When we left Paul, I asked Frank what he was doing with such people. I was so angry that I didn't allow him to encircle his arm around my waist this time around.
"Hmm," he heaved a sigh and gently began explaining, "Actually, Paul and I have been friends for a very long time. He wasn't like this, but few years after our bachelor's degree everything changed. I tried all my best to talk sense into him but all efforts to no avail, thus I let him"
"You should have stayed away from him" I suggested.
"What? You know I can't do that, he's my friend. I can't just..." he paused and continued, "I can't just abandon him, it's not gonna be easy, – Laura"
"Yes, it's not. But, if you don't, people will assume you both are the same. Remember the adage that says, show me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are" I said, and that made him speechless. "Look, Frank, you don't need such people in your life. They are..."
"Let's just go and find your sister, okay?" he cut in and began leading the way. He was obviously angry.
"I am sorry" I murmured, knowing fully he wasn't going to hear me. I wasn't really guilty, you know? And why should I even feel guilty? It wasn't as if what I said was wrong. I was right about everything I said regarding his friends.
When we arrived around where Jessica and her friends were, he told me to call him when I finally convinced her to follow me home so he could give us a ride. "Thank..." I said halfway as he turned and left, "you" I disappointedly completed my words while watching him as he walked into the crowd.
When he was finally out of sight, I headed straight to Jessica and her friends. "Guys!" I squealed, more like announcing my presence.
"Hey, Laura, come on here!" Shirley walked over to me while the rest only gave me a glance before continuing with their dance. Jessica added more wine to her glass and began sipping while dancing together with Suzanna.
"Shirley, are you guys okay?" I asked, indirectly trying to know if Jessica was okay.
"Okay? Of course we are fine!" she grabbed one of my hands, "Come on, leg's go and chill. We have enough beer here"
"I am not here for that!" I pulled my hands from her grip.
"Then why are you here, to watch?" she folded her arms across her chest.
"No, I am here to take Jessica home. It's getting late and I don't want anything bad to happen to her" I said, prompting Shirley to burst into laughter. "What's funny?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said amidst laughter, "just that, Jessica intends to stay here till morning. We are gonna sleep in someone's trailer, her friend. Ben. You know she has a lot of friends around here"
"Trailer?" I was dumbfounded.
"Yeah, sure. Trailer!" Shirley repeated.
"How safe is that? What if something happens? Ain't you guys scared? You are in the middle of," I looked around,"nowhere, Shirley, you are in the woods"
"Yes, sure!" she said, not bothered at all.
"Come on, Shirley, you don't wanna trust the people around here. Look around and see, not even the Count's son is to be trusted. Frank took me to him earlier and, trust me, he's not the kind of guy you will trust with your safety" I tried to explain things to her.
"Oh, Laura, please stop that. We are hundred and one percent safe here. Nothing will happen to us, nothing. Our safety was assured by the Count himself, not his son. And this is not the first time we are doing this, we've been doing this for quite some time and nothing bad has ever happened. So, chill, okay?" she said, rendering me speechless. "Are you gonna join us?" she asked.
"No, why? I can't join you guys" I shook my head negatively.
"Okay, you are going home then?" she wrinkled a brow at me.
"Yes, but I am not going without Jessica" I muttered.
"Hmm, you just don't get it... do you?" she turned over to Jessica, "Look how happy she is, dancing and chilling, do you think she's going to follow you home?" she turned over to me, "I don't think so, 'cause I am pretty sure Jessica won't be going home now unless if someone is going to knock her out before taking her home"
"Knock her out? That's crazy!" I shrugged the idea, "Think about something better, how about you go to know her and convince her to go home. Or you can just talk to your friends, convince them to go home and I am pretty sure she won't be staying when y'all decide to leave"
"Like seriously? And you think it is going to work? Even if I try to do that, the only person I can count on is Fred. But the rest? None of them is willing to go home and no matter what I do, they are staying. So, Laura, I think all you need right now is a broad rest. Go home and rest. But if you want to join us, there is always a space for you. We have all kinds of wine here, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Your choice!" she said widening her teeth.
"You just didn't get it, do you?" I rolled my eyes and began walking towards Jessica, "I will talk to her myself"
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you"
"You did, thank you!" I muttered and didn't say a word to her again.
When I reached over to Jessica, I whispered into her ear that I would like to talk to her in private. "What? I can't hear you!" she bellowed. It was actually noisy, the music played was loud. You could barely hear what people are saying.
"I said, I would like to talk to you in private. It's important" I repeated my words.
"Okay, but if it's about home... just go, Laura, because I ain't going anywhere!" she said.
