Chapter 15

It was a Christmas that Clare will never forget. The time she spent with Ian filled her heart with happiness. She did many crazy things with him that will be worth remembering for a lifetime.

Before that, she would never have guessed that at the age of twenty she would experience so many wonderful moments by his side.... She missed her childish craziness, she missed playing with Ian.

Now she was making up for those lost years, feeling as if she were back in the past, before it all happened.

Smiling, she tilted her vodka-filled glass to her lips, celebrating the New Year. She was waiting for Ian to join her. She also wanted Paul and his wife to spend time with them, but they had other plans.

That day, when Rosalie couldn't stand it and said straight out what she felt, they talked from the heart, and their relationship slowly began to take on a different color. They stopped sticking needles into each other's hearts, no longer acted like children, and clarified all misunderstandings.

With small steps, they built their future.

- Old lady, pass me another bottle! - shouted the already inserted Clare, smiling from ear to ear. The woman handed her the vodka, which she immediately opened. She filled the glass to the brim and raised it to the top. - Here's to your health, gentlemen," she declared, making the men sitting at the table next to her laugh.

Her mood was so perfect that she drank to excess, not intending to wait until her fiancé arrived.

She filled another glass for herself and didn't have an opportunity to put it to her lips because Ian snatched it from her hand. At the sight of him, she smiled broadly and pressed her hands to her cheeks.

- My handsome fiancé," she said in a sweet voice.

- He who was born an alcoholic will die an alcoholic. - He shook his head, intending to take her away from this place. She was already so inserted that she was barely in touch with the outside world. - What's not to like, drinker? - he addressed her directly, but she didn't understand his words. She simply smiled broadly.

- Sit down, handsome! - she shouted unexpectedly, slapping her hand on the chair next to her. - Let's drink like real men!

- Am I not aware of something? Drunk, are you going to tell me your dark secret? - He measured her carefully, stopping his gaze around her legs a moment longer. - Hopefully, I'm marrying a woman.

Clare got a drunken hiccup. She started twirling her finger in front of her face, having a great time that evening.

- My dark secret... - she repeated, half-consciously looking at one point. - The only darkness in my life is you," she joked, laughing loudly. - And why? Because darkness always attracts us the most....

She had had enough. No doubt she was in the last stages of consciousness, so he wasn't going to wait any longer to deal with her corpse. He took money out of his wallet and left it on the table.

- No need for change! - he announced to the woman, then grabbed his drunken fiancée by the shoulders and lifted her up. She was barely holding herself up. - Tomorrow you'll be dying of a hangover again.

- Kick? Who is kick? You? - She asked, looking around the interior.

Waller sighed loudly and led her outside. The frosty wind cooled her alcohol-heated face.

- We were supposed to drink together and in moderation. I could have expected it to end like this. Nothing new.

The girl broke out of his embrace and stood in front of him, wobbling backwards. Ian caught her around the waist to keep her from falling.

- In two months you will be my husband," she declared, and her smile seemed perverted to him. - We have to celebrate it.

- I think you have managed to celebrate it enough. Let's go home.

- No! - She stuck out her finger, not letting him move. They stood in the middle of the sidewalk, drawing the attention of passing people. - I won't move from here until you kiss me.

She pouted her lips encouraging him to move. Waller furrowed his eyebrows, having no desire to do so, especially since she emitted an intense smell of alcohol.

- Keep your smelly mouth away from mine," he threatened her.

The blonde looked at him with an offended gaze.

- Are you afraid to kiss me? Is it because I spurned you last time? Are you afraid of another rejection?

- I'm afraid of the smell from your mouth, let's go. - He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, ignoring her whimpering.

- Rabbit! - she tore into the whole neighborhood, which made him angry. He hated it when she addressed him that way. All his childhood, she had called him rabbit, claiming that his smile looked like "Bunnies."

He pressed his lips together in anger, piercing her with his eyes.

- Another moment and I'll leave you here! You're driving me crazy, drinker. - She pouted her lips again, waiting for him to kiss her. - Over my dead body.

When Clare got drunk, she always acted like a child, so this time she decided to tease her fiancé and sat down in the middle of the sidewalk. She was drunk, so the cold didn't bother her. She didn't feel the cold.

- I thought this nightmare ended a long time ago.... Are you still sixteen years old that you behave like this! - She made such a sweet face to him that he could no longer shout at her. - Get up," he turned to her more gently.

- And will you kiss me?

- You're drunk and tomorrow when you sober up you'll kill me for it, so no. I'll do it when you're conscious. At least I'll know that you really want it.

The 20-year-old wrinkled her eyebrows, looking offended.

- In that case, I won't move from here. - She crossed her arms over her chest, and he couldn't stand it any longer. He picked her up from the sidewalk and threw her over his shoulder, fed up with her transgressions.

