CHAPTER 43
SUNSET AT MONSOON (part 2)
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After they consumed their tequila shots, to warm up, Jason and Mandy proceeded to talk to their friends with their glasses of whiskey in hand. They didn't want to embarrass themselves, but they wouldn't be able to have fun being too sober either. Sonny noticed Jason a bit more playful and immediately pulled him to the side to talk to him about his Isis friend, with whom he was having some sort of issue, and Mandy pulled Lisa to talk to her about his hot guy, who was talking to some other Navy officers. Lisa was telling her all about how they were 'just friends', when she stopped talking because she saw Natalie making her way to Jason and Sonny.
"Oh I don't like her" Lisa said, knowing how much Mandy didn't like her either, so they could dislike her in unison. "What the hell is she wearing?"
Mandy didn't even notice that, but she really was trying too hard. Dressed with a weird sober cocktail dress with big cleavage, in a dark color, with too much makeup, as if she was in DC at a party at midnight. Way too overdressed. Natalie greeted Sonny effusively, then grabbed Jason's arm while he just nodded at her, and kept her hand on his arm while coming closer to Sonny and laughing at his jokes. Jason didn't see Mandy and Lisa looking at him, but he took a small step back and seemed to be searching for Mandy. Natalie finally let go of Jason's arm and focused her attention on Sonny.
"Oh God" Mandy muttered, when she saw Natalie throwing her bait at Sonny, and he was taking it. She really was obsessed with frogmen. Although she kept glancing at Jason, who finally found Mandy and Lisa and walked to them, holding his glass of whiskey really close, and staying away from Natalie. Mandy muttered "He's so adorable", because he looked like a big golden retriever searching for the owner in a dog park.
"Why the hell did you come here?" Lisa immediately told Jason, who now seemed completely lost at the dog park.
"I thought you'd want me to stay away from her" he explained, looking at Mandy.
"Well, you did leave Sonny unattended with her" Mandy agreed with Lisa, calmly.
Jason was indignant. "Ok I give up. I'll never understand you women. I'm out" he said, almost jogging to Blackburn, getting away from women in general.
Lisa kept looking kinda obsessed to Sonny and Natalie, and Mandy knew she wouldn't convince her to stop, so she told her they should at least go to the food table and grab something to eat. The girls passed by the weird couple and the food looked delicious, a lot of sea food, small plates, oisters, and fingerfoods. They ate some stuff and made their way back to the bar, so Lisa could glance angrily at Sonny, who pretended to not see her. Mandy didn't even look at Natalie. Then when the sunset was starting to have amazing colors of pink, orange and purple, Mr. Henryson got up on the small stage for his announcement, calling everyone's attention. Mandy and Lisa were excited and tried to get closer, when Jason appeared next to Mandy and the three of them went closer to the stage, to see him better.
"Hi everyone. Hi. Hello. Thank you all for coming. I'm really excited of how many of you could make it here this evening. I know it was very short notice, but the best things in life usually happen all of a sudden, right? Anyways. This month, actually this past Friday, my late husband Thomas and I would be celebrating our 45th anniversary" he had tears in his eyes, and Mandy put a hand on her heart while Jason wrapped his arm around her. "As all of you probably know by now, he was one of the victims of the horrible, horrible 9/11 attacks. He was a stock broker, but that day he was actually in his attorney's office filling paperwork for some taxes I forgot to pay" he said, a bit like an irony, but everyone noticed he was still a bit angry at himself. He sighed, to recompose. "Well, since the attacks, most of you also know that I have always embraced the Armed Forces and NGOs that aided people in war zones, and that's why pretty much everyone here are related, in some way, to war. For good or bad."
Mandy turned to look at Jason, they thought he had an amazing way with words.
Mr. Henryson seemed a bit nervous, but he smiled and continued. "What almost none of you know, however, is the reason why I was always so supportive of the Military. The thing is, it's not just because of what happened when Thomas died, or how he died, but it's mostly about how he lived." He stopped for a second, and they could only hear the sound of waves, in a distance.
