May 23rd, Friday.
By the time Natalia woke up, sunlight was already shining through her thin linen curtains. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes adjusting to the light, then lifted the sheets above her head again.
It was still too bright to sleep in, much to her dismay. Groaning, Natalia kicked the blankets off her body and let them fall onto the floor. She dragged herself off the bed, rubbing her face. Her closed eyes and groggy walking resulted in her crashing into the wardrobe.
What a wonderful way to start the day.
The shock of her run-in woke Natalia up entirely, which was really the only good thing about it. Looking at herself, she realized she had gone to sleep in her work clothes. This didn't really surprise her, but it did rather suddenly remind Natalia of the great day she had had yesterday. She had slept through the morning and all the way to 12'o clock, according to the watch still clasped around her wrist. Undoing the latch of the timepiece, she decided it would be best to take a shower and think of activities to fill her nearly-empty daily agenda.
One uncomfortably lukewarm shower later, Natalia emerged from the washroom with her dripping wet hair wrapped in a towel; her body clothed with a bathrobe. She briefly wondered if she should change into actual clothing, but decided to wait until she needed to dress for her meet-up with Elizabeta and her friends. The thought of it made her mouth go dry. Why had she agreed to go out with them? Social activity was in no way Natalia's strong suit. At the moment 'Girl's Night Out' (as Elizabeta had put it) sounded more like a daunting quest than an entertaining romp downtown. Natalia cursed her spur-of-the-moment agreement.
Backing out wasn't an option for her. If she ever canceled any rendezvous between the two, Elizabeta would show up at her apartment and drag her out kicking and screaming. Unfortunately, Natalia had learned this the hard way back in college. If it weren't for the fact that Elizabeta was a decent person determination aside, Natalia would have ended their acquaintanceship long ago. Still, she wasn't sure what to wear. The last time she had worn anything close to a formal, non-work related dress was back when her sister got married, and even then Iryna had chosen it for her.
Plopping herself down on the couch, Natalia mulled over her limited clothing choices. She didn't really keep up with trends in the fashion world, and the outfits she bought were usually work clothes. Sighing, she decided that she'd check her closet when and if she ever bothered to get dressed. Natalia stared up at the light grey ceiling; every so often she could hear the people who lived in the flat above her's walk around. It was a nuisance. Something reflecting light caught her eye, and she realized that the glass and plate from last night were still lying on the coffee table. Natalia stared at the dishes, part of her hoping that if she glared at them enough, they would float up and clean themselves. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.
She begrudgingly got off the sofa, picking the dishes up and taking them over to the sink. As she scrubbed the crumbs off the plate, Natalia couldn't help but ponder over how boring her days were. She remembered what had entered her mind right before she had fallen asleep; how secluded she was from everyone else. Sometimes, she went out of her way to push other people out of her bubble and unwarrantably insult them or irk them. It was all entertaining to Natalia, but at the end of the day it resulted in her only needing one hand to count the amount of friends she had. But that was fine, wasn't it? There wasn't a rule of life to befriend as many people as possible, or any at all. Really, Natalia was exceeding the universe's expectations.
She dried the plate and put it on the countertop and turned to check the digital clock on the microwave, and saw that a little more than an hour had past. Without work, Natalia had nothing more to do besides household chores and dusting everything up, and set to do exactly that.
The carpet had been vacuumed, the windows wiped and the bed made by the time the blonde woman checked the clock again and saw that it was forty minutes to six. Natalia had to face her challenge and dress up.
However, upon opening the wardrobe and looking closer, she saw that she really only had one dress suitable for Elizabeta's bar. It was sleeveless and skin tight and went down to her mid-thighs. The color scheme was simple: dark blue with a horizontal hourglass shape in the middle. Natalia couldn't remember where she bought it, but it didn't matter. It was good enough for her.
She changed into the dress and brushed her hair out; after a few attempts of applying makeup with panda-like results, Natalia washed her face clean. It would be fine to go makeupless. After giving herself one last scowl in the mirror, she left her apartment.
Another uneventful taxi ride later, she arrived at the Power Bar. It had an awful name, now that she thought about it. It was underground with some wide cement stairs leading down to the nightclub and a few people milling outside. The white neon signs outside the bar lit up the sky and its setting sun, and Natalia found that it was not much darker in the actual building either. In fact, it was blindingly flashy.
