"Bring out the other cards," Karen said, sipping on her drink.
Ellaine and the others knew that today was the day they couldn't crack an egg in front of Karen, let alone a joke.
Ellaine picked up the two stacks of cards and put them back in her bag. She then put forward the other set of cards which read, 'Let’s get hanky-panky, Adults.'
Without waiting for Karen to nitpick again, Ellaine hurriedly gave the bottle another spin. The bottle continued to go in rounds for a while before slowly coming to a halt in front of Ellaine herself.
Somehow, Ellaine was rather relieved with the outcome. She gave a quick look at Karen before picking up the dare card, "Let the invincible Ellaine show you how it's done." Ellaine said.
"Give a peck on the cheeks to someone of the opposite sex in the group," Ellaine gave a good look to her card before reading it out loud.
"Well, we all know who is going to be the lucky one," Ellaine said as she placed back the card after reading it. She stood up from her chair, walked up to Alex and gave a long kiss on his cheek. Everyone cheered while Alex was on cloud nine.
"Hold on," Hazel interrupted when Ellaine was about to walk back. Ellaine looked at Hazel, who had her card in her hand. She hurriedly jumped up to Hazel to stop her from reading it, but it was too late. Hazel had thrown the card towards Amber.
"No, don't read it," Ellaine cried out.
"Make out with someone from the opposite sex for a minute," Amber read out from the card.
"Wooo...Hooo...." Cheers escalated in the room, and Ellaine buried her face in her palms.
Alex stood up involuntarily, and his eyes shone with anticipation. Ellaine had thought that since she was more like the host of the game, she might get away from a bit of cheating.
"Hey, don't think you can just get away with cheating. From now on, everyone is supposed to show what's written on their card, Period," Hazel said as she waved Ellaine's card in front of everyone.
"C'mon guys, let's not do it. Think of Alex. How must he feel?" Ellaine said, trying to get away from kissing Alex.
"He looks rather excited to me," Amber pointed out the excitement on Alex's face.
Everyone looked at the standing Alex, and another wave of cheers followed. Embarrassed by his behaviour, Alex sat back down.
"Can't I have...?" Ellaine wanted to say something but was interrupted by Hazel.
"No, you certainly can not. It was you who made the rule of no shot to skip the task," Hazel said, "C'mon, do it. I am sure you must be sick of your nincompoop husband. Look at those young lips waiting for you to devour," Hazel said, pointing at Alex.
When Ellaine heard Hazel, her heart moved. Though they teased Alex a lot, none of the ladies could say that they didn't have a thing for him.
"Fine, let's do it," Ellaine said, making up her mind. She walked up to Alex, held her face in he palms and under everyone's gaze, her lips met his.
No one let out a sound. Everyone stayed still as they watched Ellaine's lips pressed on Alex's. There was nothing erotic about the kiss, just two pairs of lips pressing on each other. In just short ten seconds, Ellaine pulled out from that kiss. When the ladies saw this, they were a little disheartened, but the next thing they knew, Alex grabbed Ellaine's arm and pulled her into another kiss.
Alex captured her lips in an intense kiss. As he sucked on her kiss, Ellaine couldn't help but let out a soft moan. Alex took the invitation, and his tongue plunged into her mouth and wrestled with hers. His hands were not idle either. His right hand slipped past his neck, and his thumb softly caressed her cheeks. His left hand, on the other hand, rubbed over her hips and down her leg. He grabbed hold of her butt and pulled Ellaine by her leg close to himself. Ellaine could smell the intense manly smell from Alex making her more excited with every whiff she took.
Everyone else was tongue-tied by the streamy make-out in front of them. It was finally Karen who startled everyone with her clap and brought the ladies back to their senses. Alex also parted his lips from Ellaine, who almost lost her footing without Alex's support. She held on to the table in time to prevent herself from falling.
"You seem hungry for action, boy," Karen continued to clap as she said.
Alex, who was lost in the moment, finally had his head cleared hearing Alex. He looked at Ellaine panting for air and the other ladies staring at him in shock. He could not meet their eyes.
"I never knew you had it in you. You looked like a wimp to..." Karen wanted to continue her sarcastic remarks but was intervened by a call. She looked at the name flashing on her phone and couldn't help but frown. She excused herself and went outside to receive it.
Just as Karen walked out, Alex was saved by the knock on the door. Alex hurriedly walked to the door and opened it. Outside, a couple of waitresses were standing with the dishes they ordered in their hands. Alex invited them in, and the waitresses placed the food on the table and walked out. Now that the food was served, the game came to an abrupt halt.
The food was served, but no one dared to start. Everyone was waiting for Karen to come. But unlike other times, while they waited for Karen, none of them let out even a squeak. It took Karen about five minutes to return, and God, she was pissed, really pissed. As soon as she sat down, she grabbed the tablet from the table and ordered some more booze. Within no time, she was downing herself in alcohol as if it was nothing but water.
Soon all of the others also busied themselves in eating the food in front of them, but there was still an awkward silence that prevailed.
On the other hand, Karen was in a world of her own. When she was completely drunk, she got a hold of Hazel, who was seated beside her, wrapped her arms around her neck, and complained, "I work my ass off all day long, while that idiot just squanders my money on useless endeavours, and then he expects me to come home on time and cook for him. What does he think of himself? Am I his slave or something? Tell me."
"No, not at all," Hazel was swift to reply.
All the ladies looked at one another. They knew perfectly well, who their chief was talking about, her husband. They all knew about that douchebag husband of their chief, but they could do nothing to console her.
Karen hardly talked about her private life with them. It was only when she was drunk that she would sometimes blurt out and complain about her husband. And from what they know from all those times, her husband was a freeloader, leeching off her.
Suddenly Karen lifted her head and looked towards Alex. She grabbed him by his collar, "You rat, when did you become so handsome?" Karen asked as she squinted her eyes to look carefully at Alex, "If you are this good looking, why don't you go earn some money off your face? Instead of leaching on me".
All of them looked towards Alex and burst into laughter altogether. Alex was the only one who looked as if on the verge of tears.
'Me, a rat?' It was hard for him to even imagine.
"All you do is lie around the house in those boxers of yours and make me watch that horrendous sight," Karen complained and smacked Alex on her back, "You know what? That newbie of ours, what was his name again...? I don't remember, but that newbie is way better than you, douchebag. All you do is rant all day long, and if you are not ranting, your mother is there eating what's left of my sanity," Karen said, grabbed Alex by his ear and gave it a painful twist.
Alex lost it after continuous scolding and torture from Karen. He pulled his ear away, grabbed Karen by her arm, pushed her a little and when she was in position, smacked her ass hard.
"Ouuchhh..." Karen let out a painful cry, but Alex was pleased. With satisfaction on his face, he looked around and for the second time today, he left everyone speechless.