Players:the what if girl

Chapter 2: Rewind

It's three years earlier. Lilly is laying in bed once again praying to God with tears in her eye's asking him to bring her love, a true love, and if not that then please at least bring me a real best friend, she begged.

 That's when God answered her prayers, and gave her Betsy. Betsy was a bright, funny, charismatic, energetic coworker, who suddenly became Lilly's new best friend. They became inseparable.

Since Betsy's favorite music was hip hop, reggae, and R&B, that meant Lilly and Betsy only went to clubs that played that genre of music. Which in turn also meant they were only partying around a crowd that was made up prodimently of  black men, and that's who Lilly started dating. When it became the only race of men she dated, her parents got annoyed. They didn't understand why all of a sudden it was exclusively black men she was dating, why wasn't there a white guy or two thrown into the mix. Lilly didn't have the answer to be honest, nor did she care to analyze it, it just simply was.

It was a Friday night  the summer of '93, Betsy and Lilly were in line to get into the club Government, Betsy was complaining that it was too hot outside, she couldn't take it, she wanted to leave. She was nineteen for chrissakes, and complained about hot flashes like a sixty year old woman going through menopause, Lilly thought to herself.

Lilly, as accomodating as she was, more often than not, also had the determination of a stubborn ox when her friends were acting ridiculous, and since she had plans to meet up with a hot guy that night, and she was the driver, in fact she was always the driver, if she could help it, she was not leaving.

Lilly's strategy on this night was to ignore Betsy's complaints, and hope that they'd be inside soon enough, and then she would stop. There was no sense trying to reason with Betsy she was hot tempered, irritable, and irrational.  Lilly knew she better step up her game, and overcome her shyness, or this night was going to be a bust. She maneuvered her way through the crowd, then finally got close enough to the doorman to tell him they were on TJ's list. He immediately waved them in. The club was packed, Lilly and Betsy were on the same page the second they got inside they both headed straight for the bar grabbed a drink, and then went straight to the dance floor. Finally the night was looking up, they were dancing, laughing, an attractive sight to any man it seemed because all of a sudden there were several good looking guy's gathering around them, trying to dance up on them. Lilly waved them off, after all she was there to meet up with TJ. Only one guy caught her attention, it was the one standing and staring at her from a distance in the middle of the crowd. Lilly discreetly leaned forward to whisper in Betsy's ear, so she could check him out, but he was clever, by the time she looked up he was gone.

Thirty minutes later that guy approached Lilly outside while she and Betsy were taking a break on the patio, his name was Brandon. He was Jamaican, lean, muscular, about six feet tall. One minute he's introducing himself the next minute they're kissing. Alcohol's an aphrodisiac for Lilly. If she drinks, most likely someone's getting kissed. Brandon and Lilly were having the most perfect first kiss, it felt like they were the only two people in the universe, then fireworks went off, and made the moment even more out of this world, (in her head of course, this isn't "The Bachelorette"), all of a sudden someone pulled on Lilly's belt and yanked her away from Brandon. Lilly was back on planet earth, and back on the patio surrounded by people, she looked up, to see who had the nerve to bring her back from that amazing moment, it was Betsy of course. Lilly looked at her with a "what the fuck' expression on her face, and Lilly's facial expressions were unmistakeable. Her face would tell you what she was thinking before she could even get the words out of her mouth. This better be good, she thought, which is when Betsy whispered in her ear that the bouncer Lilly was supposed to meet up with showed up, came outside, saw her kissing Brandon, then stormed off. Oops, now what?, Lilly thought to herself.

I guess I should go find him and apologize, she thought. She turned away from Brandon, and walked inside the club to find TJ. When she found him, he was pissed, she apologised, but he left anyway. Lilly felt bad, but that's how Lilly was when she was lonely, single, and on the alcohol. Since the mood was ruined, Betsy, and Lilly decided to leave.