The Pawn_Athan Ayo.
Mikel's tavern, being Jenny's stomping ground for some years running, had also played host to her conquests as much as her troubled thoughts. Inviting Laura along to the tavern on the night was the latest of her most welcoming gestures to a friend. It was an expression of both trust and confidence to have accorded her such invitation to her privacy away from home, even though she secretly knew that this teen had been to the tavern with Jimmy before. Mickey had divulged everything to her--the gory details of Jimmy's secret visit to the tavern with Laura.
Jenny's bold move to bring Laura along to this familiar ground was possibly one of her smart strategies to have more information disclosed by this seemingly barefaced teen.
The tavern's atmosphere would be familiar enough for her to disclose more intimate details about her affair with Jimmy, she assured herself.
Seated calmly on the high stools at the bar counter, the duo were positioned facing each other, as they took some shots of highball in turn. To Jenny's surprise, Laura would not stop gulping down the highball in quick succession. It was her fifth shot now, and she was poised to take the sixth.
''Take it easy, babe. You're going to get drunk,'' Jenny warned, stretching her arm across to jerk her back to sense.
''I'm fine,'' Laura softly assured her. ''We're here to catch fun, aren't we,'' asked Laura, tipsily waiving off Jenny's concern.
''You know, most times, I wish Ajuri would be gone and never come back,'' she said, elevating her head to stare at Jenny. ''I just hate Ajuri, and I resent Benji for forcing him on me,'' she disclosed. ''But what to do?''
Jenny listened keenly as she slowly sipped her highball to welcome awaiting information to her keen ears. In a moment of distraction, Jenny caught the glimpse of a tall, sturdy, scar-faced man who took a walk in across the tavern. His presence was huge enough to draw attention from everyone at the tavern. He was hooded, almost concealing his identity but for his face. His face rang a bell to Jenny. She had seen him before, but could not quite place him. Perhaps he's one of the regulars at the tavern and would not matter anyways, she resigned.
''What's up, Jenny?'' the mystery man said curtly as he briefly waved, forcing a smile while facing both Jenny and Laura at a distance.
''Laura, let's have a meet outside,'' he commandingly signalled to Laura, sharply turning his brief gaze from Jenny to the teen before he could even receive a reply to his wave.
Jenny looked on while Laura gullibly walked after the mystery man. She noticed the mask of fear that came over Laura's face as if to obey a forceful command. For a moment, she thought of springing in defence of the vulnerable teen, but she feared that more trouble might ensue. Moreover, there seemed to be more to her relationship with this man beyond face value. She resigned to her seat and calmly watched Laura trail the steps of the mystery man.
Seated alone on the stool, still sipping from the glass of wine, she took a long deep retreat within herself to properly place the face of this fella. Then, eureka! She recalled that she had seen him hang around with Jimmy before. That was George, one of Jimmy's friends at the tavern. She had seen him with Jimmy on a few nights before when they came lounging at the tavern. She felt a mix of resentment and little excitement about her latest discovery. I know him, she concluded.
In a moment of distraction, Jenny took a long gaze across the tavern, beyond the glass door, and she found the duo--George and Laura-- seemingly in a heated argument. The argument seemed so intense that, much to her surprise, she caught a glimpse of Laura vehemently making a case for herself. She had never seen the teen so heated up before; she had known her to be a greenhorn who was forcefully thrown into the adult life. Jenny wished she could hear a word from the heated argument outside. She felt the urge to leave her seat but decided against it. She wished the glass door could reveal their words as much as it revealed their images.
Laura alone headed back into the tavern in a much calmer mien, as different from the one Jenny had caught while she was outside. Jenny was shocked at such quick transition. There was more to this girl, she thought to herself
''Laura, is everything okay?'' Jenny asked, as Laura made to reclaim the stool in a much more composed manner.
''Everything's fine,'' Laura said firmly, drawing a wide smile at Jenny, while redressing a strand of her blonde hair. ''It's just an old friend,'' she continued.
''Oh, I see,'' Jenny replied, crumpling her face in affected surprise, as she sipped more of the highball.
''From the look of it, you seem a regular in Mickey's,'' Jenny ventured boldly, expecting the barafaced teen to roll out more words.''
''No, I've not been here all my life,'' Laura asserted, looking straight at Jenny. ''I'm a first timer here, thanks to you,'' she continued, smiling shyly at Jenny.
Much to the shock of Jenny, she rolled her eyes at Laura, and briefly paused at the sip of highball in her mouth before gulping it down her throat. She knew, at this point, that Laura had just told a lie. Why would she lie about this at this point? Mickey had told her everything; why the heck would she lie now? Jenny continued to weigh her options, and she came to conclude that there was no use asking this cunning teen further questions.
Who knows, she might have lied to me about the chain, too. Gosh, why would she do that? Jenny thought wildly. She felt her trust for the teen peeling really fast as she had once detached accusations from her in an instant!