Alicia Taylor

Alice just got back from work and was having her lunch when she received a call from Audrey.

"Hey, girl, are you ready?" The excited female voice sounded on the phone

"Ready for what?" Alice asked as she took a bite from the hot noodles.

"The concert. Don't tell me you forgot" Audrey said and Alice could imagine her pouting her lips right now. She totally forgot about the concert she was going to attend with her best friend.

"I'm so sorry, I'll get dressed now" she said

"Fine, hurry up, I'll come pick you up in ten minutes" she said and disconnected the call. Alice checked the time on her phone, it was a few minutes past three. She should have a little more time to finish her lunch and get dressed before Audrey gets here.

Alice and Audrey have been inseparable since high school. Audrey's parents are rich and she's an only child. She loved to have fun with friends and go out to any party she hears about. Today, she was going to a big concert where her favorite singer was going to perform in the city, and she made sure to drag Alice along.

Alice ate her lunch quickly and went up to her room to put on a simple dress. She wore a yellow mini skirt and a black tank top with a pair of white sneakers. Then she let her curly black hair fall over her shoulder. Then she walked out all dressed but came across her dad on the way sitting on his wheelchair.

"Ali, are you leaving?" The man asked

"Yes Dad. I'm going out with Audrey and I might not be back early" she replied

"It's alright, go have fun" he said with a smile

"Alright, take care of yourself, Okay" she said and bent down a little to place a kiss on his cheek before leaving.

Audrey was already waiting for her in her car packed outside. She hopped in and they drove off to the venue.

The concert was huge and there were lots of people there. The air was filled with the sound of music and a cheerful crowd. They really had fun going out together. But Alice was not the party type.

"I'm so exhausted. Can we go home now?" Alice said as they walked towards the car.

"Okay, let just go and have a drink and chill out, then we can go home" Audrey suggested

"But it's late already" she protested

"Come on we won't stay long" Audrey pleaded with her puppy eyes and Alice couldn't say no.

"Argh... you're such a spoilt brat" they entered the car and drove to the bar nearby.

When they arrived at the bar, Alice went ahead to sit and ordered a glass of wine. She doesn't drink much because she didn't have the best experience with alcohol.

"Audrey!" A female voice sounded from behind and they both turned back to see who it was. Audrey saw a girl coming towards them with a broad smile on her face and she immediately recognized her.

"Chloe" Audrey reciprocated in the same manner and they both hugged each other.

"It's been so long since I saw you. Wow! Are you married?" Audrey asked as she noticed the ring glittering on her finger.

"Yes I am. You should meet my husband" Chloe said and dragged Audrey along excitedly.

"I'll be back soon" she told Alice before leaving with her friend.

==============

"The father of my baby is Jake"

"Maybe you were not man enough"

Those hurtful words kept echoing in his head and he couldn't think straight. He looked at his desk and there was some pending work but he no longer has the strength to deal with it. He still can't believe how he ended up in this situation. Feeling weak and exhausted, he grabbed his bag and walked out of his office. He came across Peter, his assistant, along the way.

"Sir, are you okay?" Peter asked with concerned eyes

"I'm fine Peter. Just really tired. I'll see tomorrow" he replied

"Alright"

He sat in his car and took a couple of deep breaths before starting the engine. Instead of driving home, he stopped at a bar to have a drink. All he wanted was to forget about the pain and everything. He entered the bar and sat at the far end before asking the bartender for a glass of some strong alcoholic drink. He put his phone on airplane mode before he started sipping on his wine without a care of the world around him.

A glass became two, and two glasses became three until he almost emptied the bottle, then he started feeling dizzy.

"Sir, are you alright?" Someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned and noticed the girl sitting next to him, and she had a concerned look on her face. 'Why does everybody pity me' he thought before replying with a hoarse voice

"No, I'm not alright"

"Oh! I'm sorry about that" the girl said simply.

"So what are you going to do about it?" He asked, looking straight into her big brown eyes.

"Huh!" She was confused by his statement

"Argh... what am I even saying" he said, more to himself as he realized he was spitting rubbish. But he felt like speaking to someone.

"My fiancee is pregnant for my brother"

============

Alice was forced to sit alone and wait for Audrey. Not long, a young man walked in and sat right next to her before ordering a glass of wine. He seemed to be in deep thoughts and didn't even notice her and she continued sipping her drink. She was watching him as a glass of whiskey became two and two become three. He had almost emptied the whole bottle and she was still on her first glass. He looked really moody and unhappy and she wondered what could be wrong him. Something in her felt deeply concerned about him. So she decided to ask and he admitted that he wasn't fine, but now she didn't know what else to say. She was taken aback by his next statement.

"My fiancee is pregnant for my brother"

"Oh my God! That is serious. I'm really sorry about that" she managed to say. She couldn't imagine being in his shoes, she would feel even worse. He must be going through a lot of pain. She felt sad and felt the longing to console him even though they haven't met before, but she didn't even know how.

Alice tried calling Audrey as she was taking too long, but her phone was switched off. She has the habit of always running off with some of her friends she met at random, that Alice just had to get used to.

The guy got up to leave but the bartender stopped him as he hadn't paid for the drink. He started searching himself frantically for his wallet or something but he couldn't find it.

"Oh! I left it in the car. I'll just go and get it" he said

"Sir, you can't leave the premises until you pay the bills" the bartender protested

"Here, this should cover for his drink and mine" she stretched some cash to the bartender in order to resolve the issue and the girl quietly took the money. Alice was surprised by his emotional reaction.

"Oh! Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver" he said and abruptly pulled her in for a hug. She didn't see that coming and neither could she resist. He looked quite unstable and she had to support him to his car packed outside.

"Are you sure you can drive in this state?" She asked as she was really worried for him.

"Yeah, I can drive," he replied. Just then her saw rang and she saw it was Audrey calling so she had to pick it up quickly and she walked aside.

"Where the hell are you? I've been waiting here" Alice said, annoyed

"I'm so sorry, Ali. Something came up. I'm on my way now" Audrey apologized. While answering the call, she noticed he drove off already. Without saying goodbye.

"Alright, just hurry up okay" she said and hung up. She wanted to keep her phone back in her purse but discovered that it was unzipped.

"Hope I haven't misplaced anything valuable" she murmured and looked around but there was nothing. Soon Audrey arrived and she dropped her off at home, before saying goodnight to each other