The Burden of Breaking Hearts - (Open Novella Contest)

5.3

  
I need to think fast. Any suspicion and this could tank faster than the Titanic.
I give him my best flirtatious smile, curving my lips slightly and tilting my head.

"What's in a name?"

He looks a bit taken aback and I bite my lip,  hoping I haven't blown it.
But then, I see a slow smile stretch across his handsome face. He looks positively delighted.

"So what do I call you?" He asks

"Anything you want." Wow, I sound like a hooker.

"Jane Doe?"

I laugh.

"Do I look like a Jane Doe to you?" Who is this PERSON speaking with my voice????

He pretends to scrutinize me.

"No."

"Then just don't call me." I say with a nonchalant shrug.

"Does that mean I won't get your number?" He says playfully.

" Like you'd even remember me after tonight." My voice comes out hard, surprising me. I cover it up with a chuckle, hoping he hasn't noticed.

Up at the bar, Ashlee has a hand on his thigh and is stroking it with a finger.

Boy, this is going to be a long night.
It is when she tilts her head a little toward us that I know the coveted conversation has begun.

When Ashlee smiles and says something to him, and leaps off his lap, I excuse myself from Elijah for a "bathroom break".

Adios, I mutter as I walk away.

And thank God, too.  His idea of conversation made me want to brain somebody, and that's excluding him his attempts at groping me.

To be honest, the only thing keeping me calm at this point is the thought of slapping his pretty face.

Soon.

I enter the bathroom and find Ashlee hunched over the sink.

" Hey. " She looks up at me. "You did good."

She smiles faintly.

Helena and Zaire join us in the bathroom.

"Where's Winona?" I ask them.

"Winona?" Ashlee looks horrified. "You mean she saw all that?"

I nod.

"Why didn't anyone tell me she was here?" Ashlee all but screams.

"Well it's not like you'd have anything to worry about if you hadn't been such a major slut." Zaire says, calmly examining her face in the mirror.

Ashlee looks stone cold shocked. But Zaire doesn't stop there.

"I mean, considering he and Winona have a thing. No, had. I'm sure your little performance ended anything between them. To think you were supposed to be our friend."

"But-" Ashlee stutters, groping for words. Zaire gives her a cold smile and tilts her head as if saying "What was that, dear?"

My insides are boiling. All the tension, and the upset at Elijah's disrespect are like dynamite that Zaire's words just lit like a Christmas tree.

My words are cold, the bitter sting meeting their mark.

"Can you just shut up your ****ing trap for one ***ing moment? What the **** is wrong with you? Must you always be so ****ing toxic? For your ****ing information, Ashlee was the one working her ****ing ass off tonight! And what did you do? Sip your stupid ass watered down sidecar and watch. on. your. flat. ass."

Zaire's face has taken on the hottest shade of pink. She fixes me with a look of hate so intense she could choke on it.

Looking stricken, Ashlee hurries out of the bathroom.

"I should go after her." Helena says, beaming. She too disappears.

Zaire throws me a fierce look and stomps out.

My stomach has again begun its nervous dance. After staring, unseeing, at a stall door, I too troop after them. Luckily, the entrance leads straight to a hall and not into the club.

I walk of watery legs to the car and collapse in it. There is a tense silence as Winona shifts gears and revs up the car.

Something began to form in my head as I stared at the stall door.

Before we left for the club, I passed Zaire and  Ashlee in a corner and I clearly heard Zaire say "You have to pull out all the stops. No holding back, okay?"

In retrospect, the look Zaire gave me wasn't just hate. She'd clearly been saying with her expression ; " I'll get you back for this."