SWNOVELS Chapter 79 Joking
"Why are you drinking here?"
The man noted that there were many empty glasses in front of Jonas, and the bartender was still making more drinks for him.
The level of alcohol content in the glass was higher than what was normally expected in such a small glass.
"Because this is where I stopped the car."
Jonas drank up all the wine that was remaining in the glass. It was a little strong and it burned his throat but he immediately felt
happy after ingesting it.
"I have made a reservation. Let's move to the VIP section."
The man sensed that there was something bothering Jonas, when he noticed how disheveled he looked. A strong pungent
alcoholic smell emanated from his body, an indication that he had been drinking for a while. This was always the case when they
were in college, Jonas would always silently drink away his problems, and they would always go to this pub until whatever was
bothering him had been sorted. Now it felt as if they were back to their college days.
Jonas didn't refuse. He was upset and in a state, so he needed someone to listen to him and bounce off his problems. His friend
had come at the perfect time, just like when they were in the college.
They both took their seats and before they could even settle down, they had attracted attentions like nectar to bees. Jonas had
always attracted attention wherever he went, especially from the opposite sex. He had a fine and perfectly symmetrical bone
structure which made him look manly. He looked more striking and approachable due to the slight alcohol induced flush that
made his cheeks appear rosy. People from the nearby tables were throwing looks at them, most of whom were college students
out for a thrill.
"I see, you haven't lost your charm. You are still as popular as before," the man said jokingly with a smile.
Then he poured a glass of wine for each of them, and gave a pair of dice to Jonas. The two silently begun playing just to kill time.
Generally the man wouldn't be a match for Jonas, but today, Jonas was on the losing end.
"Are you intentionally letting me win?"
The man saw that Jonas was drinking the wine like water and deliberately making himself drunk, so he stopped playing the dice
for a while and looked at Jonas seriously.
As he looked at the so many faces of people in pub, the only face that kept haunting Jonas's mind was Melinda's angry face, his
brows furrowed fiercely trying to get that image out of his head.
"Why is this woman so troublesome today? I..."
By that time, Jonas was drunk beyond his normal limit so his tongue was loose. Looking at his old friend, he could not help but
speak out all he had been hiding in his heart.
It was interesting that every time he talked about Melinda, he wore a smile on his face. On the contrary, when he talked about
Emily, it was with obvious disgust and indifference.
"Jonas, it seems that in all these years, your emotional intelligence has still never developed," his friend said helplessly.
Although Jonas had excelled academically, in different fields and had obviously done well for himself in the business world, his
emotional intelligence was still very low.
Actually, when it came to how to handle other issued, Jonas was good and quite intuitive, but when it came to relationships, he
was not sharp enough.
In many cases, he was not able to distinguish his feeling towards others and understand whether he loved them or not.
"Maybe you are right."
Jonas was still a little frustrated at the thought of Melinda and didn't know how to deal with it, so he did not object to his friend's
evaluation.
"I really don't know what to do now. I have explained everything to her, and said all the right things but she always seems to
misunderstand me. How can she be so unreasonable?"
Melinda was being very unreasonable, but he had no choice but to keep her company silently. So in the end, he had felt
uncomfortable and went out to drink alone.
If it had been in the past, Jonas would never have thought that at one point he would be so vexed because of Melinda.
"Well, it's not that hard to deal with this matter. Perhaps it is just that you haven't realized that the balance in your relationship
has been tipped towards your wife and may be you have finally fallen in love with her."
"Fall In love with her?!"
Jonas thought he must be daydreaming, but his voice became lower and lower as time went by. He even began to question
himself and wonder if he had really fallen in love with Melinda.
"Yes. When you care about a person, you pay attention to that person, and even give up a lot for her, you must be falling in love
with this person."
Jonas had all these feelings for Melinda, but he always explained it as a compromise for his grandfather. He always made a lot
of excuses for his behavior, but he forgot that the answer could be as simple as the fact that he had fallen in love.
"What about Emily, what do you think?"
Jonas looked at his friend, anxiety reflected in his bright, slightly watery eyes as if he was eager to know something important.
He always looked up to his friend for solid advice, and his friend did not disappoint him. "You treat her well maybe just because
of a promise you made to her from childhood, which you regard more as a form of responsibility, so you probably misled yourself
that you love her," his friend quickly explained.
Jonas had been so confused that he felt like he was constantly riding a roller coaster and his feelings were always being pulled
in all directions. However after listening to his friend's analysis, he was suddenly enlightened. Many things that he could not
understand before now made a lot of sense.
They had been drinking a lot, but Jonas was no longer melancholic, he seemed more jovial.
Jonas was feeling drunk, so he ate some fruits and proposed that they left. Now he was eager to go back and see Melinda and
tell her about his new discovery.
The two separated at the entrance of the pub, and Jonas who was very drunk was driving at a fast speed and swerving
unsteadily on the road, basically being a menace to other drivers. He was finally stopped at the crossroad.
The police, who had been tailing him for a while, took him in and once it was confirmed that he was driving while intoxicated. He
was booked in by the traffic police for driving above the speed limit and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Jonas was not sober so he didn't seem to realize the severity of the situation. He arrived at the police station with the police in a
daze and only seemed to comprehend what had happened when they read him his rights.
The policemen took in his details and after cross checking his details, they found out Jonas's real identity. They were a bit
overwhelmed, because this was the heir of the Gu family and things could get very complicated if they didn't handle the case
well.
