Speeding west along Santa Monica Boulevard at the foot of Beverly Hills, it took them barely twenty minutes to reach Los Angeles's most enchanting coastline.
Santa Monica possessed the most alluring seashore in the City of Angels—lively bars, cozy cafés, wooden boardwalks, neat bike lanes, rows of surf shops, breezy picnic areas, and palm trees scattered across the soft white sand. Blue waves crowned with white foam rolled in from the horizon, crashing gently onto the fine grains. Swimming, surfing, shopping, sunbathing, sports—everything mingled together here, making Santa Monica one of L.A.'s most iconic resort spots.
Though the sunlight had vanished, the late-night Santa Monica beach carried a quiet beauty under the silvery-blue moonlight. The ocean breeze howled fiercely, turning that serenity into something breathtaking. Joseph steered the car into the heart of the city—the Third Street Promenade. Despite its ordinary name, the street was alive with street performers, dancers, and wandering artists. Unique cafés, restaurants, art shops, and bars lined both sides, creating the most vibrant part of Santa Monica.
Tonight marked the end of the year. It wasn't as crowded as New York's Rockefeller Plaza, where the famous countdown concert was held each year, broadcast nationwide by Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Still, the Promenade had its own distinctive energy.
It wasn't jam-packed to suffocation, but it was a haven for free-spirited artists. A skinny kid with braided hair performed hip-hop moves to pounding beats; an elderly white-haired lady—easily in her eighties—twirled her skirt in a fiery flamenco; a stunning young woman in a red dress, hair pinned up, danced an impassioned tango with her partner. The air throbbed with the rhythm of powerful drumbeats. Within a few hundred yards, it felt like a miniature carnival—shutting out the darkness of night completely.
Hugo had just endured an awful evening, but the sight before him gradually eased his tension. The rhythm of the crowd softened his mood bit by bit.
Following Joseph, they stopped at a bar called Barney's Beer. The moment they stepped inside, they entered a world bathed in red light. A wooden staircase stood to the right of the entrance, its walls hung with old license plates. Combined with stone walls and wooden booths, the décor screamed "road-trip Americana."
On the left, a line of television screens broadcast the noise and excitement of Rockefeller Plaza. Dick Clark, as always, was hosting the countdown. Yet inside the bar, the roaring music drowned out the TV entirely. Every booth was packed, and people carrying beer glasses squeezed through the aisles, laughing and shouting over the music.
At the center of the room stood four massive wooden barrels—each nearly as tall as a man—with taps attached. Clearly, these were kegs of beer. Two or three people waited at each tap, while others laughed and hollered behind them.
"Whoa! Now this is a party—a real party!" Leonardo yelled, almost jumping on the spot. Even the usually shy Tobey looked thrilled, his face flushed pink with excitement. The two were ready to dash for the beer barrels when Hugo caught them both by the arm.
"We just got here. Shouldn't we at least say hi to our host first?"
The bar was so loud that even Hugo's shout barely carried. Leonardo and Tobey just stared blankly, so Hugo mouthed the word, "Alex!" If it had been a stranger's party, they could've gone wild but since the host was a friend, a quick greeting was only polite.
Leonardo realized his mistake and nodded quickly, though his legs were already bouncing in place. Tobey grinned beside him, his eyes squinting from excitement. Hugo couldn't help but smile at the sight of the two restless youngsters.
Finding the host among such a dense crowd wasn't easy but, unsurprisingly, over a third of the people here recognized Leonardo and Tobey, while many others were familiar faces from the TV circle. After all, this was a gathering of second- and third-tier actors from the television industry. With Leonardo and Tobey leading the way, Hugo soon found Alex, Charlize, and Kal near the dartboard area.
When they arrived, Charlize was playing darts. Her freshly dyed golden hair gleamed like silk carpets under the bar's red lights, tied roughly into a ponytail that somehow ruined but also accentuated—her raw beauty. The style exposed her slightly rounded jawline and slender neck. A plain white T-shirt revealed a perfect collarbone, its hem knotted casually above a slim waist that flowed into denim jeans hugging her long legs. A pair of black combat boots completed the look—fierce yet undeniably feminine. Charlize looked breathtaking.
