Free Free Fridays by Pat Tucker

screamed over the loud music. “You look hot.”
    Samantha rushed Leela over to the section where she sat with several friends. Soon, the drinks were flowing and laughter floated all around.
    Nearly two hours after she’d been partying, drinking and enjoying the ambiance, her cell phone vibrated. Leela looked downand saw her husband’s number flash across the screen. She ran a perfectly manicured finger across the screen and declined the call. As far as she was concerned, he was too late. It was her turn to let loose.
    â€œOh no! Put that phone down; it’s time to party!” Samantha yelled as she grabbed Leela by the arm and pulled her up.
    â€œWait. Let me turn it off,” Leela said. She powered off her cell phone, stuffed it into her wristlet and followed Samantha to an area where they started to dance.
    It wasn’t long before two men showed up and started dancing along with them. Leela remembered her handsome partner from a few weeks ago when she and Samantha met for drinks.
    Yes, she had made the right move when she decided to join Samantha at Belvedere.
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    â€œSsssh!” Samantha tried to hush her friend as she struggled to keep her upright.
    Hours later, the foreign sounds outside his front door alarmed Riley almost instantly. It was 3:45 in the morning and his wife was still not at home. Her cell phone was off because calls had gone directly to voicemail. Riley had been on high alert ever since he pulled into the garage and her car was not there.
    He heard laughter and giggles. Then more shushing, followed by more conversation.
    When he got up from his spot in the sitting room, he rushed to the door to see what all the commotion was about. He held his pistol behind his back. Cautiously, Riley opened his front door. The first thing that caught his eye was two men waiting in Samantha’s car that was parked behind his wife’s. Samantha helped Leela out of the car and struggled to walk her to the front door.
    â€œOh. Hey, Ry. She’s had a li’l too much to drink. So my friends helped me get her and her car home,” Samantha said.
    Riley tucked the gun into the back of his waistband and rushed outside to help Samantha. He gave Samantha the look of death as he took over to help keep his wife on her feet.
    â€œYou outta order for this shit,” he said, just as Samantha turned to leave. She stopped and looked back at him.
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œSo now because you ain’t got no man, you trying to hook my wife up with other men?” Riley asked. He motioned in the direction of the men who sat in her car.
    Samantha followed his gaze to Malone and Kent and a scowl made its way to her face.
    â€œDid you hear me say she was too drunk to drive? My friends were kind enough to offer to help us out,” she hissed. “Ah. You’re welcome because she could’ve just crashed on my couch, but she insisted she had to go home.”
    Riley’s eyes narrowed as they took her in. “You know what. I get it now.”
    â€œYou get what, exactly?” Samantha asked.
    â€œI get your situation. After Bill moved on, you probably felt like the clock was ticking on your pretty face and tiny waist, so you back out there in the rat race again. But look, just because you blew off your marriage, don’t try to bring Leela down to where you are,” he said.
    â€œDown?” Samantha chuckled. “Does anything about me say I am down and out? You’d better look again because I’m having the time of my life. Actually, life started when I left that loser friend of yours, and I don’t sit and watch any clocks. Ain’t a damn thing ticking over here! Believe that. And you’re welcome for my friends and me bringing your wife home safely.”
    Without another word, and her head held high, Samantha turned and strutted away.
    Left alone, Riley struggled to get Leela up the stairs. She was so drunk