[ WP ] `` Come on , first round 's on me . ''

`` Come on, first round's on me.'' 
 
 These were the words that started off a night that I never forget. 
 
 It started with my friend, Julian, coming back to town. He had been missing, and presumed dead for the last five years. He showed up, at my doorstep, with a suitcase, wearing a suit, and begging me to go out drinking with him. 
 
 The sane decision would have been to contact the police, inform them that Julian was still alive, and take him to his family. Having none of that, Julian grabbed my hand, thrust a small stack of hundred dollar bills into it, and we were off to go get drunk. 
 
 We ended up at'The Office', someone's attempt at making a cleverly named pub. The place was packed, as usual, but Jason greased some palms and got us a table. 
 
 Then he began to talk. 
 
 `` Kevin.... How am I gon na tell you. This is going to be hard to explain,'' He mumbled, before taking a shot. `` The reason I went missing, the reason I ca n't go back to my family...'' He cut off abruptly, before throwing himself to the floor, grabbing me and making me do the same. 
 
 A flurry of gunfire passed overhead. Several men were standing at the entryway to the club, guns raised. People were panicking, and one of the men, a older man wearing a white suit and sunglasses fired another few rounds into the air. 
 
 `` Julian! We know you are here. Give us the suitcase, and your death will be less slow and painful,'' The man shouted. 
 
 Julian looked at me, before pulling two pistols from inside his suit, passing me one. `` No time to explain, Kevin. Take the suitcase. Get out of here. I'll find you,'' he whispered, `` do n't let anyone take the briefcase from you.'' 
 
 I grabbed the suitcase in one hand, the pistol in the other. Julian dived from cover, firing twice, killing two of the men after him. The rest of them took cover, and I took the opportunity to flee out a side entrance. 
 
 I kept running. Gunshots continued to ring out behind me, and I glanced back. An explosion shook the building, and'The Office' burst into flames. I tucked the pistol into my jacket's inside pocket, my thoughts in complete disarray. 
 
 I heard a phone ringing, but it was n't the sound of my phone. I felt my pockets, and reached into them, retrieving the ringing phone. 
 
 `` Hello?'' I answered, nervously. 
 
 `` Julian. Do you have the briefcase?'' questioned the female voice on the line. 
 
 `` This is Kevin. Julian's dead. What the hell is going on here,'' I nearly yelled into the phone. 
 
 `` Fuck. A unit will be by to collect you. Keep the briefcase safe. We will debrief you at a safe location,'' replied the voice. 
 
 The line disconnected, and I stood there, holding a phone and a briefcase, a building burning behind me, in the parking lot for the local McDonalds, not knowing what the hell was happening. 
 
 It was that day I gave up drinking.
