Legal Briefs

“It hasn’t been that long. It’s probably just hitting you now.”

“Oh great, I drank it fast too. Shit. You had better just take me home to sleep it off.”

“You can’t leave! Your boy is expecting you to socialize with him. It’s only six-thirty. You’ll have plenty of time to sober up. Just sit there quietly and smile until you do.”

“You had better at least warn my friends.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain to them what happened and ask them to just keep an eye on you until your head clears. They’re definitely going to be here, right?”

“Yeah, I spoke to Gab and Jess this morning. In fact, they should be here by now.” I was starting to feel woozy and my words were a little slurred. “You’ve met them. You know what they look like. Go tell them.”

“Fine, I’ll just mention you got a little drunk …”

“Because you convinced me to eat salty food and then spiked the punch without telling me. Not to mention you were too busy sexting to notice me chugging it!”

“Now, there’s no need for finger pointing. Just pull yourself together and try to look sober.” With that bit of sage advice, he went off in search of Gab and Jess.

I straightened my skirt, shoved a few loose tendrils of hair behind my ears, stood up straight and attempted to appear and act as sober as possible. Bruce came back in accompanied by Gab and Jess who were looking at me like they thought they might find me dancing on a table.

“Lily, are you okay?” Gabrielle asked, checking me out a bit dubiously.

“I’m fine. I don’t feel that drunk and I’ve got time to sober up. It’s only …” I squinted at my watch. Why couldn’t I make out the numbers on this damned thing?

“Honey, that’s a bracelet,” Jess said. “Your watch is on the other wrist.”

“Oh! Right!” I laughed. “It’s um, eight-thirty? Wow.”

“That’s six-forty, Lil,” Gabrielle pointed out.

“Your boy is out there, by the way,” Bruce broke in impatiently. “He’s sitting with the prosecutors, though.”

“We usually start these evenings along company lines,” Gabrielle explained. “My husband is over there with him, but they’ll both be over to join us soon.”

“Adam was in a really good mood today,” Jess offered with a smile. “In fact, he’s been in a good mood all week. I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

“Thank you for telling me that! Have I told you lately that you guys are just wonderful?” I asked, getting all choked up for some reason. “I love you so much!”

“Oh Lord,” Gabrielle said, giving me a funny look. “She’s going to need some coffee.”

I said goodbye to Bruce, who was getting the hell out of there and home to his sweetie before I decided to kill him. Then we went through the door to the main pub area, and the bright lights, crowd and music assaulted me at once. Okay, now I felt really drunk. Jess and Gabrielle flanked me while gently guiding me in the right direction.

I pushed my shoulders back, held my head high and began to walk confidently and steadily toward their table. Unfortunately, I caught my foot on a chair and quickly disappeared beneath the heads of the crowd as I landed flat on my ass on the floor. Jess and Gab dove down to haul me to my feet and I brushed myself off and stared at the offending chair leg like it had tripped me on purpose.

“Are you okay, honey?” Jess winced.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. I just need to sit down.”

“Well, why don’t you wait until we get to a chair, Lil,” Gab suggested. They helped to guide me over to their table where Mark and Cam stood up as we approached.

“Are you okay, Lily?” Cam asked politely as he and Mark sat back down. Suddenly, I felt the need to explain this foolish mix-up.

“Bruce spiked the punch and didn’t tell me,” I said, slurring my words noticeably. “He also told me to eat lots of snacks, so I wouldn’t get drunk later. The snacks were really salty, though, so I kept drinking the punch. That’s kind of ironic, don’t you think?” I asked with a giggle and a hiccup.

Once I started giggling I couldn’t stop and I got dizzy, so I attempted to sit down. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a chair where I thought there was, so I hit the ground a second time. Everyone got up to help me, but I quickly pulled myself up using the edge of the table.

“I’m good!” I said, trying to sound casual.

Then everyone offered me their chair, but I didn’t want to displace anyone, and I told them to please sit back down. I noticed that there was an empty chair on the other side of Mark, and I decided that would work, so I started to climb across his lap to get to it. At the time it seemed to make sense. After all, it was the shortest path between the two points.

“Uh, Lily!” Gabrielle said, sounding panicked. “You know that’s Mark, right?”

She startled me and I paused halfway across, sliding down with a thunk, my knit dress allowing enough give for one leg to rest on each side of him. That left me straddling him with my skirt riding up to mid-thigh.

“Yeah, hi. Excuse me please,” I said, my face about two inches away from his as he looked at me, appearing stunned. “I’m just going to go sit in that chair next to you, okay?”

“Uh, sure,” he said with a friendly smile. I started squirming around trying to pull myself up again, and he gasped a little and put his hands on my ass. “That’s good,” he said huskily and gave me a slightly dazed look and a very friendly smile. Just then another pair of hands grabbed my waist and lifted me back up to my feet.

“Here, let me help you,” Adam said, pulling me against him tightly.

He maneuvered us around the back of Mark’s chair and then pulled over a second empty chair from the next table. He sat me down on one and took the other one himself, keeping his arm around my waist and his hand firmly planted on my hip.

“Well, that was interesting,” Braden, who had joined us, said to Adam.

“Yeah, thanks for helping,” Adam said, glaring at Mark.

“I didn’t want her to fall.” He looked very amused as he poured himself a cup of beer.

“You heard what happened. It’s not her fault,” Gabrielle said emphatically.

“I didn’t say it was her fault,” Adam replied, giving Mark another dirty look.