“Hold on to this,” Monica said, passing her purse to Geetha, “I need to use the washroom.”

“Where is it?” Geetha asked.

“It is just behind. You can access it through the backdoor,” the lady at the counter said.

“Alright, we will be here,” Geetha replied.

Monica nodded with a smile and then disappeared behind the shelves. The clock began to tick the moment she left the store. She had five minutes to do what she wanted and didn’t waste any time with plans. The common area, as expected, opened to several other stores and pubs that encircled the area. It was at the moment buzzing with people walking in and out of the various shops and restrooms. Right next to the door was a short alleyway that led back to the Night Street. Walking at a quick pace, was back on the street and after a few minutes of anxious waiting, she found herself back before the café. The café door, like every other door in the street, was covered in a glass panel. She looked through and saw that the gang of boys had not left the café yet. She sighed in relief, almost smiling, before walking into the café.

The boys were busy in their chatter, not aware of the new customer. The waiters at the counter, however, looked at her with a shocked expression as she entered the café, but no one spoke a word.

“Hey, light pole!” Monica called out.

The tall man reacted almost instantly. The chatter stopped as he looked back to see the woman he had been eyeing earlier was back. He grinned menacingly as he stood up and said, “look who is back. Decided to take up my offer?”

Monica tried to appear intimidating, her legs split, her spine straight, her hands on her hips, and a cocky look on her face. It was more attractive rather than intimidating.

“The ring. Give it back?” she asked.

“Oh!” he replied. He put his left hand into a pocket and pulled out a shiny object from it. He held it up in the air and said, “Is this it?” he then proceeded to put his right hand on her shoulder and continued, “I am more than happy to return it. Just need a small favour from you.”

He was about a foot taller than her, but she had no problem reaching his face. She pulled her right shoulder and in one quick motion swung her arm, slapping him in his face. The man had no idea what hit him. One second, he remembers seeing her pull her right shoulder back and the very next, he feels his head shake and tremble as if he was punched with a brick. His cheek turned red and burnt like it was on fire. The sounds from the café disappeared and in its place, all he could hear was loud ringing. The girl in front of him began to duplicate and the world began to spin. His body lost control and his knees felt weak. Seconds later, he fell onto the floor still trying to grasp what had happened.

His mates looked on in shock. On seeing him fall to the floor, they finally got out of the booth, ready to help their mate. “Should I give each one of you the same treatment? Or will you just do as I say?” she asked them. She now appeared more intimidating than tempting.

The ring had fallen off from his grip and bounced on the floor. Monica bent over and picked it up. She held it in front of him and said, “listen to me very carefully. The girl you stole this from is in the beauty shop four stores down from here. You are going to go give it to her and apologize.” He was swaying from side to side, pressing his palm against his cheek. He gave no response. “Do you understand?” she asked.

Her voice echoed in his ears. he felt his heartbeat through his chest. Her eyes shone blue, and he felt an unknown fear looking at them. He let go of his cheek and took the ring from her, nodding unintentionally. Seconds later, he was on his feet and running out of the café. Monica watched him run out the door with a big smile. “Enjoy your night, boys,” she said as she pushed the café door open before turning back and completing by saying, “and stay out of trouble.”

Geetha could explain the fear she felt seeing the man enter the shop. For a moment, her instincts screamed at her, telling her to run. But her feet froze and unbeknown to her, they were trembling. The man, however, looked worse than she remembered. His left cheek had turned red, and his eyes looked timid and afraid. He walked right up to her, sending her back a few steps, before holding out the ring at her. “Sorry,” he said.

Geetha looked at him perplexed. She looked at his sweating face and trembling hand that held on to the ring. She quietly took the ring and didn’t say anything. Neither did he wait for her to say anything, he turned around and walked out without uttering another word.

“What was that?” Aarathi asked, who also looked on with a confused look.

“What is what?” a voice asked. They turned around to see Monica standing beside them.

“That guy… from the café…” Aarathi said trying to explain.

“Where!?” Monica asked, putting on a very good act.

“He just left!” Aarathi replied.

Geetha, meanwhile, looked at her ring with a big smile before putting it back on her index finger.

***

By the time they reached the pub, the party seemed to have already started. Loud music boomed through the closed black doors who did their best to contain all the excitement on the inside. Aarathi continued to get more and more excited as they reached the place while Geetha’s anxiety was clear to see on her face. Monica, on the other hand, was clueless as to what to expect. She had seen the movies, heard the stories, but experiencing it is entirely different.

“You alright?” Monica asked Geetha.

“Yeah…” Geetha replied, her voice lacked any enthusiasm.

“She is just afraid she will kiss another guy today,” Aarathi said.

