Perfidia

the drink

Feeling slightly dizzy and as if he'd be experiencing the moment in slow-motion was not a new thing for Sergio. He has had that sensation plenty of times before, only to wake up the next day in a hospital, so it was no surprise that he found the feeling of starting to get drunk on multiple levels alarming.

He was angry with himself for even giving in to Alicia and drinking more. But at the same time there was something freeing about it too. He has never gotten drunk before, and now he felt so much lighter as if a heavy weight would have been lifted off his shoulders. Unfortunately with this also came the fact, that he didn't feel the constant urge to double check everything what came out of his mouth. And at times, just right when it did, he felt stupid and found his situation frightening.

Did she deliberately make me drink more?

A vague voice in his head still made an attempt to act reasonable, but then Alicia laughed at his latest witty statement, and said something along the lines of how clever he is even while tipsy and he started to feel at ease around her bubbly personality. He reciprocated her playful smile, which he found alluring, and then chose to nervously stare into his glass when holding her gaze proved to be far too intense.

No... I am drinking with her only because I lost a bet. And I am the one acting stupid! I have to pull myself together!

They were there, drinking, and talking about the most random things imaginable, and Sergio's suspicion that Alicia's intention was to manipulate him into betraying themselves faded with every second which passed. Truth to be told, as someone who rarely, if ever allowed himself to let go and just have fun, Sergio found himself feeling an irresistible temptation to stop fighting it, and he had to put some extra effort into pushing his still half full bottle away from himself.

The alcohol had less of an effect on Alicia. She wasn't planning to drink too much. She was still playing at chance, hoping that sooner or later Sergio's tongue will slip, and she'll get something useful out of him. But the more Sergio drank, the farther away their discussions got from their everyday lives. He started talking about things he was passionate about, his eyes sparkled with vivid enthusiasm, and even the shyness seemed to disappear from them as he held her gaze for longer and longer moments.

Alicia became a bit tense when she noticed this change in his attitude. Making her brother-in-law develop an even bigger crush on her than he already had, would make things unnecessarily more complicated.

"I am probably boring you..." Sergio shook his head seeing Alicia's slightly tense expression and lowered his gaze. "Sorry... I can get carried away when it comes about things I am fascinated about...."

"No, this is cool!" Alicia said cheerfully. "How many people do actually know this much about melting gold?" she laughed. "A high profile thief could use your wit to go through with his plans." she added on a joking tone, but consciously choosing her words.

A shadow flew over Sergio's face. "Does your mind ever stop revolving around crimes?" he frowned.

Alicia pouted. "I can't help it. I spend my days chewing on them, it's a bad habit." she shrugged. "But I guess I was wrong anyway. I don't think you're the kind of person who would do such petty jobs." she added offhandedly.

"Because I really look like a snow-white lamb, do I?" he made a grimace.

Alicia tilted her head and hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, you do. But what I was thinking was that if you'd be involved in a heist, you'd probably come up with it yourself and wouldn't be working for someone else."

Sergio froze for a moment after hearing her words, then he nervously pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I am not sure whether I should take that as you being judgemental and offending me with even thinking that I would do something like that, or to take it as you complimenting me, by saying that I would be capable - hypothetically capable - to pull it off?" he said on a far too official tone.