Deserved to be Alive

Adele stood awkwardly before Evgeni. She played with the hem of her dress and adjusted all the bracelets on her wrist. If Evgeni did not start talking soon, she would. Adele had so much on her mind. Instead, the tall Russian just stood in suit, looking handsome as usual, looking around him. He did not even know where to start. Should he use 'sorry” or admit straight up that he was guilty of something unforgivable.

“Adele-”

She shook her head and put up her small hand, “No Evgeni, let me start. You never took the time to even explain to me who Oksana was! You never explained to me that I was the 'other woman'. I have to find out all this information from Sidney and Emma. You really had me fooled Evgeni, kudos on that, but you did more than fool me. You used your Russian charm and made me fall in love. The incident after Hanna's party, you didn't even chase after me, let alone send a phone call my way. Do you know how badly I've been hurting inside, trying to figure out why you never even called?”

“Adele,” he said, his broken English never failing to make Adele's knees go weak, “I sorry.”

She laughed, “You're sorry Evgeni? Sorry doesn't mend a broken heart now does it?”

Evgeni shook his head, “No, it don't. I have marry Oksana, she Russian. My parents not approve of you.”

At a loss of words, due to shock and hurt, Adele shook her head in pity and walked away from the Russian leaving him with her final words, “Love isn't about ethnicity Evgeni, it's about who you want to be with for the rest of your life, regardless of what race, religion, or ethnicity they are.”

She walked back into the banquet hall, leaving Evgeni all alone in the hallway. When she saw Sidney walking back to his seat from the podium before the crowd, a wave of guilt smashed into Adele. She felt so bad for missing his captain speech because of Evgeni. of all people. Moments after she sat down, Oksana received a text message and walked out into the hallway. Adele had assumed that it was from Evgeni.

Not wanting to think about the man who broke her heart, Adele decided she was going to drink her pains away. One drink became two, and two became three. Four shots of vodka later, Adele was hanging off of Sidney, her words slurring and her vision blurred. No one could make sense of a single word that came out of her drunken mouth.

“Keep an eye on him.” Emma warned as she stood up pointing to Max, “I'm going to take Adele back to her apartment before she does anything stupid.”

Sidney nodded, “Good idea, are you sure you don't want me to take her?”

Before Emma got another word out, Max spoke up. “Actually man, I would really appreciate it if you took Del home.”

Emma shot her boyfriend a questioning look, but did not purse it. Sidney said his good-byes to everyone prior to carefully lifting Adele into his arms. He walked slowly out of the banquet hall in attempt to avoid making a scene.

As soon as he entered the hallway, his attention was turned to the two Russians. Oksana and Evgeni were standing on either side of the small wooden coffee table. They were screaming in Russian, angrily pointing fingers at each other. In the hopes of avoiding confrontation or getting involved in the Russian dispute, Sidney picked up his pace walking back to his car.

He buckled Adele into the passenger seat and got in on the other side. Before beginning the drive back to Adele's apartment, Sidney pulled out his phone. As he drove, he called Max informing him he and Emma would have to find another means of transportation back to their shared apartment.