"Waiter, 'nother beer 'ere please!" Tala Valkov's drunken voice rang through the now empty bar. I sat next to him on a bar stool, shaking my head and sighing loudly. The bartender shook her head as well, grabbing another tall bottle of beer from below the counter. The red-head grabbed it as soon as the glass hit the table and downed a quarter of it.
"I'm surprised you're still here with him," said the bartender. She set a glass of water down in front of me. I gave a tired smile and felt the cold water through the glass. My fingers ran through my dark brown hair. The bartender stared into my exhausted hazel eyes, almost demanding an answer.
"I'm surprised, too," I replied, tipping some of the cool liquid into my mouth. "Every Saturday night, when we're supposed to go on a PROPER date, where does he take me? 'There's this awesome new bar…' or 'a friend of mine said this beer…'. Hell, I'm surprised I've tolerated him for three years!" I said. Anger rushed through me, but I contained it easily. Being a lawyer apparently had its advantages.
"How old were you when you first got together?" asked the bartender. She finished cleaning some glasses with an old rag.
"21. Well, he was 22. He never drank so much back then," I yawned. Tala had just downed the rest of his beer, making it bottle number 8. He flashed a drunken grin at me. "because he was never able to hold his alcohol."
"Well, not all of us can. And you might want to take your boyfriend home. I think he's about to pass out," the girl said blandly. I nodded, slapped down a fifty and heaved up Tala by his arm. He waved bye-bye to the bartender as I dragged him out and shoved him into the passenger seat.
"I love you! Will you marry me! I really do love you!" Tala's slurred voice reached my ears, and I rolled my eyes.
"Tell that to me when you're not drunk," I muttered, slamming the car door.
It was perfectly silent as I drove; Tala's soft snoring served as the music. When I reached the house that he shared with a bunch of other guys that go to university with him, I wasn't surprised to see two people waiting outside: A blue-haired kid and his friend that was a clear foot taller than him. Tala's housemates walked over to the car.
"Morning Jazi. How many?" was all the blue-haired student said. Kai leaned on my open window and waited for my answer. The tall kid, Spencer, heaved Tala over his shoulder like a sack and was walking back to the house. I got out of the car and leaned against the door.
"8. 8 beers and a shot of vodka and gin mixed," I said, sighing. I ran a hand down my face. "Is studying that hard for him? Or does he just do this for fun?" Kai leaned on my car beside me, shrugging.
"He has no problems studying." Kai turned his eyes to the moonless, star filled night above us. I groaned.
"I honestly wished sometimes that I could turn back time and… and see the old Tala again. When he only drank a sip of wine each week, MAXIMUM," I whined.
"People change-"
"I'm aware of that!" I said angrily. My bad mood was winning over my calm mood. "But they don't change so much that every single week they take their girlfriend out to get drunk!" The angry mood would now be kept company by the crying mood. Tears slowly welled up in my eyes. "He said he loved me when I was getting him into the car. He doesn't know how much it hurts! He says all this stuff when he's drunk, but he never says anything like that when he's conscious! And every Sunday, he calls me apologizing for the night before!"
I stood there, crying for the longest time. I remembered something while I did, too. I was 6 or 7 years old, living with my mom. She had a drunk boyfriend, too. But he turned abusive. Then mom turned abusive, and that's how I got to live with my grandmother until she died a few years back.
What concerned me most about that memory was the violence. Would Tala turn violent on me as well? 'If he can concentrate enough to put together a proper sentence while drunk, then probably,' I thought bitterly. I dragged my fingers through my hair, pulling my dark hair out of my face.
"What will you do then?" Kai asked, facing me. I shrugged and opened the car door. "I've heard that alcohol can make people loosen up and expose what's hidden beneath."
Suddenly, our conversation was interrupted when some kid that lived next door started talking loudly. They were walking past where Kai and I were when I heard the heart-breaking words. "I love you! I really do! Please, marry me and stay by my side forever!" The man's words were slurred, filled with alcohol. His girlfriend, who looked like she was about to cry, nodded enthusiastically.