The walls were black, but there seemed to be an infinite amount of strobe lights in the room, casting pink, blue and green around the room. Electronic pop music blared from speakers planted randomly around the room; a few people were dancing somewhat-drunkenly on a small LED dance floor in the center of the room, but mostly everyone was sitting at a booth. The club smelled like sweat and dust masked under a layer of air freshener. Natalia turned around and made to leave, but was suddenly intercepted by a familiar someone.
"Nata! You're late! Elizabeta and I were wondering where you were. Come on, we're sitting over here." Manon Clovis chirped, her hand gripping firmly onto Natalia's arm. The sight of her made Natalia jump a bit, after all, the 5'10" woman towered over the not-so tall Natalia. Manon led her to a large circle booth on the other side of the club, and walking through the commotion was something close to torture. They bumped into several dancers, and one particular table was being very noisy. A strawberry blonde man drinking there clamored onto the table and turned to his friends, raising a large glass of something above his head.
"Who wants to see Arthur drink all of this in a minute?" the man said, waving the glass around. The spirit spilled over the edges of the glass, leaving about a quarter of it left. His drinking buddies cheered loudly, and an oddly familiar scruffy, blond-haired man stood up and took it from him. Before Natalia could see what he did, Manon stopped at their booth. Natalia's brows furrowed when she saw who was there; it certainly wasn't all Elizabeta had said would be there.
Elizabeta was leaning against the table, an order slip in her hand as she chatted with Monique Lachance, the latter sitting on the booth seat with perfect posture. On her left was her cousin Francis Bonnefoy, staring at his own reflection on a polished teaspoon. Next to him was Elizabeta's on-again, off-again boyfriend Roderich with a peeved expression on his face as Francis rambled about himself.
"Natalia! You're late. You do know that the meeting time was six, right?" Elizabeta said, waving her over. Manon let go of her arm and moved past Roderich to sit next to Francis. Natalia responded with a half-hearted shrug.
"Traffic was shit, but that doesn't matter. Elizabeta, I thought you said it'd be a girl's night out," she said, gesturing to Francis and Roderich. Elizabeta shrugged innocently, taking out a black pen and uncapping it.
"They work with Manon, and they're not bad anyways. Besides, the more the merrier, yeah? Yeah." The brunette woman said before Natalia could disagree. "Now, what can I get you?"
"Chopin," Natalia ordered, "with coffee and milk. Add ice."
Elizabeta raised a perfectly penciled-in eyebrow at her. "You do know you just ordered a White Russian, right? Vodka, coffee and milk on the rocks. That's literally a White Russian."
"Fine. I want that." Natalia said, taking a seat at the booth next to Roderich. He had glanced up when she mentioned 'Chopin', but was now reading through a thick book placed on the table, paying attention to no one even as Elizabeta clicked her tongue for attention. The others turned to her.
"Right, so I've got a Cabernet Sauvignon for Francis, strawberry beer for Manon, hot water and lemon for Roddy, a White Russian for Natalia and Rosé d'Anjou for Monique. That's all, right?"
"Actually, Elizabeta, I'd like my water to be lukewarm instead of hot. Hot water may scald my mouth and result in unfavorable." Roderich said, sounding slightly stuffy as always. Elizabeta scribbled his request down.
"You got it. No other changes? Great, I'll be back with the drinks in a few." With that, Elizabeta left their booth. Natalia turned to Monique.
"Aren't you 20?" she asked, her ever-present frown becoming more pronounced. Monique let out a light laugh, as did Francis.
"Ma belle Natalie, I am Monegasque. Back home, I could have started drinking two years ago." Monique said, tucking a long strand of luxurious dirty blonde hair behind her ear, revealing a dangling diamond earring on a thin gold chain. "I am turning 21 in Janvier."
"Besides, Natalia, you certainly aren't a tattletale, are you?" her cousin said, leaning against the sofa back and putting his arm on top of the booth, directly above Manon. Francis used his other hand to smooth his red silk tie. Natalia's eyelid twitched. The two cousins were really too wealthy and flamboyant for their own good, and they didn't seem to have any problem with flashing it proudly. She decided not to answer, trying to look away from Monique's mink fur-trimmed coat dress and Francis' tailor-made designer jacket.
