AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She hung out around the house for the rest of the afternoon, pacing nervously and wishing she could somehow contact the rest of the group and find out what had happened.
Altair slammed the door open. Things hadn’t gone well at the office. He didn’t look at her, just walked straight for the kitchen. She followed tentatively, wanting to get as much information as possible from him.
He bent down and took a bottle out of a cupboard, uncorked it, and took a swig.
“You have alcohol?” she asked, more excited by the prospect than she thought she would be. “And here I thought you weren’t allowed to have any fun.”
He swallowed and looked at her. Some of the anger left his eyes as he handed her the bottle. She took it gratefully, brought the bottle to her lips, and tipped it up, making it look like she’d taken a bigger sip than she actually had. She closed her eyes enjoying the burn from the little that she did swallow. The alcohol had no particular taste, but it immediately made her relax, washing away some of the day’s stress.
She handed it back.
“Thanks,” she said. “I needed that!”
She reached into the cupboard over the sink and took out two glasses. She walked out the door, making a head gesture for him to follow. Without the couch, there was nowhere in the living room to sit comfortably, so she settled for sitting on the floor with her back against the wall and patted the spot next to her where he could sit.
He looked partly amused as he sat down.
“Bad day, huh?” she asked.
He only grunted in answer. She took the bottle from him, careful to “accidentally” touch his hand as she pulled it away from him. She noticed how he looked at her hand with interest as she poured a generous amount of alcohol into each glass and handed him one.
She clinked her glass to his and chugged it down. She wasn’t going to get through this without ingesting some of the alcohol herself, she just needed to make sure he drank a lot more.
She topped up his now empty glass.
“I’ll just take the bottle,” she said, smiling at him. She clinked the bottle to his glass and pretended to take a sip while he downed his second glass, which she promptly filled up again.
“Why have you been hiding the alcohol from me?”
He laughed. “It was hardly hidden. All you had to do was open the cupboard.”
“I didn’t know alcohol was inside. I thought it was more cooking oil.”
He smiled as he sipped on his third glass. “I don’t usually drink,” he said. “I don’t like being sick the next day when there is work to do, but today…”
“Are you referring to me being imprisoned, or did something else happen?”
Altair leaned his head back against the wall.
“Both.”
He didn’t look like he was going to elaborate.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Though there are still people in that jail who aren’t.”
“Rebels,” Altair said, no love in his voice.
“I doubt the old man I was defending was a rebel,” she insisted.
“If he isn’t, he’ll be released.” He didn’t sound concerned at all, so she guessedthatwasn’t what was bothering him.
“You don’t like Gary?” she asked as she filled his glass again.
“I don’t know him well enough to have formed an opinion.” He drank the glass down in one go. She had no idea how strong this alcohol was, but at this rate, he would be drunk in no time.
“But…”
“He doesn’t like me.”
