It was a proposal

Jackson sat in his office that morning, watching the clock on the wall. The clock shorthand struck three and longhand rested on twelve.

"I can't take this!" Jackson yelled. He took his coat and left his office.

"Hey, Kate. I am going out and won't be back until tomorrow. In case anyone visits me, do tell them that I am out of service and call me if it is important." Jackson shouted toward Kate as he left the building.

The air was cold as snow fell from the sky. "Well, I will take Stevens's advice and do some daylight drinking. After all, he took my advice about telling Julie the truth." Jackson said as he entered his car.

The bar was quiet around this hour. Jackson sat on a stool and asked the bartender to get him a whiskey. After his third glass, an annoying but familiar voice called out to him.

"Hello, Jackson. It is a pleasure to meet you here." Chloe said as she took a seat next to him.

"I wish I could say the same for you. But, I can't bring myself to lie to you. What do you want, Chloe?" Jackson told her as he set his drink on the counter aggressively.

The bartender looks shocked. However, he quickly removes his gaze from them and attends to another customer.

Chloe grew embarrassed. She learned that Jackson detests her after she and his friend broke up. Still, Chloe had a bit of hope that he would let the past go.

Except, they all understood that Jackson was not a second-chance kind of guy. He may forgive you, but things can never go back to the way it was with you guys.

Jackson did not intend for his statement to come out rudely. Yet he was not planning on taking his word back or apologizing to Chloe.

"The behavior you just displayed is a similar reason why Steven had to ask me to leave at the party!" She replied angrily.

"He asked you to go? You did not leave on your own?" Jackson said in shock. His loud voice grabbed the attention of everyone in the bar.

Chloe felt confused. She recalls that night clearly, so why was Jackson acting more bewildered than her?

"Steven, I am sorry for staying too long in the bathroom. You wouldn't believe the line I had to wait in just for my hand to get washed." Chloe said as Steven approached her at the club bathroom entrance.

He seemed nervous and kept glancing over his shoulder as if someone was watching him.

"That's not an issue. Anyways Jackson has arrived at the club." Steven informed her.

Chloe felt puzzled and frustrated by his remark. "Should I go say hi to him?" She asked.

Steven paused for a while, as though he was collecting his thoughts. "You can't go! Jackson hates your presence. He was the person who requested me to inform you to leave, or he would be the one to go. Here, take this one thousand dollars, and please leave. Jackson is my buddy. I can't choose you over him." Steven replied to her question.

"Is that how you see me as a money digger?" Chloe asked. She felt hurt.

"Chloe, can we not play the 'I am righteous' game. We both grasp that you don't love me, but my money. Just collect the money." Steven told her coldly.

"You are right! I only love your money. That's why one thousand is not enough. I need ten thousand, or I will approach Jackson right now." Chloe urged him.

Steven appeared inpatient. He took out his phone and made a transfer to her phone.

"Beep!" Chloe's phone vibrated.

"I guess that's your payment. Can you leave now!" Steven stated fiercely.

Chloe looked at her phone and smiled sickly when she saw the message on the screen.

"I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to invite you when all you do is hurt me," Steven mutters. But Chloe heard it. She ran past him with tears dripping down her chin and left the club.

These were her painful memories of that night. Chloe swore never to tell anybody what happened because she did not want them judging her. But Jackson's shocked expression had her reliving that moment.

"Chloe! Why did you tell me that Steven was the one that asked you to leave?" Jackson repeated his question. However, this time his tone was more demanding.

"Because he did! Steven said that you disliked my closeness to him and wanted me to leave!" Chloe replied frustrated.

Jackson asked the bartender to bring two more glasses of alcohol. He seized the drink sitting in front of him and drank it all.

"Were you not the one that demanded me to leave?" Chloe questioned. She could tell from his upset expression that he remembered nothing about what she had just revealed.

"Assume whatever you have to believe. It's not my responsibility to dismiss your uncertainties. However, I do resent you." Jackson replied as he accepted his drink from the gentleman.

Chloe was furious and depressed at the same time. "Why do you despise me? Is it because I broke your friend's heart? Uh!" She uttered to him with hostility in her words.

"Yes, Chloe. You did not only break his heart, but you also damaged it. Do you realize that the question he asked you was a proposal? Steven had the ring in his pocket. All he required of you was the right answer. Yet you had to be selfish!" Jackson explains in rage. He clasped his sixth shot and consumed it.

The bar grew peaceful after his statement. Everyone had quite what they were doing and waited on Chloe to answer.

However, she could not reply. Her eyes remained filled with tears, and her heart seemed like it got squeezed out of oxygen. Chloe did not know about this piece of critical information. Steven had withheld it from her.

"He was going to propose." She whispered as she laid her head on the counter and sobbed bitterly.