14 The Poison (2/2)
Unexpectedly, I saw again a man that tormented my thoughts during my youthful moments. I never thought that he would be a fornicator. He passed through the guards simply like a graceful knight coming to set one free. Unfortunately, I see that he is waiting for a woman to be with him. In that short moment, I am awestruck by what I saw. I am stunned to silence and I have forgotten why I am truly here.
”I know, they are members of the elite too,” Mateo says gently to break my stare.
I felt deaf to his words. All I can do is stare as he waits for the woman that would be his date. I can see him calling the woman now in such a loving voice. All I can do is feel agitated with anger and a new emotion. It was a pang of unfamiliar emotion that wants to come right at him and find the woman. Why do I feel so strange about this? Why do I feel. . . jealous?
”Excuse me, but how can a mere university professor be here?” I ask to Mateo.
”How could he not?” he corrects. ”He is a university professor of a school for members of the elite, scholars, and so much more. He is witness to the growth of the most powerful people in the world. He made almost everyone into who they are now.”
”But he was acting like a college friend in our youth,” I say.
”Still, that doesn't change that he knows almost every powerful member of society,” he says even more. ”And that alone made him a VIP. Ferrydell University Professors often come here for a little drink when they are stressed. You should let things be. His date will come around soon enough.”
Kyle, then, presents us with the lovely drinks he made. Mateo got a shot of whiskey while he ordered a beautiful martini. Honestly, I don't drink. I have never tasted alcohol in my life, and that is the complete honesty. I survived college without drinking alcohol. I did not begin drinking. Instead, I take a minute to marvel at the beauty of this little drink. Much to my surprise, Mateo drank the whiskey in one shot and drank the chaser after it.
”You are quite the alcoholic, aren't you?” I say teasingly.
”It's a shot, Rose,” he says. ”You drink it as a whole at once. You have a little drink.”
I take a little sip, but for some reason, I feel a little ring of bitterness. I do not know if that is supposed to taste that way. After that sip, I feel like I had enough.
”Why aren't you drinking?” he asks as he orders Kyle for another shot.
”I feel that I have to save it up for later,” I lie to him in order to escape drinking it. ”I'll drink it soon enough.”
”Suit yourself,” he says as he drinks another shot.
By that, I can feel his speech getting slurry by the minute. I have seen alcohol drink, but Eloisa's voice does not begin to slur until after the fifth time she takes a drink. Is this the effect of whiskey? I take a moment to dispose of the cocktail by pouring it completely in a plastic bag secretly.
”Excuse me,” I say to Mateo. ”I have to go to the bathroom.”
I held on to the plastic bag and went my way to the bathroom. Without hesitation, I threw the plastic bag in the garbage can. I cannot stand to take that drink. Something is quite odd about that drink. I knew that it wasn't supposed to be bitter. I expect it to be sour, sweet, with only a hint of bitterness, but I did not expect it to be bitter at first sip and only taste sweetness and sourness as an aftertaste. I went back to my seat next to Mateo and I saw him waiting for me.
”Rose, I took the liberty of ordering another shot for you,” Mateo says as he shows me another cocktail.
That is when I started to feel suspicious. His speech is slurry, his eyes are turning red and dilated, and his actions are clumsy and awkward. This is not the effects of alcohol. Something is going on.
”Mateo, that is enough!” I say as I take the shot away from him. I told Kyle to stop making drinks for him. By that time, I feel as if my world is feeling a bit light and airy. I do not know why. I am still alright, but I can feel a bit of lightness as if I am drifting off to sleep. It is not fatigue. It is something else.
”Don't worry about me,” he says in a slurry manner. ”Nobody even cares about me. I am disgraced and homeless. I lost everything. Rose, do not worry about a nobody.”
”Mateo, you're just drunk!” I exclaim in annoyance. ”Stop your self-pity!”
”I am not self-pitying,” he says while forming tears in his eyes. ”It is all over for me.”
”Mateo, stop that, or else, I'm leaving you off to stay drunk!” I exclaim.
Somehow, I have dealt with Eloisa being drunk all the time. All I need to say is that I'm leaving her, and that's when she hands me the keys to drive her home. Somehow, I did not think that applying the same principles with Mateo would not work.
”No, don't leave me,” he says. ”Don't you dare leave me too. All of them left me. You are the only one I have left.”
I see in him that he thinks me for a lover he once had. Suddenly, a pang of rage forms within me. By all means, he betrayed my friend's love. Emma loved him truly, but he betrayed her trust by finding another woman in place of her. I had enough. I had to snap him out of this.
”Mateo, stop that!” I say coldly.
”Don't worry about me,” he says. ”I love you.”
And, that was the last straw. He fainted out of drunkenness. Somehow, I wondered what that whiskey contained. I take a moment to smell the whiskey and I felt a little recollection of the smell. It has that bitter aroma similar to the martini. Oh, no! Someone is trying to drug us. Kyle seems to be innocent as he only makes the drinks and we can see the process as he does it. Why would anyone drug him? I try to feel his pulse but it's too weak.
Suddenly, my world is turning into circles. It was as if my world is closing around me. Darkness is narrowing my vision and I can feel myself losing it all. I let myself fall to the ground, but I do not faint. I only want to see who could drug us. I want to see which person would see if the deed was indeed done.