Manon smiled mischievously at Natalia who realized she had been idly staring at her. Natalia always found it curious how the curly haired woman's smile was always oddly cat-like.
"Nata, how's are you?" Manon asked, trying to start a conversation. The indigo-eyed
woman shrugged as she recalled the events of the previous day.
"Horrible," Natalia finally answered. "I'm essentially unemployed for the next week, and have no source of income. My phone broke yesterday, and so did my boss' coffee machine."
Roderich's head snapped up at the mention of his roommate, but winced and thumped his hand against his back before speaking. Natalia mused that anyone watching him would think that the black-haired man was a ninety-year old man in a 29 year old's body; he was so out of shape that sometimes she wondered if he wore a corset. It was the only explanation she could think of for how he looked so fit, yet was so incredibly out of shape. Finally, he set his hands down and cleared his throat.
"You broke Ludwig's coffee machine, Arlovskaya?" he asked, his dark blue eyes staring intensly at her.
"Yes." she said, waving her hand nonchalantly. "Don't you two share a flat? He would have told you."
"He didn't come home from work last night." Roderich said, his voice clipped. Francis joined in on their conversation with a rather irrelevant topic.
"My adorable little cousin and I share a flat. Well, actually it's a penthouse on Park Avenue. We have a excellent view of the city, especially on the south side because we have a ceiling to floor glass wall. It's very thick glass, so there's no safety worry. All the walls in my penthouse are very thick, so it's alright to be loud. Manon…" he said, winking at the woman. She gave him an endearing smile and opened her mouth, but Rodrich cleared his throat
"Thank you for your highly unnecessary comments, Bonnefoy." he said dryly. It was clear that Francis' intrusion had leached away any desire to continue his conversation with Natalia. Meanwhile, the Frenchman had taken to Manon's smile and had slid even closer to her, now talking enthusiastically about his lavish penthouse. Monique had returned to her normally poker-faced and regal looking self, no longer laughing with Francis. To Natalia's surprise, the young woman turned her attention to her. She reached across the table and tapped her finger for Natalia's attention. Monique's cornflower blue eyes focused on her through her circle glasses, her head slightly tilted in question.
"Natalia, you said that you broke your phone, yes?" Monique asked, her voice thoughtful. "Tomorrow, I do not have school."
Natalia frowned slightly as she tried to follow Monique's train of thought. She knew that Monique had moved to New York for university, but why that related to her phone was lost on her. Monique ignored her pondering and continued her steadfast talking.
"On my weekends I work at a boutique on Fifth Avenue, and there is a electronics store on that street. Tomorrow, I can take you with me to Fifth Avenue and you can get your new phone. Is that good?" she suggested, her hands folded on top of the table as if Monique were proposing a business contract. Natalia glared at her with somewhat hostile confusion, wondering why someone she wasn't very close too would want to help her.
"Why would it matter to you?" Natalia asked, her slightly raspy voice laced with suspicion. Monique gave her a fluid shrug.
"Well, it's convenient for me, so I am not taking much time off, and I am not heartless. I won't be paying for you, but I think you wouldn't want me to." Monique said. The platinum blonde woman glowered at Monique's accurate inference; she seemed to have a talent in reading people.
"I wouldn't need you to help me pay for it anyways. I have a contract." Natalia growled, before realizing how childish her words sounded and winced internally. "But fine, if you must insist."
Monique sighed, but seemed content with Natalia's answer. "I'll drive by your apartment tomorrow to pick you up early at ten in the morning."
"I'd much rather meet you there myself." Natalia said quickly. "I prefer privacy."
For the second time that night, Monique laughed. "Oh, dear Natalie. I already know where you live, so you would not need to give me your address. I will meet you there myself." Natalia decided not to argue with the other woman, and instead folded her arms and sighed. With anyone else she would have considered that dodgy, but it seemed Monique knew almost glanced around everyone else at the circular table.
Francis and Manon were still talking; Manon had turned the conversation away from Francis' flirting and into a serious discussion apparently proper enough for Roderich to join. Natalia wondered if it had to do with Manon's bistro, which would be the only topic she could see the three discussing together with actual thought. After all, Roderich and Francis both worked at the bistro.
"Have you heard from your brother yet, Miss Clovis? You two co-manage the restaurant and we can't wait on him forever." Roderich said. Manon shook her head and sighed, but her tone was optimistic as she spoke.
