A week passed after Nicole had badged into Marko's office and returned the thousand dollars. She had gone back to her routine, her work at the diner and the pub, with her great mood restored. There were a couple of times though, she had felt as though she was being followed but she had put it down to her being paranoid.
She was currently busy cleaning the tables at the diner when her phone rang. Reaching for it, she smiled as she picked it up. 'Hey, Fey!"
"Hey, babe! How are you?" Fey asked.
"Good. What's up?" Nicole asked as she balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear as she collected her cleaning material and walked to the kitchen. She had decided to take an extra three days off at the Pub so that she could help Lisa out at the diner. The late shift was done and she was about to close.
There was a bit of shuffling in the background before Fey's voice came back, "taking you out tonight. Before you say no, we are going to the exclusive new club. It just opened and Fernando has VIP access. It will be fun!"
"I don't know," Nicole began as she wiped her hands on her apron before taking the phone into her hand.
"Please, please, please!" Fey begged. "Fernando is coming with his cousin, we don't want him to get bored."
"Aah," Nicole smiled. "So you want me there for cousin sitting duties hey!"
Fey giggled, "not really. He is about thirty and very cute. You will really like him, Nic!"
Nicole groaned. "Feeey, you know I am not into the dating thing. I will come, because I need to unwind, but not because of the cousin."
"Bitch, I don't care why you will be there as long as you are there!" Fey replied. "Come over to my place so we can dress together. I have this cute red number that I would love for you to wear! We are going to have fun!" Fey exclaimed before she disconnected the call.
Nicole shook her head. Checking the time, she started collecting her stuff before she headed to Fey's house. It had been a while since she had gone out and just had fun.
"Here," Fey said as she came towards Nicole who was applying her minimal makeup. In her hands was a lacy red dress. "This is just so you!"
Nicole placed the eyebrow pencil down before standing and taking the dress from Fey. It looked exquisite and felt so good too. "Wow! Where did you get this?"
Fey chuckled and moved back to her closet, "there was a sale at my favorite store, that was one of them. I got about four dresses!" She removed an off-white dress and measured it against herself. Shaking her head, she reached for a silver sequenced dress. It was an off-the-shoulder, knee-length dress that accentuated her figure. "Yep, this is the one. Why are you just standing there?" She frowned at Nicole who was still admiring the red dress.
Snapping from her own world, quickly slipped into the dress. It fit like a glove. "Oh, my! I am feeling all kinds of sexy right now!" she giggled at her friend.
"You better be," Fey retaliate as she took wiggled into her dress. "We need you looking a hundred dollars so that you can get laid!"
"Fey!" Nicole exclaimed, shocked. "Why do I have a feeling you want to me pimp me out?"
Fey shrugged her shoulders and moved to the vanity table to get ready.
It did not take the girls long before they were ready for a night out. By the time Fernando was by their door, they had already started on a bottle of wine that Fey had bought earlier that day.
"Baby!" Fey exclaimed as she ran into Fernando's arms, giving him a sizzling kiss on the lips when his arms went around her. "This is going to be a great night, I just have a feeling," Fey said as she leaned back and looked up at Fernando, meaning behind her eyes.
In all the years that Nicole had known Fey, she had never seen her this taken by a man. She knew that her friend was in love and just wished and prayed that Fernando was not going to break her heart.
"Hello, Nicole," Fernando smiled at her as she approached them, his accent heavy. Fernando Ortiz was originally from Uruguay. He was in charge of his family's beef and wool exporting company.
"Fernando, hi," Nicole greeted back. "We should be going."
Before they could get into the sleek black BMW, the passenger door opened and out stepped a replica of Fernando. "Hola! I am Juan Ortiz."
"Hi," Nicole and Fey said at the same time. "Nic, you are right, we should get going!"
With that said, Fey and Nicole got into the car, Fey exchanging seats with Juan and sitting next to Fernando while Nicole sat at the back with Juan.
"So, Juan, how long have you been here?" Nicole attempted to talk to Juan.
Juan gave her a nonchalant shrug, "a few weeks-3, I think. I am just here to see another expansion of our family business. I actually just flew in this morning and will be flying out tomorrow afternoon."
"Cool," Nicole nodded, the wheels in her head-turning. Fey's plans of getting her together with Juan have just been flushed down the drain. Nicole gave him a small smile before turning to the window and concentrating on the passing lights.
Getting to the club, Nicole and her friends were quickly ushered inside, leaving some of the unfortunate individuals still outside.