Now that they had taken him in, they couldn't just send him out and pretend as if nothing had happened, especially since he was
obviously drunk.
"Mr. Gu, please contact your family to bail you out," the policeman on duty said helplessly.
Jonas rubbed his forehead, thinking of who to call, then took out his mobile phone and gave him Melinda's number. In the past,
this kind of thing would have been handled by William.
The policemen quickly dialed Melinda's number, but failed it to get through. They tried a second time, and finally it went through
on the third attempt.
"Are you Mrs. Gu? Your husband is in the police station put in for drunk driving. Please come and bail him out."
At first, Melinda was angry that Jonas had just disappeared on her, without letting her know where he was. Then, she was totally
shocked when she got a call from the police and heard the drunk driving accusation.
"Is he okay?"
"Yes, you only need to bail him out," the policeman replied hesitantly.
They dared not to keep this big man for longer than necessary. Melinda was relieved. She was still wearing the suit which she
had worn to the coffee shop, and when she got home, she had no time to change her clothes because she was still very angry.
It was rare for Melinda to drive a car, but she was very worried and distraught for Jonas's safety, so she chose to drive by herself.
When Nelson saw her through the window going out in a hurry, he asked Gavin what the issue was. Gavin tracked her car and
realized that she was headed towards the police station. After a short call to the police station, he was up to speed on what had
happened.
"Gavin, you'd better send some people to protect Mellie. She is worried about Jonas now," Nelson ordered.
Seeing that Melinda was still worried about Jonas, Nelson knew that she still cared about Jonas, but he didn't know how they
were going to handle their differences this time around.
In the police station, Jonas was exhausted, so he sat in his seat and closed his eyes trying to rest a little bit. His messy hair
which needed a haircut fell on his forehead making him look younger.
The smell of cigarettes and alcohol emitted from him made the policemen feel nauseous. They didn't say anything about it
because they could not afford to offend him. They were even courteous enough to give him some water.
Jonas sipped some of the hot water which seemed to soothe his burning throat although he still had a headache.
When Melinda arrived at the police station, she saw a different scene from what she had expected. Jonas had thrown his head
back on the seat, his eyes closed, relaxing. Thinking of how worried and flustered she had been, that she hadn't even had time
to look at her appearance, she could feel her anger rising by the minute.
"Jonas!"
Melinda shouted at Jonas. She had always been a gentle woman, and she seldom acted so irritable, but this was too much for
her. Hearing her voice, Jonas straightened up and gave her a silly smile.
The policemen didn't want to witness the embarrassing scene, so they looked away silently.
"My wife... you are here," stuttered Jonas
With a big grin on Jonas's face, he looked at Melinda, stood up and then staggered to her. Melinda was shocked by the words
"my wife".
Her eyes wide open, she stared at Jonas and shook her head wondering if maybe she misheard him.
"Honey, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Don't be mad at me, okay?"
Jonas walked up to Melinda and hugged her. He placed his head next to her neck. The smell of cigarettes mixed with alcohol
almost choked her, making her go into a coughing fit.
Jonas raised his head, and looked at Melinda in panic. He didn't want her to feel sick, and he didn't want to let go, either. He was
caught in a dilemma.
"Jonas, I'm Melinda, not Emily!"
Melinda roared, ashamed and indignant. She figured that Jonas must have mistaken her for Emily. All of a sudden, her tough
stance weakened like a withering flower and tears came down her cheeks in torrents. Jonas felt something wet and then noticed
that Melinda was crying.
"Mellie, what's wrong with you? Who has bullied you? Did anyone hurt you? I'll help you beat them up."
Jonas pointed at the policemen, which made them shiver all over in fear. They looked at the two in horror. Hearing what Jonas
called her, Melinda was in a daze.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Mellie, you are so stupid. Of course I know who you are. I know it was my fault. Please forgive me. I will treat you well from now
on.
Mellie, I think I have fallen in love with you."
Although Jonas was drunk, his eyes were very serious, looking directly into her eyes. Then he leaned over and Melinda felt the
softness of his lips on her own. Realizing what had happened, she hurriedly pushed Jonas away in embarrassment.
"Jonas, what's wrong with you?"
Then she turned to the policemen. "Didn't you ask me to bail him out? Now I'm here but there is no one to handle the bailing
process."
Melinda had to admit that she was tempted and felt very flattered by all the attention that Jonas was showing her, but thinking of
all the things that Jonas had done, she did not want to forgive him at all. So she turned all her anger at the policemen.
The innocent policemen quickly took her to go through the formalities. Jonas followed her every move, never too far from her. His
constant gaze and close proximity made her uncomfortable and she felt as if her whole body was on heat.
Although she had pushed Jonas away, she had forgiven him in her heart. But Jonas didn't know that, so he was already making
plans on how to coax his wife.
After going through the formalities, Melinda left the police station with Jonas, who leaned against her pretending that he couldn't
walk by himself.
He was like an attention seeking cat, which made Melinda annoyed and helpless.
When they arrived at the Gu's mansion, Nelson had been waiting for them in the hall. Seeing that Jonas was so drunk, he read
his riot act for a while and then allowed him to go and sleep and come back when he was sober.
It was obvious that Nelson wanted to have a talk with Jonas. With the help of the servant, Melinda took Jonas back to their villa.
Melinda had mixed feelings. She was worried that these things were just probably jokes or bubbling from an
alcoholic.