Chapter 1203: Met Mary Again (part two)

All the men had taken the phrase "party hardy" to a new level, so they were all falling down drunk. Everyone except Tom, who only drank a little -- an emergency could crop up at any time. Even Gerard was three sheets to the wind. Luke had to drive him to the hotel.

"Leena, my brother's really drunk," Claire said with concern. Kevin rested his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah. As long as his stomach's okay, he'll be better after a nap." Leena said, glancing at Kevin in the rear view mirror periodically. She was driving her family back home.

They're quite good at drinking. Everyone needs a hobby, I guess. At least they are quiet," Claire said. Most of the time, her friends acted like idiots when they were drunk. Some of them even started bar brawls, or harassed people on the streets. But Leena's friends were all quiet and peaceful, and that was a rare scene for her.

"It's a question of character. Some can control themselves while drunk, which is quite a feat. These guys are all high-class, they don't get rude just because they've had a few." Leena was always very proud of this. She didn't have to worry about getting groped or whatever, even when her friends couldn't see straight.

"What about Kevin? Is he like that, too?" Claire asked in curiosity. She'd never seen her brother drunk. Except this time.

Leena looked at him in the mirror, saw him half-dozing in the car. "Take a look. Does he act like your friends?" Leena asked with a dazzling smile. She thought Claire was a lovely girl when she wasn't being an unbearable shrew.

"True," Claire said, scratching her head in embarrassment.

Leena didn't continue the subject but took a glance at Claire. She knew about her crush on Rain, and meant to ask her about it. Maybe spark a discussion. Considering Kevin was there, she decided to table it for later. Although Kevin was drunk, it didn't mean that he wouldn't overhear and figure it out. She didn't need his two cents in this. So she decided to wait till she could talk to Claire woman to woman.

When they got back to the Grand Apartment, Leena and Claire cooperated, horsing Kevin inside. Luckily, Kevin showered after work, so he wouldn't dirty the bed. They just finally threw him into the bed.

Well. Claire, it's off to bed for you. Catch a shower and hit the hay. It's late," Leena said, pulling off Kevin's clothes. It was a chore, considering his weight was resting on them.

"You okay with him?" Claire said, looking at Leena hesitantly. She kept asking herself how she had totally misjudged her. She was a really nice person.

"I'm good. Get to bed," Leena said. She asked Claire to leave because she was going to take off Kevin's pants and help him get comfortable in bed. Claire was Kevin's sister, but it wasn't proper to take off his clothes in front of her.

"Okay! Good night!" Claire said, looking at Kevin with concern and finally walking out. She didn't know if anyone else enjoyed themselves, but she had a good time. Most importantly, she realized that Rain was immune to her charms. She felt relieved when she thought of this. So she set her sights on Gerard instead.

"Good night!" Leena said with a smile, watching Claire leave the room. Then she started to undo Kevin's clothes.

Staring at Kevin's serene face, Leena couldn't help pinching his cheek tenderly. He didn't move so much as a muscle. Kevin was totally drunk. Normally, Kevin was awake and alert at the slightest touch, but he was unresponsive to Leena's caresses. Thanks to her friends, she thought. They worked to get him just as rip-roaring drunk as they could.

The next morning, Kevin didn't wake up to his internal clock for the first time. Instead, he blinked himself awake, and found he was holding Leena in his arms, and she was sleeping peacefully. Evidently, he could still have enough love for his wife to cradle her in his arms while he was drunk. Luckily it was his day off, so he didn't need to worry about anything. Claire, still groggy from the night before, awoke to the ringtone on her phone. Annoyed by the ringing, she pulled the quilt over her head. However, the phone continued its incessant clamor. In desperation, she reached for the phone and put it up to her ear reluctantly. But the beautiful ringtone still played, and it dawned on her she hadn't pressed the answer button. Then she had to open her eyes -- and pressed it drowsily.

"Hello! Who's this?" Claire answered and then fell asleep again. It was two o'clock in the morning when she finished showering last night. No wonder she was so tired.

"It's me. What's wrong? Why did it take so long to answer? Did you forget we have plans?" Louisa yelled at Claire with anger, bombarding her with questions before she was fully awake. 'Bad girl, you're so entitled. I wouldn't be nice to you if your dad didn't outrank mine,' she thought.

"Oh! Louisa! What time is it? I'm so sleepy. Another time, maybe?" Claire said, yawning. 'You're pushing me so hard! Why so early?' she thought.

"No. Get down here now. I'm waiting for you downstairs. It's eight now and you have half an hour to dress yourself up!" Louisa said, checking the time. 'We can't treat this as a joke. I need this opportunity to get into the entertainment business. She can't quit now!' she thought.

"What? It's eight? Come on, Louisa. I just help with the runway show. Why so serious?" Claire asked and gave a loud moan. The covers were warm, the air wasn't so warm. She didn't want to pull herself up from the comfy bed.

"A real friend would be up and at least..." Louisa said through clenched teeth. 'If I had someone else to rely on, I wouldn't be here so early,' she thought.

"All right. You scared me. I'm up," Claire said, yawning again and struggling out of the quilt. She blamed herself for saying yes to Louisa's request. 'I'm done! I can't even sleep well,' Claire thought.

"Better hurry up! You have thirty minutes. If you're a no-show in half an hour, I'd have to rethink our friendship," Louisa said. She knew what Claire cared about, so she liked to use this as a threat. It worked every time, too.

"Got it. I'll be quick," Claire said, throwing her phone on the bed angrily. She would have just turned it off last night if she knew this would happen. Of course, Louisa would quit calling her or knocking so early.

Claire reminded herself of the time limit which Louisa had laid out. She even didn't put on make-up but simply applied lotion and lipstick and then rushed downstairs. She didn't even let Kevin and Leena know.

"Did I make it on time?" Claire asked, getting in the car breathlessly, her hand patting her chest to calm down.

"You ARE a bad girl. Look at those dark circles under your eyes. What did you do last night?" Louisa asked in a cold voice, starting the car.

"Uh! Is it obvious? Ugh! This is all your fault! You didn't even give me time to put on makeup! We weren't even home till 1 last night," Claire said, taking the mirror from her purse and looking at her reflection.

"You went out to play last night. Who with? Why didn't you call me?" Louisa said reproachfully. 'Okay, so maybe Claire can't help me as much as I thought. So who else can I get?' Louisa thought.

"Um… Well. I couldn't do that. Not my party, not my choice," Claire said. If she weren't Leena's sister-in-law, she wouldn't have been invited. She knew that implicitly. So how could she invite Louisa to tag along?