“Oh, shut up,” Geetha replied with the same unenthusiastic voice.

Monica broke a soft smile and said, “Don’t worry. I will stop you from doing anything stupid. You can count on me.”

Geetha snorted. Even though she wasn’t sure how a drunk Monica would stop her, she at the least felt comfort being between two close friends. “Sure. You can try.”

“Just so you know. Anything goes wrong, we call Pritham,” Aarathi said.

“Wait. Why didn’t we call him in the café?” Monica asked.

“I was about to, but they didn’t follow us out. So…”

Monica nodded. The pub sat on the ground floor of a three-story building. Its entrance hugged the street before it, with a small area separating the two back doors from the street. The area was occupied by a few groups of people who were chatting amongst themselves. Pushing their way through the door, they entered a pitch-black room where the music could be heard loud and clear. It seemed to originate from the opposite end of the room. They walked straight ahead and past a few people who were making their way out. Turning left at what appeared to be a dead-end, they walked into a thick black curtain. Pushing through, they finally entered the main hall.

Monica felt dizzy the instant she entered the hall. A kaleidoscope of colors was projected across the hall under which endless darkness seemed to envelope it. Loud music echoed as now there was no thick curtains or doors to muffle the sound. To her left was the dance floor, which was already flooded with youngsters, most of whom appeared to be lost in the trance of alcohol. On the right was the bar with waiters behind the counter shuffling around going about their business. Aarathi guided them through the maze of people to the bar where the three girls took a seat at the end of the long table.

“So, what shall we begin with?” Aarathi asked.

“Never had alcohol before. So, what do you suggest?” Monica asked.

“Hmm…” she looked back at the shelves of alcohol lining the wall behind the table, “why don’t we start you off with some vodka.”

Monica asked, “really? You want me to start off with something that strong?”

“So, you do know your alcohol!” Aarathi exclaimed.

Monica cocked her head and said, “I have been on the internet long enough to know a few things.”

Aarathi chuckled. She stretched over to grab onto the menu that sat on the table. She then proceeded to flip through the menu when Geetha asked Monica, “what is your favourite fruit?”

“Oranges,” Monica replied.

“We can start with a breezer,” Geetha said, turning to Aarathi.

“Not a bad idea…” Aarathi replied.

***

Next to the bar were the tables, one of which the girls occupied. Before them were six glasses of various drinks and a pitcher that was meant to be an after drink. “Here you go, this is for you,” Aarathi said as she passed a cooler with an orange liquid in it.

“What is a breezer?” Monica asked as she took it from her.

“it is what we call as a greenie’s drink in our circle,” Aarathi said.

“Five percent alcohol,” Geetha added.

“I see,” Monica replied. She looked at the drink for a moment before saying, “what the hell,” as she shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s my girl!” Aarathi exclaimed.

Each girl had a glass in their hand that they held out. “Cheers!” they said joyfully as they clanked the glasses before taking a plunge into their drinks. Monica was cautious as she took the first sip of her drink. However, no amount of precaution would have prepared her for her first taste of alcohol. The liquid flowed down her tongue and then down her throat leaving a trail of burning tastebuds. It felt like drinking fire that had the flavour of orange. She made an ugly face that gave her companions a good chuckle before they went about finishing their drinks. Monica, meanwhile, contemplated whether to continue or not. ‘It gets better, right?’ she told herself, ‘there has to be a reason why people drown this stuff in bottles.’ With that thought process, she proceeded to try and empty her glass of drink. It wasn’t easy, but with every sip, it became easier and easier. It helped that she took a long break between each sip. A waiter arrived and dropped a plate full of snacks to go along with drinks. She gladly enjoyed the seasoned potato chips which complimented the drink. She guessed anything went with alcohol.

By the time she was done, the girls had already finished their drink and were, very carefully, pouring the liquid from the pitcher into their glasses. Monica was surprised by Geetha. Although she had experienced this before, Monica never expected her to dive in so easily.

“Geeth, you finished both your glasses?” Monica asked.

“Huh?” Geetha grunted as turned to Monica. Monica was taken aback by her expression. Her face had shrunk while her eyes dropped. Her cheeks were rosy red, and her mouth was slacking as she breathed through it.

“Maybe you guys should tone it down,” Monica said.

The two girls turned quickly to each other before bursting out into laughter. They didn’t even try to explain their actions as they began to drown the next glass. Monica clenched her teeth and began to pray that nothing goes wrong. ‘How am I supposed to handle two drunk girls?’ she wondered.