She didn't seem to care about the stares around her. Focused entirely on the target, she drew her arm back and threw—one dart, then another, and another. Four darts struck cleanly in the red bullseye. The crowd held its breath, waiting for the fifth. For a moment, the noise of the bar seemed to fade away. Charlize narrowed her left eye, flicked her wrist, and released.
Thud!—the dart landed dead center in the deep-blue bullseye. The crowd erupted into cheers, applause mingling with the clinking of beer mugs. Charlize jumped in excitement, shouting twice in pure joy. Her radiant smile seemed to outshine the red lights themselves.
Laughing, she high-fived Kal, while Alex and another broad-shouldered man—his face vaguely familiar—looked on in defeat. "Again! One more round!" Alex shouted in frustration.
Compared to Sydney's high-society party earlier, this was a real New Year's Eve celebration. At Sydney's, the noise had been hollow—more about networking and opportunity than joy. But here, the laughter, the sweat, the crashing mugs—all of it felt alive, genuine, and free.
As Charlize bounced with excitement, her gaze caught Hugo and Joseph across the room. Truth be told, they were hard to miss both tall, and Joseph especially broad-shouldered. When their eyes met, Charlize looked surprised for a moment, clearly not expecting Hugo to show up but then she smiled brightly, welcoming him into the chaos of the night.
No hesitation, no pretense—just pure warmth. That effortless sincerity made the weight on Hugo's heart finally lift. His smile returned, open and unrestrained, especially when Alex's voice rang out over the music, loud and ecstatic.
"Oh, holy crap! You actually made it—you guys really came!"
Seeing Alex's unfiltered joy, Hugo's grin widened even more. He knew then that coming here was the right choice. These were the kind of friends worth spending the night with.
Alex rushed forward and pulled Hugo into a bear hug before turning to Leonardo and Tobey with equal excitement. "You're late, so there's a penalty—three big mugs of beer each!" His eyes gleamed mischievously. "We've already gone through two kegs tonight. If you guys don't help lighten the load, that'd be pretty lame!"
Leonardo immediately let out a playful shriek. "I'm first! I'm first!" He practically jumped in line before anyone else could move. Tobey, though quieter, was grinning from ear to ear, raising his hand to join the beer challenge as well.
"Ha! Only three mugs? Alex, you're getting stingy," Hugo teased with a grin.
Alex raised an eyebrow, feigning offense. "Hugo Lancaster, are you challenging my drinking capacity right now?"
"No," Hugo replied smoothly, "I'm challenging your wallet's capacity."
The remark drew a wave of laughter from everyone around them, and Alex, though pretending to look embarrassed, couldn't help but burst out laughing himself.
"Oh, and this is…?" Hugo began when the burly man standing beside Alex stepped forward. Under the bar's red lights, most of the man's face was hidden in shadow, but his build looked oddly familiar—like someone Hugo had seen before.
"Hey, Dropnir!" Joseph greeted first, then turned to Hugo. "Our roommate—mine and Kal's."
Kal immediately shouted from behind them, "Told you he was real, didn't I?"
Realization dawned on Hugo. So this was the guy he'd glimpsed at the apartment staircase that night. No wonder he'd looked familiar. "Ah, one of the top ten unsolved mysteries of 1992!"
His joke sent Alex, Joseph, Charlize, and Kal into fits of laughter, while Dropnir just looked bewildered, clearly not understanding what was so funny. Still, he stepped forward and extended a hand the size of a shovel. "Finally, we meet. Happy New Year."
Hugo grasped his hand firmly but the moment the man's face came fully into the light, he froze. His eyes widened slightly as recognition hit him.
"Falkin?!" he blurted out after a brief pause of disbelief.
....
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