FRICTION

Ch. 20: Call, Boy

-Eric-

"Look, I wouldn't be calling if it wasn't important..." I explained nervously.

I had the sudden urge to hang up, though the damage was irrevocable by this point. The fact that I'd even called was already lame beyond belief, yet the chances of my phone battery lasting through another phone call were... slim at best.

So, this was my only bet.

There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a delighted laughter. "Yeah, what's up?" Jacqueline asked, as if it wasn't absolutely inappropriate for me to be calling her at two in the morning. Or at all, really, outside of work hours.

"I—I," I started, huffing under my breath as words momentarily failed me, flustered by how shameless I was being. Though, it wasn't as if I had any other options left, right? "I need a favor."

"A favor?"

"N-nothing weird," I interjected before she could jump to any incriminating conclusions, resisting the urge to fling the phone across the street in a feeble attempt to escape the embarrassment. I could do that after.

"I'm listening," she replied, no hesitation present in her voice.

-Shawn-

I frowned over at Jacqueline, trying to make sense of why she seemed so damn pleased with herself. Especially when I still hadn't agreed to anything.

"Why should I?" I retorted at her sudden, unreasonable request to pick up her friend from a bar. "Can't you go get 'em?"

"Me?" she questioned rhetorically while lifting her half-empty glass. "I don't drink and drive, Shawn... unlike some of us."

Not this shit again.

"It was once," I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes. Of course she'd hold it over my head. "Besides, nobody gave you permission to raid my bar."

She shrugged rather dismissively. "You have too many expensive bottles that you don't deserve. Now, are you going already? I said you were on the way."

Oh boy.

I scrunched up my nose in displeasure at the idea of picking up some stranger who was seemingly wasted enough that they couldn't find their own way home. What if they threw up in my car?

My phone was already out, fingers grazing over the coordinates she'd sent me just seconds prior. I looked it up, noticing it wasn't all that far. "Can't they walk?"

She rolled her eyes. "Can't you pretend to be a decent human being for once?"

I grumbled. "I can just send an uber over to pick them up," I pointed out, unamused by her insistence. What difference did it make? "Or a taxi, if you prefer?"

Jacqueline scoffed, as if I was threatening to run their friend over with my car. "I want you to take a few moments to think about the optics of what you're suggesting."

"Huh?"

"One."

"Jacq—"

"Two."

I rolled my eyes, releasing a tired sigh. Yeah, fine. Perhaps the safest option was for me to head over there and pick their friend up myself, but that didn't make me any less resistant. "Who even is it, huh? Laura? Is she still a mess?" I questioned while eyeing the keys on the counter, trying to think of some way to weasel my way out of this.