Page 8 of The Winning Ticket

“Where’s Jake?”

I head out of my room and greet Annelisa, grinning when Will wraps his arms around his girlfriend like he hasn’t seen her for months. It has only been five hours. It would be disgusting if they weren’t so good together.

“Hey, Jakey-boy. Looking very smart this evening.” She leans forward to kiss me on the cheek, and I wrap my arms around her and Will.

“You boys have had a productive afternoon of drinking, haven’t you?”

I look over to see that Morgan has come in behind Annelisa and is laughing while her best friend tries to untangle herself from all the hugs.

“A very productive afternoon indeed.” I salute Morgan, who shakes her head.

The women have taken the ‘dress sophisticated’ theme of the night to heart, and I see many short dresses and ridiculously high heels amongst the guests who have already arrived. Morgan is wearing a short little green number that looks like it was painted on, and I can tell Chris has never seen this dress before when he sees her, stepping back to run his eyes over her and whistling.

It is so rare for us all to get rowdy together anymore. My life these days is mostly cooking for myself at home and playing video games or my guitar, so I’ve enjoyed chilling out on the terrace with the guys for the afternoon while drinking beers. We did pace ourselves, wanting to remain upright for the party. Still, we are definitely tipsy now, and I’ve always become overly affectionate when I’m drinking – something that the women are reminded of when I start hugging them all.

I don’t even notice who I am hugging until I step back from the final lady walking into the room and realise it’s Bri. Thankfully, she is laughing as well, and I do my best not to check her out, but it is a challenge.

Gone is the slightly awkward teen that I grew up with. The woman standing in front of me is breathtaking, and when she smiles at me, it feels like the air has been sucked out of the room. She’s slimmed right down since school, though, almost to the point of being too thin, and there is a sadness behind her eyes that was never there before. Her little black dress is even tighter than the one Morgan is wearing, something I hadn’t realised was possible, but I keep my eyes on her face.

“Hey, Jake. It’s been a long time.” Her voice is huskier than I remember, and I realise now just how long it has been since we’ve seen each other.

It dawns on me that I’ve been staring at her too long when she raises an eyebrow and gives me a small smile.

“Yeah, it has,” I say, clearing my throat when the words come out squeaky.

I busy myself with getting everyone drinks, and Bri wraps her arms around Chris, hugging him tightly. Someone has worked out the complicated sound system in the lounge room, and music starts pumping through the apartment.

“Come on, let’s get you drunk, little sister.” Morgan takes one of the glasses of champagne I’ve poured and hands it to her sister.

Bri stares at it unenthusiastically. She doesn’t seem to be in the mood to party, and I wonder if she’s been forced to come out tonight. If she’s just been through a rough break-up, she probably wishes she was at home right now.

“You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to, Bri. I’ve got soft drinks as well,” I say, and she gives me a grateful smile.

Morgan rolls her eyes at me. “Fine, but I still think having a few drinks will make you feel much better, Bri.” She pouts.

She has always been the most outgoing in our group and loves to party. While she’s started to calm down in the past few years, I can see signs of the old Morgan right now, and Chris steps in.

“Come on, babe, let’s go check out the view. Let Bri decide for herself what she wants to do.” He steers his fiancee away.

I watch with interest while Bri mouths the words ‘thank you’ in his direction, and he shoots her a thumbs-up whilst following Morgan.

“I take it she’s already started drinking too?” I ask.

Bri places the champagne glass back on the bench and nods at the bottle of Coke I hold up. “Yeah, she had a few at their place while she was getting ready. She insisted I couldn’t stay home in my comfy trackies and had to come out and party the night away.”

With my suspicions confirmed, I pour her a glass and slide it across the bench towards her.

“Well, I know we’re all happy to see you here. Morgan is set on this being a raging party, but I think the rest of us are just looking forward to hanging out and enjoying this incredibly sweet apartment.” I spread my arms wide, and Bri laughs.

“Very true, this is a nice apartment. I can’t believe you won this place. How’d that happen?” She settles herself on one of the high stools behind the island bench while I start prepping bowls of chips to leave out for anyone who wants them until the posh caterers Morgan had organised (using my credit card, of course) arrive.

“I bought the tickets about three months ago. I honestly didn’t even know what the first prize was. I couldn’t believe it when I opened the email and saw I’d won a whole damn apartment.” I shake my head.

She looks around while she takes a sip of her drink before turning back to face me, “It kind of reminds me of my old place in Sydney… Or, well, Richard’s place. Clearly, it wasn’t mine as I had no control over being able to live there, apparently.” Her words are laced with bitterness, and I look up from the last packet of chips I am pouring into the biggest bowl I can find.

“What do you mean? Did he kick you out? That’s shit, Bri, I’m sorry.”

“Not just kicked me out. He changed the locks, packed everything I owned, and left it in my car. Along with my dog.”