"I also heard that alcohol makes people say stupid things," I said, walking over to the woman. She was still in shock at the proposal, and stared at her 'fiancé'. I tapped her on the shoulder. "Ask him if he remembers what he asked you tonight tomorrow morning. If he doesn't, he's a fool." The woman's expression drooped into a sad smile, realizing that what I said was true.
I left the house that Tala and all his friends lived in and headed home to my condo. When I arrived home, my temporary roommate Julia was already sleeping. She was staying for the night because she had a job interview around here in the morning.
The Sunday sun blazed through my window a few hours later. I was sitting on my couch, feeling the warmth of the mug of coffee in my hands when Tala came in, using my spare key to unlock the door. In his left hand was a small bouquet of red carnations. Is that his apology?
"Hey, baby. G'morning," Tala greeted, giving me a peck on the cheek. I inched away from him. He sat down next to me. "Jazi, what's wrong?"
"Nothing at all. Other than the fact that you got drunk again last night." I sipped my coffe and set it down on the table. My feet carried me to the kitchen. "Seriously Tala, I'm sick of doing this every single week."
"Oh," he picked up the flowers and made his way over to me, "about that, I'm really so-"
"I don't want to hear it." Tala stared at me, confused.
"What?"
"I said, I. Don't. Want. To. Hear. It," I turned around and faced him. Tala being 6'1" and I being 5'5", he was, most of the time, not afraid of me. This time, he was. "Every week is the same. We go to a bar, you get drunk and fool around, and I have to lug you back home where Kai and someone else is waiting outside to take you back in! Then during the weekdays you say you're too busy to hang out because of school, yet you have no problems studying!"
"Jazi, I—"
"On top of that, you say things that really hurt when you're drunk! I hate it!" I cried. "Why the hell do you keep on avoiding me? Is what you see in front of you not good enough?"
"It's not that you're not good enough, you're great as a person…" It was silent for a minute, then Tala finally spoke. But they weren't the words I wanted to hear. "There's this girl… in my class, and she's—"
"Get out." It was silent again.
"Jazi, listen to me."
"Get out!" I said more forcefully. Tala stood there, pleading me with his bright blue eyes to give him a chance to explain. He turned on his heels after a minute, heading for the door. "Leave the key," I ordered. I closed my eyes and heard the sound of metal and glass making contact, and the slam of the door. The strength in my legs dismissed themselves, and I slid to the floor, wondering why the hell he had to become such a drunkard.
A week and a few days passed, and I went on with my life as usual. Well, almost usual. I kept on getting this urge to pick up the phone and call someone – mainly Tala. Now, I sat in front of my computer, looking through the information that I needed for my next court case. I leaned back in my chair, staring that the text in front of me. Some man's car was hit from behind by a teenage boy and his girlfriend, and the alcohol tests for the boy gave a positive, so this would be an easy case.
"Lacur! I'm going out to buy my lunch!" I said on my way out. Lacur's hand waved at me from behind his desk, and the sound of keys clicking sounded through the air. I just got to my car when I heard my name.
"Jazi! JAZI!" A whip of brown hair and I turned to face Mariah, clad in pink, and Julia, clad in red. I unlocked the door of my Mercedes-Benz C360 and unlocked the doors for the two of them. They hopped into the car after me.
"You caught me at a good time, didn't you?" I joked. I drove to a nearby café and parked the car. "So, what's up this time?" We were led to a table and sat down.
"Spill it."
"I'm sorry?" I asked, shocked at Mariah's demand. "Spill what?"
Why you broke up with Tala!" she exclaimed. She sipped her Pepsi. "I heard from Ray. I think Spencer told him."
"So the big guy knows how to speak proper Japanese," I said sourly. "I couldn't stand it. Drinking, and seeing a girl behind my back? I don't know what you think, but to me, it's unacceptable." I bit into my toasted sandwich and chewed thoroughly.
"You do know that the girl that he's… 'seeing' is actually a girl that he's tutoring for $15 an hour everyday." Julia said. She stabbed at her salad, waiting for my answer. I didn't even flinch.
