Chapter 4: Alcohol Must Be Fun

As she was on her way home, she made the driver stop at the side of the road. The driver was confused why she made him do that as they were not even close to her house. They were not even halfway there. 

“Ma’am, what happened?” the driver asked her in concern and worry. His face was radiating his confusion about Eliza’s order to stop. He saw her depressed face and got even more concerned. 

“Ma’am, are you ok? Do you need me to get you something?” he politely offered to help her. 

Even though the driver was speaking to her, like before Eliza was not able to give him a proper response. “Wait here for some time. I have to go take care of something,” she instructed as she unlocked her door and stepped out of the car. The driver complied and drove the car away to a better parking spot but not too far away from Eliza. It was his duty to stay near her as far as possible. 

Without looking back, Eliza went forward and entered the local bar. The dimly lit place caught her by surprise. She stuck out like a sore thumb as her face bared a confused look at the place. This was her first-time entering a bar so everything in sight was new to her. She generally preferred to stay away from bars and clubs and stay at the office working hard.

It was a shock to Eliza as well to see herself walk into such a place, but the breakup messed her mind up to do things that she never thought she would do. With a firm grip on her handbag, she walked up to the bar counter and sat on the high raised, bar stool.

She felt weird and kept looking at every corner of the place. There were people having a chat, while some were laughing drunk. There were even some people making out which made Eliza remember her first kiss with Noah. She got frustrated by even remembering his face. 

“Can I get you anything, ma’am?” the bartender came up to her and asked while wiping a few clear glasses. 

Eliza was confused about what to order. She was not a drinker. She never tasted alcohol in her life. While attending parties or gatherings, when offered a drink she would often refuse and consumed sparkling water instead. So, the question felt like a pop quiz test for her. 

She raised her head and began looking at the bottles displayed on the rack. “One beer please” she ordered as she came across a beer bottle. She wanted to play it safe as it was her first time entering the zone of alcohol. 

The bartender took a tall beer glass out of the drying rack and popped open one beer bottle. As he began to fill it up, Eliza saw the yellow liquid pouring in with white foam on the top.

“Enjoy!” the bartender said before going back to cleaning up the glasses.

Eliza gulped as she saw the beer right in front of her. She picked up the glass from the top and took a whiff of the liquid. The smell made her want to puke! She did not want to drink such a thing but when images of Noah and Taylor in bed flashed before her eyes, she grabbed the glass in anger and chugged the whole thing in her mouth. Anger took over her and she could not put the glass down. 

After finishing every single drop from the glass, she placed it on the counter with a light thud, wiping the excess foam off of her face. She thought she would feel high and the troubles would go away automatically but nothing of the sort happened. She was still in her miserable state. 

“You will need a lot stronger drink than that.” Eliza heard a deep husky voice say from behind her. 

With her teary eyes, she took a look at her back to find a tall, handsome young man standing in a business suit. He had dark brown hair, raised in the form of spikes. His smile gave a cute look to his face while his dark brown eyes bought a charm to it. His jawline was sharp and had a well-built body. 

He went ahead and sat in the chair next to Eliza. Immediately as he did so, Eliza’s nostrils were filled with his manly perfume. “My name’s Benjamin... Benjamin Clayton” he introduced himself while extending his hand for a handshake. 

Eliza took the initiative to not be rude to him as she was with Mr. Garcia and shook his hand. His warm touch covered the coldness of her hands. “Eliza... Eliza Harper” she introduced herself as well with a low voice.

“So, Eliza... if you want to drink something to get your mind out of this world and worries, you will need something stronger than just plain beer. "he explained to her with a wink. 

Eliza gave out a subtle smile and became interested in what Benjamin was saying, even though Noah was still floating around her mind. She was desperate to talk to someone nice. 

“Two shots of vodka, please,” Benjamin ordered while shooting a smile at Eliza.

Eliza gathered some strength and spoke in a timid voice, “How did you know that I was sad and worried?” 

Benjamin smirked with his charm filling the air. He turned himself to Eliza. “Eliza, if anyone walks in and sees your face, they would immediately come to know that you are sad and hurt. Your face says it all.”

At that moment, the bartender appeared with two shot glasses filled with vodka. Eliza looked nervous as she could smell the strength of its alcoholic content. 

“First time, right?” Benjamin asked as he grabbed both the glasses in his hands. He offered one of the glasses to Eliza.

Eliza nodded profusely for a second before accepting the glass from Benjamin. Since the glass was closer to her nostrils, she coughed a bit from the strong smell. 

“Hey, look at me,” he said as he drank the shot and swallowed the vodka down his throat. “It’s easy.” he continued his sentence.

Eliza saw how Benjamin effortlessly drank the vodka. She stared at her reflection on the glass and contracted her brows. The smell was bothering her a lot. Despite that, she wanted to take it in. She wanted to escape hell even if it was just for a moment. She covered her nose by pinching it with her fingers and with her other hand, poured the glass into her mouth.

As she swallowed the vodka, she started to cough a bit as it was burning her throat. But after that was over, she felt a bit better. She looked up and stared at Benjamin who too was staring at her with a smile. 

“I’ll order some more,” he smirked and told the bartender to bring a few more shots.

There was some silence for a bit but Eliza finally decided to break it and speak up, “Have you ever met someone with who you spent so much time with and then one day realize that all that time was a lie?” 

The bartender came in with a number of vodka shots. Benjamin started to arrange them while answering Eliza’s question, “Umm... why yes I have. My ex-wife. She fits your description perfectly”

“What about you?” he asked her. 

“My boy- I mean ex-boyfriend ‘Noah’, the biggest jerk of all time.” Eliza put angered emphasis on ‘jerk’ while describing him to Benjamin. 

‘Tell me about it.” 

The both of them picked up a glass and drank up before reacting to the pungent taste of the vodka. 

“Noah, the person who I spent so much of time with... I freaking caught him in bed with his ex on our anniversary.” Eliza vented out her anger as Benjamin listened.

Eliza felt like she was in a safe spot to vent out her feelings. I between each shot, she kept talking about her relationship with Noah and her complaints about him. She went back into time and explained everything including about Taylor. The more they both drank, the drunker they became.

“What a jerk!” Benjamin commented about Noah after knowing the full story. Eliza and Benjamin started to laugh, under the influence of the many glasses of vodka they drank.

“Oh, he is the biggest jerk of all time. I want to teach him a lesson. I feel stupid for holding back.” Eliza picked up the last glass and swallowed it like a pro.

“Let’s do one thing the. Let’s call him. Teach him whatever lesson you want then.” Benjamin suggested as he hiccupped from being super drunk. Even though Benjamin just met Eliza, he got along well with her and was ready to help her out.

Eliza looked at Benjamin in silence before bursting out in laughter. “Let’s do it” she said before pulling out her phone from her purse. They were ready to call Noah and give a piece of their mind.