3 years later
PRESLEY
Drunk college students and warm bodies, hundreds of conversations told in loud voices, the smell of cheap alcohol lingering in the air. Loud chattering from tables and rambling about the home football game tonight—something I didn't give a fuck about and wouldn't be going to. And for some reason my source for my next big story chose this bar to meet tonight.
I would have liked to say it was karma reminding me that I hadn't called my mother in about two months and using this as an plot for me to come scurrying back to her but I refused to do so.
I was manifesting a good night. My fingers were already crossed, my eyes sliding down to my heels with the bows on them—the very ones I wore whenever I talked to a source of mine. I needed all the good luck I could get.
My phone dinged and lit with messages of my best friend Finley wishing me good luck and my sister Lotus asking when I would get a vacation so I could visit my mother since once again, she had been asking for me.
How convenient of her.
Honestly I didn't know what I was doing, agreeing to meet his source of mine at ten in the night. I had a fucking rule book when it came to clients like these.
Don't meet a night. Don't meet at sketchy bars with cheap alcohol. Don't come alone. And definitely don't come dressed like you're having a date.
All of which I quickly broke coming from an hour traffic and a long day at work with nothing to change into but a little black blazer dress I kept for emergencies.
I packed up my knotless braids into a long ponytail and smudged some dark lipstick on my lips. From the minute I entered I had counted at least three guys who'd offered to buy me a drink. Not that I was interested or anything but you'd think they would be less obvious in their attempts to roofie my drink.
I picked up my phone once again with a loud sigh when it had been at least an hour of waiting here alone with nothing but a I'm running late.
I was eager to get back to my apartment, take a hot shower, spend some time with Elvis—my dildo—and eat takeout food while scouring Netflix for some good rated movies.
Yeah, it was a bit sad for me to be alone on Valentine's Day but who the fuck cared?
My romantic life wasn't much of interest ever since my ex-boyfriend cheated on me about a year ago. Now I trusted men as far as I could throw them—not even much if you asked me.
Enzo texted me after the breakup and I had found out through him that Finley's husband Octavius had roughed up a bit, but when I saw him in person, he looked like the definition of death.
He was broken from all the places I could possibly think of, bruised and beaten, lost a few teeth snd broke a few bones and I knew he would never be able to walk normally again but I felt pure satisfaction from that.
I didn't know how the man had enough power to do that but I knew Octavius Gevonese was somewhat of a mystery. Him and his whole friend group.
Finley: He ditchedg you! omg what a hole!
She could still never curse no matter how hard she tried.
Pres: It's fine. I think I'll wait a good ten minutes and start leaving but I'll probably have to call a Uber. I don't think I can take this bus tonight, it's not exactly safe.
Finley: Do youd want me to ask Octavius to pick you up??
Pres: What? No! I'm fine. No, don't worry about it.
Finley: Are you sureeeeg?? I'm worried Presley.
Pres; yes, I'll leave now before it gets darker. Please don't worry. I'll call you when I get home.
She replied with a thumbs up and a bunch of nonsensical emojis I couldn't decipher before I tucked my phone back into my pocket. I sat down there on a stool with my cold drink of ice water and waited for about ten more minutes before my self worth finally knocked at the door and took control of me once again.
I grabbed my purse and slapped a ten dollar tip on the counter table, smiling at the bartender for keeping me company before I walked out of the bar.
I should had known as well not to get my hopes up because sources who often found you first were the easy ones, the ones who often lied or twisted the stories.
Something about the man seemed genuine which was why I made the one hour trip from work down here, and now I still had a good forty minutes drive to get home.
And as I walked down the sidewalk in hopes of finding a bus station, a loud outbreak began to crack and pour from the sky and rain splattered down and filled the ground.
Just as quickly as it began, pellets of raindrops slapped against my cheek, the thunderstorm forming in the sky and sending a warning to everyone in the eye of the storm, and I quickly hurried to find shelter.
God, fuck my life.
Almost slipping on a puddle, I caught myself just before I managed to twist my ankle and had to stop to catch my breath for a minute. I wasn't the crying one but I had wished I was to get rid of my frustrations from tonight.
Why was nothing going fucking well tonight?
And just like a knight in shining armor, he appeared. Like out of fucking thin air with no notice whatsoever.
In all the years I'd known him, we had only crossed paths a couple of times and it always related to our common friend group. We never met outside of that or had a reason to and I never sought him outside of that.
We didn't call each other or text. Hell, I hardly knew how to talk to him yet here he was, pulling beside the sidewalk in that expensive looking Audi of his. Rolling down the window with a lit cigarette in his mouth, so relaxed to land those olive-green eyes on me.
I didn't even know what to say or how to respond. A breathless sigh escaped from my mouth as I picked myself up into a standing position and examined him. He was dressed like he was always—in an outfit which covered every aspect of himself and never revealed too much but he was perfect.