"He hasn't messaged me, but I'm sure he'll reply soon. Being a merchant is obviously exhausting, and Abel has to adjust back to living in the Netherlands, right? There's time zones and a new environment." Manon said, confident in her brother. Francis laughed dryly and ran his finger through his wavy blond hair, more for style than from stress.
"Ma cherie, your brother's been in the Netherlands for over two months. If he still had jet lag, he would be a medical revolution." he said, leaning over to her slightly and putting his hand over hers. Manon blinked a couple of times.
"He wouldn't do that, would he?" she asked, her cheerful tone faltering midway. Manon groaned and covered her face with her hands. "Yeah, he would. Dear lord, Abel is such merde."
Francis patted her hand sympathetically, and Roderich's gaze shifted from Manon to Natalia as he sat uncomfortably, not entirely sure what to do. Thankfully, something saved them in the nick of time.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! There was a pile up at the bar 'cause us staff had to clean up a mess at one of the booths. Apparently some man drank like, half a glass of whiskey and couldn't keep it in. Nothing spectacular, I think he was actually a weak drinker. But y'know, shit happens." Elizabeta said, setting down their ordered beverage in front of them as she prattled on. Natalia rolled her eyes.
"Right, this is going to make drinking all the more exciting, isn't it?" she groused, taking her White Russian from Elizabeta without a word of thanks. "Nothing's more fun than downing alcohol after a delicious description by Elizabeta Héderváry."
Elizabeta winked at her. "That's the spirit." she said, jesting at Natalia. The blonde woman hissed under her breath, then took a small sip of her drink. It was decent even if it did have more ice than liquid. Roderich took his warm water with lemon and tested the temperature with a pocket thermometer he apparently kept in his jacket's pocket. Francis stared at Roderich, looking a bit like he was trying not to spit out red wine onto his pristine white suit from laughter. Instead, he gulped it down and turned to Elizabeta.
"Merci, 'lisa. I will forever admire your persistence, but not your choice in men." he said, gesturing to Roderich with one hand and handing Elizabeta a one hundred dollar bill with the other. Elizabeta's green eyes widened, and she took the money with a grin on her face.
"Well, for ten grand, I'll choose you." Elizabeta quipped. Francis stared smugly up at her, arms now folded across his chest. Roderich looked rather put-off with the other man's flirting with his girlfriend, but Manon rolled her eyes in pretend-exasperation at their exchange. Natalia noted that more than half of Manon's beer had already been finished in the two minutes that Elizabeta had been at their table.
"Now, does anyone else have tips for your wonderfully gracious waitress? C'mon, I live off tips." Elizabeta said, spreading her arms wide. Monique passed her a thick stack of neatly-folded ten dollar bills wrapped in a satin ribbon. Manon, however, managed to put together a few dollar bills. Manon handed the bills to Elizabeta with an apologetic smile on her face.
"I'm sorry, Eliza, but you know I'm not exactly in the best of money times right now." she said. "I mean, my cat is going through surgery and now that my brother's gone, I have to pay rent myself. When he sends me money, I'll pay you back, promise!"
Elizabeta's mouth thinned at the mention of Manon's brother and refused her tip, passing it back to her. "Thanks, hon, but I'm not going to take a cent from you until your douche brother pays you. That's just not right."
Manon looked relieved but still guilty as she took her money back from Elizabeta and thanked her. Elizabeta turned to Natalia for tips, but she scooted away from her; the waitress left after that. Natalia swirled her drink in its glass as she contemplated Manon's words.
"I thought your brother's name was Henri." she said to Manon. There was little memory of Manon's personal life in Natalia's mind, but she did remember a few facts. The tall woman shook her head slowly, her short strawberry blonde curls moving fluidly with the motion.
"Henri's my baby brother. He's a sweetie, and he's still in Uni at Boston. I can't make him pay me—he's only 18! Abel is my older brother." Manon explained, drink in hand. She took a sip and continued. "He moved to Rotterdam a while back, and I haven't heard from him since. He promised he'd send me money and mail letters when ever he could. Maybe he's just busy."
"He's not. He's ignoring you." Natalia said curtly, slamming her glass onto the table. Manon stared at Natalia, grass green eyes wide with shock as she continued. "Trust me, it's happened with my siblings."