"Thomas, how could I put this, was always involved with the Military, in a way that I can neither confirm nor deny", he smirked, and looked at Mandy. She gasped, and Jason squeezed her shoulder. "And he usually couldn't, but sometimes he let me know, without sharing anything specific" he then glanced at some Navy officers that were obviously his friends, and they chuckled, "how much we owed to the Armed Forces, especially the Navy, where he had made some great… friends". Everyone laughed, amazed, because they knew exactly what he was talking about.
Mr. Henryson sighed again. "Well, like I said, this is an occasion of remembrance. As you know well, my life wasn't easy since 9/11, but it became just miserable a couple of years after that, when my beloved daughter Monica lost her life" he swallowed, and almost everyone did the same. "But I needed to keep going, because I knew they'd never forgive me if I just gave up. So I worked like crazy, but at least doing what I loved, and named this restaurant Monsoon also in her honor. I don't have any family of blood left, but apparently I still have a huge family at heart" he gestured to the hundred people there, "and with the remembrance of my anniversary with Thomas, in a restaurant named in honor of Monica, I'd like to let you know that, a couple of months ago, I decided to sell my restaurant in DC, and open a foundation with that money. The foundation will aim to assist war veterans, and I'm having a wide research being made with them to understand in which areas they would need assistance the most, but it will all be decided in the next months. So now you guys know, that my restaurant in DC will be open until the end of summer, at most, then I'll get to focus in managing this place and the foundation. So it is an evening of remembrance and celebration of what's to come. Please enjoy the party, it is in your honor, after all, and to my loves, Thomas and Monica" Mr. Henryson finished, joyfully raising his glass to Jason, the other guys of the team near him, and the officers he knew. Everyone applauded and the band immediately started playing some cheerful music from the 2000's and 2010's, which was basically perfect for the age of the guests.
Jason embraced Mandy, knowing she'd be overwhelmed by Mr. Henryson's surprise confessions, and he just really couldn't believe what an amazing guy he was, even after all that he suffered and endured.
"Did you know any of this?" Jason asked curious.
"No" Mandy answered, and laughed. "I never knew any of that. But apparently Mr. Henryson had a suspicion about me" she concluded.
The music now was a bit louder and everyone started to dance near the band, knowing the lyrics and singing along, that that night's gonna be a good night. Even Jason knew that song, even though he pretended that he didn't, but he didn't stop Mandy from dancing the song near his body.
Things were heating up and Jason wanted to take his blazer off but he didn't want to separate from Mandy and her dancing, but he said he'd be right back and she nodded, turning to Lisa to dance a bit with her. Her hot guy was still talking to some of his friends, but Sonny was near them, looking at Lisa, who was focused on him too, and Natalie was still next to Sonny, talking in his ear. They didn't seem to have 'closed the deal' yet.
Suddenly Mandy felt a hand on her waist and she turned her back a bit to dance with her back against Jason, but she quickly realized it wasn't him. It was Andrew, a bit too drunk, and a bit too handsy. Mandy quickly took a step back and gently took his hand off her waist, but he kept coming closer to try to dance with her, and she stopped immediately. That was the reason she hated nightclubs, but that wasn't a nightclub, so he could see clearly her face when she looked serious at him, to get the fuck off. Lisa stopped dancing too and stared at Andrew, to show how inconvenient he was being. Sonny was also alert, and Andrew raised his hands, mocking and walking backwards, but he bumped into Jason, who apparently didn't see him with his hand on Mandy's waist, or else Jason would've thrown him to the floor, and not just bumped him. Jason kept staring at him walking away, and came closer to Mandy. "What happened? He bothered you girls or something?"
"Nah, he's just a bit drunk and bumping everyone, so Sonny was getting nervous and stared at him until he left" Mandy professionally lied, and Jason kinda believed her.
