Chapter 53: Night out 2

"Now you want to come about disputing," Raymond turned to Charles, "tell me, why don't you want to play?"
Charles kept quiet, with his gaze still fixed on his phone, "I just don't feel like it," he replied. Jessie turned towards him concerned, and not able to place her hands on what the problem was.
"He's going to play," she said to the rest of the group, and Charles turned towards her, startled. "Yes, he will," she repeated.
Jessie smiled at the rest of them, then leaned closer to Charles, "remember when you did this to me the other time?" she whispered to his hearing alone.
"Well, I wanted to stay away as I've been trying to avoid looking at you or falling for your pale skin that is so exposed and attractive, but you leave me no choice now," he shrugged then raised his hands to her thighs placing it on the open skin beneath her skirt.
Jessie gulped at his reaction and loads of sparks that caused a tingling sensation in her run through her tummy. She took deep breaths trying to calm her mind from jumping. The feeling she felt was peculiar even as she liked it. Her facial expression to other members of the group that had no idea about what went on was one of weariness and confusion. She tried to push off Charles's hands, but he only tightened his grip and smiled at her when she turned to him.
Jessie knew better than trying to create a scene as the taunts and teasing she knew she will receive from the rest of the guys, were far worse than the jolting feeling she was experiencing already. If only she had just kept her talk to herself, "fuck," she cursed internally.
Charles just smirked at her reaction and nodded when he was asked if he was going to play.
"Okay, I'll start," Carl said, "I'm picking C", then he turned to Charles and raised his head slightly, "you are next."
"My buddy went up to the bar and ordered champagne," Charles then turned to Jessie, and she went on with the"My buddy went up to the bar and ordered Champagne and cocktail."
Each one of them had their rounds before they moved on to the next alphabet and the game went on and on.
The loud chants from customers could be heard loud and clear as the people there kept on yelling for reasons not known. Someone that was far away from the bar could think that a popular celebrity had made his entrance there, and they were cheering so loudly. Meanwhile, a stripper had just walked over to a man, touching him seducingly, unaware that his wife had stepped out to the restroom. She only came to witness the drama that was going on between her mildly drunk husband, and the stripper. From there, arguments began, and it gradually turned into a little chaos.
They were in the middle of the game when Luciana suddenly spoke out, "which of you has a better tolerance to alcohol?" She inquired with a smile on her face, moving her gaze to every one of the guys present.
"It's me," Carl hummed raising his chin and staring straight at nothing, "I have a better tolerance."
"Says the person who got picked from the floor because of being drunk. I was ashamed, bro. I was," Charles muttered out mockingly, with a pinch of sadness in his voice.
"We're not going over that issue, we all know that was not a good day,"Carl argued.
"Was it not? When else do you want to get drunk?" Raymond questioned already chortling in bits at Carl, "that's what you get for boasting in what you are not a master at. I am the boss," Raymond praised, with his shoulders raised high.
"Hehe, you don't want to make me go over your experience that night," Carl sneered at Raymond and the girls sat anxiously, watching the drama unfold and enjoying the fact that they get to see the guys wash their dirty linens in public.
"I remember every one of it vividly," Charles voiced out, shaking his head in disappointment, "come on, you guys always embarrass yourself in public spaces."
"How about you, is it because they have not talked about your experiences yet?"Alyssa questioned, amidst low chuckles.
"Experiences, what experiences? Ohh..., you mean this? Well, it turns out I have none." Alyssa was surprised to hear Charles say that he had none, because, from the history that had been set, they were just a bunch of guys, with no good tolerance for alcohol. She turned her gaze to Raymond then Carl in inquiry, to confirm what Charles had said and they nodded in response with a sad grimace on their face.
"It turns out that he has had no experience like this, at least none that we know of. I guess we can say he has more tolerance," Carl huffed, raising his hands to his face like he was wiping away specks of dirt.
Charles turned to Luciana with a wide grin on his face, "you know they say success always speaks for himself. I did not need to pride in my achievements, they are the ones singing my praises now," he acclaimed, raising his shoulders in admiration.
Jessie's eyes gleed in awe as she kept on staring at Charles. She liked every single personality of his. She liked the way he talked, his dark innocence, as she was still having a hard time pointing out his faults even as she was aware that he was not completely clean. Jessie admired the way he laughed, it always felt sincere and controlled, and his eyes made predicting him much more difficult for her.
Truly, he was everything she wanted and she had not seen a red marking yet. He was calm, always standing for what was right, and not as aggressive as Oswald, even though he was hard to handle at times. Or was it the way he balanced almost everything about his life, a free-spirited and outgoing person that knew when he had to keep to himself and not interfere with other people's privacy?