"They ignored you?" Manon asked in a hushed tone, leaning toward her across the table. Natalia grunted.
"No. I didn't bother to call or message much them after I moved to New York eight years ago, and the last time I saw either of them was at my sister's wedding three years back. Honestly, just give up on him answering you." she said dryly, picking up a straw and stirring it into her drink. Manon balked, but her voice remained firm as she answered.
"I'm sure he'll come around. He's busy, that's all." she said, trying to keep an optimistic smile on her face. Natalia shrugged.
"If you say so." She paused for a second, carefully considering her next words. "Good luck to you, though." What would have sounded cold and uncaring from anyone else was what Natalia considered "incredibly friendly."
Manon stared at Natalia, surprised, then at the strawberry beer in her hands and raised it to her lips, draining the contents of the glass and set it back down on the table before standing up suddenly. Everyone turned to her.
"Well, it's been a nice night with you all, but it's against my personal morals to drink to forget myself. If I stay here, I'm afraid I'll do just that, so I think I'll be heading home now." Manon said, matter-of-factly. Francis gave her a confused look.
"But you've been here for just a little more than an hour. You can't leave so early in the night." he said. Natalia could have sworn she saw his normally perfect hair wilt from sadness. Manon waved her hand dismissively.
"Maybe you won't but I think I'll be alright. Tell Elizabeta 'thanks' for me. Francis, Roderich, see you on Sunday at work!" she said, her chiffon chocolate-colored dress swishing around her knees as she walked past Roderich and Natalia and threw on a long cardigan. Natalia remembered the few crumpled bills Manon had had.
"Are you going to have enough for a taxi?" she asked, the slightest bit of concern in her voice. Manon laughed.
"Oh, I'm just going to run home. It's not a really cold night anyways." she said, completely serious. Roderich shook his head, doing his duty of preventing anyone from physical labor.
"Miss Clovis, you live on the other side of Manhattan. Any of us would be happy to pay a taxicab for you. Don't endanger yourself." Roderich said, his brows furrowing.
"I'll be fine, Roderich. Lord, you've all turned into a bunch of worry-warts haven't you? A jog will clear my head, and I have enough money for a short cab ride. If I get tired halfway, that'll be my backup plan. So don't worry about me. and good night!" Manon said loudly over the dance music before running off to the exit, pulling the heavy glass doors open, and rushing out. No one else in the club paid her any attention, but the others that had been at her table were all slightly miffed. Francis slumped against the sofa back.
"Francis, sit up straight." Monique said, thumping him on the back. He lurched up and Natalia rolled her eyes at the two. Even with the cousin's bickering in the background, she wondered what had gotten into Manon. Natalia couldn't think of anything that would have made her upset enough to leave. Maybe she was just overreacting; after all, if she really wanted her brother to message her, she would hunt him down herself. It's certainly what Natalia would do.
Musing about her siblings, she decided one thing: as soon as she got a new phone, she would call Ivan and then Iryna. She had been a reclusive younger sister for too long. Surely, her brother and sister would be overjoyed to talk to her again. It would be nice to catch up.
Natalia finished the rest of her drink as she imagined the conversation she would have, so lost in thought that she paid no attention to anyone else at the table until Elizabeta came to the booth.
"Hey, my shift just ended, so I can spend the rest of my night with you guys." she said excitedly, before frowning. "Wait, where's Manon gone too? Bathroom? She's not dancing again, is she?"
"No." Francis said morosely. "She left because someone made her upset." Natalia saw that he was staring somewhat frustratedly at her. Clearly he blamed her.
"It's not my fault. Maybe she didn't like your face or something." Natalia drawled, setting down her glass. He huffed and crossed his arms.
"She became upset after you started talking about how Abel wasn't writing her back and brushed it off. You weren't sympathetic at all. Tu n'êtes pas douce, Natalia." he said, sounding annoyingly aloof.
"Okay, you already know I can't speak French. Now you're just being a pretentious bitch, Francis." Natalia said dryly. "God, just leave me out of this. She didn't stay for you, okay? Get over it."
Francis scoffed, clearly not very affected by her scathing remarks. "My Natalia, I never mentioned me. I truly do care for her feelings; I was saying that you drove her away with your poor attitude. It's not hard to see why."
Natalia rolled her eyes. She could sense Roderich's wariness and Monique's eyes upon both of them as they argued.
