CHP 7

Carmen’s POV

Realizing that I had been abandoned by Millie made it impossible to make an excuse.

“Why not?” I asked rhetorically.

“Alright, cool,” he said with a smile. “I will be right back,” he said and hurried out of the room.

Well, at least, his teeth weren’t silver or gold-plaited. 

He came back a few minutes later with two glasses of drinks, and because I wasn’t one to have drinks, I couldn’t even tell what was in the glasses.

“Here we go,” he said.

“I thought we were going to go back to the other room where the real party is happening,” I said skeptically.

“I don’t really fancy such noise, and besides, I won’t get to know you properly if we are there,” he said.

It seemed to make much sense, only that it would have been better if this was coming from someone else, like Chase Maddox, but I already knew that it was wishful thinking, and since the kiss, I had been thinking a whole lot about Chase.

“Shall we?” Rudge asked as he gestured to a couch and we sat down.

But I was careful enough to maintain some form of distance even though the couch was quite small.

He handed me one glass and I took it. Even without taking it close to my nose, I could already tell that there was alcohol in it.

“I don’t drink alcohol,” I told him. 

“Oh, I am sorry, I didn’t know that,” he said sympathetically.

“It’s fine,” I said, excusing his not knowing.

I mean, this was a party where everyone was having something like this, so it would be expected that he would naturally think that I was cool with it.

“Is there like…cocktails?” I asked him.

“I don’t think so, but I could ask,” he stated.

Before I could tell him not to bother about it, simply because I wasn’t even really thirsty, he had already gotten up and hurried out of the room. He came back a few minutes later again, but he was only holding his own glass of drink.

“This is the only drink they have that is less alcoholic,” Rudge told me remorsefully. “The others would have your knees shaking by just half a glass,” he told me.

I managed a smile.

“It’s okay,” I said.

I was really going to ask him not to bother about anyway. He seemed a little relieved when I said that as he took a seat beside me.

“Where is Millie and her boyfriend?” I asked Rudge.

“Uh, those two? I can bet that they are somewhere smooching each other,” he said, giggling.

I didn’t find that funny at all.

“They can barely keep their hands off each other, so it’s best not to worry about them,” he added.

I recalled that looking after Millie and ensuring that she was decent and intact were the main reasons I came to this party in the first place. As for her boyfriend, I could have met him at any time.

“But where exactly did they go?” I asked worriedly.

“They are in this building, Camila, if that is something you are worried about,” he told me.

“It’s Carmen,” he said.

I was already turned off by the fact that he couldn’t even remember my name.

“Huh?” He asked.

“My name is Carmen, not Camila,” I corrected him.

He smiled nicely.

“I am sorry for the mix up,” he said. “I have had two glasses of these and it is already making my head go round,” he added lightly, referring to the glass of drink in his hand.

I didn’t even bother to take mine.

“So, you work for Chase Maddox?” Rudge went right ahead to ask.

I cleared my throat and said, “Yes, I do.”

“What exactly do you do for him?” Rudge asked again.

“I am his manager,” I answered.

Rudge’s eyes budged with shock and amazement at the same time. 

“Wow, that is huge!” He said, chuckling.

Aside from the fact that I wasn’t even comfortable being alone in his presence from the beginning, I didn’t like the way he was asking me questions about Chase. If Millie’s boyfriend hadn’t announced it, I wouldn’t have said anything about it at all.

“It’s not a big deal,” I tried to trivialize it.

“The Ice King is a big deal, are you kidding me?” Rudge asked, smiling. “What does it feel like working for him?” Rudge went right ahead to continue asking.

It was as though he didn’t know how to take a break when talking, and he was beginning to wear me out, especially with the Chase-questions.

“What do you do, Rudge?” I asked instead, trying to deviate the conversation from where it was, but I wasn’t really that lucky.

“He must be really good, right?” Rudge asked. “He has to be, otherwise he wouldn’t be this popular, and those eyes of his. I heard that…” Rudge continued, and I had already had enough.

Especially when he started to mention Chase’s eyes.

“I don’t want to talk about Chase or my job,” I interjected.

I had tried to do so stylishly, but it obviously didn’t work, and so there was no point in beating around bush.

Rudge seemed disappointed.

“I thought we were getting to know each other,” he said, his voice dropping slightly.

“Yes, we are,” I said. “Why don’t you tell me what you do,” I requested, trying again to shift the conversation to Rudge.

He relaxed on the sofa and said, “I don’t work.”

“That’s…weird,” I said, unable to contain it.

“Yeah, because I haven’t found the right job for me,” he explained briefly.

“Oh,” I exclaimed in slight shock. “So, what does Jason do?” I asked Rudge.

I already knew that after this party, I really didn’t want to have anything to do with Rudge, so I might as well look out for Millie by finding out what her boyfriend did for a living.

“I am bored,” Rudge blurted, ignoring my question. “Let’s go back to the party,” he said.

Didn’t he say a while ago that he didn’t want to?

Anyway, I didn’t object, because being there would save me from having meaningless conversations with him.

“Okay,” I agreed.

Rudge and I went back to the party, and what he did next took me completely by surprise.

Rudge climbed the stage, held the microphone, and said, “Attention everyone,” and everyone stopped and looked at him.

The loud music stopped instantly, and I wondered what he was doing.

“You all, meet Carmen. She works for Chase Maddox, the Ice King!” Rudge announced loudly.

Right there and then, I felt like my entire life was over.