They continued dancing, and Lisa's hot guy came closer and danced with her too. Camille and Peter were next to them, so the area near the band was getting heated once more.
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The guys and girls where all dancing a lot after the sun came down, and when the guys obviously couldn't keep up with the choreography, they went to the bar or asked the waiters for drinks for the girls and themselves. So the girls were happily dancing to some hip hop songs, but making sure they still looked classy and elegant, while holding their drinks like ladies; and the guys were standing in front of them, holding their drinks like bad-asses and talking to each other. That is, until the first of the girls asked one of them to take a picture, then a lot of cell phones appeared and they were attentively listening to the directions of the girls, all while balancing the phone with their drinks.
After a long photo session of each girl alone, then with all of them together, with several phones, the guys also wanted pictures of them, and to be honest the girls were envious of their poses and pictures, because the angles were better, their bodies always looked athletic, and their hair were always perfect.
Jason saw Mr. Henryson passing close by and demanded a picture of him with the whole group, and he joyfully posed with them. Jason called Paul to take the picture for them. Mr. Henryson asked for them to send the pictures for him, immediately, then he started dancing with the girls. Mandy told Jason she had to go to the ladies' room, real quick, but would be right back.
Fortunately the bathroom was built by a female constructor, because it was wide and had lots of toilet cabins, so no line at all. Mandy hurried up inside, because the band started to play a music that she loves, but she hadn't peed since she left the house, so her bladder could only hold so much. She finally left and hurried up to one of the sinks, to wash her hands, and when she looked in the mirror, she saw Natalie beside her. Waiting for her with a cocky face. Mandy sighed, she didn't have time for this shit.
"So here we are again" Natalie started, very telenovela. Mandy didn't say anything, she was quickly drying her hands and putting a bit more lipstick on. She had a small purse with her.
"I'm talking to you, spook" Natalie loudly said, and slapped Mandy's purse so it fell from the sink to the floor. Mandy was trying hard to not slap her, but it was demanding a lot of effort. She gracefully took the purse from the floor and started to walk away, but Natalie called her near the bathroom exit. "What, now that you hadn't planned your speech, you don't have a tongue anymore?"
Mandy stood still and stared at her confused. "What the hell do you want? I already told you everything that I needed to. Now fuck off".
Natalie came closer to her. "Oh, so now you're not gonna admit that you tried to ruin my life, huh?"
"Well, you did that to yourself".
Natalie looked like Mandy punched her face "You fucking bitch. You said that if I didn't accept the job you'd be quiet".
Mandy looked at her confused, "Well, I did. Or did you accept the job?" she asked, dangerously.
Natalie now looked confused too, but then her expression changed to disdain. "You're kind of all the same, huh. CIA. Say one thing and do the other".
Mandy noticed a few women she didn't know paying a lot of attention, and she didn't need more people knowing she used to be a CIA agent. That wasn't good. So she exhaled and tried to calm Natalie down.
"Look" she pulled Natalie to the corner, near the exit of the bathroom. "I did what I said. I never told anything to anyone. I don't know what exactly you're talking about, but if something leaked, someone else told the Navy".
Natalie kept quiet while she processed, so Mandy walked away and got out of the bathroom.
Natalie chased her a bit, and she couldn't reach Mandy completely, so she grabbed her arm, furious, "And you expect me to believe a fucking spook, huh? You'll see what kind of damage that I could do to you, then". Mandy stopped and fortunately it was a less crowded area, mostly with women only, but they all were shocked by the scene and heard what Natalie said, and Mandy thought Natalie was out of control and a bit drunk. Some security guys felt the same, because they immediately walked towards Natalie to see what was going on, but Mandy stopped them, it would only make it worse.
"You're drunk, Natalie, and you could hate me all you want, I obviously don't like you either, but there is someone else saying this stuff about you. Maybe some frogman you dated? Check that out before you threaten a spook. Maybe be wiser next time", she whispered.