Jessie had confirmed it from the night she drank so much and began to say anything. Even as Charles never agreed to tell her what it was, a huge part of her felt that he did not hear her say anything as he did not push further. She respected him more when she realized that even if he had heard her say something, he never brought it up or tried to taunt her with it, now that was one good attribute she wanted in a man.
"Jessie," Raymond tapped on her softly, calling out to her, "it is your turn, a question was thrown at you."
The fact that she got lost in the conversation, and they did not use it to taunt was a big relaxation to her, "but was she drifting out of conversations because of thinking about Charles?" She shook her head slightly as she thought about it. Luckily for her, not much attention was on her as she kept on admiring Charles, lost in her world.
"Jessie," Alyssa called out again, "what are you thinking of, you have not given a reply."
"Ohh, please throw the question again," she said feeling almost embarrassed. Once again, she felt glad that they had no hints of her thoughts, well that was what she thought.
Charles glared at Jessie from the corner of his eyes, smirking minimally. He had noticed when she passed occasional stares at him even when others were chatting randomly. He noticed the way she kept quiet just staring at him which he found funny. Her eyes were filled with so much attraction toward him as she was lost in her world. "Gradually, she was going to fall deeper for him and he was going to step on her, shattering every piece of her," he said internally and his lips curved into an evil grin.
"I said which of you girls is the more romantic one," Carl repeated himself, and Jessie's face got startled almost immediately.
"How would you ask me that?" She questioned, turning her face to the rest of the girls.
"I told him the same thing too," Luciana babbled out, shaking her head a little.
"I think he is still recovering from his low tolerance disgrace, so he is looking for an avenue to let it out," Alyssa chirped in, and the rest of the girls laughed out loud, with the guys taking muffled waves of laughter.
"Your sense of humor though," Jessie praised and Alyssa raised her hands like she was set for a toast, nodding her head as she smiled, endowed in the praise.
"Whatever you want to call it," Carl whiffed, trying to not let their talks get at him. He was acting like he was vexed at them, but he enjoyed the fact that they were all getting along. His outgoing and social character always almost made him the life of the party at any gathering they were in, and Luciana was gradually picking on those traits.
The waiter that came to them earlier, walked over to them again. This time her cleavage was more exposed and she smiled at them, Charles precisely seductively.
"Excuse me, who is paying the bills?" She asked, glaring at all of them.
"I will," Charles indicated with his hands, then took it into his pockets and brought out a card.
"Okay," the waiter said as she walked over to him. She grinned so widely at Charles, and he winked at her in response. Reaching out for the cards, she let a paper slip into his hands, then she walked away, swaying seductively to lure men into her deceitful trap.
Jessie noticed the swap that took place just at her front, and the waiter's action irked her. "She's just so loose, I don't like her," she huffed, staring at Charles.
"I think you just don't like the fact that she was trying to seduce Charles," Luciana laughed, "but I agree with you "
"Seriously, even in our presence. I don't even know what girls find attractive in him," she scoffed.
"I think it's the same thing you see in him that they see also, that thing that makes you want to chew every other person that looks at him. Or are you trying to tell me that you have a bad taste in men?"Raymond stated, twitching the side of his lips in amusement.
"I don't see anything in him," Jessie uttered almost in a loud voice, raising her hands in exasperation. Charles giggled at her statement, staring intently at her, making her gulp loudly.
"Maybe I'm wrong then, I think it's just you with your bad taste in men," Raymond shrugged, "poor Charles," he exclaimed.
"The way he was even feeling himself...," She stopped as Carl cut her short abruptly, interrupting her statement, "okay, okay, I think someone should warn that waiter because Jessie seems like she's getting so angry already," he advised.
Charles just chortled lightly and he received a dangerous glare from Jessie. She had seen the way he winked at the waiter, and she was well aware that she exchanged a paper with him that probably contained her number. "Why on earth did he not shut her off or was he a staunch womanizer as Oswald said," she thought. Going deep into it, the story about Charles and Rebecca made sense as she had seen Rebecca with Charles at least a couple of times. "What if he was going to hurt her?" the thoughts flashed to her mind, and she shook them off, sipping her drinks to calm her down.
Charles smirked watching everything that was going on. It was never his intention to flirt with the waiter, but he just had to go with the flow. The paper she passed to him, he had even turned it into pieces unnoticeably as he had no plans to do anything with the waiter in question. Asides from his thirst for revenge, Charles was almost everything to desire, well mannered, loving, and considerate. Some things just made people go hard and bad like it was said.
He had no idea that the little action of the waiter could stir so many emotions in Jessie, and he enjoyed that it got to her that way. At least, he was gradually knowing her weakness, and he had a better glimpse of where to come at her from.
"I'm exhausted already, can we leave this place please," Luciana inquired, turning to the rest of the guys.