The call went through, and it only rang twice before he picked it up.
Leonardo did not immediately speak, so Summer thought that he was waiting for her to speak.
Letting out a sigh, she did so. “Leonardo, let’s meet up and talk.”
“I’m busy.” His reply sounded removed.
“As busy as you are, you still gotta eat, right? Let’s talk over dinner.” Summer told herself that Leonardo was a patient. She tried to compromise and give out concessions right then. Once he recovered, he could return the favor.
“I don’t discuss things over dinner.” Leonardo was not only uncooperative but arrogant.
Summer bit her lip and hung up on him. She then tried to calm down with her arms akimbo.
On the other end, Leonardo’s mobile phone returned to the home screen. How dare the woman hang up on him? He hissed. Did she not love him and wish to marry him again? How dare she hang up on him!
Had his attitude toward her been too mild that she continued to push her luck?
Leonardo threw his mobile phone to one side, his face frosty.
…
Inside a hotpot restaurant…
Summer and Jessica sat face to face with a few dozen bottles of beer in front of them.
Summer put away an empty bottle and picked up another to pour herself another glass.
She filled it to the brim and then gulped it all down.
Seeing that, Jessica quickly stood up and stopped her. “Summer, I called you out to eat hotpot and drink some beer, not to get smashed.”
Summer continued to grip her glass and down the beer.
Knowing that there was no way to stop her, Jessica gave up.
Jessica sat back down and looked at Summer sulkily. “Fine. If you really feel that miserable now, I won’t stop you. I’ll send you home if you get drunk. After all, I’m expecting to start work again tomorrow, and it’ll be a few months before I can get back out.”
She asked Summer out today for hotpot and beer because the shooting of her new drama series was about to start. She would have to follow the production team to some very remote locations in the countryside for the shooting.
It would take a few months, so she thought that she would see Summer and have dinner with her before she went.
“Where are you going this time?” Summer asked.
Jessica’s eyes brightened up when she spoke of filming. “The mountainside of the western region. It’s going to take a few months. The pay is so-so, but the script is awesome. I like it in particular. Shooting will take place in the mountains, so I expect there not to be takeaway meals. Who knows, I’ll have to eat tree bark to survive then?”
She guffawed, obviously just cracking a joke.
Nevertheless, since it was going to be in the mountains of the western region, no one expected things to be easy.
Summer laughed along with her, then spoke matter-of-factly. “If you can’t get takeaway meals, call me. I’ll visit you and bring whatever stuff you lack there.” She then raised her hand and clinked glasses with Jessica. “Wishing you all the best!” Jessica took a swig as well.
Soon after, Jessica looked at her with a frowned. She looked down at her glass and took a sip before she placed it back on the table.
It looked like Summer was getting drunk.
Jessica had tried her best to stop her from drinking more, but Summer just nodded her head and pretended to cooperate. “One last glass.”
While Jessica helped herself to the hotpot, Summer drank directly from the bottle.
Both Jessica and Summer were pretty. People had been staring at them nonstop from the time they sat down. It did not help that Summer was drinking like there was no tomorrow.
Jessica buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.
Due to the insane way she drank, Summer got drunk quickly although it was just beer. In the end, Jessica realized that Summer was not going to listen to her, so she let her be. She just wanted to fill her face and then carry Summer back home once she got hammered.
By the time Jessica had her fill, Summer was plastered. She was lying on the table with a bottle of beer still in her hand.
“Summer?” Jessica patted Summer on the shoulder, trying to wake her up.
A person’s reaction would become slow under the influence of alcohol. Summer looked up at Jessica, and her eyes were almost unfocused. “Mhm?”
She was just one step away from a total blackout.
Jessica signaled the waitstaff, paid, and held Summer up before heading to the door.
Summer was slim but not short; Jessica was struggling to keep Summer upright.
Thanks to her manager who had urged her to train her physique, she had some strength to move her drunk friend.
When they arrived at the exit, a group was coming in from the outside.
Jessica consciously gave way, but she had no control over Summer, who mumbled Leonardo’s name and waved her hand, hitting the face of one of the men in the group. The blow was particularly loud.
Jessica was startled but quickly came to her senses and apologized on Summer’s behalf. “I’m sorry. My friend’s drunk. She didn’t mean it.”
“What are the police for if an apology works? Can’t you two watch your step, young ladies? You…” The man foamed at the mouth with the same old rhetoric.
Jessica would have never swallowed the insult, but because of Summer’s state and the group’s big number, she could only grin and bear it, apologizing with a smile.
Most people would have just gotten over it and moved on, but the man kept creating a fuss.
Jessica bit her lip and tried very hard to keep her cool. “I’m sorry, sir. My friend’s had one too many, and she accidentally hit you. If she’s done you any harm, we’re willing to cooperate and compensate you, sir.”
“Cooperate?” The man’s eyes darted around Jessica’s face meaningfully.
After spending years in the entertainment industry, Jessica had seen enough of society’s dark side.
“Sir, how can we compensate you?” She fought back her temper.
Fortunately, she did not put on any makeup but wore casual clothes today. That made her look different from when she was on screen. Those who did not know her well would have a hard time recognizing her.
“Since you two are having dinner here, why leave so early? I’ll forget about today if you accompany us for dinner tonight. Don’t say that we’re bullying you two women.”
Jessica looked at the man, and her lips curled up into a faint smile. Was he treating them as bargirls? One would always bump into trash in this world.
“If that’s the case, we’ll have to let the police deal with it.” While Jessica spoke, she took out her mobile phone.