Chapter fifty

Adam

“Another shot?” Jason asked.

Adam nodded soberly and turned away from the now retreating ‘happy couple.’ Watching Christiana welcome Connor back with open arms had felt like someone had just twisted his insides. He was disappointed in Christiana for not sticking up for herself more. She had been so angry at Connor for the whole time he had been away, but now that he was back, all apparently was now forgotten. Apparently Christiana was a lot more fickle than he had thought.

Jason poured the whiskey into the shot glass.

“Can I get one of those?”

Adam turned to see Robin sit down next to him at the bar. Her usual perky attitude was completely non existent, a permanent scowl taking it’s place.

“You’re drinking?” Jason asked. “I thought you were off the alcohol during the IVF?”

“I don’t care.” Robin said, glumly. “I had my period this morning, so apparently I’m barren. Why not make the most of it?”

Jason nodded in understanding and poured her a shot. She took the glass and offered a small ‘cheers’ to Adam before necking it’s contents.

“Another?” Jason asked.

“How about you just leave the bottle right here.” Robin said, tapping the space next to her shot glass.

Jason nodded.

“If I do though, you’re going to have to share it with both of us.” Jason said. “I’m off duty, Adam’s just had the wind knocked out of him and I think that’s enough cause for us all to get severely drunk.”

“Here, here.” Adam said and necked his own shot.

Robin unscrewed the lid to the whiskey and poured out fresh glasses.

“What’s your problem?” Robin asked Adam.

“Unrequited love.” Jason answered for him.

“More like just a bad day,” Adam said, throwing Jason a glare.

Jason shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter, like Robin even cares at the moment.”

“Hmmm?” Robin asked, pouring herself her third glass.

“Nothing.” Adam said.

“Have you got anything bigger than these?” Robin asked Jason after her emptying her glass once more.

“Pint glasses?” Jason joked.

“Bring it on.” Robin answered seriously.

“It was a joke Robin.” Jason said. “Anyway, you haven’t had a drink since your first night here. You’ll be passed out before you know it.”

“You say the nicest things.” Robin said, this time discarding the shot glass and taking a swig from the bottle. “You guys might as well just get your own bottle, I’ve claimed this one for my own.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “She’s someone else’s problem,” he said to Adam, grabbing a fresh bottle. “I’m officially off duty.”

Robin waved Jason off dismissively and focused all her attention on the bottle in her hand as Jason poured new shots for him and Adam.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked Adam.

“I’m great,” Adam said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I wish I could tell you that she was worth waiting for, but I’m afraid that girl is well and truly smitten.”

“Give it a rest Jason,” Adam said. “I don’t have feelings for Christiana.”

Jason gave him a dubious look but didn’t say anything else. They fell into silence as they both stared at their drinks.

“What do you think Michelle’s going to do to you?” Adam asked eventually.

“I don’t know,” Jason answered. “Take bits of my brain while I sleep?”

“Normally I would tell you to stop being over-dramatic, but from what I’ve heard about her…”

“Tell me about it.” Jason said. “She is well and truly the bitchiest of any bitch I’ve ever known, and I spent most of my time in Soho.”

Adam grinned at that and tapped his glass for a refill. Jason obliged. Once again, silence fell over them both. Adam was lost in his own thoughts. They kept on spinning around in his head until he could take it no more and let them fall out of his mouth.

“It’s just, I’d expected more from her, you know?” Adam said.

Jason blinked at Adam and pulled a stool over from his side of the bar, taking a seat and resting his chin on his hand, signalling that Adam had his complete attention.

“She was pissed at him,” Adam continued. “I mean, I wasn’t the only one who had heard it. She sat at this exact bar and complained about how unfair he had been in not consulting him. She was adamant that she was going to let him know that he had to do better than that. She said she was going to make him work for it and then poof! Off she goes and starts sucking face with him as if nothing had happened.”

“She’s a woman in love Ad, there’s not much she can do about it.”