A fuzzy feeling began to creep up on her slowly. The hall around her began to brighten up as the sound of the music got sharper, not louder. The music seemed to move away further and further but never disappeared. She looked around to see everything looked weird and sharp, but she felt normal. ’Pretty sure that is not what is supposed to happen…,’ Monica thought. She heard the tales and remembered reading quite a bit about it. One was supposed to lose their senses, not sharpen them. Monica would have had to put a great deal of effort to raise her sense, but alcohol seemed to do this without her intervention. This was a great discovery indeed. ‘But’ she thought and wondered what she would have to return. There are no shortcuts in life.

“Let’s play a game,” Aarathi said before hiccupping, “I know the perfect game for this moment.”

“Yes!” Geetha shouted in excitement.

Both the girls had wide smiles on their faces which worried Monica even more. ‘What in the world is going to happen now?’ she wondered.

***

It all began as a joke. Aarathi and Geetha seemed to be aware somewhat. They started by revealing some innocent lies they told in their teenage days and embarrassing events they faced. All looked good for the moment. But that was where the good time ended as it all went downhill. This was, of course, only for Monica as the two girls were lost in the trance of alcohol with little to no care in the world.

Monica, who seemed to be invulnerable to the effects of alcohol, was more stressed than the time she was fighting rowdies on the streets of her hometown. Although the girls didn’t get into any trouble, Monica’s inexperience with the situation made her worry more than she should have.

As the girls’ antics got crazier, she began to worry about the people around her. However, one look and she realized that nobody was even looking at them. They all seemed to be busy in their own worlds with little heed for the world outside.

***

“Here you are mam,” said the waiter as he dropped off a plate full of finger-chips before Monica.

She continued to sip on her drink which she was enjoying quite a bit. It had a very citrus flavour to it, like a lemonade. “What drink is this? It is so good,” she asked the waiter.

“That is a margarita, mam.”

Monica had found a new favourite.

***

Aarathi grunted as she pressed on her forehead. Her eyes were shut, and her face cringed. Geetha, on the other hand, looked a lot calmer. Monica expected it to be the opposite, but it looked like Geetha had sobered up faster.

“Sober yet?” Monica asked.

“Yeah… I doubt it,” Geetha replied. She had a soft smile on her face. “I am still fuzzy.”

Aarathi shook her head violently before taking a deep breath. “Pass me another glass,” she asked.

“I think you had enough,” Monica replied, “besides, we are out drinks.”

“What?” Aarathi exclaimed, “who drank them all?”

“Well… you guys did. I just finished up what remained,” Monica replied.

“How much was left?” Aarathi asked.

“Come on now, I think we had enough,” Geetha said.

“What the hell did we do? Can’t remember anything,” Aarathi asked.

“Let’s just say I know way more about you two than I wish I did,” Monica replied.

“Really? Like what?” Aarathi asked.

Monica’s eyes were wide as an owl and her lips pursed. “Like your first night with a guy named Dev.”

Aarathi drew a blank expression and said, “you heard nothing.”

“I heard nothing,” Monica replied.

Geetha meanwhile sat at her seat with a soft smile on her face. She gently swayed from side to side with little regard to what the others were talking about. Her calmness was making Monica anxious.

Aarathi let out a big sigh. Her lips widened into a smile. “I love such days! Only one thing left. Geeth darling, come dance with me.”

Geetha smirked in response. Aarathi grabbed onto her arm and pulled her over to the dance floor, both of them giggling. Monica, however, didn’t join them.

Aarathi stopped midway and turned around to see Monica still in her chair. “Come on,” she called out to her.

“I can’t dance,” Monica said shaking her head.

“Do you think any of them know how to dance?”

Monica fell quiet. She contemplated for a moment. At this stage, why stop for something so trivial. She sighed before hopping off the chair. The three of them entered a near full dance floor. Throwing caution into the air, Aarathi and Geetha got into the groove easily, swaying back and forth to the tune of the song while slowly putting his feet to the work.

Monica on the other hand stood still, but only for a moment. The three had formed a small circle, trying to keep the dance to themselves. “Come on Mon! Dance!” Aarathi exclaimed. Monica tried to do as she was asked. She began by copying the girls, slowly shaking her hands to the tune, and then the rhythm just flowed. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the sharp picture of the dance hall slowly blurred. Everything became fuzzy but she still felt herself. ‘Whoa! I think the alcohol is kicking in now,’ she thought. Her heart was light, and her mind was elsewhere. Suddenly the world turned bright and cheerful. All she could hear was the sweet melody and happy cheers. All she could see was the happy faces of the dancers.

She began to swing her arms sideways before her whole body began to sync with the music. All her life, she was afraid. Insecure enough to not do anything so free-spirited. But today the circumstances were just right. She felt like she was on top of the world, and she wanted to show. She spun around laughing like a child and began to dance to the tune of the song. The others did not comment and instead joined in, letting themselves live, even if it was just for the moment.