Don't drink and drive

"You found her?" George asked frantically.

"Found who?" Luke shrugged.

"Obviously Nora."

"No I didn't. And I went to attend a call, not look for her." He settled down.

"Hey don't worry. There she is." Tina motioned with her chin. Nora was coming towards them. "You idiot where did you run away?" Tina hissed.

"To get some air." She sat down.

"Nora are you fine?" George asked. She nodded, "George I want to talk to you."

"Go ahead."

"I'm very grateful that you expressed your feelings to me. But, I'm really sorry I cannot accept them. You are a good friend but most importantly you're a good person. I am sorry but I cannot go out with you. Sorry."

"Okay. It's fine. I kinda already knew your answer, so it's fine. But tell me one thing, why did you run away?" He asked.

"I was afraid I would hurt your feelings, so I did that." She said in a small voice.

"I see. That was really sweet of you." He smiled. "And don't worry about me. But still we all had a good time, we should meet like this once in a while.

"Of course we should, but Nora I think we should be leaving now or we'll not be allowed to enter." Tina said. "About the bill?"

"Don't worry it's on the house; you want us to drop you?" George smiled.

"No. It's fine. Let's get going."

They both got up and thanked them for the meal, Nora apologized once more. They bid their goodbyes and Nora and Tina were out of the restaurant.

"Man I just got rejected. And that was the most polite rejection I've received." George smirked.

"Need a drink?" Luke looked at him.

"Badly."

They headed to the elevator for the bar which was on the first floor. They moved to the bar counter and sat down on bar stools. A bartender showed up, "The usuals sir?"

"No today I'll take neat." George said. Luke looked at him and shook his head.

"So two neat whiskey, on the way." The bartender said. He shuffled through some bottles and then skilfully poured the drink in two glasses and put them in front of the two.

"To me getting rejected." George raised the glass. Both of them gulped down the drink in one go. "Refills." He shouted.

With only three glasses down, George started to lose his mind, blabbering nonsense, hugging Luke over and over again. "Man you are my only friend." He said twirling the glass.

"You need to go home now." Luke said.

"No. I'll get drunk tonight." He shot up.

"Someone's drinking their sorrows away?" Joel popped up from behind them, he came to the bar counter and George took him in a hug, "Oh Joel you're my only friend."

Joel looked at Luke, "Got dumped?" Luke shook his head, "Rejected."

"Hey dude you're done for tonight." Joel said.

"What about you? Where's your date?" Luke asked.

"Oh I got dumped. She accepted my invitation only to dump me and leave." Joel shrugged.

"That's sad. But you both make a great combo, one rejected, the other dumped." Luke smirked.

"Look who's talking, someone who was madly in love with his girlfriend and after breakup, couldn't get over it for months. How uncool." Joel snorted. "How long has it been since then though?"

"4 or 5 years maybe." Luke shrugged.

"And since then you haven't been in a serious relationship. So who's the loser now?" Joel punched Luke in his shoulder.

Luke laughed a little, "It's definitely not me."

"I know who the real loser is, the fate, the destiny is the loser." George shouted.

"Sure you're right, looks like he became a philosopher this time. Come let's go then." Joel looked at Luke.

"You guys go ahead. I'll take my time."

"You sure?" He asked. Luke nodded.

"Fine then, you drink away your past sorrows too today and just freaking get over them for once and all, I'll get him home. See you around bro." He put George's arm around his neck and led him to the elevator. A waiter stepped out of the elevator had a small conversation with Joel and then headed towards Luke. "Sir it seems like one of your guests forgot their wallet." He handed him a black checkered wallet. Luke recognised it immediately, it was Nora's.

"Thank you." He said, the waiter nodded and left, "Another refill please." The bartender was back in action. He gulped it down in one shot, while his hand was busy fiddling with the wallet.

The elevator dinged open once again and a person stepped in, this person was smaller than the others and looked familiar. Luke blinked frantically, "Is my mind playing tricks on me? Why do I see Nora there?" He muttered.

The person walked up to him and it was indeed her. "What are you doing up here? Who allowed you to come here?" He blurted.

"Easy. I told them I was with you and forgot my wallet. They sent me up here then." Nora said calmly.

"Looks like we need to work on our rules and regulations." He murmured. "Anyway, here you go." He gave her the wallet. "Don't tell me you made your cab turn back around to get here."

"You're absolutely right." She grinned. Luke shook his head. "Thank you." She said.

"Not a problem, even I got it a few minutes back." He shrugged.

"Not for this, I mean for this also. But thanks for earlier, for helping me out. I mean you actually helped me clear up my mind and think straight. Thank you for that." She smiled.

"Not a problem. I was happy to help." He said softly.

"And is George alright?"

"Oh little Nora, he's perfectly fine. Don't worry about it."

"Sir another refill?" The bartender asked him. He nodded.

"I should get going now. See you." She turned around to leave but stopped in her tracks. "Hey." She called out.

"Hmm?" Luke looked at her over the rim of the glass.

"Don't drink and drive. That's it. Bye." And she went towards the open the elevator and stepped in.

For the next few minutes he stared at the elevator. He sighed and got up. "Have a good day sir." The bartender smiled.

He got down at the ground level and went towards the door but stopped. He took out his phone and dialed a number, "Hey Jerry come pick me up at Three Monkeys."

"Anything the matter, sir?"

"No. I think I'm too drunk to drive."

"I'll be on my way sir."

Luke hung up and brought his phone to his forehead and slammed it lightly. "Don't drink and drive." He chuckled.