displeased toward the end of the sentence.
“Not yet. I called her phone but there was no answer. I think she’s left, or…” Something happened to her. He did not say that last part out loud.
It went quiet for a while, then Leonardo’s angry voice blared through. “What are you waiting for? Go look for her!”
“Aye.”
Leonardo hung up, grabbed his jacket, and headed out. He went down to the garage and got into one of his cars. Only then did he have some time to think.
Karen’s visit today must have been an emotional blow to her. She may have looked mean, but deep inside, she was only a paper tiger, fragile. She was likely hiding to lick her wounds, but she would be alright.
Just then, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen; it was Carl.
“Can I help you?”
Carl still sounded as carefree as ever. “You sound awful. Did you just blow a fuse?”
Not in the mood to talk to him, Leonardo hung up.
In the corner of a bustling bar, Carl felt sorry for Leonardo since he had hung up on him. Using his phone, he snapped a photo of Summer, who was sitting in a corner not far away, and sent it to Leonardo.
How dare he hang up on me! He would surely call back in no time. Just as Carl had expected it, his phone rang. Leonardo demanded in an unaffectionate voice, “Address.”
“Is this how you ask for favors?” It was not every day that he could blackjack Leonardo, so he was not going to tell him just yet.
“There’s still a vacancy for a business development post in Africa.”
“F*ck you!” Carl immediately divulged the bar’s location to him.
The trick worked every time. It was not deadly, but Leonardo had done it before. On one occasion, Carl made a stupid but costly mistake, and Leonardo immediately banished him to Africa, no questions asked. Since then, he knew that it was not an empty threat. Leonardo always meant what he said.
…
In the bar, Summer downed a glass of beer, but she was not feeling it at all. Hence, she asked for a dozen. Born a drinker, it may have been a good thing on any other day, but not today. Summer was there to get drunk.
Pretty and alone with a dozen beers in front of her, one did not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that she was emotionally down and needed to drown herself in the devil drink to forget the sh*t in her life. Men had been leering at her all night, and at last, two guys approached her.
“Hi, pretty. You alone?”
Summer glanced at them. Both were dressed up in business suits, looking smart. They probably held high positions in some companies. She ignored them and took a sip from her glass.
Silence meant consent. At least, that was what the two guys thought. So, they sat down beside her. Summer had taken off her overcoat, and underneath, she wore tight-fit knitwear that accentuated her curvy body. The eyes of the two men popped out of their sockets.
“Pretty girl, why are you drinking alone when you can drink with us!”
Summer could smell their intention from miles away. She smirked. “Yes, why not? But let’s play a fun game.”
The guys became enthused and asked, “So, what’s your suggestion?”
Summer tilted her head, resting her chin on her hand. She was alluring with a hint of naivety.
“A dice game,” she said.
The two guys exchanged looks, breaking out into confident smiles. Dice games were their forte, they thought. By the time she got drunk, they would play her instead of the dice game. However, after a few rounds, they realized that Summer had not even touched her glass once while they had downed a few bottles. They were hammered.
“You guys can really drink.” Summer wore an innocent smile and kept pouring them beer.
Earlier, Carl had wanted to go over to Summer when the two men approached her. Then, he saw how she gracefully dealt with the men and decided against it.
He would just wait and see how it went. When the two guys got totally plastered and she did not touch her beer at all, Carl was itchy to have a crack at it.
Just then, a noise was heard coming from the bar’s entrance. Carl looked in its direction and immediately spotted Leonardo coming toward him. Tall and handsome, he stuck out like a heron among cockerels. Due to the dim environment, however, he could not make out his face. He could just vaguely sense that he was not too happy.
Sh*t! Carl made his way to Summer and tried to salvage the situation, but Leonardo was already ahead of him.
The minute Leonardo came through the entrance, he already spotted Summer. Seeing her mingling with two men, playing dice games, and drinking with a smile across her face, he thought that she had to be having a whale of a time. He started to ask himself why he had broken traffic rules and sped over only to find her enjoying herself with men.
Sitting with her back to the entrance, Summer could not see Leonardo coming in. It was not until she felt a chill on her back and sensed a familiar scent that she turned and saw Leonardo standing there. She was frozen for a second before she asked, “Why are you here?”
“Who is this dude?” The two sh*t-faced men asked when they saw another man.
“He’s my cousin. Isn’t he handsome? He’s very much sought after,” Summer said matter-of-factly as she looked back at them. Leonardo’s face darkened as he looked at the empty bottles and mentally calculated how much beer she had drunk.
Summer grabbed him by the arm and said, “Come, sit here!”
“Summer, go home!” Leonardo’s face was full of anger. He was about to blow his top.
“I’m not going anywhere. I have no home.” Summer lowered her head, then gulped down all of the beer in front of her. Her smile evaporated, and what was left of her was only despondence.
Growing up with love, she used to dream about finding a man she loved and forming a happy little family of her own. Little did she expect, her mother would force her to be Vicky’s double in marrying Leonardo.
Home? What home? She did not have one.
Leonardo looked her in the eye for several seconds. His lips twitched but he could not utter any words to console her. In the end, he sat down beside her and told her, “If you feel like drinking, I’ll drink with you.”
His voice was as magnetic as usual, but that night, Summer found it extra pleasing to the ear.