GOLDEN || S. REID

𝟷𝟹: 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝙽𝚈

 Eliza loved tequila. In fact, she loved alcohol. Whoever put a legal drinking age on alcohol was an idiot. In Eliza's opinion, it was a beverage for all to enjoy, truly. Children could indulge in the sweet and fruity stuff while adults could stick with their stuffy wines and cheese platters that Eliza never quite understood. Who offered cheese plates as snacks? They barely kept a growling stomach at bay which was especially embarrassing during business meetings and weirdly quiet company parties.

Yeah, Eliza didn't like cheese platters.

"I just don't get why it had to be my family, you know?" Eliza loudly complained to the bartender who looked more than amused with her drunken ramblings. "I mean, first I nearly die to our nanny and then I nearly die to my brother's ex-fiance? Give me a break." She propped her head up on her beer bottle, hands clasping over the mouth of the bottle while her chin rested on the backs of her hands. "What do you think?"

"I think," the bartender, Ella or Emma or whatever, gently took the bottle from her hands and replaced her drink with a glass of water, "that you should call one of your siblings to come and get you. I'm cutting you off for tonight, babe."

Eliza whined, making grabby hands at the glass bottle on the other side of the bar. "But I want my beer. I paid real adult money for that!"

"And you'll get refunded real adult money," Ella assured her. "Now is there someone we can call for you or do you want me to call you a cab?"

Eliza made a face. Going back to her siblings while drunk did not seem like the best option considering Noah would probably scold her from running off and Riley would attempt to mother her while James would most likely just send her straight to bed. But Eliza wasn't tired as of yet.

However, on the other hand, hopping into a cab this late at night did not seem like the best idea. She'd heard the stories before of how drunk women would get into cabs and end up as the star of whatever sick fantasies the killer had cooked up that time. She didn't really fancy becoming a victim tonight.

"I have someone I can call," Eliza said, fumbling with her device. She had never been more grateful for face ID than she was at that moment. 

After a bit of scrolling, her finger finally landed on the correct contact. She waited as the phone rang, pressing the cool glass screen against her face as she laid her head down on the bar. It might not have been the most sanitary but she could honestly care less at that moment.

The phone rang once before he picked up, his voice obviously thick with sleep as he asked who was on the other end. Eliza couldn't help but let a giggle bubble past her lips as she twirled a piece of hair around her pointer finger. She accidentally tugged a bit too hard, causing her to let out a small whine of pain.

"Hello?" he asked again, this time sounding much more awake. Eliza heard rustling on the other side before a stifled yawn filtered through the speakers.

"Spencer!" she cheered, untangling her fingers from her hair and lifting her head up from the bar. She propped her head up, settling her chin in the palm of her hand. She kicked her legs back and forth, brushing against the bar's footrest. "How was your day? I saw you earlier but I couldn't say hi because I had to go look at Helena's dead body. But don't worry, I would have rather seen you than see Riley throwing up in a trash can. That was nasty."

"Eliza," Spencer breathed, confusion lacing his voice. "Are you okay? Why are you calling me... Are you drunk?"

"I'm fine, Spence," Eliza slurred, swishing the water in the glass around a few times before taking a sip. "In fact, I'm amazing now that I'm talking to you. You've got a cute face, you know? It's like perfectly sculpted."