"Lucian, my brother, come out and have a drink with me." Jake's cheerful voice rang out from the other end. "We will drown our sorrows with alcohol."
"Not interested." replied Lucian in a flat tone.
On the other side, Jake was seated on a bar stool in a well-lit place decked with wooden interior and old country music floating in the air. There were small tables grouped with chairs all over the place with many of them occupied by other patrons.
Jake was seated by the bar table, still in the same vest suit and pants he wore earlier, albeit a bit wrinkled and disheveled. He took a shot glass in his hand and downed it at once before slamming it back on the table.
"Don't be like that. You have to vent your emotions once in a while-" Jake spoke into the mobile and grabbed another glass but he found it empty so he raised his hand and called out to the bartender. "Yo, two more here."
Lucian narrowed his eyes as he heard that and then noticed the faint sounds of the people and music in the background and realized where Jake was. He turned around and stepped out of the RV as he spoke. "It seems you are already drowning in alcohol."
"Uh, well… I only had two, three, four, five…" Jake began counting the glasses laid in front of him but his gaze wasn't steady and he began seeing double so he just gave up. "The point is… I'm allowed to drink today and no one can stop me."
Lucian on the other side, sighed and sat down on the steps of his RV. "Alright, where are you?"
"Oh, I'm at this bar called Silver Talon. You better come quickly or I will drink everything here and you won't have any left." Jake declared rather proudly.
Lucian removed his phone from his ear and opened his browser. He then searched for 'Silver Talon' and checked its address before his brows twitched into a frown.
It was on the opposite side to his current location and would take him at least an hour to reach there. And by that time, Lucian was sure Jake would really drink himself to oblivion.
"So, are you coming or not?" Jake's voice was heard again and Lucian felt a heavy sigh coming out of him.
"No, I can't." He answered curtly.
"Why not?" Jake asked in disappointment before he spoke up again. "Ah right, I forgot. You are a married man now. Do you need to ask for permission?" He asked in a taunting manner and then began to laugh derisively.
Lucian ignored his snide remark as he remembered something and dialed another number from his list of contacts. His call was picked up on the first ring and a woman's hurried voice greeted him.
"Lucian, do you know where Jake is? He's not answering my calls."
Lucian realized that Jake must've been gone for a long time and quickly answered her. "Yeah, he's at Silver Talon across the 5th."
"Damn it. He told me he was just going out for some fresh air. I should've known better." The woman chided herself and then Lucian could hear her move around while rambling about Jake. "He's really tempting me to install a GPS app on his phone. Not a day goes by without him running off and causing some sort of trouble for me clean up. I mean, why can't he behave like a responsible adult for once? Oh no, that would make poor Gina's life easy. We can't have that now, can we?"
Lucian's lips twitched into a smile as he listened to her grumblings. It really was a hard chore to put up with a reckless and impulsive boss like Jake. Lucian always found it surprising that she stayed with him for as long as she did. Anyone else would've packed up and left after just a week.
"Alright I'm on my way. I'll call you back after I get him." Gina spoke up as she hopped into her car and set up her destination in the navigation system.
"I'm sorry, I would've gone there myself but I'm on the other end." Lucian explained, feeling bad that he was so far and unable to help.
"Don't worry about it. It's not my first time dragging him out of a bar." Gina replied confidently and Lucian hung up with a sigh.
He then picked up his previous call and spoke again. "Are you there?"
"Why did you put me on hold?" Jake questioned fiercely, his voice fluctuating between anger and sorrow. "Who is more important to you than your handsome senior brother? Tell me, I want to know. Who are you dumping me for?"
Lucian felt a headache coming on as he began rubbing his forehead while trying to maintain his patience.
"Oh wait. I know, it's your wife isn't it?" Jake scoffed, as though he was disappointed in his junior brother. "You just got married and you are already putting your wife before your brother? Tsk tsk, tell me, has she already got you wrapped around her little finger?"
Lucian should've been annoyed but his lips curved into small smile as if he was pleased with everything he was hearing.
Jake was also waiting for his cold retort or a sarcastic comment, but when he didn't hear anything, realization dawned on him. Then he began laughing as he continued to tease Lucian. "I'm right, aren't I? Hahaha, unbelievable. You are unbelievable. And sister-in-law is so amazing. She actually managed to charm you already. Who would've thought? I'm impressed."
Then Jake let out a heavy sigh and spoke again, his tone serious with a tinge of relief and joy. "Junior brother, I'm really happy for you. I'm glad you finally have someone to go back to. And you better take good care of her because she suffered a lot already and deserves to be happy. You both deserve to be happy and I wish you find your happiness in each other."
Lucian was surprised to hear him speak so seriously and show such concern about his life. It was very rare for Jake to talk about his inner feelings out loud, even when drunk. Lucian was caught off guard and didn't know how to respond so he remained silent and listened to his brother attentively.
"Today is a very sad day but it is also a day to celebrate. So don't let those sad things pull you down and just enjoy the start of your new journey."
'You are the one drowning your sorrows in alcohol, brother.' Lucian retorted silently but he had a small smile on his face as he felt warm inside.
"And since you are not here, I'll drink and celebrate on your behalf." Jake spoke with excitement laced in his voice as he found a new excuse to keep drinking. He then threw his phone aside and then climbed onto the table and stood up unsteadily.
"Sir, please get down." The bartender was shocked and quickly held onto him as he tried to get him off the table but Jake ignored him and turned towards the people seated in their tables.
At the same time, a woman with ginger hair, in a beige coat and a handbag across her shoulder stepped into the bar. She looked around with a frown and jumped with a gasp when she saw Jake standing on the bar table.