- Now we're going straight home, so you'd better keep quiet if you don't want me to throw you into some container on the way.

*

Clare's parents were not at home because they had gone abroad to celebrate the New Year. Ian was the girl's fiancé, so the servants easily allowed him to lead the blonde to her room.

He put her on the bed, but the drunken devil didn't lose energy and grabbed him by the neck, making him fall on top of her. Again she pouted her lips, forcing him to kiss her.

- I would love to record this and present it to you tomorrow in a sober state. Maybe that would make you stop drinking to excess. You finally need to be made aware that you have a bird's brain after alcohol.

The blonde smiled broadly, not intending to let him go.

- Is this our wedding night? Are we already married?

The boy tapped her forehead with his finger.

- This is the night of your foolishness. - He slipped out of her embrace and stood in front of the bed, looking at her with pity. - Get some sleep, drinker.

Clare unexpectedly got off the bed and ran to the bathroom. Ian accompanied her, guessing that eventually her stomach stopped working and she passed out. He helped her with her hair as she vomited into the toilet.

- This is your lesson not to reach for alcohol again. - She rinsed her mouth out in the sink and looked at him mercifully. - Now I will definitely not kiss you. Don't even think about it," he stated, opening his eyes wider.

- I need to lie down," she said quietly. - I feel bad.

Waller helped her reach the bed. He sat down on the other side, waiting for her to fall asleep. He was so tired that eventually he too was bored.

In the morning, she was the first to wake up. She held her head on Ian's chest, feeling as if she were about to die. The dryness in her throat and the terrible headache made her realize that she had again overdone it sharply with alcohol.

At that moment, she decided that this was the last time.

Without waking Waller, she crawled out of bed, needing water. She grabbed the bottle that lay on the bedside table, in her mind thanking the servants for always taking care of her.

- I'm sure you're feeling excellent, the drinker said.

With suffering eyes she looked at Ian.

- I don't know moderation, and then I suffer," she said, putting her hand to her forehead. - I feel so awful that I don't have the strength to function today.

The brunet patted a spot on the mattress, telling her to go back to bed.

- Sleep until you recover.

She followed his words and lay down in her seat. Ian lay sideways, resting his head on his hand.

- Do you want me to kiss you now? - She looked at him puzzled, not understanding what he was talking about. - Yesterday you insisted all evening that I should do it.

Despite her throbbing head, she recalled in a daze all the silly things she had said to him, however the fact that she wanted him to kiss her was not just a drunken fancy.

- Do it," she replied, with which she surprised him. He raised an eyebrow, looking at her face for a long moment.

- Let's just say I'll do it while you brush your teeth. - He rose from the bed, intending to let her rest. - Get some sleep. You need to recover.

He headed toward the door, but before he left, he looked over his shoulder.

- I have a request for you... Don't ever drink alcohol again. I would rather not see you like this.

He left, and she smiled slightly, realizing that these words signified his concern. After all, he took care of her in the evening and stayed by her side all night.

*

She slept through the day. When she looked at her phone it was seven o'clock. She was definitely feeling better, although she was not quite well. She had to reach for water again, and didn't want to eat despite being on a hungry stomach all day.

The girl noticed that she had a message from Ian, who informed her that when she got up, she was to let him know that she was still alive.

She wrote him back, then used the bathroom to get herself in order. She looked terrible.

A long bath revitalized her body. She felt like a newborn. Entering her room in a blue bathrobe, she did not expect to find Ian there.

- Why are you here? Wanted to make sure you didn't get written off by a ghost?

He measured her figure, smiling cocky at the same time.

- The good spirit told me when I should come to you. - He raised an eyebrow, unable to take his eyes off her.

- And the evil spirit will tell you to drop by for a while. I want to get dressed.

- You don't have to.

- So I'm supposed to parade around the house in this outfit? Also in front of the cook?

His eyes opened wider.

- God forbid! - he shouted, crossing his arms in front of him. - Don't you dare seduce the servants.

Clare rolled her eyes, having a laugh at him.

- In that case, leave. Come downstairs, I'll join you shortly because I need to eat something.

Walking past her, he once again measured her and moved his eyebrow. The girl helped him leave the room, throwing him outside.

- He will never change," she whispered, walking toward the closet. Surprised, she looked over her shoulder as the door opened again. Ian returned and walked toward her with a quick step. - Is something wrong? - She asked, seeing how serious his face was.

He didn't answer. He simply looked the girl in the eyes, then took her face in his hands and kissed her.

The blonde was surprised by his behavior, but she reciprocated the kiss. With her hands, she embraced his neck, feeling pleasant butterflies in her stomach.

She made no secret of the fact that she had waited so long for when he would open up to her again with his feelings.