A security escorted Natalie to the exit, and probably she didn't even believe a word Mandy said, but Mandy decided to just have another drink and forget about that.
What she didn't see, though, was a shocked Emma in the corner of the area, who witnessed everything.
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Jason was talking to Peter and Ray, and Ray was finally admitting that he'd love to test out the bow and arrow or the crossbow, at least for once. They were figuring out when they could meet to do that, since Peter almost never left DC, but they were planning maybe watching a game and making it an event, like a barbecue or something. Emma came next to Jason, distraught. "Dad, have you seen Mandy?"
"She went to the bathroom, there's probably a line"
"I know, I saw her coming out of there, there wasn't a line dad. There was a Natalie there".
"What? What do you mean? They fought?" Jason put his glass on the table, now worried.
"Not really. Natalie seemed angry and drunk and I heard her calling Mandy a 'spook'. Then she kinda attacked her"
"What? What do you mean?" Jason now was very anxious, walking to the bathroom.
"She's not there, dad, I told you. Natalie grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go, and the security guys took her out. But I can't find Mandy anywhere".
Jason knew she wouldn't just leave the party, so he asked if Emma could do a quick search for her near the food table and band, and he'd check the outer deck and near the bar.
Jason found her on the outer deck, a bit hidden, with a glass of some colorful drink on her hand, looking at the ocean.
He then looked closer and noticed a few red finger bruises on her arm. "Mandy, are you ok?" He asked, concerned.
Mandy turned to see Jason, "Oh, hi. I'm good, just looking at the view for a bit. I was gonna go to you in a minute".
"Emma told me she saw what happened. Did she hurt you?" he directed her at a bench nearby and caressed her arm, and Mandy looked and then she saw the bruises. She didn't pay much attention.
"Oh. That's ok." she said, sitting on the bench with her drink, not fazed. Jason ignored her, asking what happened, and she explained. Jason shivered when he heard that Natalie called her a 'spook' and CIA in front of a lot of people.
"I'm so sorry, Mandy", he caressed her back a bit, while she quickly drank the colorful content of her tall glass.
"Hum. I'm good. Just didn't like the fact that she was so certain that I was a CIA agent" she suddenly stared at Jason.
"I never told her that you were CIA" he quickly said. Mandy kept staring at him. "Well, she asked a few times, when we were… together, what kind of stuff you did with the team".
"U-hum" Mandy continued, casually sipping her drink. "So you guys talked about me, huh? What did you say, then?"
Jason was starting to feel bad because he reminded of what he talked with Natalie, about Mandy. "Not much. She didn't have clearance, but she knew that CIA agents were working with the DEVGRU teams, and I think she was a bit jealous of you" he said, sincerely, leaving out a big part of what Natalie said about Mandy.
"I saw her once, maybe twice, when you were together, Jason. How could she be jealous of me?" she wasn't buying it, and turned a bit to face him.
"Well, apparently she saw you walking in the briefing room with us a few times, and she asked sometimes, when I went on an op or came back, if you were there too. She was just curious, because you weren't in the Military and she saw you coming and going alone from the ops, not saying goodbye to anyone and stuff. She said you had a CIA agent 'vibe' and I never said anything, then once she asked me and I couldn't confirm nor deny." he said, with a slight smile, didn't thinking it was so bad.
Mandy stared at him for a bit, processing his words, then finished her drink and got up, putting her empty glass on a table close to her. She then just silently walked away, and Jason reached her. "Hey, you good? Are you mad or something?"
Mandy looked at him, so smart and dangerous but so naive sometimes. Wouldn't make a good agent. "Just a bit disappointed" she said, and left him there.
