Desire | Shawn Mendes

TWENTY FOUR

Song of the Chapter: Luna - Zoé
"Luna, no me adandones más / Que tiendo recuperarme en la cuna/ De tus cráteres..."

(Moon, do not abandon anymore / I tend to recover in the cradle / Of your craters...)

- x -

The shot glass slams down on the bar countertop and I quickly shoot back the chaser before sucking on a salt encrusted lime. The hard liquor was supposed to burn my throat, but now it goes down like water. I dispose of the used lime in the empty glass and wipe my mouth with my thumb. Loud music thumps in the back, but at this point to me, it's just noise.

"Jeez, your ex-boyfriend really taught you how to drink." Eric says. I hadn't realized he was standing right next to me this whole time.

"He also taught me when to know my limit." I reply. "That was about five of these sons of bitches ago."

"Alright, maybe we should take you away from here." Eric places his hands at my shoulders and begins to lead me away from the bar. "You should eat or go back to the hotel. No one wants to be dealing with a hangover on a four and a half hour flight."

"Is there a car waiting for me? I don't want be go alone." I say.

"You know the driver, we met him earlier." He replies.

"Oh yeah! He had the nice nose! Alright, I'll be out." I reply.
"God, you're really hammered."

I giggle as Eric begins to lead me over to the door, and on the way we pass the happy couple that I ignore. But I can't ignore her. She's stunningly beautiful as she posed for a picture with him. Her hand was at his chest, and the ring was being proudly shown off. Once outside, the warm air hits me and I feel fuzzy as he helps me down the steps and into the backseat of the car.

"You know for someone who didn't even wanna attend this, you sure are having a good time." Eric jokes as he straps my seatbelt in.

"Please, I'm having a terrible time. My ex-boyfriend just announced that he's engaged." I reply.

Eric takes a step back before I place my finger over my mouth and close the door. The car drives off and in forty minutes, I've now stumbled into the room and order for room service. The pizza would be here in thirty minutes and I undress and jump into a bath.

"Engaged." I say in a sing-song voice. "Well fuck."

The phone rings and I look around the bathroom wondering where I placed it. It vibrates on the closed toilet seat and I lean over and slide to answer. "Hullo?"

"God, are you drunk?" Charlie's voice says.

"Sorry, this isn't God, it's Jasmine, the shitty assistant. I can take a message if ya want." I reply.

"Jasmine, I heard the news." Charlie says. "And I want to talk to you and see how you're doing. Also, you should know, Shawn spoke to me three weeks ago, we ran into each other in Toronto and he told me everything."

"Uh oh." I say.
"Why didn't you tell me about the abortion?" She asks with a concerning tone.

"Because you were so...ugh, how do I say this without hurting your feelings? Soft! That's the word, you were so soft about the breakup and you blamed yourself, remember? I didn't want you to feel something when I told you. Besides, how would you have taken the news?"

"I would have drove with you and Jack." She says into the line. Her voice echoed through the speaker and I hug my knees closer to my chest. "How do you feel? Are you okay?"