River Lockhart

I walk out of the apartment complex and walk into the nearest bar to have a drink. I make a call to Lucas, but he doesn't answer.

Assuming he might be doing something at the moment, I sit by the bar and take a few shots before someone sits next to me.

I look at the stranger and notice that he looks my age.

"Alone tonight?" he asks as he looks through the menu of drinks, a sign that he's not a regular here.

"Yeah. What about you?" I ask.

"My girlfriend dumped me," he casually replies.

I just nod at his words, but he starts telling me the whole story. I listen to him because I have nothing else to do. I watch the spots of light against the walls while I listen to him talk with a hint of exaggeration.

It makes me wonder why he was with that girl in the first place. Because of the facts that he says, it seems like she was a complete bitch. Maybe I see him as the innocent one because I haven't heard the girl's point of view on this incident.

"Hah. Anyway. It's so boring. Should we do something fun?" he asks, moving close to me and whispering. "The best thing to do when you are down is to get into some trouble."

"What kind of? And how do you know I am down?" I ask.

"You look like that. Anything happened with your lover?" he asks.

"I guess so..." I lie, not wanting to share anything with a stranger.

"Let's get into some trouble. Come with me."

"What kind?" I ask as he pulls me out of the bar. I stumble past all the tables and stop in front of the bar, feeling a little lightheaded.

The neon lights outside the bar make my eyes hurt a lot. So I look aside and look at the stranger, finally noticing his features. His hands are covered in tattoos, and he looks a bit handsome, though not my type. He has closely clipped hair, which doesn't suit him that well.

I notice my surroundings rotating and the floor blurring in my vision. I know that I am really drunk, and my consciousness is fading away.

"Vandalism is nice when you feel sad. Wanna try it? Or should we make a scene in public?" I hear him ask. I don't reply because I feel like puking. My throat feels bitter and I feel so hot in my stomach. I think my insides are burning due to the strong alcohol.

We walk through the streets at a slow pace and enter a store. I stand by the entrance with a ring in my ears and a knot in my stomach. I notice the store blurring in my vision, but still, I see the scene opening in front of me.

This guy, the stranger I met in the bar, simply walks to an aisle in the store and randomly starts throwing everything off the shelves.

"What are you doing??" I notice the only worker in there, a woman, walks up to him and tries to stop him.

He pushes her away and kicks the shelves a few times until all the things in them fall on the ground. The worker shrieks and asks him to leave as soon as possible before she calls the police on us.

I realise that it's kind of getting out of hand, so I walk to him and pull his arm, "We should go. This isn't fun." I say in my drunk state.

He doesn't listen to me and starts to throw the beer cans to the ground. He makes a complete mess out of it, and I notice the worker dialling the police emergency number. I look at the entrance of the store and feel like I should escape right now before I get into more trouble, which would result in more stress in my mind.

So I walk toward the entrance only for the worker to shriek and yell, "Don't touch me!"

I turn back with wide eyes and notice this idiot man reaching for her. Damn it, what did I get myself into? I just can't run away after keeping a pervert with this woman who's alone in the store!! But the police will arrive any time soon, and I will become a suspect in the incident as well.

I walk to them and try to pull him away from the woman.

"What the fuck are you doing, dude?!" I yell at him. "This is not fun!! Let go of her!" I yell at him, trying to pull him away, only to get shoved aside. I get shoved to the wall behind me and hit my head a little before falling against the ground.

"Damn it..." I mutter to myself while holding my head and trying to get a sense out of my blurry vision.

That's when I hear the police sirens.

My eyes widen in surprise. When I look up, I notice the idiot guy that I had drinks with at the bar immediately letting go of the woman and running out of the store. It leaves me against the wall, drunk and hurt as ever, and the scared woman in the middle of the room.

The police car stops in front of the store, and that pervert is long gone.

Damn it, I am fucked up.

I look to my right and notice a police officer walking out of the car.

My vision becomes clearer, and I become sober when I notice Officer Damian Reid walking into the store.

My throat literally goes dry when I see him there.

He notices the woman in the middle of the store with a scared expression and tears streaming down her face. Then he notices me on the ground.

Oh no.

