Take My Breath Away

Debbie would have been thrilled if Hayden had told her this before.

But things had changed and she had already moved on. She was not used to the new cologne he was wearing, and the man before her was, for all intents and purposes, a stranger. True, she hadn't seen him in awhile, but the man whose arms she was in now was so alien, so changed from whom he once was when they had first met. Although she was in his arms, she felt there was a huge chasm between them. And that chasm was indeed hard to bridge.

Time does change everything.

Debbie pushed Hayden away from her and told the driver, "Stop the car!"

The driver looked at Hayden through the interior rear-view mirror, hoping to get some indication of whether or not he should do this. But Hayden was silent, and gave no cues, verbal or otherwise, that he should obey the girl's orders. He wouldn't do as Debbie asked without Hayden's say-so.

Instantly, Debbie figured it out. She fumed with rage and shouted at Hayden, "I said, stop the car!"

Hayden was not angry at her behavior. Instead, he coaxed her, "It's freezing outside. Let me send you home." There was a time and place to be angry, and now was not the time.

However, Debbie didn't buy it at all. She yelled at the top of her lungs, "No! I'm not going home. Let me out!" She put her hand on the door handle, ready to unlock the door and open it. "I'm not kidding. I'll jump!"

Besides, she was at the end of her rope. Her already frayed nerves had snapped. She had seen Megan and Carlos together, when he should have been away on business. Her heart hit rock bottom. What was worse, Megan had told the boy that Carlos was her boyfriend. And before Megan and Carlos had left the restaurant, he hadn't even cast a single glance at Debbie. Debbie was so mad she could explode at any time.

Sighing in defeat, Hayden told the driver to pull over. Debbie pushed the door open and left without even turning her head.

Hayden watched as the stubborn girl walked off. He rubbed his aching temples and wondered, 'What can I do to make her come back to me?'

Debbie trotted along the road, and then started to run.

Finally, she arrived at Jared's housing community and rang him on the phone. "Hey, Jared. Where are you? I really need a drink—and a friend."

"Tomboy? Drink? No, no, no! Your husband will beat me to a pulp if he finds out."

"Dammit Jared! Do this for me! Forget him; he's not worth worrying about!"

Jared could tell from her tone that Debbie was mad right now. "Tell you what, I'm at a friend's birthday party right now. Give me some time to say my goodbyes and we'll go to Orchid Private Club, okay?"

'Orchid Private Club? Okay, anywhere that I can get a stiff, tall one, ' Debbie thought. "Okay! Meet you there."

Then Debbie hung up the phone.

Following the phone call, Debbie hailed a taxi that just happened to be traveling on the outer perimeter of the housing development. It wasn't the most luxurious ride she had, just an electric BYD e5, but it was comfortable and clean. Naturally, she gave the driver instructions to take her to Orchid Private Club. Carlos called her several times on the way, but she dismissed all of his calls. She didn't think that talking to him was a very good idea right now.

When the taxi arrived, her phone rang again and she accidentally answered it. She remained silent.

Trying to suppress his emotions, Carlos asked in a low voice, "Where are you?"

"Hanging with my friends." She paid the fare and got out, walking towards the gates to the Orchid Private Club.

"Give me the address and I'll pick you up."

"I..."

Debbie was about to tell him, "I'm not going back home now." But a cheerful voice interrupted her. "Uncle Carlos, the noodles are ready. Come and eat."

'Seriously?

He's still with Megan? Go to hell, you two!'

Blazing anger burned in Debbie's heart. She really needed that drink now. Without saying a word, she hung up on him.

Looking at his phone, Carlos was stunned, not knowing what happened. 'Why did she hang up? I need to get to the bottom of this, ' he thought.

At the gates of the club, Debbie put her phone back into her pocket. Before she could calm herself down, two men in suits and leather shoes trotted over to her.

"Boss, welcome to the club!" one said.