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Jason just looked at Mandy walk away, still with a bit of the bruising in her arm noticeable, and she immediately reached the girls and started to dance with them, seeming really happy. Emma saw her and went to talk to her, touching her bruised arm, but Mandy gesticulated that she was fine, and said something to Emma, who relaxed and started to dance too. Everyone having fun and stuff, and Jason didn't understand why was Mandy disappointed. And at him, for the way she said it. He decided he didn't have the energy for an argument now, and obviously Mandy didn't want to talk to him either, so he went to the bar to refuel his body with tequila.
He sat on one of the few wooden stools at the bar and called the bartender, already his friend, then he glanced at the other side of the bar and saw Paul sitting there with some other guy from the Navy, and they both were turned away from the bar and looking directly at the group where Mandy and the other ladies were joyfully dancing. They obviously weren't the only guys staring at them, there were the guys from the team and some officers looking at them too, and Andrew was looking from a corner, because they were all looking amazing with their flowy colorful dresses, and danced with class but having fun. Peter sat next to Jason, loudly exhaling and looking tired. He asked for a tequila when he saw that was Jason's drink of choice.
"They're a tough group to keep up" he casually said, when noticed Jason looking at the girls, where Camille was too. Jason smiled and nodded, and Peter smiled back. "Your daughter is really great. She's really intelligent and independent. Camille loved her. You know, artists bonding".
"Yes. Can't hide it. I'm really proud of her. The intelligence she got from her mother, though" he laughed.
Peter nodded at Paul. "Didn't know you guys knew each other. Small world, huh?"
Jason raised his shoulders. "Yeah. Small world. We met a few years ago".
Peter took a sip of his tequila, then continued. "Funny how I remember how proud he came from one of his long visits to Afghanistan. He wrote the famous article revealing the stuff against that Xeon company, and also had the time to publish an interview with an anonymous Navy Seal, leader of a special forces team".
Jason knew he already knew, Peter was goofy but incredibly intelligent. "U-hum", he took the last sip of his tequila.
"There's no choice in duty, huh, Jason? Love that saying. It really stuck with me when I read Paul's interview. Thought it was a common saying, but turns out, it's not that common". He turned his head to Jason just a bit. It was one of the first things that Jason said when they talked, and he obviously thought it was a coincidence back then, but not anymore.
"You know what makes me really angry, though?" Peter bitterly said, and Jason was ready to defend his right to keep his job as a classified information, "I just think that it was really unfair of you to duel me on the archery range before I knew you were one of the top motherfucker shooters on the entire planet".
They laughed, loudly, tapping each others' back, and Jason admitted "And yet, you were close to beating me". And Peter laughed even louder, feeling the glory.
When the laughter ceased, they asked for another tequila and Peter assured him his secret was safe with him, but Jason told him that he should tell Camille, she was worthy of trust too.
Camille, Mandy and Lisa appeared beside Peter at the bar, asking for tequila shots, and getting them on a line. Jason noticed Paul starting a conversation with Mandy and Lisa, and they were joyfully answering him.
Peter saw that. "Oh, I forgot that. They know each other too, right?"
Jason stopped staring at them. "Yep. Went out on a date, too" Jason casually said, trying to hide his jealousy.
"Oh, that was years ago. Camille really thought she could set up Mandy with him, and I thought they could work out too, to be honest. They really have a lot in common. But apparently Mandy wasn't up for it", Peter casually said.
"U-hum" Jason sipped his tequila, feeling divided between wanting to know more and wanting to know nothing at all.
"Relax, man" Peter noticed his jealousy and tapped his shoulder. "They even work together nowadays. If she wanted anything to do with him, she'd have him already. You have nothing to worry about".
Jason grumbled, not feeling relaxed at all. Peter then tried to make him think about something else, asking if there was anything that he could gossip about his job that wasn't classified information.
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Emma appeared on the bar, next to Lisa, Mandy and Paul "Hey guys, have you seen Brad?"
And they all glanced at each other, Brad truly had disappeared from the party, and then Paul mentioned "I think I saw him there at the corner talking to some Navy officers before".
