CHAPTER 36 – CURSE HER BAD LUCK
Felicity had sensed Mackenzie tense up and go silent ever since “West” came over to their table, so she deduced that he was one of the people she was trying to avoid.
Apart from the fact that Felicity wanted nothing to do with a player, she also wanted to get rid of him as fast as possible, for Mackenzie’s sake.
West retracted his hand with an unfazed grin, “I didn’t mean to interrupt you ladies. My bad.”
He slid out his business card from his pocket and placed it on the table, smoothly sliding it forward till it sat right in front of Felicity. She didn’t even glance at it, she kept staring at him blankly.
“There’s my number. I am not expecting a call from you, but I’m hoping that you’d find me worth your time.” He gave a charming wink that made Charlotte fan herself, but it had no effect on Felicity.
He continued, “I know you mind, but I have already paid for your drinks, so it might as well just order something.”
“Please take your money back, we have no interest in using it.” Felicity countered in a dismissive tone.
“I’m sorry, beautiful, I can’t. They don’t do refunds here.” He flashed her a handsome smile and gave a slight, flirty bow. Then he walked away from their table.
West’s confidence was off the roofs, so her dismissive tone and unfriendliness towards him barely fazed him. Instead it made his interest in her blaze stronger.
And Felicity could see that he was one of those stubborn ones, that’s why an expression of exasperation and annoyance colored her face as she watched his broad back retreat further.
“Oh my god, girls!” Charlotte suddenly exclaimed, grabbing both Felicity and Mackenzie’s attention. She was holding West’s business card between her fingers. “That sexy ass man you just rejected, works at the Axford Hotel. He’s literally a director there.”
“Really?” Felicity arched an eyebrow.
Mackenzie scoffed. “Of course he does. He’s Chase’s cousin.”
Charlotte’s mouth dropped. “What? Kenzie, you recognized him? No wonder you were so dead silent all of a sudden.”
“So he’s affiliated to the Axfords.” Felicity said. “I thought as much. His confidence was so annoying.”
Mackenzie grabbed some more tequila shots, “So much for trying not to run into people I know.” She followed those words with a tip of the shot glass into her mouth, and the burning alcohol made its way down her throat.
She placed the glass down and Charlotte cheered, taking some more shots. Felicity followed suit. As the moments passed, Mackenzie drank some more, feeling her vision gradually start to swim as the alcohol took control of her body.
The vibrations of music coming from the club below suddenly increased a notch, and a lot of cheers filtered upwards. It sounded like the club was on fire, and the people down there were getting “lit”.
Charlotte caught the beat, bouncing in her seat excitedly, “That sounds so tempting, girls, I have to get down there and rock that dance floor!”
“Sure, go dance all you want, Charlotte.” Mackenzie muttered.
“Alone?” She gasped, batting her thick, black lashes like that was the most sacrilegious thing she had ever heard. “Come on , you can’t possibly be serious! I can’t go dancing alone. Come with me, girls, it will be fun!”
“Charlotte, we agreed we’ll be drinking only.” Felicity sighed.
Charlotte got up from her seat, placing her hands on her hips. “Look at the way I’m dressed, girls. All of this can’t just go to waste! Besides, it’s just a quick dance and we’ll be back here. I get why Kenzie doesn’t want to go down into that crowd, but please come with me Felicity!”
Felicity placed her glass down and shifted uncomfortably.
“Actually I think I’ve had too much to drink, and I have to use the restroom. You know what? Come with me to the restroom first and I’ll hit the club with you, Charlotte-”
“Yes!”
“For just a short while, okay?” Felicity raised a finger. Then glanced at Mackenzie. “Wait here for us, we’ll be back in no time.”
Mackenzie stared at them, almost at the verge of going with them, but she realized that there will be so many people down in the club. That made her even more paranoid than sitting here at the table alone, so she nodded.
Felicity got up and joined Charlotte, and they both walked in the opposite direction, vanishing into the dim shadows and fancy lights of the corner.
Mackenzie sucked in a deep breath, picked the alcohol magazine in the middle of the table and flipped it open like she was looking through it. But she only raised it high enough to cover her face from anyone that might be looking.
It eased her paranoia a bit, but only by a bit.
Only a moment of peace had passed when someone roughly crashed into her table, nearly knocking all the glasses to the floor. She was startled, jolting in her seat with fright.
The person pushed the table in anger, yelling in a drunken voice, “What the actual fuck? Watch were you’re fucking going, you motherfucker!”
It wasn’t the fact that the drunkard was yelling at a goddamn table that chilled her skin, down to her bones, into solid ice. It was the fact that she recognized that voice faster than anything else.
Jeffrey.
It was Jeffrey.
At that moment, her entire nervous system slowed and shut down in one harrowing second. Her soul must have left her within that second, because all she could sense around her was ice cold fear.
But in the next second, her nervous system jump-started, sending alarms signals to every part of her body. Her breath went shallow, her heart began to pound, and full blown panic ransacked her mind.
Jeffrey?!
Her hands held the magazine tighter against her face, with trembling hands. A waiter was drawn to the ruckus Jeffrey was making and he immediately approached him, apologizing and trying to placate him.
But Jeffrey turned on in, yelling, cursing and hitting him unprovoked. Mackenzie squeezed her eyes shut as the sound of blows and punches barged into her ears. The chaos reminded her that this is how Jeffrey had always been.
Blaming other people when he was clearly in the wrong. Being cruel to others because he was more powerful, and he could get away with a lot. Plus, he always had his mother covering up his messes.
“Sir, please, calm-”
Punch.
Everyone watching the scene gasped.
“Do you fucking know who I am? What are you trying to do?” Jeffrey spat. “I can fucking pay you triple the pennies they pay you here! I can fucking buy the entire damn building without it making an impact on my account balance!”
There was a lot of noise around him, people trying to talk him away from the poor waiter, but Jeffrey kept on bragging, cursing and yelling at the top of his lungs.
Mackenzie cursed her bad luck. Of all the nights she had been staying indoors, the only night she decided to step outdoors turned out to be the night she bumped into two people who knew her. Especially her ex-husband.
She slowly got up from her seat and moved sideways, away from the table, trying to take advantage of all the noise to slip away from Jeffrey. How in the world had she ended in the same bar as him?!
At this rate, the universe might decide to throw Chase in her direction in the same night. A shiver went down her spine at the possibility. She did not even want to imagine that.
“Hey!” Jeffrey suddenly turned around and spotted her as she was stalking towards the opposite direction. “Hey, you. Come back here right fucking now! I want to have a drink with you!
He was talking to Mackenzie. And she knew that.
Her heart shrank in terror, but she kept walking away.
“I’m fucking talking to you! Come back here!”Text © owned by NôvelDrama.Org.
Another waiter stepped in front of him, blocking his view of her while holding out a bill. “Sir, you have to pay for the drinks you’ve had so far. I don’t want to get in trouble with my boss, please.”
Jeffrey’s temper flared at the waiter. He roared and grabbed his collar, nearly ripping the uniform into shreds. “You’ll get into trouble with me instead, then. You fucking pussy!”
He threw his fist into the waiter’s face, knocking him to the ground.
Taking advantage of the sudden distraction, Mackenzie took a sharp turn to the stairwell leading further up the building. She climbed up the stairs with her breath escaping in pants. She clutched her chest, as if to calm her pounding heart.
She barely knew where she was going, under the red lights of the stairwell, but all she knew was that she had to get as far away from Jeffrey as possible.
He could not know it was her. Her life would be basically over once he does.