The Rules

Chapter 26

She finally agreed to meet her friends at a place closer to the center of the city. It only made sense if she had moved, that way they were 'meeting in the middle.' Namjoon set up a driver for her, so she didn't have to worry about getting to and from the restaurant. As she got out of the car the driver handed her his card. "Just give me a call when you are ready, I'll come to pick you up." he smiled at her. "Thanks," She said as she put the number into her phone and headed into the restaurant.

"AAMMIII!" She heard Jae call her name as she walked in. "Hey guys," She smiled as they hugged her and they all sat down.

"You look good, how are you feeling?" Ji-Hoon asked her as he watched her get comfortable. "I'm doing pretty good, pretty much healed up. How have you guys been?" she asked them as she grabbed a menu, looking over everything.

"Well, we are missing you every day, but overall work is OK. We hired a couple of new people, so it's starting to get back to normal." Jae said as she took a drink of her beer.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure everyone will be up to speed in no time." Ami smiled at her friends. It was good to see them, and it did feel good to get out of the apartment. Maybe tonight wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

"Want something to drink?" Ji-Hoon asked as he flagged the waitress over.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Just water." Ami started to say, "Waitress! Three drink specials please!" Jae spoke up.

"Jae, I'm not drinking that," She smiled at her friends. She had been out with them lots of times before, but she never actually drank with them. Ever since leaving London, she didn't like drinking in bars anymore.

"Oh come on! We need to celebrate your recovery!" Jae said with an enthusiastic smile. Ami smiled at her friend, but she was annoyed. She just passed the drink onto Jae as the waitress set them down.

The night went on, she watched Jae get drunker and drunker. Ji-Hoon could tell Ami wasn't having as much fun as Jae thought she was having. Jae got up to stumble to the bathroom, he was able to talk to her a little more one on one.

"Sorry, she's a mess," Ji-Hoon said apologetically as he ran his hand through his hair. "It's just her."

"Oh, it's fine, I just can't do that anymore. What about you? You seem like you have a good head on your shoulders after all these years, why haven't you run off to see the world?" She asked, taking the last sip of her water.

"Well, my parents are getting older, and it just never felt like the right time. Someday though, I wouldn't mind traveling with someone special." There was a longing in his voice as he looked out the window.

"You should, you really should. It can be pretty great." She sat back and smiled at him. He was a good guy. He needed to find a good girl, Jae was NOT it, and it just felt like he was stuck.

Jae came over with more drinks, "Here! They made this special for you, they call it a 'mocktail', so it tastes like a real drink, but it doesn't have any alcohol in it." She said smiling and set it down in front of her.

"Seriously?" Ami said, questioning the fancy frozen drink in front of her.

"Absolutely. You'll love it." Jae said with a big smile.

Ami took a sip, it was actually really good. "I'm surprised, it tastes really good."

Jae squealed with delight, clapping her hands, and they continued their evening. Ami had ordered a few more of the drinks before she noticed she wasn't feeling right.

"I.. think I need to use the bathroom.." As she stood up the room started to spin, and she sat back down, holding her head, trying to stop the spinning.