"Even so, does that mean he has to get drunk every Saturday?" I asked. Well, it sounded like I was asking myself more than those two. "The man I fell in love with… he wouldn't say words of love unless he was sober. He wouldn't hurt me like this."
"Aren't you being a little harsh on him?" Julia questioned. "Medical is a hard subject, and even though he's doing well, I'm sure he's struggling in some areas."
"Drinking and medical. What complete irony," Mariah commented. "Anyways, some of us were planning on going on a girls' night out or something. Want to come?"
"Who and where?" I asked, out of habit. Julia smiled.
"Mariem's in town next weekend. We're planning on going to that soba house that she loves so much. You know, the one where they give you the noodles and stuff and you cook it? Oh crap, I can't remember the street…"
"The one on Kyou Avenue, right?" I say, handing a fifty to the waitress as she came by with our bill. "Sure, I haven't been there in ages. Maybe you guys want to crash at my place afterwards?"
"Sounds good." We got up to leave, and I started towards my car. "Did you guys need a ride to the station or something?"
"No, you have work, so we'll walk," Julia said. I waved good bye and drove back to the office.
The night of Mariem's arrival, I prepared myself in my room. I had worked extra hard on the cases I was assigned, which influenced Lacur into giving me the rest of the day and weekend off. I stood in front of the mirror and carefully applied mascara to my eyelashes, accenting my hazel eyes sharply. I was wearing a pair of comfortable jeans and three layers of tank tops: white, beige and brown, each one smaller than the last.
I slipped a silver band onto my right middle finger and a two-ring puzzle ring onto my left index finger. My feet were slipping themselves into a pair of casual sneakers when my cell rang. Loz's ring tone from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children rang from my cell phone, over and over again until I flipped it open.
"Kinyame speaking," I said in my professional tone. I could hear Mariah tutting me at the other end of the line.
"Work's over, and you're still ready to work. I can't believe you," she complained.
"Well, you never know if there may be a change of detail in a case," I protested, grabbing my purse. I locked the door and started down the stairs from the fourth floor. "So what is it? I'm starting to walk over now."
"Nothing. Just thought to let you know that it's been changed to a friends' night out. Meaning Max, Ray and Kai decided to follow. We'll be at the restaurant in five, so we'll wait for you there, okay?"
"Fine with me." I started the 20-minute trek to the assigned place, which required no subways or trains from my place. The vendor that sold yakitori chicken was crowded with people a little bit away form the condo's security gate.
I soon reached the more high-end part of town, and found the restaurant easily. But as I walked in, I nearly vomited with disgust. Tala came staggering through the open double doors with a bouquet of white roses in his hand. Behind him Max and Ray were running towards us.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, shifting my weight to my left foot. Tala stood a few inches before me, a drunken look in his eyes.
"I … I… love you," he slurred out. As he drew closer, he held out the roses to me. But this smell… it wasn't the roses, it was something else… "I… honestly love you… Will… will you…"
Oh God, not again. I can't bear it. Having to listen to that stupid phrase again. I hate it. I tried to force my hands over my ears, but with no avail. "Will you marry me?" I felt tears fighting their way out, but I fought them back.
"I thought I told you to say that when you're sober." I spun around and ran before he could react. As I crossed the street, a blue convertible screeched to a stop just before hitting me. I slammed my hands on the hood for support, and found myself looking into piercing brown eyes.
"Next time, I think I'll purposely run you over just to teach you a lesson: look before crossing." I didn't care if Kai was joking or not, I only knew that I had to get out of here before he decided to be sober enough to chase after me.
I walked around the hood off the car and invited myself in, plopping myself into the leather seat. "Could you take me home or something? I can't stay here," I said. The light turns red, so we stay still.
"What happened?" he asked, on hand on the wheel, the other on the shift stick.
"He showed up in my face in the restaurant, drunk again!" I cried angrily. I refuse to cry, I refuse to cry, I refuse to cry…
"Tala? Drunk? But he—"
"Outty bouty for you." Before I could even register what happened, Tala came out of nowhere next to Kai's door and pulled him out, replacing himself in the driver's seat.
All in time for the green light.
