Why? Why does this man have the absolute worst timing?
"Your boyfriend?" Theodore immediately understood. His eyes fell on the pair of them, sitting comfortably together, with the half-empty wine bottles arranged neatly between them.
Anybody would assume that they were on a date.
"I'll go sit somewhere else ", he said, though his smile faded a little. He picked up his bottle and walked away.
Shayna watched him walk away before picking up her phone.
" I'm sorry, darling. ", A deep voice came from the other side," Something really urgent came up here, and I had to attend to it. I won't be able to make it."
Wow, I really do have a Guardian angel hiding somewhere.
"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you. You just drink however much you want and leave the tab on me. I'll pay for it later. "
Wait, what the actual fuck?
Who the hell did I wake up next to this morning?
A new house? Free wine? And now, a night without that useless piece of shit?
Shayna glanced back at her phone and noticed that Lucas had already disconnected the call. Her eyes spotted Theodore sitting at the edge of the bar, now busy on his phone.
"Hey, you!" Shayna shouted enough for half the bar to turn and stare. "He's not showing up."
Theodore looked at her, confused.
Huh?
"Yeah, he got busy with some stupid work ", Shayna laughed maniacally, turning to the bartender," Can I get two full bottles of whatever's the most expensive wine here? Yes, that'll be it. Thank you ."
I'm gonna bankrupt that motherfucker.
" Just curious that man's your boyfriend, right?"
"Don't worry. I don't like him that much. Wine's on him, though ."
"Listen, are you sure about this ? ", Theodore asked, gently waving the bottle in front of her eyes. "This looks kind of expensive. "
"Nah, it's on him today", Shayna slurred, her cheeks growing redder by the second," And I want to make that fucker pay ."
"I feel bad for him."
"Why? That dumbass is loaded ", Shayna said, cheerfully taking a huge gulp.
"I got robbed earlier today too by a woman."
"Your girlfriend ?!"
"Nah, a coworker kind of...we've never met, but I never expected it."
"Is she hot ?"
Theodore thought about it for a second. He had never seen the woman, but if she was the mafia king's girlfriend....
"Yeah, probably. "
"Hotter than me ?" Shayna said, her voice dropping all of a sudden.
Theodore glanced at her for a full second. Red hair cascading in locks, brown doe eyes and extremely red cheeks.
"I don't know. Maybe ."
"You fucker ! ", Shayna yelled, her voice high-pitched again, " No wine for you."
She grabbed the second bottle and gulped it down in one go as the nearby table cheered.
"One more of this ", she yelled back to the bartender.
Theodore just stared, amused. He didn't know whether to be annoyed at her yelling or impressed at her alcohol tolerance.
" Are you sure your boyfriend can afford all this ?" he laughed, staring at the two empty bottles.
"This won't even make a dent in his money", Shayna said, in what she thought was a whisper," In fact, if you want, you can take as many bottles as you want to your home. And then you can sell them and become riiiich."
"That's illegal".
"You afraid of those...." Shayna suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
"Cops ?", Theodore helped, laughing alongside.
"No, the big cage thingy...where they make you do things ."
"Oh, all sorts. Horrible nasty things. And then they give you prison food."
"That sounds bad ", Theodore agreed, his mind unhelpful, reminding him that he had done way worse things.
"And you're hot too ", Shayna accidentally grabbed his shoulder, "The older prisoners will make you....".
"Make me ? ", Theodore continued.
"Oh, you don't know. You poor innocent little thing. They will do stuff with your body. And then they will fuck your hoo ha. "
Ahem.
"I don't have a hoo ha ", Theodore laughed while grabbing Shayna's bottle. " You don't need this."
"Hey, just because I'm a woman....."
"Nope, this is because you're too drunk ", He turned to the bartender " She needs to be cut off. "
" Sir, ma'am's boyfriend specifically instructed us not to interfere with her orders. We can only stop if she asks us to."
Who the hell was this girl's boyfriend?
"Ok", Theodore negotiated," How about you pour simple cocktails or Coke? She won't notice."
The bartender looked at Shayna, who was too busy staring at a flower vase, sitting on a chair three tables away.
"As long as she does not refuse".
"No, no ", Shayna said, her voice getting louder again. " I need to spend all his money. I..."
"Hey, listen to me. You can find some other way to rob your boyfriend. Right now, you're gonna pass out ."
"I don't...you know what ", Shayna suddenly jerked her head. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, she grabbed the edge of the table and jumped right on top of it holding the empty bottle in her hand like a microphone.
"Hey, hey, hey, get down....", Theodore called, but to no avail. The entire bar seemed to have gone silent, as they stared at the crazy woman in a hoodie.
"Everybody over here, all your drinks tonight are on me . Enjoyyyyyy ".
"Are you sure, ma'am?" the bartender asked, his tone still polite.
"You want to question me ? ", Shayna fired back.
"No, ma'am. Whatever you say."
Shayna got down almost as if nothing had happened.
"Just what did your boyfriend do to you ?" Theodore asked, curiously.
Shayna's mind went back to the countless things Lucas had done to her in the past few years. Threatening to kill her, driving 200 mph on an icy road just to scare her, calling her office to fire her for missing his call one time, leaving bloodied clothing around her place of residence, stalking her notoriously when she went out in public... the list was pretty long.
"He deserves it ".
Theodore watched Shayna's face, which seemed to have suddenly gone pale.
Theodore was way too familiar with that expression.
"It's really bad, isn't it?" he asked, though not expecting an answer.
Shayna's smile disappeared, and for the first time that night, she looked completely sober.
" It'll get better ", Shayna said, her tone hopeful.
"And if it doesn't ?" Theodore asked, though not sure he wanted the answer.
"Then I'll make sure we both regret it ".
Theodore looked at her , incredulously for a long moment as if he had suddenly realised something.
Almost like a female version of me.