Rose pulled away, this time looking at his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I want you to work for me." Drystan extended his hand at her. "We got ourselves a deal?"
Her gaze fell on his right hand, then his face. "What kind of work?"
"Don't play dumb. You saw what happened earlier which reminds me," He drew her closer, her face only an inch away from hers. "What do you know about me?"
Rose leaned down and kissed him. Surprised by her action, Drystan pushed her lightly on the shoulder.
"I asked you a question. I didn't tell you to kiss me." He frowned at her. Rose never ceased to amaze him with her brazen attitude.
Her shoulders shook as she giggled good naturedly. "You should've seen the look on your face. It was so damn priceless."
"Really?" He swiftly grabbed her waist and pinned it above her head on the couch. Her shocked expression made his lips curve into a smile.
He whispered behind her ears, his voice in a sharp blow. "Whose expression is priceless now?"
All of a sudden, Rose began to chuckle. "You really thought you'd scare me? Trust me when I say that you don't."
Her statement riled him up and his grip on her wrist tightened.
He seemed distracted when he spoke. "What's the thing that you scared you than I don't even as much as a fickle, make you flinch?"
Rose's face altered as her mirth became depression. "I don't have to tell you. Let go off me. You're hurting me."
Drystan let go off her hand and looked at it. A red bruise on her wrist tainted her satiny almond skin, and it upset him.
He inched away from her, covering his face like a woman shielding herself from the sun. "I'll be back."
When Drystan got to the hallway, he almost collapsed on his knees but steadied himself by holding unto the wall for support. His breathing became heavy, but he inhaled and exhaled twice like his doctor had told him to. When he was done, he regained his composure and strength, promising himself he wouldn't behave like that again in front of Rose.
Rose sat up. "That was odd. Is he okay?"
Drystan's sudden emotional outburst was not what she had expected. She thought certainly there was more to it. She promised to keep her eyes peeled for whatever surprise might come her way next and settled for wrapping the wound with a plaster.
"Madam, are you in there?" A low female voice asked behind the door.
"Comare?" The voice asked again and Rose went to the door to answer it.
"Sir Drystan sent me here to help you with your wound." The woman who turned out to be a nurse, said.
"Oh. That was thoughtful of him." Rose gave her a winsome smile. Drystan Riley was not one for kind gestures. She gave herself a triumphant smile as she was slowly warming up to Drystan's heart and in no time she would find out his weakness.
Drystan grabbed a stool by the bar, holding his head in his hand.
Gabriel who manned the counter, inquired from his boss. "What can I get you, sir?"
"The usual." Drystan replied, still not lifting his face.
"Coming right up." Gabriel turned to the drink shelf to get what his boss had ordered. He returned and passed the short glass of Martini with ice.
Drystan cupped the drink and took a long sip. He eyed the glass, twirling the ice in it. "I've got a question for you, Gabe."
Gabriel wiped his hands with a napkin. "Shoot."
"Do you believe in déjà vu?" Drystan took another sip and with a light thud, the glass was placed on the counter.
Gabriel stroke his chin. "That's hard to say but judging from what I've experience this past week, I'll say 'hell yeah'."
"You relive moments you've already experienced?" Drystan asked with a mild surprise. Gabriel wasn't one to believe in superstition but here he was, doing quite the opposite.
"Yeah. I get a feeling that life is trying to want us you know, from repeating the same mistakes." Gab wiped the innards of a short glass. When he saw that Drystan's glass was emptied, he refilled it with more alcohol.
"From repeating repeating same mistakes," Drystan echoed, then laughed, "Sounds a little Scooby-Doo to me."
Gabriel shared in the laughter. "Yeah. Me too." Then his expression then came serious.
"But what happened, boss?"
Gabe was one of Drystan's trusted men but judging from what happened earlier hat day, he was starting to reconsider who was for him and against him but now was not the time to act paranoid. He needed someone to talk to and apart from his therapist, Gabriel was.
"Let's just say I got reminded of something from my past. Something horrible I meant to forget." Drystan took another sip of gin and exhaled sharply.
"Well, I'm not a shrink, that's for sure." Gabriel broke into a loud laugh and Drystan laughed with him.
"Well, if the past comes back to bite you in the ass, give it a taste of its own medicine. Like my grandma used to say, 'If life throws lemons at you make a lemonade out of em." Gabe said proudly. That was the smartest thing he had ever said in his life.
Drystan got off the seat and walked away with a wave. "You're right. I'll make lemonade out of this. Summon everyone to the cellar. We've got a lot to discuss."
"Yes, sir." Gabe left his station and Drystan left the room.
Coming out of his hiding place behind the pillars, Vladimir looked around before pulling out his cellphone.
"You're right. The drugs are really worming. I just confirmed it from Drystan. He has recollections of a past that doesn't exist." V took a seat by the stool, finishing off Drystan's gin.
The voice on the receiving end chuckled. "I told you it'd work. Keep putting more of it in his drinks and make sure you don't get caught, V."
V smiled. "Don't worry. That bastard trusts me more than anyone. He won't know what will hit him."
When Gabriel returned to the bar, he found Vladimir.
"What are you doing here? Drystan wants to see everyone in the cellar." Gabriel announced in a harsh tone, waking to the counter to grab his phone and jacket.
"I know. I got the message." V waves his phone at him.
Gabe tossed an item at him which he caught just in time. "I put it in his drink just like you said. In the next 5 minutes, he'll start hallucinating."
"Good job." V tapped away at his phone. "I just sent you $1 million dollars. Spend it wisely."
"You won't get away with this, man." Gabriel clenched and unclenched his fists.
Vladimir chuckled as he left the room. "Oh but I already have."