Take My Breath Away

Debbie changed her pajamas before accepting the video call. "Hey, Uncle Curtis," she greeted him. Sitting just behind Curtis was a familiar figure and a closer look revealed that it was none other than Carlos.

Judging by the way his eyes were narrowed, she wasn't sure whether he was staring right at her or sleeping.

Debbie started to feel a little nervous as she wasn't expecting to see Carlos. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she said, "Uncle Curtis, what's going on?"

Curtis giggled and adjust his phone so that Debbie could only see him. "Carlos has been drinking all night. Damon's already passed out. Neither of Wesley and Niles is a heavy drinker. I guess I will be the next to get wasted. Debbie, you have to help me."

Both Niles and Debbie were rendered speechless.

'Wait. Carlos has been drinking?' Debbie furrowed her brows and said anxiously, "Carlos is still on his medication. He really shouldn't be drinking at all."

"I know! But he has already drunk four and a half bottles of liquor. And, guess what? He has already smoked three packets of cigarettes. Any sensible human being would think that he's probably trying to kill himself."

'What? Is Uncle Curtis joking or something? What will I do if Carlos dies? And Piggy?'

Debbie couldn't accept the thought of losing Carlos again and she raised her voice saying, "Uncle Curtis, could you please give your phone to Carlos?" She didn't know whether Carlos would speak to her, but she had to give it a shot.

Curtis waved his phone before Carlos and said, "Debbie's on the line. She wants to talk to you."

Carlos cast a cold glance at Curtis to dismiss him at once. He knew Curtis was using Debbie to stop him from drinking. "No!" He turned Curtis down without hesitation.

Upon hearing that, Debbie felt both hurt and embarrassed. "Uncle Curtis, I have to get back to work now. You should just call Stephanie."

Before Curtis even had the chance to say something, Debbie ended the video call, without saying goodbye.

Almost immediately, an awkward silence permeated the private booth. None of them knew what to say or do.

After a while, Curtis stood up, walked to the wine cabinet and grabbed a bottle of wine. "This bottle of wine looks nice. Niles, get us some glasses."

Niles was the youngest of them and by default ended up getting bossed around by the others. Sighing in defeat, Niles stood up to press the button to call in a waiter.

However, Carlos stood up and stopped him. He kicked Damon, who was blocking his way, and told the others, "I have to go. You guys have fun."

Niles widened his eyes in concern. "You sure?" He didn't understand why Carlos suddenly changed his mind.

Curtis chuckled and put the bottle back into the wine cabinet. "Carlos is leaving, and I don't feel like drinking. Niles, what about you?"

Niles stuttered, "I... I don't feel like drinking either. Let's go."

He felt like he was the dumbest among them and Curtis was the most cunning one. He sighed helplessly, eager to leave.

Wesley called for help. "Send two men over to bring Damon home safely."

After that, they walked out of the private booth together.

For a man who had drunk way over his limit, Carlos walked steadily ahead of them. But his friends knew how drunk he really was. Despite his drunken stupor, he maintained his stoic and imperious disposition.

Just when they stepped out of the club, Stephanie got out of her car not too far away from them.

Upon seeing Carlos, she heaved a sigh of relief and walked toward him. She held his arm and greeted his friends politely. Then she faced Carlos with a concerned look. "Carlos, why weren't you answering my calls?"

Carlos was so upset he didn't feel like talking politely. In fact, he thought about how good it would feel to be cursing like a sailor. But instead, he simply answered, "Busy."

Stephanie felt a little insulted by his response. Still, she managed to conceal her feelings. "Have you been drinking again? I'll take you home. Get in the car."

"No. Niles and I have agreed to go to his place."

Niles was dumbfounded as this was the first time he had heard of such a proposition. 'What? When did we agree to that?' He shook his head in disbelief.

Curtis whispered in his ear, "Go!"

"You sure?"

"A hundred percent sure."

Left with no choice, Niles walked towards Carlos and Stephanie. "Hi, Stephanie. Carlos and I are going to play Super Smash Bros. We had a tournament last week and Carlos beat me a few times already. So we agreed on a rematch to settle the score."

The others looked absolutely baffled, as though they had a big question mark sign hanging above their heads. 'Niles is an idiot! What the hell is he talking about? Does Carlos look like a person who would play Super Smash Bros?'

Stephanie was nobody's fool and she understood that Carlos just didn't want to go with her. Giving everyone a round of polite smiles, she let go of Carlos and said, "All right then, you guys have fun."

Niles scratched the back of his head and said, "Sure. Bye, Stephanie."

Carlos and Niles got into a car, while Curtis and Wesley got into the other. Putting the pedal to the metal, the four of them disappeared within seconds.

Stephanie clenched her fists and gnashed her teeth as she watched their tail-lights disappear into the horizon.

Suddenly, two men dressed in camouflage carried a man out of the club. Stephanie recognized Damon as the man being carried and she walked over to him. "Hello, Mr. Han. Are you feeling okay?"

Damon barely raised his head and his eyes were still blurry. In a drunken stupor, he looked straight at Stephanie, but he thought it was Carlos. "Carlos! Hey buddy, look at you!" He belched loudly and stammered, "You must be upset because of Pepper Nian. Dude, stop drinking. Otherwise, she will call the police on us. And you may have to kneel before her and apologize."

Stephanie didn't know how to respond to that.

One of the men holding Damon up reminded him in a whisper, "That's not Mr. Huo."

"What? Not Carlos? Ah, it must be Pepper Nian. Woman, since you are here, I have to talk to you. How could you betray my friend? I'm so disappointed in you. Jared and you are best friends, and I thought you were a good girl. Damn! Carlos has fallen for you again even after losing his memory. Are you a femme fatale or something? Ugh... You know what? I'm actually impressed by your influence on Carlos. He just can't seem to get you out of his mind, huh?"

Stephanie's smile froze and she said coldly, "Mr. Han, I'm Stephanie."

"Oh. Hi, Stephanie. Carlos is drunk. Please, take him back home. If Pepper Nian was here, he would have to stand barefoot on a porcupine. My brother is the CEO of ZL Group, and a proud man. How can he stand barefoot on a porcupine?"

Fuming, Stephanie decided to not talk to Damon anymore. She turned around and left without even saying goodbye.

The two men stared at each other, dumbfounded. When they saw the sly smirk on Damon's face, they realized that he had said all of that on purpose.

As Stephanie got inside her car, Damon threw his head left and right to the two men and said, "Carlos is my buddy. I need to be there for him all the time. Even though I don't like Debbie, I'm on her side now for Carlos' sake."

The two men's jaws fell to the ground simultaneously. Why was he telling them about private matters?

On the way to Niles' place, Carlos insisted on getting out of the car, so Niles had no choice but to ask the driver to take them to Champs Bay Apartments instead.