Chapter 2 What could go wrong

"She is my friend, my best friend, Luke," Ellen shouted at him.

"I love her, Ellen; I know it's hard to accept that right now," Luke told her.

"Accept that you betrayed me and kept stringing me along like a fool for the past one year?" She asked him as tears pooled in her eyes.

"You were dating my best friend for a year, and then you broke up with me two weeks ago," she shouted at him.

"What were you expecting that I wouldn't know?" Ellen said, pointing at his chest.

"We were going to tell you; I knew you'd react this way, and that's why I didn't tell you," Luke said in his defense.

"I'll do whatever you want, okay, anything to help you adjust to this," he told her.

"Could this night get any funny?" Ellen said, tears rolling down her face as she laughed at his statement.

"All you care about is your reputation and what people think about you. I should have realized what a bloody liar you were all this time," she said as she pressed the elevator button.

"Ellen, don't go doing anything funny; you just need to go home right now," he said to her.

Looking at him one last time as Ellen stepped into the elevator, she said, "Everything is already upside down; what else could go wrong?" as the doors slid closed.

She got to the lobby of the hotel and headed to the doors, wiping tears from her eyes. Halting at the door, she said to herself "Well, what could go wrong".

Throwing caution to the wind, she headed in the direction of the club, which was located to the far right of the hotel lobby.

"I might as well get drunk and forget all this happened," she told herself.

Entering the club, the loud sound of music and the gyrating bodies on the dance floor were a welcome distraction for her. She walked to the bar with one purpose in mind: to get drunk and wasted.

A male bartender walked to where she was sitting and asked, "What would you like to have?"

Tilting her head to the right with a domineering smile on her face, she said, "Give me your strongest drink, and keep it coming."

"Coming right up," the bartender replied, a quirky smile on his face as he turned to do her bidding.

There were a couple of people sitting at the bar, while others were sitting at the private tables at the back of the club. You could hardly make out the faces of anyone around you except you were up close.

Ellen kept drinking and barely left the bar as she focused on gulping down as many glasses as she could.

After her sixth glass, she stood up and joined the dance floor. She danced, raising her hands and just letting herself go to the music.

I'm going to show them who the boss is; they think they can just go free after doing this, but of course not. Ellen thought to herself as she danced with anyone who cared to join her.

"Why the hell am I still thinking about them? I need to get more drinks," Ellen said to herself as she staggered to the bar.

"More drinks, please," she said to the bar tender. She had another glass, and after her third glass, she could barely stand.

Ellen tried to stand but couldn't; grabbing her bag, she held onto the bar and tried to raise herself. She slipped, and as she fell, a strong arm grabbed her by the waist and held her against a hard chest.

"Oh...boy... Whew, that was close!" Ellen giggled as she raised her eye to see who the knight in shining armor was.

She stared into the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Oh, man, you look so good," Ellen drawled, smiling at the handsome face before her.

"I'll escort you to the door," the handsome man said.

"Oh, I could follow you anywhere, handsome," she said, giggling like a schoolgirl.

Covering her mouth with one hand, she continued giggling. Why can't I stop giggling? she wondered.

The handsome man gave her purse to someone behind him as he assisted her out of the club.

He helped her to the door, where a bodyguard would help her get into a cab.

"Thank you!" Ellen giggled again at the stranger who had helped her as he left her and walked towards the hotel reception desk.

Ellen," she heard her name. Turning towards the voice, she realized it was Luke.

"What are you still doing here?" Luke continued to say:

They had just finished with their party and were heading out of the hotel too.

"Hey...yy," Ellen drawled.

"I don't need your permission to be here." Ellen said to them, looking at them with disdain.

"You're drunk, Ellen," Luke said, stepping forward to take her.

"Don't you dare touch me," Ellen told him.

"I'm waiting for my new boyfriend," she said to them.

"Don't be silly, Ellen; we both know you don't have one." Emily scoffed at her statement.

"Oh, really, watch me," Ellen replied, and she walked towards the handsome stranger who had helped her earlier. She had no idea how she was able to walk without falling on her face, but she was most grateful that the handsome man was still at the reception desk.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? Ellen!" Luke shouted as he followed her into the hotel lobby, with Emily right behind him.

Tapping him on the shoulder, Ellen said, trying to keep a fake smile in place, "Help me one last time, will you?"

Without waiting for a response, she moved closer to him and kissed him!

To convince the audience behind her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kept kissing him till she heard Emily say "Let's go, Luke".

A few heartbeats later, she stepped away from him and realized that her audience had left.

"That wasn't so bad after all," Ellen said, turning back to face the handsome stranger in front of her.

The events of the last few minutes had sobered her up a bit. The handsome stranger looked stunned as he stared at her. His face was hardened in anger, and stepping towards her, he raised up his right hand.