"Maybe your personality isn't the peachiest either, Mr. 'I'm-not-even-from-France.'" she spat. It was a huge insult to the Massachusetts native, who was always proud of his French heritage and had studied for years to perfect his French. He stared wide eyed at her, choking from anger. Elizabeta quickly intervened, leaning against the table and covering both of their mouths. Natalia tried to pry the tan woman's hand off of her mouth, but Elizabeta was too strong.
"Alright, you two, stop bickering! Manon may have left early, but the rest of us are going to enjoy the night if it kills us. Let's all get a round of drinks. Beer? Let's get beer. We need beer." she said, her expression cheerful; her tone threatening. Natalia furrowed her brows and frowned up at Elizabeta as she removed her hand. She opened her mouth to complain.
"Can't I just l—"
"Leave? No, you can't leave. I already ordered beer. Look, beer! I can't drink this all by myself, guys. You've all got to stay and help me finish it off." Elizabeta snapped, snatching a tray of spirit from a passing waiter. She was still wearing her uniform (a white blouse and black vest with a logo), so they didn't question her. Roderich raised his hand formally and spoke.
"Elizabeta, I think you're a bit anxious. Don't force them to drink." The bespectacled man said this even as he reached to take a glass. His girlfriend bristled for a second, before sighing.
"I just want everyone to enjoy themselves. You know how it is, right, darling?" Elizabeta said to Roderich. She had a puppy-dog look in her emerald colored eyes as she spoke to him. Monique cleared her throat.
"I'm enjoying myself, Elizabeta, and my cousin did too. He's simply upset over the leave of his cherie. Drinking will help him." Monique said. The youngest woman slid a beer over to Francis, who pouted and slid away from it.
"I only like red wine." he grumbled, sticking his nose up. The usually genteel man was still cross from his earlier argument. Natalia growled. He truly was one of the most irritating men on the planet.
"Is it because you're a whiney fu—"
Her grousing was once again interrupted by Elizabeta who slapped her hand over her mouth again. Natalia jerked back, coughing. Elizabeta gave her a meaningful look before turning to the others. Francis had apparently decided not to react to Natalia's insult.
"Monique, I'm very glad you're having fun. Roderich, you too. Now, why don't we all just enjoy ourselves and relax?" Elizabeta said, gesturing with her free hand at the drinks. Natalia leaned against the seat back with the other woman's hand still clasped over her mouth.
As far as she was concerned, Natalia was done drinking for the night.
May 24th, Saturday.
At two AM the next day, the dance floor's lights were turned off as the Power bar prepared to close up for the morning. The people who still remained all groaned in disappointment as they were given a thirty minute warning to leave, some of them intoxicated. As everyone started to slowly exit one by one, Natalia woke up.
She had fallen asleep around 11 PM while Elizabeta, Francis and Roderich were dancing. Monique had drifted away from the table to talk to a small group of young men around her age at around the same time; she had returned while Natalia was asleep though and was now sitting next to her. The blue eyed girl was still awake and sitting with perfect posture. Monique started talking in a hush tone when she saw that Natalia was no longer asleep.
"Salut, Natalie. Did you sleep well?" Monique asked courteously. Natalia shook her head and yawned.
"Well, I've had better nights." Natalia muttered, combing her tangled hair with her fingers. "It's time to leave, isn't it?"
Monique watched as Natalia pushed a sleeping Francis off of her and stood up, her purse clutched tightly to her chest as if someone would run up to her and take it. It wasn't until the indigo lady was about to walk to the door to leave that Monique spoke again.
"Natalie, don't forget you're coming with me to the Fifth Avenue at ten o'clock." she reminded.
"I haven't forgotten." Natalia said, not having turned around when the other woman spoke.
"Well, until then." Monique said as Natalia walked away. She didn't answer, but Monique couldn't tell if it was because Natalia hadn't heard her, or if she simply couldn't be bothered to. Either way, she wouldn't be surprised.
Hello again, readers! This chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but guess who you're meeting in the next one?
A big "Thank You" to everyone who favorited. followed or reviewed for Chapter One. Continue to do so, please! ;D
Much love to my beta editors, Lux and Noël.
-Bubble
P.S.: Don't do what Monique does, kids. Drink only when you're legally allowed to.