"Good evening, Boss!" chirped the other.

Staring at the two managers, Debbie forced a smile and said, "Hi. I need a private booth. My friend will be here any minute."

"Of course. We've gotten Room 888 all ready for you. It's Mr. Huo's exclusive booth." Since Carlos had transferred the club's ownership to Debbie, that meant they must be somehow related. The managers believed that they could let their new boss use Carlos' private booth.

Debbie felt uncomfortable being addressed as "Boss". Sighing with profound resignation, Debbie looked at them and said in a serious manner, "Don't call me 'Boss'. You know what happened that evening. And you know Carlos. I might not be your boss for long. Just call me... er... Miss Nian."

Upon hearing that, the managers looked at each other in confusion. Rhys Huang, one of them, said with a smile, "As you wish, Boss...er, I mean Miss Nian. Your wish is our command. We'll try to remember how to refer to you from now on."

"Thank you. Now, the booth, please?"

Carlos was indeed a person who enjoyed life. Room 888 was the most luxurious booth of the club, with an area of more than 300 square meters. Not only that, but the seat cushions were just the right height to sit on, and were designed for hours of use. If you wanted to, you could even lie down and nap there. It also had HVAC climate control settings, and controls for a flatscreen TV that rose from the middle of the table and receded when it wasn't needed. Apart from that, there was also a tea room, a jukebox, an auto mahjong table, and even a fitness area. It even had a large liquor cabinet against the wall, stocked with the finest vintages. Most people didn't even have houses this big. Not even in the U.S.

Debbie hesitated a long time in front of the liquor cabinet. What did she want? Maotai? No. Erguotou? Not her thing. Maybe some cheap, ordinary Tsingtao beer? She thought of something hard, but then decided against it.

She took two reds from the cabinet and asked Rhys Huang to open them. While he was pouring the wine, Debbie ate fruit from a plate and called Jared.

"You here yet? I'm in Room 888," said Debbie.

Jared was still driving. His purple Ferrari flew like a bat out of hell toward the club. "Really?! Room 888? Isn't that Carlos... Never mind. Wait for me. I'll be there in two minutes."

Carlos' exclusive booth had a strong appeal to Jared, who shortened the five minutes' drive to two. Punctuated with the screech of brakes, the Ferrari came to a halt before the Orchid Private Club. Jared was pretty eager to grab that booth. It was meant for the rich and famous, and now he'd at least have a taste of the good life.

Jared entered Room 888 before Debbie was able to take a sip. "You're so fast!" she exclaimed.

He nodded and had a look around. He'd never been here before. "Your husband is so rich! Look at this! It's a porcelain vase from the Yuan dynasty. I heard some rich dude bid 200 million for it at auction. I'm guessing that's Carlos. And now he just hides it here! What a waste! Oh, look at that! The painting is called...er...I can't think of it right now. But this guy was a famous painter. It must have cost Carlos a pretty penny..."

Debbie rolled her eyes and poured a glass of wine for him. "Dude, come on. Your family is by no means poor. So why are you playing the broke card?"

Jared took a sip of the wine, and his eyes went wide. He took the bottle on the table and checked it carefully. "Oh my God! This wine is from a private winery in Bordeaux!" Debbie was getting a little tipsy now. "So?" she asked. "So, if you look at where it was made, when the grapes were picked and made into wine, etc, it's more expensive than Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1982. It costs at least $500, 000."

"What?!" Upon hearing the price, Debbie coughed and almost choked on the wine. While Jared was looking around, she had gulped down three glasses of wine. She had filled the glass with the expensive wine, and gulped it down in one go!

'I almost drank half the bottle, so that means I just drank $250, 000! Oh my God!' Debbie was at a loss for words.

"Hey, why is there only half a bottle left?! How long have you been here?" Jared asked in disbelief.

With an embarrassed smile, Debbie stammered, "Er... I've been here... more than ten minutes. But I didn't start til you got here."