Page 51 of Sixty Meters Under
“Earth to Ryo!” Aki snapped her fingers. Ryosuke’s eyes widened and refocused, as this gesture brought him back to reality.
“We’re kind of absent, aren’t we?” Ayame remarked.
“No. I mean yeah... I guess?” Ryosuke sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head.
“Hm.” Ayame glanced in the direction Ryosuke was looking a few seconds ago and saw a group of people. There were two young women among the group of guys, which made her wonder if his attention was drawn to one of them. She looked closely at her fiancé, and he appeared quite flustered. She turned to gaze at two women once more, and the web of suspicion and jealousy began to unravel. “Do you know them?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Huh–?” Ryosuke looked at her puzzled, and Ayame almost felt sorry that she had those feelings bubbling inside of her.
“Those two women. Which one do you know?”
Ryosuke narrowed his eyes, seemingly struggling to focus. “I’m not sure…” he started. “The lighting is poor. I might recognize them under normal circumstances, but now I can’t say I’ve seen them before. Why?”
Ayame bit her tongue. Was she jealous for no reason? Perhaps it was the influence of alcohol that made her fiancé flushed and act out of character. She knew that Ryosuke wasn’t used to drinking. He was already finishing his fourth glass, and not even an hour had passed since they moved to the bar.
Ryosuke looked down at his drink and traversed his fingers up and down the glass’s surface, his eyes focusing and unfocusing on the glass.
→
Lennart looked over the bar. He knew where one particular person was seated, so he glanced in his direction once again. This time the young man looked thoughtfully at his glass. His fiancé was next to him talking with two other girls at the table. Lennart kept his eyes on him for a moment then turned his attention back to his friends.
“What are you searching for?” Liam nudged him with the elbow.
“Nothing. Just looking around.”
“I don’t believe you. You have this ass and tits right beside you and you seem more interested to look around?!” Liam pointed at Leticia, his voice almost a whisper.
Lennart laughed and shook his head. He wished he could confide in his friend, but he knew there was no point.
?
A couple joined them at the table, but Scarlett wasn’t in the mood to talk. Her husband hadn’t left her side all evening, and he was already getting on her nerves. She drank glass after glass to numb her senses and to cope with the situation she found herself in. At one point when she had enough, she got up from the table and said, “I’m going to use the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
Getting up wasn’t a problem, walking was a challenge. When Scarlett took a few steps, she almost lost her balance.
“Do you need help, dear?” her husband asked when she stumbled.
“N-no. I’m fine.” She smiled and waved her hand. “I got up a little too quickly,” she added and walked away. As she pushed through the crowd, she swayed from side to side, but somehow managed to get to her destination.
When she finished in the bathroom she stopped by the bar. She saw Anna fixing some drinks, so she asked, “May I get a glass of red wine?”
Anna turned to her. “Of course. Which one?”
“Pinot Noir. If you still have it.”
“Yes, we do. I’ll be right on it,” Anna added, and she finished pouring into small glasses. The girl, who was beside her filling other glasses, took the tray of drinks to one of the busy tables, and Anna turned to Scarlett, took a clean glass, then went to search for the right bottle.
Scarlett watched her perform this little task when all of a sudden Anna turned pale and knocked a few glasses with the bottle in her hand. In that split second, she looked like she saw a ghost.
Scarlett gasped, pressing her hand to her mouth as her eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
“Y–yeah. I’m fine,” Anna replied with a weak smile. Scarlet was still unsettled but Anna tried to reassure her, waving her hand and brushing off her concern. “I’m just a little tired. Whatdid you want? A Pinot Noir right. I almost poured you a white wine by mistake.”
“I don’t think that would bother me much,” Scarlett said with a chuckle. “But I prefer to drink red when I can.”
“Of course,” Anna said and poured the red liquid into the glass. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Scarlett smiled and took a sip of the red sparkling liquid. She knew she had already imbibed her fill, but that was her goal. She wanted to get drunk, she wanted to feel relaxed, and she wanted to feel good.
