Stuck in you

When he heard that it was about Rachel, Michael rolled his eyes. 'Didn't they sign the divorce agreement already? What's going on?!' he thought.

"Why don't you come and have a drink? It doesn't make any sense to be angry all by yourself, you know," he said after he briefly cleared his throat.

There was a brief silence as Jack considered his offer. "Okay," he replied.

Jack was a powerful man when it came to work and business, but when it came to relationships, it seemed that he was as helpless as everyone else.

It was obvious that he was not aware when he started to develop feelings for Rachel. He was obviously clueless with his own self.

Anger and frustration made him drink as fast as Michael could refill his glass. After a few shots, Michael decided that he couldn't stand it anymore and stopped him by holding his glass down. "I did not tell you to drink alone. Tell me what happened, and I might be able to give you some advice."

He squinted and took a deep breath as he stared at Michael. "What do you want to know?" Jack asked dryly. Michael decided that it was either his natural bad mood or the alcohol.

"First, I want to know why you are upset. Tell me what's bothering you," Michael said calmly.

Michael stretch out a hand to Jack's shoulder and gripped it. He smiled as he raised his eyebrows. "I might be able to give you some advice if you tell me what happened, alright?"

But Jack's manner remained cold. He didn't say a word as he seemed to be in deep thought. He slowly placed his glass on the table and started to lean back in his seat to relax himself.

In the meantime, elsewhere, Rachel felt that something was oddly wrong. It was time for her to rest, but she was still wide awake.

She held a book in her hand but never opened it to read a single page. Instead, her attention was completely drawn by the passing time.

She watched the seconds of the clock as it slowly ticked away. Her mind was completely uninterested with the book in her hand.

When the clock struck 22:32, she became so uneasy that she decided to get out of bed.

She glanced at Jack's room. It was quiet, and there was no sound of any approaching car from outside. Rachel stood on the second floor for a while as she tried to get her mind in order.

She stared at the bandage that still wrapped her injured foot. Her eyes then went to the door of Jack's room once more.

He was really pissed off when he drove away. She realized that it was not appropriate to talk to him like that.

'I think I misunderstood him,' she told herself in self-realization.

Rachel's shoulders suddenly drooped as she slowly stepped backwards to lean against the wall. Her mind was still in a mess. She thought that she should apologize to Jack later.

A short time later, a sudden realization seemed to have brought her back to her senses. She was too ashamed to apologize to him. She played with the phone in her hand for a while.

When she felt that she was at a complete loss, she decided to send Lea a voice message, and sought her advice.

to apologize?' she kept asking

replied to her message. She

few minutes later, Rachel's phone finally vibrated and she hurriedly checked

Jack, you seem to misunderstand his good intentions for you. I think you should take the initiative to

Rachel to organize her thoughts. She immediately felt relieved

finally picked up her phone and made a call to

suddenly became too weak to keep holding her

he still mad at me?' she wondered to

him another call, but Jack still didn't answer her call.

it

she barely read a single page. By the time she finished washing and went to bed, it was almost eleven in the

a car coming back. She quietly turned

same time, elsewhere, the bar was bustling with activity. Marcus struggled to

the bottle of wine and poured into two empty glasses.

his shirt. "You really picked a good place. A

loud. "Did you just meet your ex-girlfriends just now?"

who was still giggling. Marcus sat down beside Jack who quietly leaned back on

how's

to Jack. He turned his head away as he covered

pour wine into a glass for Marcus. "He's drunk. Don't talk to him," he said to Marcus as he muddled his

a sip of wine. He curled his lips to an

in a very long time. It's been several years since the last time he got drunk." A couple of years ago, Jack

He still got involved in a

them. And Marcus guessed it right; he was not drunk at all. It was almost impossible to get him

Michael as Jack slowly regained his composure. To their surprise, he behaved like nothing happened.

him. He took his glass and raised it to the air. "Cheers!" He placed his glass on his lips and started to drink his

you kidding me?" Jack was almost finished with his full glass of wine as soon as the glass touched

could say anything, Jack leaned back his head and drank the remaining wine

put down his empty glass on the table in front

and then turned his sight on Michael. He

what was going on, but Michael signaled to him as soon as he noticed what

him. At length, Marcus understood what Michael was trying to say to

not ask him about it

Marcus thought to himself.

had to do was drink with his buddy. He felt sure that

On the other hand,

had fallen into the trap

the strange look on