I Never Left

Stealing another wing from Frankie's bowl at Wing World, I raise my loot high and declare—"Accept your punishment!"

The woman sitting across from me looks out of place in her chic low cut red dress, a tucked napkin, and designer shades on at my favorite wing restaurant.

"You've already punished me five times you know. I'm only letting your blatant stealing go because you're sick," she pouted.

"I'm not sick. If I was sick, would I be able to down all this alcohol with you? Can you believe David banned me from working?"

"He should have done that ages ago. I'm on his side. You do the absolute most. If you dare work in these six days, I'll revoke a friendship privilege."

"Oooh, a threat? I'm so scared~ Which privilege will I be denied?"

Taking her time to finish off a wing, she smiles at me before she responds. "The one where I get you free stuff like a VIP ticket to see your favorite boy band—iKON."

Tempted to prostrate on my knees to beg, I keep my pride and only bang my head on the table.

"Oh merciful queen Frankie, please pity your servant and grant her a ticket to see iKON. Your ward promises to never work this week."

Frankie giggles and asks, "Promise?"

I raise my right hand with a half-eaten wing on it. "I solemnly swear."

"Good girl." Frankie laughs and boldly takes a juicy wing from my plate victoriously.

Downing the remaining beer in my glass, I sigh in defeat.

Done munching, Frankie confronts me with her clear eyes. "Can you answer my question now? Can we finally talk about the person that is the giant ass elephant in the room?"

"Nope."

"How long are you going to avoid him? You've already met him even when you almost murdered me for keeping my mouth shut. The two of you are magnets, no matter how far you stretch away, you two eventually snap right back to each other."

"Quit saying nonsense. Didn't I say we can't talk about him?" I grumble.

"Quit running away. I keep shut about Jude being back and you almost murder me over the phone, I finally open my mouth to talk, and you tell me to shut up. Choose already."

I finally drop my wing and stare her dead in her glossy black eyes—"NEVER."

Done being rowdy at WIngs World. Frankie for some strange reason drops me off at Gada Park, instead of my apartment, but at least it was super close to where I stay. I was confused, but I took the opportunity to take a nice walk through Gada Park to get home.

I drank a bit today, but I feel perfectly fine. I'm quite proud of the fact that I never get drunk when I drink. I feel like I never even suffered from a bad cold and happily waltz home.

My carefree steps are stopped by a dark shadow that covers my vision. I look up to see a man in a dark blue suit staring down at me and barring me from moving forward.

Taking in his dark hair and moody eyes, I realize that I'm probably drunk to be seeing Jude once again.

I could barely concentrate through my meetings today and was about to head home to crash in my bed when I received a message from the troublemaker called Francisca.

The message read 'she's drinking again,' with a picture of a smiling Pelumi kissing a chicken wing with bloated cheeks.

I urge myself to chill and ignore her text, but before I know it, I'm driving my car down the road without even bothering to call my chauffeur.

I see Frankie drop Pelumi off in front of my her apartment, but instead of going in, she walks off from the entrance and goes down the street in a completely straight line. I hop out my car to follow her and dial Francisca.

"Why the hell did you let a sick person drink? She's supposed to be resting."

"Ah. How dearly I've missed the old days of you calling to scold me for something I did with Pelumi. Come on cuz~ you know I can't say no to my bestie, plus remember how deeply she sleeps after drinking! Think of all the rest she'll get!"

With a grunt, I cut the call. There was no point in ever trying to reason with Francisca. I follow Pelumi from behind as she continues to stray further from her apartment to the nearby park.

Following her into the park, I debate whether to show myself or not, since it had been so long since I have confronted a drunk Pelumi.

Pelumi begins to eventually stray from her straight path and an alarm sounds off in my head and I instinctively move to block her path before she gets crazy. She looks me up and down in confusion with her huge beady eyes.

"Why in the world did a sick person take alcohol?" I can barely keep myself from scolding her more.

She begins to frown and pout. "I'm not sick! Alcohol makes me happy! Why are you back in my life again you bighead?!"

Seeing the tears gather in her eyes, I draw her close into a hug and whisper words I know she would forget by morning.

Deep in my embrace, she rests her head in my arms and falls asleep. Looking at her all cozied up in my embrace, I shift her braids and rub her cheek.

"I never left, stupid."