He quickly walks to the woman and shows her to the back of the store, where she can collect herself from what just happened. I notice the way he strides to her and how his lips twitch to give a little assuring smile to show that she's safe.

Damn. My police officer looks really hot tonight, just like the last time.

Shit, he saw me like this.

I get onto my legs with a groan. My head hurts like hell due to the damn hit, and I cuss that man in my mind.

As everything's sorted out and the woman is safe, I try to walk out of the store while holding my head. But I get pulled from behind by Officer Damian. He looks so mad, and his forest green eyes look darker than the last time I saw them.

He tightly holds me by my hair. "Where do you think you are going? You are under arrest. And you will tell me who the other person is," he says in a prickling cold voice before turning me around and pressing me against the wall. He pulls back my arms and cuffs me from behind.

"Wh- what? I didn't do anything!" I exclaim.

"I saw your pal running away before I came. You should cooperate and tell me his identity." Officer Damian says in his cold voice that I feel a chill down my spine.

"I don't even know him!" I quickly turn around and look at him. He looks down at me with a hint of disgust, and when I say it, it hurts me. It hurts a lot!! Ahhh! I don't want him to look at me like that! Man, he looks at me like I am the most disgusting person he has ever seen!

"Tell your excuses at the police station," he says.

Oh no. If he actually takes me to the police station, he'll get into trouble, not me! All the police officers there know my father, and they will do anything for him. If they notice Officer Damian taking me into the station, cuffed like this, they would eliminate him or, worse, discharge him from his services. I am aware of the dirty things that can happen.

"I am telling the truth." I struggle as his hold on my shoulder hurts, and I look at him, expecting him to believe my words.

"Do you expect me to believe a drunkard?" he asks.

My lips part in surprise. What's worse than getting rejected by a hot man? This is! Getting arrested by him and getting a disgusted look, and then being called a 'drunkard'!

This cannot get any worse.

Involuntarily, I feel a lump in my throat, but I quickly shrug it away and look away from him. He drags me out, but then he stops. He looks back at the store and seems to contemplate something. I realise that he's wondering what to do because he cannot leave that woman alone in the store.

I look where he's looking, toward the aisles, but something else catches my attention.

"Cameras," I say.

"What?"

"Check the CCTV!" I look at him with a frown. "What kind of a police officer doesn't look at the evidence?!"

Damian Reid

River... Lockhart. What more am I supposed to expect from a brat who sped up to 100 miles on the road? And a brat who used his father's identity to escape the law? A brat who tried to throw his money at me, and finally, who was at a crime scene.

But looking at the CCTV footage in front of me. It's a whole other incident.

River comes in with another guy, but he only remains by the door while the other one acts aggressively. He even tries to stop the other guy from ruining the goods and harassing the store worker.

The girl, now wearing a thick jacket around her body, replays the scene with a shaky hand. She looks dishevelled and scared after being harassed by a pervert.

Before anything, I asked the girl to call the store owner as she required someone to take care of her. After asking her to kindly show the footage, she claimed that this brat right here was not responsible for anything.

I didn't want to believe it, but here it is...

I step back and fold my arms on my chest. Then I look at the brat who's in the corner of the room where I asked him to stay. I sigh and walk up to him. Then I take out the key and uncuff him. He really is innocent.

And I will be lying if I say that I didn't want him to be innocent.

I actually didn't want him to be any part of this whole thing because, in a certain way, he reminds me of my old version, stubborn and always getting into trouble. But he's not exactly like me. I actually used to do a lot of bad things. He looks innocent although getting into a lot of trouble.

"Give your statement to the police station regarding the man you met in the bar. This is a serious thing. We can't have a pervert on lose." I tell him.

He caresses his wrists where they have turned a bit red due to his pale skin. He doesn't reply but looks away. Then he sighs, "An apology will be good, you know." he mumbles.

"   "

"You literally handcuffed an innocent guy."

I roll my eyes at his words, "So you met this guy at a bar?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"Which bar?"

"Night Shade-" he gasps and looks at me with wide eyes.

"Thought so. After going to an illegal bar when you are not yet twenty-one, are you trying to teach me the law? I admit I cuffed the wrong guy."

