The Hollywood Pact

Seven

DAISY

I stopped the car in front of a bar on Miami Beach platform.

The place smelled like cigarettes and urine like most places in Los Angeles. Still, the platform was well frequented due to the large number of bars and people selling drugs without any bureaucracy.

Even at 8:30 in the morning.

I was surprised to see two women and a man drinking beer straight from the bottle as if they didn't have to work the next morning.

I envied them, because I didn't have a job either, but I couldn't drink like them. I needed to fix my life.

I entered the bar with a blue paint that was coming off and a broken wooden sign. I was hoping to find Cliff and his friends here. They always came to this place to drink. I used to come too before I worked for Stacker and had free time on the weekends.

As soon as I walked in, I saw Jordan, Cliff's idiotic friend, sitting at a table with a girl on his lap. On the other side, a dark-haired guy rested his head on the table.

Apparently, everyone left except the three of them.

"Hey, Ian, how are you?" I approached the brunette at the table.

With great difficulty, Ian raised his head. His eyelids were slightly closed and I couldn't tell if he was drunk or just sad.

It was difficult to say anything about Ian. We studied together in high school. He, Blair, and I were that trio of ignored kids who banded together so we didn't have to interact with other kids in group assignments.

Ian and I grew apart over time. These days he was closer to Cliff than he was to me.

"No, existing is a curse."

As tempting as it was to agree and join him in his pit of sadness, I needed to find my boyfriend.

"Okay" I smiled halfheartedly. "Where's Cliff?"

"Oh, he's back there with..." Ian interrupted himself when Jordan looked at him. "Um... well... yeah..." Ian stuttered, while gesturing nonstop as if I could understand better that way "He is dead. It was a tragedy. I am really sorry about that."

I squinted my eyes.

"Is that so? Maybe I should look for his body back there?" I pointed to a door at the back of the bar that Ian mentioned before Jordan pressed him.

Jordan was the bad influence of the group, I could confirm that. He was that guy who made homophobic jokes that only he found funny. I was pretty sure he only hung out with Cliff because of his growing success.

I told Cliff how Jordan wasn't a good friend, but he defended him.

"As a widow I should have the right to see my boyfriend's face for the last time."

"Yes, of course, but he was run over by a tractor, so it's awful. You wouldn't want that." Ian said.

"Dude!" Jordan scolded him.

"I'll take my chances" I said, walking to the door.

I heard Ian and his friend mutter something, but I was too far away to hear.

The hallway was narrow. There was a door in the middle that must be the bathroom and a second door on the side that was ajar. I approached that last one with careful steps.

"God, you're amazing" I heard a girl's voice coming down the hall.

I had a weird feeling about that.

When I entered the room, the first thing I saw was Cliff's blonde hair being pulled by a feminine hand while the girl was glued to Cliff's lips.