When they got outside the building, James stopped a taxi and helped Lyse get in then directed the taxi to the hotel while Lyse sat numbly with her veil in her hands. She was no longer crying and she simply stared out the window at the passing scenery.
When they got to the hotel, she came down while James paid the fare and people stared openly at her but she did not even notice them. As they walked into the hotel lobby and headed towards the elevator Lyse stopped.
"Do they have a bar in here?" She asked hoarsely.
"They don't but they have one next door." He said and Lyse immediately turned around and headed for the exit while James followed her hurriedly.
"How about we go upstairs and get you changed out of this dress sweetie." James said softly.
"No." Lyse simply replied.
She was beyond caring what anyone had to say about her or even if they pointed at her, all that she wanted at that point was to be able to numb her feelings and get rid of the pain that was gnawing at her heart.
Realizing that he would not be able to get her to change her clothes without bodily carrying her up to the room and making a scene, James just quietly followed her as she clutched her veil in her hand and they walked along the street with her dressed in the elegant white silk sheath wedding dress.
It was late afternoon so when they walked into the bar there were very few people there and they all turned to look at the couple that had just entered. If not for James hot pink head to toe flashy ensemble they would have assumed that they were a newly married couple.
Lyse ignored them all and almost ran to the bar and took a seat.
"What would you like miss?" The bartender asked without batting an eyelid.
He had been a bartender for about fifteen years and he had seen all sorts, a morose bride had to be one of the least chaotic things that had stepped foot in the bar. He remained unperturbed.
"Whiskey with ice." She said and he nodded then turned away.
He soon came back with a coaster which he placed in front of her and put a glass with ice on it, he started to open the whiskey bottle in order to pour some and she protested, making him raise an eyebrow.
"Just leave me the entire bottle."
"Oookay." He said then dropped the bottle in front of her and watched as she half filled the glass then swallowed a large gulp with a grimace.
'It was going to be an interesting night.'
"Alright," the bartender said and turned to James, "And you will have?"
"Let me have a Shirley Temple." James requested daintily and the bartender disappeared then reappeared with James' drink.
James stared at Lyse in concern, he could see that she was not doing very well with the humiliating event. But at least she was no longer crying over that piece of shit, that was a good thing right?
He had always felt that Brandon was not good enough for a beautiful, talented woman like Lyse but Lyse had been blinded by love and the perfect future that she saw before her.
He could understand why she felt that way, if you were born into a family where you were despised by everyone then you would probably want to escape them.
Unfortunately for her, she had tried to do the escaping into the arms of someone as undeserving as Brandon Marlowe.
He wanted to comfort her and tell her that she was a gorgeous girl and there would be a line of men who would take on the entire world just to be by her side but he kept quiet and stayed by Lyse, silently keeping her company and protecting her from the lecherous glances that were thrown in her direction by the men who were slowly filling up the bar.
After a while and Lyse's bottle had gone down a considerable amount, James phone rang. He looked down at the screen and looked startled.
In the midst of all the chaos he had entirely forgotten that he was supposed to have a brief online meeting. He glanced at Lyse and leaned close to her.
"Lyse honey, do you want to leave?" He asked, eyeing the bottle of whiskey.
"You just go ahead, I want to be here for a little while." Lyse said, slightly slurring her words.
James wavered, he did not want to leave Lyse alone in the bar but she obviously did not want to leave right now and the meeting was too important to skip on.
'I will just hurry and come back as soon as I am done.' He said to himself then called out to the bartender.
"Please could you keep an eye on my friend for me while I am gone?"
"Sure." The bartender said as he looked at Lyse's melancholic face.
The bartender tried to watch out for Lyse but patrons kept trooping into the bar and soon he was too busy taking their orders to pay her any attention.
Soon enough someone saw an opportunity to talk to the obviously drunk beauty at the bar.
"Hey pretty lady, why are you drinking all by yourself." He whispered close to Lyse' ear.
She made no reaction, it was like she had not heard him talk and she continued to drink while looking at the wall with a dull look in her eyes.
"Hey you uppity bitch, why won't you look at me? Do you think you are too good for me?" The man demanded loudly and held her jaw, forcing her to look up at him.
"Enough, go bother someone else and leave the lady alone." A voice calmly said.
The man who had approached Lyse turned and looked at the man who was sitting by the other side, nonchalantly sipping his drink without even looking in their direction.
"Did you come with her?" Lyse attacker demanded, his tone belligerent.
"No but I hate when urchins like you bother a lady simply because you think that she is defenseless, I hate cowards." The stranger said, while still he continued to sip his drink between his words.
Lyse's attacker bristled at the insult and he tried to throw a punch at the man who was sitting but found his hand being twisted behind his back and then before he could do more, his head was slammed hard against the bar.
He slithered to the ground where he remained, knocked out cold. Almost immediately someone came and dragged the limp body out of the way and everyone went back to what they had been doing as if nothing of note had happened.
The stranger returned to his seat and kept on enjoying his drink until he noticed that there was a pair of eyes on him. The girl he had just saved was staring at him, completely dazzled.
He turned his head and was fully treated to her beauty. Her brown eyes were heavy with intoxication and along with a full mouth gave a sultry edge to an already gorgeous face.
Despite her appeal there was something sad about her and it drew him in, made him want to fight many more idiots for her.
"Do you wanna dance?" She slurred and he smiled.
She was very drunk, he was also drunk and bored, why not?
H stood up and helped her come down from her seat. When she got to her feet she felt light headed and she stumbled against him and he put a hand on the back of her waist to steady her.
She giggled and leaned there, inhaling the smell of him and enjoying the warmth of his hand on her back. He smelled clean and crisp, like mountain air and mint and man and as he led her to the dance floor she wondered what she was doing.
The man who she had thought was the love of her life had just dumped her not even five hours ago yet here she was dancing with a gorgeous stranger. She giggled again and the man smiled.
"This bar is boring, let's get out of here." The girl in his arms pouted and he chuckled.
"So, what do you wanna do that is fun?" He asked when they were outside the bar.
"Hmmm." She answered as if she was thinking hard.