บท 2: Collide

"I dare you to give a lap dance to one of the bouncers" Alex pipes, giving a challenging look to Shi Lian. Alex knows Shi Lian hates to lose and he is excited to see if she will do the dare or not.

"I'll pass" Shi Lian with a straight face. no way in hell, she is going to sit on those bouncers' laps. Alex grins and gives her two glasses of strawberry daiquiri. Shi Lian stares at the liquid and gives it a second thought if she should do this or not. She lets out the restraint sigh and gulps down the liquid into her system. When she finishes both the glasses, her friends cheer for her in amusement.

The game goes on and even though Shi Lian gets the least dares, she passes each of them. She is not going to kiss that beefy guy on the dance floor, pick a fight with one of those blondes or strip naked in front of everyone. She shouldn't have agreed in the first place knowing Alex is the one suggesting it. Alex is one of the notorious boys she met at the Gloria University of Fashion & Arts. She can barely tolerate him and only because Joanna is their mutual friend. Shi Lian feels her throat burn and her head light as if she is on air. Two whiskeys, two tequila shots, two martinis, and two glasses of Vermont, are a lot to take for someone whose alcohol tolerance is low.

With a stupid grin on her face, Shi Lian leans towards Evelyn who is scowling at her. "Why did you drink so much? God, you are already drunk!" Evelyn chides. She then turns to the others to stop the game. "She is drunk for goodness grace and I don't think she can play anymore. I am taking her home."

"I don't wanna go now…..I want to stay a bit more" Shi Lian pronounces in her tipsy state, with her eyes barely open. She tries to get up and when she does, she feels her knees weaken. It's as if they have turned into jelly and Shi Lian burst into laughter which confuses her friends.

"What?" Evelyn implored, taking her hand to keep her still.

"My knees feel funny" Shi Lian chuckles, putting her arm around Evelyn's shoulder. Evelyn rolls her, wondering how she is going to handle a drunk Shi Lian.

"Alright, we are leaving. See you later" Evelyn says goodbye to the rest and taking Shi Lian with her, she exits from the club's front door. Reaching outside, where the dark night is completely black with few stars twinkling, Evelyn calls for a cab. The cool wind whooshes making the hair on Shi Lian's skin rise. She is wearing a noodle strap sequin black bodycon dress that hugs her curves perfectly. Shi Lian is not that curvy but the dress brings out the sensual essence of her figure.

"Eevee! Let's dance!" Shi Lian yells with a drunken smile plastered on her face and takes Evelyn's hand to give her a little twirl. Evelyn catches her on time when Shi Lian is about to fall.

With a frustrating grumble, she tells her to stay in one place. "I am calling the cab. So stay put for a while, Shi."

Shi Lian breaks free from her hold and makes a face. "Why are you so bosssyyyy? Let me have some fun!" Shi Lian whines and Evelyn feels embarrassed because few of the people are watching Shi Lian's tantrums.

"I am bossy? Says the kettle to the cup!" Evelyn hisses, lightly smacking on her arm. "God, Shi Lian I am never letting you drink again." If this is how Shi Lian is after she is drunk, then Evelyn never wants her to drink again. Shi Lian when sober is always in control, always responsible, and knows what to say or do but the drunk Shi Lian is the exact opposite of the sober one.

Evelyn tries to dial the cab driver again but the signal disappears in between. She curses and in search of a good signal, she walks a step forward, angling her phone up where she can get it. Evelyn doesn't realize she has come quite some steps away from the club. Once she gets the signal, she calls the cab driver and asks him his current location. When she turns around while on the call with the driver, Shi Lian is not there. Evelyn's eyes widen and she grows panicky. Ending the call, she hurries to the spot where she left her and starts yelling her name. No response. She calls her number but her phone is switched off. "Damn Shi! Where are you?" she yells, checking nearby areas around the club. In that drunk condition, where can she possibly go? She is going crazy worrying about her because Shi Lian is not in the correct state to do anything. What if she encounters some trouble?

