"What does it taste like?" Alex asked the woman. Then he picked up the glass and downed half of it in one gulp, and his eyes lit up. "This is really good," he said, answering his own question.
She smiled. "At first you feel the coldness of the North Pole, and then the bottom layer brings the heat. Then the heat and cold will mix and disperse, leaving you sweating and with your hair standing on end."
She raised her glass and drank it all at once, and then she shivered as if she had been frozen. Moments later, sweat began to drip down her forehead. She patted her face with a napkin and breathed a sigh of contentment. Then she looked pointedly at him. "Why haven't you finished yours?"
Alex laughed and downed the rest of his drink.
"Would you like another one?" she asked. "I'm Janet Warner, and I don't often treat people to drinks, so you should make the most of the opportunity."
He nodded.
"Another two glasses," she said to the bartender, who looked at her with interest.
When the drinks were served, she and Alex clinked their glasses. This time, he imitated her and drank his all at once.
"It looks like you can handle your alcohol," she said approvingly. "Would another one be too much?"
"Oh, I won't get drunk on this," he said casually.
She laughed. "I've seen people brag before, but never like you. All right, if you really don't get drunk this evening, then I'll take you home for the night. Bartender, give me another six of these—no, ten. Five more for each of us."
Alex shrugged. "I never brag. As for you, are you okay?"
She picked up a glass full of the fiery liquid and poured it down her throat.
He looked at her wordlessly and then did the same. To him, it was like drinking water.
After three glasses, Alex still didn't feel anything. Janet, on the other hand, was getting a little dizzy.
"Are you really all right?" she asked. "Should we stop?"
Her hand was trembling as she held her drink.
Alex spread his hands and said, "I already told you that I won't get drunk."
"I believe you," she said. Then she gritted her teeth and drank the fourth glass of wine in one gulp.
Her face began to turn from red to purple, and she looked like she was starting to feel unwell.
Alex shook his head. The woman was far too stubborn. This kind of cocktail might not be much to him, but for her, four glasses appeared to be the limit.
With the one they had drunk together before the contest began, she was now up to five, and she appeared to be on the verge of collapse.
"You… you haven't drunk yours yet," she said, pointing a quivering finger at him.
Alex smiled helplessly. They had agreed to have five glasses each, so he couldn't possibly refuse to drink the wine she had bought him. He raised his glass and drank from it, and then he grabbed her hand and said, "Don't drink any more."
She gave him a confused look. "Are you afraid?"
He shrugged and said, "I've never been afraid of anything."
"You're bragging again," she pointed out, her eyes a little unfocused. "You're not from around here; I can tell by the accent. You don't know how important some of the people around here are. How can you say that you aren't afraid of anything? You need to be careful what you brag about."
She gripped the edge of the counter to steady herself.
Alex didn't know what to say in response to that. Instead, he held her hand and said, "You really need to stop. You're risking alcohol poisoning."
"Stop jerking me around," she said. "I'm twenty-one years old, but I've been drinking for years, and I've never gotten poisoned. Alcohol isn't a poison." She laughed.
She stared at him with glassy eyes. "Don't be so silly. You know, you really are handsome. I didn't get poisoned with wine, but I have come down with something. You, handsome man, come home and keep me company tonight."
"I don't need any company," Alex said with amusement.
"No, I'm yours tonight," she insisted. "I won't take no for an answer. I'll just follow you."
She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and trying to kiss him.
Alex tilted his head to avoid her lips. He started to gently push her away and discovered that she had passed out.
He couldn't just leave her there in that condition, but he didn't even know where she lived. At least, he thought, I can get a hotel room for her and let her sleep it off.
He carefully settled her into a chair and went to pay for the drinks.
As he paid the bar tab, two roughly dressed men came up to Janet. One of them took her arm, and the other picked up her designer purse.
In bars, there were often people like this who took advantage of single women who were drunk. Sometimes they just took purses, but other times, they would drag the helpless woman to a hotel or even to a secluded park, and assault her.
These two hoodlums clearly saw Janet as a single woman no one cared about.
Alex turned in time to see the two men picking Janet up. One of them was pulling her wallet out of her purse.
"Let her go!" he demanded, scowling at them.
"Kid, this is none of your business," said the short man with fair hair. "Don't look for trouble. Just get out of our way, and we'll forget that we saw you."
Alex sneered at them, surprised they dared to speak to him that way. They hadn't realized yet how much trouble they were in.
"Let her go and apologize to her, and I'll spare your lives," he said, taking a step forward. In the blink of an eye, he had turned from an ordinary young man into the murderous Great One.
"What did you say?" asked the man Alex thought of as Blondie. He thought he must have misheard what Alex had said and looked him over. After deciding that he didn't look like an undercover cop or anyone powerful, Blondie rubbed his chin and said, "Do you really plan to play the gentleman and help her? How quaint." He frowned. "Who are you, anyway? Don't you know whose territory this is?"
The other hoodlum, who had a scar on his neck, took out a knife and threatened Alex.
"You're going to be sorry you got in our way," he said.
Alex sighed and took a step forward. The man's vision blurred as he tried to focus on him. Looking at Alex was suddenly like looking at a reflection in the water. He swung his knife at Alex and stabbed Blondie's thigh instead.
When the man Alex had dubbed Scar could see clearly again, he realized that Janet was now in Alex's arms rather than leaning on Blondie.
Blondie was screaming, and Scar startled and let go of the knife.
The blade was stuck in Blondie's leg, and he was scared. "I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding!" he cried, covering the wound with his hand. His screams attracted the attention of everyone nearby, and he was quickly surrounded.
Although Scar had been in more than one knife fight, he had never hurt one of his own people, and now he looked at Blondie's leg in shock. He didn't know how it had happened or what to do.
Blondie grimaced. "It hurts, damn it!" he whined. "Pull it out!"
Scar's hands were shaking, but he grabbed the knife and yanked.
"No! Stop!" Blondie screamed in pain, kicking Scar with his good leg. Then he grabbed the hilt of the knife with both hands and pulled, but it didn't budge. It was stuck firmly, and the harder he tried to remove the blade, the more it hurt.
"What should I do?" Scar sounded frantic. "Should I take you to a hospital?"
Blondie swore at him. "You idiot! Where would I get the money to go to the hospital?"