More Than She Can Chew | Book Two ✔

Chapter Five

Friday came quicker than Alissa expected. It was a productive week with Goldz approving and moving forward with their ad campaign.

Killer party at the Shrine tonight...

She looked at the text Veronica had sent her. She grinned.

Will I see you there? ;) she replied.

I guess you'll have to wait and see ;*

That girl was such a tease. Alissa bit her lip.

She looked up from her desk at the click-clack of heels on the slate floor. Samantha had a deep cut purple sling dress on today with nude stilettos. Her auburn hair was pinned in a bun and she had bright burgundy lips. Her eyes were downcast, but her curvaceous hips swayed from side to side as she walked past Alissa's desk and towards Gerald's office.

Gerald was one lucky guy, she thought.

"Fuck, could she be asking for it any more?" Sarah had questioned once Samantha was out of earshot.

Though she had just been checking her out, Alissa didn't find it was respectful for Sarah, or anyone in the office at that point, to be continually gossiping about Samantha and Gerald. Sure, in the beginning, it was just to figure out what was going on, but now that it was apparent, it wasn't really any of her business, or anyone else's, to be dwelling on.

"I think we should stop dwelling on the fact that they're fucking. Sure, she dresses sexy and they've probably done it in his office, but it's not really any of our business." Alissa twirled a pen around in her hand as she swiveled in a circle in her black leather chair. She stopped to face Sarah.

Sarah was wearing bright yellow slacks, a white blouse with black horizontal stripes, and a velvet blue blazer. Sarah looked like a cute sailor; it made the office feel a bit more cheery.

"Yeah, you're right. I mean, we can't really judge, considering what we've done..." Sarah slyly slid her eyes in Alissa's direction before quickly looking back at her computer screen.

"Talking about what we've done," Alissa began with a grin, "Veronica might be at the Shrine tonight."

The Shrine was a new up-and-coming club, mostly full of hipsters, but if Veronica was going to be there, Alissa wanted to be too.

Sarah groaned, "That place is so lame, though."

Overhearing their conversation, Hwan jumped in, "Not tonight. There's supposedly this new DJ coming that's going to have a great throwback playlist."

Hwan scratched his chin, then continued, "I'm going. Let's go together, Alissa."

Alissa smiled. Hwan leaned against the cubicle wall their desks shared. She wondered if he steamed his clothes every morning before work because the white collar of his button-up was still crisp and clean cut. The collar of her cream button-up and the surface of her navy pencil skirt? Not so much.

Sarah groaned, again, "Fine, but I'll be arriving already drunk. That place is too damn expensive for my piggy bank."

That wasn't a bad idea, Alissa thought.

~~~

The Shrine was in a run-down warehouse turned trendy nightclub. Techno-house music was radiating off the two-story glass windows, but most of the building was made of brick, so it kept the majority of the sound from escaping.

Alissa walked up to the line outside the door, careful not to slip on the patches of ice that had frozen since the sun set. In black heel booties, a white long sleeve elastic dress that ended mid-thigh, and a black leather jacket, Alissa felt good. She had thrown back a few straight shots of vodka before hopping into an Uber to drive over, but it wasn't helping much with the cold. While her legs were freezing in the twenty-something degrees, she knew she'd be inside soon enough in a too crowded club and encompassed by body heat.

Hwan was wearing dark navy jeans, tan loafers, and a gray cotton long sleeve v-neck. His raven hair was swept to the left. She wondered if he was cold as well in just a thin cotton top.

At least Sarah was smart enough to have brought a jacket. Though, it wasn't really on her at the moment. Sarah had shown up drunk as promised, and already warm from the liquor fueling her gut, she wore a light pink belly shirt, a leopard print tight skirt, and brown suede knee-high boots. Sarah looked tempting; she knew she'd have to keep an eye on her for the majority of the night.

She wondered what Veronica was wearing, that is, if she'd even see her tonight.

She texted her, I'm at the Shrine, are you??

When the three of them reached the front of the queue, the bouncer checked the ladies' IDs before allowing them access to the Shrine. Hwan looked old enough for the bouncer to not even bother checking his ID. Hwan held the heavy slate metal door open for the two ladies before following after them into the club.

The DJ was playing a song Alissa didn't recognize. The techno-house music's bass was vibrating her heart beneath her ribcage. It was dark except for the spare colorful lighting thoughtfully placed throughout. To the left was a long bar that extended the whole length of the warehouse with at least five bartenders. To the right was the DJ booth surrounded by high metal fencing. Center stage was the dance floor with people of all appearances and backgrounds dancing.

Veronica hadn't responded to her text yet. She wondered if she'd find Veronica at the bar or on the dance floor. Probably the bar this early into the night. It was only 10:30. The trio made their way to the bar, trying to find an open spot to squeeze between two partiers in order to grab a bartender's attention.

"This is why I can't stand hipster clubs. It's so crowded," Sarah shouted, "the bartender never gets to you."

Hwan squeezed his way through, his height of 6 feet helped, making him more visible to an available bartender.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Martini," Sarah answered.

Alissa nodded in agreement. While Hwan had their drinks handled, she tried looking for Veronica, who had still not replied to her text.

"When do you think they'll stop playing this garbage and begin with the throwbacks?" Sarah asked her. "I'm ready for some Blink-182!" She wooed.

Alissa laughed, "Yeah, me too."

She stuck her body further out into the dance floor to gain a better view of the long bar. Scanning her head left to right, her brown eyes finally landed on smooth brown skin. However, that smooth brown skin was tantalizingly kissing the neck of another.

~~~

A/N: Gasp! What do you think so far? How could Veronica invite Alissa to the Shrine and instead flirt with another?

When are the "men" coming in? Don't worry, soon enough. ;)

Jen xo