The doors open and the storeowner walks inside. I let him know what has happened and River tells him about the other guy and how everything exactly happened. I take the CCTV footage evidence to a pen drive and walk out of the doors to my car.

I look back at River whose face looks flushed as he's drunk.

"I want you to be present at the police station tomorrow morning," I say with my hand on the door handle.

"I can't be there. I have to attend a gender reveal party and murder someone," he mumbles.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"How about the evening?"

"Fine. I'll be there," he says with a little bit of arrogance in his voice. I turn back to the car only for him to hold my arm. When I look at him, he quickly loses the grip on my arm and nervously looks down.

"Your phone number?" he asks.

"What?"

He clears his throat, "I mean- there might be like- Um... you know. I want to know when you catch that man. Also to confirm when I will be coming to the police station and stuff." he clumsily gives me his phone.

I take his phone and type my phone number away. When I hand his phone to him, his eyes light up and I notice that his ears have turned a bit red. He's really drunk.

"Stay away from trouble. You can't expect to escape the consequences every time you do something illegal." I remind him as I get into the driver's seat.

"Oh, yes!" he quickly says. "Aren't you going to do anything about- about me going to the bar?" he asks with his eyes widening in confusion.

"Last chance."

River Lockhart

I watch as Officer Damian drives away.

He really hates me. But at the same time, he's concerned, too, although we are mere strangers to each other. Even last time, he let me go with just a fifty-dollar fine, and this time, he didn't even do anything about my presence in an adult bar.

Well...

I look down at my phone and quickly save the number that he has typed. I can't believe my night turned around and twisted like this. Whatever shit has happened since the call from that woman(Julia), I managed to get Officer Damian's number although I don't know what I am supposed to do with it.

I can do plenty of things with this acquired power.

I can give him a call. A booty call.

Or I can send him a flirting message.

Damn. What should I actually do with it??

I send my hand through my hair and kick at the pebbles on the ground in frustration. I don't know how I am supposed to enter his inner circle anyway. I feel lost because he has a high wall around him and he keeps everything really professional.

~.~

I walk back to my penthouse and enter my place before falling asleep on the living room sofa as I am too tired to go to my room. When I wake up, it's around nine in the morning, and I realise I am quite late for the gender reveal party.

I quickly run to my room while looking through my phone to check whether anyone has contacted me regarding it. But as I see no one has made any calls, I take a quick wash, brush my teeth and go to the parking space to get in my Porsche.

Then I quickly speed to the venue of the event to find a lot of luxurious vehicles in the parking space. I toss my key to the doorman and quickly run inside. I notice a lot of guests in the hall as I enter and the conversations echo in the room.

As I walk through the room, their eyes shift to me, and I silently look for my dad. I find him among the crowd, holding his wife's.

I walk up to him although I don't really feel like talking with him. But there's nothing I can do but talk with him because I am still living off his money.

He turns to me as he notices everyone looking in my direction. His eyes take a darker tone as he looks down at me with cold eyes. He masks it off with a fake smile and gives me a side hug.

"You are really late, you know?" he asks.

"That's surprising cause who holds these parties earlier than 10 am?" I ask back.

"10 am?" he questions me again.

I check my phone and my eyes widen when I see that it's 1 pm. I have no idea how I lost track of time and when I lost track of time, how did I see 9 am at the penthouse and the time shifted to 1 pm in that short time?

"You reek of alcohol, and you decide to come this late-" he lowers his voice so others won't hear him talking to me. "Before anything, I am a businessman do you get that?? I have a face, a dignity, an image to protect so use your brain for once!"

"I am at least here! Chase is not even present at the moment. It might be Summer break there you know!" I argue back.

"Watch your damn mouth before anyone hears!!"

I flinch at his voice and quickly look away. Gladly, I feel less oppressed and pressured because of the crowd around us. I move away without talking further and watch from the side as the event slowly ends.

As it's over, I leave the hall and walk down the corridor while scrolling through my phone.

I might've come to the event hours late and everything. But there's something else that I have to give more thought and time to.

How to flirt with the police officer and get his attention!?

Yeah, I kind of like him already.