“You can be in love and still have a back bone.” Adam said, noticing that his voice had taken a particularly sulky tone.

“She also said that she was going knock the crap out of him and push him through an open window to get contaminated.” Jason said. “I hate to break it to you, but all that complaining was just her way of dealing. She was never actually going to do it… either that or she’s in the process of throwing him outside right now.”

“We can only hope.” Adam murmured.

Silence fell on them once more. Robin let out a frustrated groan from where she sat a few feet away from them. Adam dismissed her and started in on voicing his thoughts once more.

“I don’t even know what she sees in him, anyway.” He said.

“Beats me,” Jason said. “With his toned muscles, broad shoulders and ice blue eyes, it’s a complete mystery.”

“Yeah well, some people manage to have good looks and a personality to match.” Adam said. “He has the personality of a washcloth.”

“Ouch!” Jason said. “You’re bitchy when you’re on whiskey.”

“It’s not bitchy. It’s called the truth.” Adam said.

“He does have that bad-boy thing as well,” Jason mused. “That’s very popular among the ladies nowadays. Apparently they like a man who could kill you in one move. And with all of Connor’s training? That man could take control quite easily…”

Jason’s voice trailed off as his mind appeared to take him off on a tangent. Adam clicked his fingers in front of Jason’s eyes.

“Hello?” He said. “You’re meant to be cheering me up here.”

“Was I?” Jason said.

“Isn’t that what barmen are meant to be good at.”

“Sure, if we were living in a black and white movie from the 50’s. In reality, we’re good at deciphering drunken mumbles, calling taxis and mopping up vomit.”

“Wow, I can see why you got into the profession. It sounds classy.” Adam said.

“Well we can’t all be multi-billionaire actors with five homes and their own island. Some of us have to pick up the slack of the boring jobs instead.”

“I never had my own island.”

“My mistake.”

“I guess we’ve lost our drinking buddy now for the next couple of months,” Adam commented. “She’s probably going to be shacked up with the washcloth whilst he removes her backbone for good.”

“This is officially bitter enough for me to join in.” Robin said, moving her stool closer and taking one more swig from her bottle. “Do you know what I hate?”

“Do tell.” Jason said.

“The fact that there are no kids.” She said. “I mean, how much pressure did they want to give us? They make this massive decision that all children are useless and deserve to be killed but now that we are here, they’re all ‘well go on, have a baby so that the human race doesn’t die out forever.’ If you were that intent on having children, why kill them all?”

“That is a can of worms that I’m choosing to not touch with a barge pole.” Jason said.

“Like everything in this place,” Robin said. “We don’t talk about the lack of kids, we don’t talk about the fact that we all know about 20 people who deserved to be here more than some of the people chosen, and we don’t talk about the fact that we are all answering to a woman who is single-handedly responsible for the death of everyone out there.” She took another swig. “Anyone else feeling that we’re in some form of dictatorship? We might as well be Russian.”

“Do you even know anything about Russia?” Adam asked.

“No, but it sucks to live there, right?”

“Well, it would do now.” Jason said. “But then, it sucks to live anywhere than here.”

“It sucks to live here sometimes, as well.” Adam said.

“Tell me about it.” Robin said.

“Okay, well you two have officially crossed the line of ‘too depressing to talk to.’ I’m going to go and enjoy my drinking experience elsewhere.”

“Oh don’t go, Jason!” Robin said, with a pout. “We’re out of whiskey.”

“Nah, we’re fine,” Adam said, holding up his bottle.

“Oh, okay then.” Robin said, “See you later.”

“Nice,” Jason said. “On that note, I’m off.”

Jason left them both to it.

“Oi, look alive Gammon!” Robin said. “I’m gasping here.”

Adam poured them both another shot and they clinked glasses.

“To crappy decisions made by crappy people,” Adam said.

“I’ll drink to that.” Robin answered and they both finished yet another shot.