One Love

Chapter 5 - VIP Crowd

Once the crowd had left the room, Megan, Justin, Leo and I sat in silence deep in our own thoughts. I replayed the events in my mind, feeling angry at the moments when I could have escaped and taken myself out of danger. Eventually, Justin attempted to lighten the gloomy atmosphere and went to find some drinks from the mini fridge. 

As Justin returned with the drinks, the clinking of the bottles against each other seemed to deafen the heavy silence that hung in the room. He passed them around, his attempt at easing the tension gratefully received.

Leo, usually the life and soul of the group, remained uncharacteristically quiet. Megan mindlessly smoothing my hair beside me, her eyes distant, lost in her own reflections.

I took a sip of the drink Justin handed me, grateful for the distraction. The cool liquid washed away some of the bitterness that had settled in my throat.

"Thanks, man," I said, nodding at Justin. "Needed that."

Justin offered a half-hearted smile, his own eyes showing his true feelings about the situation we found ourselves in. "Yeah, no problem. So sorry Jen, I've not even asked if you're okay" 

"I can't believe that just happened!" My sadness quickly turned to rage "Where the hell were you when I needed you?" I glared at them both. Justin initially kept his head down waiting for Leo to take responsibility for the misjudgement. 

Leo apologised "Believe me, I'm so angry at myself and truly sorry. I never imagined they'd take it that far. We rushed over as soon as we realised how serious the situation was heading."

Justin added, "I wanted to by the door as soon as you went in but..." he glanced at Leo  apologetically before continuing "Leo insisted you'd be fine and to wait for you to return. He reassured me it would be all over when they offered you the money. You were supposed to hand it back and walk back through the door"

"Yes I should have known better. God I feel so foolish" I said, suddenly remembering my lack of a plan led me to being trapped in a room, "I wasn't thinking straight. I guess I was hoping you would come and save me at the last moment." Feeling overwhelmed and a sudden rush of light headedness, I leaned my head on Megan's shoulders as tears filled my eyes. I closed them tightly so no one could sense my stupidity. "I was paralysed. I could have run, screamed for help. Anything. Why didn't we come up with an escape plan?"  

"Nope. You slammed your last two drinks down, too drunk to even care. No plan, stormed off like a moody kid. " Leo finally snapped. I cried even harder. When Leo saw I was crying, his anger turned into guilt then sympathy. "I'm so sorry for yelling. I was just so scared and guilty I had allowed it to get that far". He hugged me tight. 

"I'm sorry I didn't fight harder to get to you sooner. We left the bar area as soon as we heard you were getting into danger," Leo tried to retrace their steps, "after the drinks and he pushed you onto the sofa the first time round. We knew we had to get there quick." 

He rubbed his forehead trying to remember the sequence of events, torturing himself on when he should have reacted sooner. "But it was too late. The club was filling up. We ran and pushed our way through the crowd. When we got to the door, it was jammed... shit we let you down didn't we?"

Leo added, "What else happened?" he looked at me unsure whether he wanted to know the answer. "we were too focused on reaching you, we didn't hear what happened from the drinks onwards. It's killing me not knowing. " Leo released me, leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, vigorously rubbing his forehead with his palms.

I smile weakly, gently stroking his back, "Please don't worry. Luckily nothing went inside. It was more of a grope than anything. "

We spend the next thirty minutes reminding ourselves of the 'what ifs' and the foolish risks  we've taken in the past. We've always managed to stay safe, yet this time a mixture of alcohol and carelessness has served as a wake-up call revealing how we often expose ourselves to danger.