"Oh, great, thanks! I need his car keys, I'm cold and my scarf is down there", she started to walk towards the corner of the deck that Paul pointed, and Mandy stopped her "Wait, I'll come with you, just let me grab my tequila ok" she pointed at the bartender who was pouring new tequila shots.
"Oh that's ok, I'll ask Brad to come down with me, the car is just down here" Emma said, walking away.
Mandy raised a shoulder and took a sip of her freshly delivered tequila, while Paul started a conversation again. "Well, it is a bit chilly, really. Would you like my blazer?"
"No, I'm good. She's not drinking, that's why she's cold" Mandy quickly told him, taking another sip of tequila and turning a bit away. She glanced at the corner of the deck right behind Paul and noticed a drunk Andrew suddenly walking fast, glancing to the sides, and she thought it was very suspicious, so she looked to where he was going and saw Emma inside the elevator, and Andrew reached her and got in with her. Mandy couldn't see if she was alone or with Brad, but she had a bad feeling so she just mumbled "Be right back" and walked fast towards the elevator, even leaving her purse on the bar counter, next to Lisa.
There was only one elevator and it was kinda slow, then Mandy hesitated after calling the elevator, but started to climb down the stairs, as fast as she could, and her feet were already hurting, but she was having a really bad feeling, which confirmed as soon as she finally reached the main floor.
Emma was walking fast towards her car, alone, and Andrew was walking a few steps away from her, and she was hesitating if she continued walking or if she came back to the restaurant. When he saw that she hesitated, Andrew walked faster on her direction, quickly reaching her, and she tried to unlock the car; she didn't have a cell phone or anything with her, just the car keys. When she finally reached the car and opened the door to get in, he aggressively put his hand on the door, closing it and even making her drop the keys. He advanced a bit towards her, saying nice things and touching her hair, their height difference was enormous. She slapped his hand when he touched her hair, and Mandy decided to call him out even before reaching them, she didn't want Emma to feel like she was alone there.
"Hey, Andrew, what are you doing?" Mandy tried to approach him in a less aggressive way, since he was obviously drunk, so he wouldn't act even more aggressively. But he turned to Mandy and smiled, still keeping his arms around a frightened Emma, keeping her locked between him and her car door, with the keys still on the floor.
He didn't move and he obviously wasn't letting her escape, so Mandy now was furious, and close to them, so she didn't restrain herself "Get the fuck off of her".
"What? We're just talking. You know each other?" he joyfully said, still not moving.
"Yes we know each other, stay away from her" Mandy now grabbed his forearm, and looked dangerously at him. He had all his weight on his arms, and he was huge, but he saw her look and finally took one arm out, but when Emma sighed relieved and finally got out of there, she tried to take her car keys on the floor, next to him, then he grabbed her arm, shaking her and pulling her next to him. "Hey, yes, I remember you now. At the brunch. You're the asshole's daughter! Who would've thought. So pretty"
Mandy saw Andrew's face now turning to hatred, and she knew how much he disliked Jason, so she was even more afraid now. She violently pushed his chest away "Let her go, or I swear to God I'll kill you".
Andrew was surprised by Mandy's push, so he released Emma, but he quickly grabbed Mandy's forearm and collarbone, squeezing her on the car. He was drunk but he was quick, and strong like a bull. Emma let out a little scream.
"Oh, wow, Miss Ellis, trying to be a military now too? Because I'm kinda sick of this motherfuckers nowadays, so loud" he took his hand up a bit, squeezing her neck now, but not suffocating her, "so full of themselves" he continued, and took his hand up again, and Mandy realized he was coming closer to her face and would try to kiss her, so she got her free arm and managed to hit her elbow on his face. He complained, but he didn't release her and it only made him more aggressive, as Mandy feared. He got his body closer to hers, immobilizing her, while Emma was desperate asking him to stop.
