FOUR DRINKS AND A LIFE

Part 2

"Drink up." She jutted her chin toward his glass. "It'll make you feel better."

Andrey furrowed his brow, resisting her suggestion.

"You shoulda seen me when I came in here—in worse shape than you. Mike didn't lie when he said his cocktails were magic."

Andrey unfastened the top button of his dress shirt with trembling fingers and only then reached for the libation.

Lida wanted to laugh at the sight. He had always been neurotic about his fancy clothing. Stuffing napkins in his collar to protect his shirts. Running to wash out any stain before it set in. Some things never change.

When he finally took the first sip, the warmth in Lida's core spread to her fractured heart. The quivering in his hands settled. The rigidness in his posture calmed. The anxiety in his eyes eased.

"Better?" she asked, tilting her glass to one side and watching the ice slide downward.

Andrey took another long sip and nodded. When he set his glass down, his shoulder sloped so deeply it looked like he carried the weight of a semi truck on his shoulders.

"What's bothering you?" she asked.

"The fight in the alley—"

"Not that. There's something else."

"What do you mean?"

Lida stared into his eyes, curious to see if they'd offer a clue. Perhaps stir another memory to the surface. A tingle shot up her spine and before she could register what it meant, words tumbled from her mouth. "You were standing up to someone, weren't you?"

Andrey's lips parted in surprise. "Who are you?"

She wanted to laugh at the question. "That doesn't matter."

"H-how did you know—"

"It was a guess."

Andrey resisted for another second, but eventually hung his head and sighed. "The person I was standing up for didn't need it."

Her eyebrows twisted in a question. She didn't expect that.

Andrey swirled his drink with a stirring stick, his gaze frozen on some recollection. "My wife, she..."he shuddered and downed nearly the entire glass.

"Easy, easy." Lida reached out and took the drink from him. It was in instinct, as if she's done it before. Her heart contracted at the familiarity of it all. Technically, she had. Many times. "I'd recommend you take your time with the alcohol here. Especially, when you're already so shaken."

"You don't understand," Andrey looked at her, the whites of his eyes reddened with exhaustion and grief. "I-I thought he had forced her. She told me he did, but she..."

"Ah." Lida placed his glass down on the counter. "Your wife lied."

"She didn't just lie. She tried to trick me! Thought I'd be too much of a coward to confront him. Thought I'd let the affair go. But I couldn't. I had to know what happened."

"And what did you find out?"

"That she's the one who initiated it." Andrey scoffed, scratching his eyebrow. "How could she have betrayed me like that?"

Lida's hand went to her ribs where pain rippled from only three drinks earlier. "It's a thing people do—"she shrugged—"they betray."

He clenched his fist. "You don't know how agonizing it is."

"I don't know?" She pointed to herself, choking on air. "My boyfriend used me to help him steal a shit-ton-a cash from a bank and you know what he did as a thank you?"