Shi Lian aimlessly walks on the road where hundreds of vehicles are moving beside her. Horns are blaring, and tires are screeching, but Shi Lian doesn't care. When she wobbles and was about to fall in the middle of the road, the car which was coming from a distance in front of her might have collided with her, but luckily the driver applied brakes at the right time, but of course, he cannot let he go with few curses.

Shi Lian feels her stomach churning, her head going up and down and her heart palpates in an unsteady rhythm. Without having any idea that another is coming in front of her, Shi Lian keeps on walking in her drunken state. She is mad with Evelyn and decided to go home by herself but she doesn't know the way!

String lights flash in front of her, making her eyes squint, and just when she realizes a car is going to hit her, she let out a scream. The car stops in front of her, and from the driver's seat, a man dressed in a crisp black suit steps out. He walks up to Shi Lian who fell on the ground because of the thought she will get hit by a car and ask in worry, "Are you okay, Miss?"

Shi Lian lifts her gaze to see his face. she blinks, trying to finalize if the man in front of her is Chinese or not because he has those features she has grown familiar with. Monolid eyes, thick eyebrows, and few wrinkles in the corner of her eyes. He seems to be in his late thirties and when she notices the fine suit he is wearing, she for a second thinks the man must be an important figure. Well, most businessmen wear those suits. Shi Lian's drunken side fuels up and she gets on her feet somehow. The man tries to help her stand, knowing she is not in the right condition but she refuses. "Why are you trying to hit me with your car?" she asks, with a scowl marking her face and her hands on her hips.

The man gives her a puzzled expression. "Pardon me Miss, but I was not trying to hit you with my car. In fact, you are the one who was in front of the car."

This makes her angry. She huffs, "You are blaming me, mister? Who are you? Some important figure?"

"No, Miss. I am a butler and also a driver" he says with a decent smile. Just then, his phone starts to ring. He takes his phone out from his breast pocket and receives it. "Yes sir?"

"Oh, so you have a boss too. He must be the one who told you to hit me!" Shi Lian blabs, not having any idea what she is saying. Ending the call, the driver tries to calm her down.

"You are very drunk, Miss. Please, would you like to tell me your address so that I can drop you off there?" he offers to help her in genuine worry but Shi Lian thinks the opposite.

"So this is your plan, huh. You want to kidnap me!" she says, her voice a little loud. "Where's your boss, huh? Where is that man?" she demands. The driver realizes he has done a mistake to come out and help her. she is drunkenly crazy. Before he can say anything, she strides to the car and knocks on the window of the passenger seat. The driver panics and goes to her stop her.

The window slides down but Shi Lian can't see the man's face properly. "You! How dare you think of kidnapping me?" she accuses, pointing her index at him, through the window.

"Excuse me?" comes the deep voice of the owner which gives a shiver down her spine. The driver comes to stop her but she waves her hand toward him.

To her surprise, the door of the car clicks open when she tries it and gets inside it. The moment she is inside, and her gaze finds the man, she almost forgets how to breathe. Her jaws are practically open as she stares at the handsome man in front of her. When their gazes meet, something inside her leaps. Jet black hair perfectly styled, brown hooded eyes, a straight nose, thin lips, and his killer jawline. Shi Lian is blown away by his handsomeness and she cannot move her eyes away from him.

The man's one brow cocks and his arms are crossed before his chest. "What are you doing?" he demands in his deep voice that makes her heart skips a beat.

"Y-your driver said you want to kidnap me" she blurts. The man narrows his eyes at her. Blushing, she looks away because if she keeps on looking at him, her heart will explode from pumping so much.

"You are drunk. Wasted. Get out of my car" he snaps.

Shi Lian feels offended but instead of fighting, she scoots closer, eating the gap between them. A lazy yet flirty smile plays on her lips and the man's eyes get darker. "You know what? I changed my mind." She reaches to touch his face, but he grabs her hand, and with a cold gaze he says, "I said Get.Out."

"You are really handsome. I don't mind if you kidnap me" she grins, the pink shade on her cheeks turning into a deeper shade. When Shi Lian will hear she was hitting on a guy, she will not believe it. She never even initiated to have a conversation with men, let alone flirt with them, but something about him is different and maybe this is all because o the alcohol she had.