Kiss me if you dare [ENGLISH]

Chapter 6

Fleur

"That'll be twenty quid."

She grabbed the wine glass and took it all at once, even though red wine was currently making her feel nauseous. A stylish, black man who bore a striking resemblance to her father caught her attention, passed the counter, and headed towards the restrooms.

"Twenty quid, please," the bartender repeated, slightly annoyed.

Fleur snapped back to the present and felt the headache starting to pulse on the inside of her skull. "Yeah... right..." She clumsily rummaged through both jacket pockets and placed a couple of coins on the mahogany counter.

"We don't accept cash, unfortunately," the man said, impatiently tapping his fingers on the table.

Fleur tried to apologize, but she was now drunk enough that only slurred sounds came out of her mouth. The line behind her was long and almost stretched out to the entrance. She didn't know how long she had been standing there, but the drawn-out sighs and clearing throats behind her indicated that not only the bartender was losing patience.

The world spun around her, and the edges of her vision blurred, but she eventually managed to somewhat organize her wallet and handed over her bank card, hoping it was loaded.

Three days had passed since she was summoned by the coroner, and the last 24 hours had been spent snooping around the apartment, searching for classified documents or any other information that James might have kept from her. Unfortunately, she found nothing. Either he was exceptionally good at hiding things, or he had never hidden anything from her. Fleur had a hard time believing she didn't know everything about his life, but at the same time, the murder was very peculiar. No matter how much she twisted and turned it, she couldn't come up with a reasonable story behind the tragic event. Gabriel always emphasized that his job had been the biggest factor in his death, but Fleur couldn't ignore the fact that it must have been organized by someone or a group of people.

She hadn't initially planned to drink, but the weight of James' death had affected her greatly over the past few hours, and she knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake another night on the sofa. Alcohol dulled the sorrow a little, even though she was aware that the internal emotions would become a thousand times worse in the hangover.

As the receipt was printed out from the machine, she tossed it away and stumbled towards the exit. A friendly elderly woman with enormous gold earrings grabbed her shoulder for support. "Is someone coming to pick you up?"

It felt weird that strangers on the street now noticed her, whereas before, no one gave her a second thought. She wanted to thank the woman for caring, but she barely made it over the threshold before she tasted the sourness of stomach acid in her mouth, followed by the reflexes that forced up the alcohol. Her pant legs got wet and sticky as she clumsily attempted to wipe them with her hands.

It didn't take long for her to realize she was alone on the sidewalk, wondering if she had scared off the woman with the gold earrings. It didn't matter. Fleur could get home on her own, and if she hurried, she'd be there within 20 minutes. Unfortunately, it was nearly pitch-black outside, and the golden streetlights were the only things lighting up the pathway like a string of pearls. If she was lucky and gathered herself, she wouldn't get run over by cars speeding by and exceeding the speed limit by far.

***

With the help of the building's façade, she managed to reach the entrance without much difficulty and was grateful that she didn't encounter anyone as she took the elevator up to the right floor.

She still hadn't fully adjusted to spending nights alone in the apartment. All the lights were off, and it was nearly pitch-black. Only the blinking LED light from her phone on the dresser was of use as she fumbled for the light switch on the inside. Her handbag slipped off her shoulder and landed with a thud on the doormat. All she wanted was to go to bed, but the knowledge of what the morning would bring made her hesitant. The headache hadn't subsided, and there was a pungent smell all around her.