"Hey! You son of a bitch" Jason yelled at him and jogged to their direction, but Andrew immediately released her, walking backwards a bit with his hands up.
"Hey, man, all good. We were just having a conversation and things got heated up" he said, walking backwards, and Mandy quickly went to Jason's direction and aggressively held him, because she knew he'd try to kill Andrew, or hurt him at least, a lot.
"No, Jason, he's not worth it. You could lose your job" she tried to put some sense into him, but he kept walking to Andrew with a killer eye, and Mandy didn't know what to do, so she called Emma, and she understood that Mandy needed help to hold him. Mandy held his torso and arm with all her strength and Emma held his other arm, pleading "Please dad, she's right, you could lose Bravo. Let him go".
Jason blinked and finally stopped and looked at Mandy and Emma. "Are you okay?" he mumbled to them, concerned. In that moment, Peter, Camille, Sonny and Lisa arrived, looking confused.
Emma quickly glanced at Mandy, "We're fine, let's just go back to the party", she tried to smile, while Mandy walked back to the car to take the keys off the floor. The three of them then started to walk back to the party, but Andrew thought it would be wise to walk to their direction and insult them.
"Well, what would you say? I knew that you guys were all cowards without your guns. Even your woman fought better than you".
Jason quickly turned, and Emma now couldn't hold him, in seconds he was close to Andrew again, with Mandy between them, but Jason wasn't falling for it.
"Well don't worry, you'll have a lot of time to worry about me finding you and kicking your ass after I get you deported".
Andrew thought Jason was lacking courage, so he was in a mood for a fight. "Mate, I have a green card here. You'll be seeing a lot of me around VA Beach for a while. Heard you Military guys spend a lot of time away. Maybe, even you'll find me in your bed someday, with Miss Ellis. Or in your cute daughter's bed, even."
Now that kind of offense and threat Jason couldn't take, so he didn't even hear everyone behind him calling his name, and advanced to break some of that white teeth from that sarcastic smile of his, maybe breaking his head a bit too, but when he was about to reach a smiley Andrew, who was all prepared in a boxing pose, he saw a blur of pink, ivory and black, and Andrew almost falling to the floor, moaning in pain. His white teeth now were red, he had blood dripping from his nose.
Jason blinked and then realized that Mandy gave Andrew a professional CIA agent punch to his face, probably breaking his pretty nose. Everyone was silent and glad at the same time, and only Andrew's painful moans were heard.
Sonny suddenly released a loud laugh and everyone joined him, even Jason, who now was welcoming a proud Mandy in his arms.
Andrew spit some blood on the floor, and called her "Bitch!", and Jason was dangerous again, but Mandy turned her back to Andrew, mocking him, "Oh shut up, you just got beat up by a woman". Everyone laughed again and left Andrew bleeding and moaning alone, with his white shirt now filled with blood too.
"Did you break it?" Jason looked at Mandy's hand while they walked back to the elevator, holding it. Her knuckles were red. "Don't think so. Didn't remember how much it hurt to punch someone's face, though".
Jason smiled, affectionate "You shouldn't have punched him".
"I wouldn't let you lose Bravo because of that scumbag. And he deserved it", she smiled back.
Jason smiled and wrapped the other arm around Emma, next to them, while they walked. "Do you girls want to go home?"
Emma thought for a bit, then glanced at Mandy. "Actually, no. I could stay here for a while yet. It's still kinda early, and the music's too good." Mandy agreed, saying that she could easily hold her drinks with her other hand.
So they all stayed for a couple of hours into the night, enjoying the party, who now was filled with gossip about a girl beating up an australian giant on the street. Emma eventually told Jason what happened and how Mandy came out of nowhere to her rescue, and he later told Mandy how he saw her calling the elevator and then quickly running down the stairs, and decided to follow her, because he felt she was acting strange. He hadn't seen Emma or Andrew before that.
And Mandy just thought how glad she was that everyone was looking out for each other that night.
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