Aiden wastes no time rolling his eyes and laughing at its presence, before sliding it directly in front of me and throwing a wink at Lucie, who fondly shakes her head back at him.
‘Now, when have I ever needed one of those?’ he asks brashly, bravado on the maximum setting. ‘Maddy, on the other hand, may need a couple.’
‘A couple of spit buckets?’ I roll my eyes too, shaking my head at another one of Aiden’s bad jokes. But as I stare at him, he’s calm and exceptionally genuine. He’s not kidding.
‘Seriously?’ I whisper.
He stares back at me, unfazed. ‘I assume you’re still in “work mode” so you can make all your notes.’
My cheeks flush with heat. Gus was right– I am a sensible, predictable person. Of course I’m in work mode– this is for work. . . Am I wrong to take my job seriously? Why does everyone else just know how to chill– when to be serious and when to let loose? Did I skip a class? Did I decide to care too much? Or am I just incredibly and inherently uncool? God, I hate him and the way that he is completely right. I can’t let him be right. I can’t let any of them be right. Not today and not ever again.
I stare him dead in the eye, lifting my glass in a mock salute before downing its contents. It stings as it attacks the back of my throat, the citrus coming at full throttle, but I swallow the cough down with the liquid.
‘Damn, Maddy,’ Aiden says, shock not going unnoticed by me. ‘Remember, this is only drink number one.’
‘You’re right. We have way more to get through and you’re slowing us down,’ I retort, eyebrow raised in challenge.
Lucie and Lucien cheer in encouragement, one whisking away my empty glass and the other prepping ingredients for drink two. A blender whirls to life in the background, but I can’t focus on anything but Aiden as he lifts his glass to his lips and takes me up on my challenge.
‘You can’t outdrink me,’ he says, slamming the empty glass on the table.
It’s a dare. Strong and threatening, but inexplicably alluring.
Reason dictates I should leave it– ignore him just like I did every time he tried to bring me down to his level at school. But this feels different– stronger and burning hot.
We lock eyes.
‘Challenge accepted.’
Nudge 11
The Seven Notebooks
A definitive rating of the La La Lounge Lucie(n) cocktails
From a totally unbiased and definitely not drunk source
1. The Evie Peasy Lemon Squeezy: 7/10
Nice palate cleanser. A little stingy, but good.
2. The P’eve’na Colada: 8/10
Classic and beautifully blended. The name warrants the electric chair, though.
3. The Torp‘eve’do: -5/10
I thought Lucie and Lucien were nice until they let me drink this.
4. The minty one (didn’t hear the name, too scared to ask): 6.5/10
Tastes like liquid toothpaste, but it kind of grows on you after a while.
5. ??? It was fruity?: 9/10
Aiden drank this one soooo quickly. I don’t think that’s fair.
6. This one: 5.5/10