Great, now I'm in a car with a drunken idiot. First thing he did was floor it, and I was throw back into my seat as he drove onto the partially empty highway. But there was only one problem.
He was driving in the wrong side of the highway.
"Tala, what in the world are you doing?" I demand. His slouching form and silly grin-plastered face doesn't seem good. His body wavers over to my side of the car, his full attention on me.
"Will you marry me?" Still drunk, but something was different… I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest, watching as the cars swerved out of the way for us. "Well, if you don't," he brought his face dangerously close to mine, "I won't let you out of the car."
"Tala, you drunk. You are in no condition whatsoever to threaten me at the moment." In the rear-view mirror, I see two cop cars chasing us. Tala makes a sharp turn to the right, and I cry out and cling onto his arm. His slurred laugh only annoys me more. Up ahead I see a barricade of police cars and plastic barrels of water. "Tala, please tell me you're sober enough to know where the BRAKES are!"
"Marry me todayyyyyyy!" he sang as we crashed into the barrels; water splashed over us. Kai's beloved car suffered quite a bit, but the most damage done to me was a gash in my arm and side. Medics rushed to me and helped me out while police officers lunged at Tala, who had a scratch on his arm.
My arm and side were finished being taken care of when they finally got the red-head to settle down. "Okay sonny, let's see how drunk you are." And they held the breathalyzer device to his lips, and Tala exhaled. The device beeped and the chief officer read the numbers. "0.0?" He gave the breathalyzer a good whack and had him exhale once more. Another beep. "0.0? This thing must be broken."
"Actually, it's because I haven't had a sip of alcohol in weeks." Everyone stared at the suddenly sober Tala. "So yeah, your device isn't broken. I'm just sober."
"Wait a minute," I started, stalking up to him. "You mean to tell me that you were driving sober this ENTIRE TIME!"
"Not just when driving," he said softly. Restaurant. I remember now. Why Tala smelled so different; it was because he didn't have any alcohol before. He stepped closer and carefully raised his hand to my wet cheek. "Everything I said back there. I meant all of it," He caressed my cheek with his thumb. "I love you."
I stood there silent, hardly noticing the police backing off a bit to give us some privacy. "And the ma…" I stopped short. I was afraid to say it. Afraid that Tala had brain damage from the alcohol during the days we dated and that was what made him say it.
"I meant everything," he said honestly. Then, from his pocket, he produced a ring with a brilliant blue diamond snuggled happily between the teeth of two smooth outlines of two wolves. Tala slowly got down on one knee and held out my left hand in front of him.
"Jazi. I'm truly sorry for how much I hurt you back then. I guess… if I had emotional problems, I shouldn't have turned into a drunken version of an emo." I laughed a bit at that. "But from now on, I promise to share my problems rather than drink them away.
"Jazi Kinyame, will you do me the honor and marry me?" There was absolute silence for a minute. Then, I gently guided my hand under his, giving it a small squeeze, a small 'yes' slipping through my lips. Tala smiled, and he stood up again, slipping the ring onto my fourth finger.
The first brush of his lips against mine was pure bliss. Then he pressed them firmly against my lips, and I found my hands tangling themselves in his soaked locks of red.
"Ahem."
We slowly pulled apart to face the chief officer. Tala held onto my left hand as the officer strode towards us. "Sorry, but we're gong have to arrest your fiancé for dangerous driving." I smiled at the officer. Then at Tala.
"Well, looks like I'll be defending you two weeks from Monday."
There's a differenceBetween the one who drinks
And the one who is drunken
The drunken have gone beyond their limit
I just made the street name up, so I'm not sure if there actually is such thing as a Kyou Avenue.
Author's Note: WindTori here! Sorry I haven't updated any of my fanfics in so long, but school and tennis lessons are keeping me pretty busy, and you could say that I'm suffering a minor writer's block. However, a few friends of mine have sparked my mind again, so right now I'm working on The World Versus Me, my Crystal Chronicles fic, because I'm having a hard time getting my idea out on paper for Blind to Life, the Beyblade fic. Hoping to get my C.C. chapter up by the end of the week.
See ya!
WindTori