When Frank and Lucas came back from the bathroom, William and the others were already several bottles in, and nearly drunk.
"Frank, why did it take you so long?" Nancy asked him.
"I was just out for a cigarette." Frank stared at William while he spoke.
"Okay, fine." Nancy smiled arrogantly and said nothing more.
"What—what time is it now, anyway?" William smelled like a distillery. The amount of alcohol he consumed made him stumble over his words.
"Ten o'clock at night." The man in glasses said, "Still early."
"Still early? Really?" His wife put her hand on his knee. "So you don't need to go to work tomorrow?"
"Ha ha ha..." Lucas said with a laugh, "I think you're right."
"How about another drink before we leave?" The tall, thin man's face was already red.
"Sounds good!" William raised his glass and was about to down another one.
Lucas grabbed his glass and said, "Now cut that out. Look at you. William is obviously drunk. You want him to pass out from alcohol poisoning? I can't believe you people! Jesus!"
"What do—do you think we can do about it?" the man in glasses stammered.
"Yes," said Nancy. "It was his own idea. No one held a gun to his head and told him to drink."
"All right, all right. You ready to go?" Lucas waved his hand. "Let's leave."
"Yeah. They're almost done, too."
"Okay, then I'll take my husband home."
"Fine," nodded Lucas. "Take care."
A group of people walked out, leaving only four people in the noisy box.
"I'll give William a lift." Frank stood up and pulled William to his feet, indicating they should leave.
"Frank!" Lucas called. "Shouldn't yo
s of room temperature water. "Okay, William, here's some water. Sit up and drink it."
Mary held William's head and slowly put the glass of water in front of his mouth.
Feeling the water moisten his cracked lips, William opened his mouth and gulped down the water. But he drank too fast and pulled away from the glass, coughing and sputtering.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Frowning, William slightly opened his eyes just a bit, and asked in confusion, "Are you Mary?"
"Yes, that's me," Mary replied sourly.
"Where am I?"
"The apartment." Mary stood up and said, "Can you manage a shower? You smell like a pig."
"Yes, I can," said William, and immediately regretted it. His head was pounding. But the proud man did not want to show any weakness
"Then go wash up. I'll make you some hangover tea." Mary walked out, glass in hand.
William stood up, shaking, and staggered into the bathroom.
As Mary was making tea, she felt lucky that William was drunk. She didn't know how to face him otherwise. He was such a jerk sober, and a lot more pliable like this. Eventually, she let him know the tea was done.
The tea had been ready for quite some time, but William still hadn't emerged. All of a sudden, an idea came to mind. 'Damn it! I wonder if he hurt himself in there.'
Thinking of this, Mary felt her scalp tingle. She stood up at once and rushed into the bedroom.
As soon as she entered, she found William sleeping soundly on the bed, clad in a bathrobe.
'Thank heavens.' Mary breathed a sigh of relief. When she was about to leave, she realized he was in a mess. She couldn't stop herself from helping him.