Pursuit of Happiness | Taz Skylar [1]

015. drink more

The night stretched out as far as the eye could see, but Zoe was wide awake, her eyes fixed on the city skyline. She was turning a vape over in her hand, the movement so absent-minded that wasn't even fully aware that she was doing it. Palkia was lying on the ground underneath Zoe's chair, only moving when Zoe dangled her free hand over the edge of her seat, allowing the dog to lick affectionately at her owner's fingers. The night air was cool against Zoe's skin where it was exposed by the old sweatpants and even older cropped shirt she was wearing, but she couldn't bring herself to care. All that she seemed to have the energy for was to bring the vape up to her mouth and breathe in strawberry-flavoured smoke.

Just as Zoe was breathing out the smoke, the phone rang from where it sat against Zoe's thigh. When Zoe glanced down at the device's screen, she was greeted by the sight of Taz's name flashing on the screen. The photo that accompanied his name was several years old, having been taken before she and Taz had even started dating. He looked younger in the photo, which had been taken while he was halfway through laughing. His eyes were crinkled at the corners and his smile was wide, just as bright as she had discovered it still was. She just hoped that his joyfulness wasn't something that the world would manage to drag away from him, the way it had for her.

"What are – " Zoe said, upon answering the call and turning the phone onto speakerphone. Her words, however, were interrupted by the sound of multiple people shouting on the other end of the line, too many for her to actual grab hold of and listen to any of the words being spoken. Under Zoe's chair, Palkia perked up, sticking her head out to try and see where the noise was coming from, but all she received was Zoe's hand brushing over the top of her head.

Laughter tumbled out of Zoe's mouth, causing her to toss her head back against the back of her chair. "Who is this?"

The only response was a chorus of names, once again too many for Zoe to actually hear anything that was being said. Then, just as Zoe was about to ask for whoever had taken hold of Taz's phone to give it back to him, or to at least tell her who she was speaking to, a familiar voice carried through the phone's speaker, muffled as if from far away; "Hey, what are you guys doing?"

The question was followed by laughter from the phone's captors, ranging from giggles to louder, heartier laughter. Then, there was rustling as the phone was moved, and then Taz's voice came through the phone properly. "Zoe?"

"Hi," Zoe replied, giggles tumbling from her mouth before she had even realized that it was happening. "Do I want to know what that was all about?"

"Went to the bathroom. Came back and they'd taken my phone," Taz answered, slurring a little with each word.

"Are you drunk?" Zoe asked, just as Palkia got out from under the chair, standing up on her hind legs to place her paws on Zoe's leg. Zoe answered Palkia with a scratch behind the ears as Taz floundered on the other end of the phone line, struggling to work out whether Zoe would be upset with him for his drunkenness.

"Uh," Taz answered, laughing nervously. "Maybe?"

Laughter erupted once more in the background, and there was rustling as Taz held the phone away from his face, barking something in Spanish to, assumingly, one of the people who'd taken his phone. Zoe strained her ears, trying to hear the other person's reply, but all she got was a string of Spanish, spoken too quickly for her to pick up any meaning.

"I thought you were over there working," Zoe said, taking a pull from her vape.

"We are working," Taz retorted, sounding almost offended. "We're bonding."

"'Bonding'?" Zoe repeated, laughing as she squashed out her cigarette into the ashtray placed on the table next to her. "What are you guys going to do when you have to go to work tomorrow and you're all too hungover to do anything?"

"Drink more!" Someone shouted from the background. Taz laughed, the sound tumbling to Zoe's ears through her phone speakers.

"Oh, my god," Zoe laughed, stretching her legs out in front of her to press her bare feet against the cool metal railing that prevented Palkia from jumping off the balcony. "How much have you guys had?"

"A lot," Taz admitted. "It's okay. We're not shooting tomorrow."

"Fair. That's fair," Zoe hummed. "Okay, well, I'll let you get back to it. Make sure you go to sleep at some point tonight, okay? And drink lots of water."

"Aw," Taz said, the teasing in his tone so evident that Zoe wanted to hang up on him then and there. "You worried about me, Zoe?"

"Good night, Taz," Zoe said, dodging the question.

"Night, Zoe," Taz replied, and there was a chorus of goodnight, Zoe! in the background of the call in the moments before Zoe ended the call, dropping the phone onto the table beside her. Sighing, Zoe looked down at Palkia, still standing with her front paws and her nose resting on Zoe's leg.

"I think it might be time to brave going to sleep again, don't you think?" Zoe said to the dog, her fingers still scratching behind her ears. Palkia's only response was a tired wag of her tail, earning her a soft smile from Zoe as she gently eased Palkia off of her so that she could rise to her feet.