It pays to know people in high places, Nicole thought to herself as she took in her surroundings. The club screamed money, from the platinum bar area to the leather barstools. The staff was dressed to match the interior-black, silver, and red. Climbing the stairs to the VIP section, Nicole looked longingly at the dance floor. It was huge! The DJ booth was right in the center, raised up by platinum stands. The DJ was able to move around to engage with their fans. Nicole made up her mind that she was going to dance right there in the middle.
Their VIP section was beautiful! The whole front wall was glass, giving them a bird's eye view of the below dance floor. They had their own bar with the staff!
"This is beautiful!' Fey squealed as she ran her hand to the bar top. "I will get a glass of your best champagne, please." She smiled at the bartender.
"Dirty martini, please," Nicole said as she situated herself on one of the barstools.
Fernando and Juan took that moment to approach them, 'glad to see you ladies are already starting to have fun!" he drawled as his arm slid onto Fey's waist, pulling her closer into his body.
"This place is amazing," Nicole gushed. "It feels as if it is two different clubs!" And it did. There were two distinct areas in the club, one being a little on the higher level than where they were.
"Want to try out the dancefloor?" Juan offered his hand to Nicole who took it and hopped off her stool.
"Of course! Besides, when these two starts making those googly eyes on each other know that what follows is an embarrassing display of affection," Nicole placed her hand on Juan's and pulled him with her. Once on the dancefloor, they took the opportunity to get to know each other. "So tell me about Juan," Nicole shouted over the music.
Juan looked around, "Is this really the place to ask questions?" He shouted back.
Nicole shrugged, "is as good as any!"
"Well, if you say so," Juan proceeded in telling her a bit about himself. They were in the middle of the dancefloor, carrying out their conversation when someone bumped into Nicole from behind. "Hey!" Juan exclaimed as he pulled Nicole into his arms, keeping her away from the person who had bumped into her.
The man, over six feet and very masculine, locked gazes with Nicole. "Please follow me."
Nicole frowned, "you talking to me? Do I know you?"
The man kept his gaze on her, not replying to the questions.
Nicole seeing this, locked arms with Juan and started to get off the dancefloor.
"I suggest you follow me quietly, ma'am. I don't want to have to carry you with a dress that short."
Nicole turned back to him, "who are you? I am not going anywhere with you."
The man shrugged. In a flash, he had Nicole over his shoulder and was walking away from where their table was.
Nicole panicked. "Juan!" she screamed. "Put me down you ogre! What is the meaning of this! Help!" She was shocked to see that instead of helping her, people were actually moving aside to let them pass. She tried to find out where Juan was but he seemed to have disappeared into the crowd. Nicole could feel her heart beating fast, her breathing came out as short gasps.
This is it! I am going to be sold to the black market for my organs! She thought as tears of frustration began pooling in her eyes. She was aware that they had climbed a few stairs, and turned into a section that seemed dimly lit with closed doors. The man did not seem to be slowed down by her weight. In less than a minute he was standing in front of a door, knocking before he opened it. He walked to the chair and deposited her gently on it.
Nicole's eyes went to his, trying to gauge his emotions before her gaze swiped through the room, landing on the man who had a woman sitting on his lap. Fear turned to anger and she was on her feet in a flash. "Are you kidding me?" She faced the man who seemed unfazed by her anger. "You ordered Mr. Tree Trunk to kidnap me? Is this a fetish of yours, Mr. Sauntino?"
Marko raised an eyebrow at her before whispering something to the woman who had been sitting on his lap. He watched as she stood up and started to walk out, not missing the eye that she was giving Nicole.
Nicole also seemed to notice the stink eye she got from the woman, "don't look at me like that! I don't even want to be here. If anything I would gladly leave and let you finish your work." Nicole glared at the woman who seemed taken aback before she was escorted out by Tree Trunk. "What is this?"
"Are you always this feisty?" Marko asked as he drained the amber liquid that was in the glass in front of him.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Nicole retorted. "Waiting to hear why you had me carried in here like a sack of potatoes."
"No, you had yourself carried here. You could have easily done what Clint wanted you to." Marko replied.
Nicole scoffed, "not a fan of following men I don't know around. Why am I here?"
Marko poured himself another glass. He then reached for an empty one and poured another generous amount. "Drink?"
Nicole narrowed her eyes, "no thank you. Look, I am sure you have the whole night to get to, women to sleep with and all. I happen to be here with my friends and would like to get back to them. So, it's been real, goodbye." Nicole walked to the door and opened it, only to find Clint standing by it. Nicole turned to Marko, "please tell Mr. Tree Trunk to move. I am not in the mood nor am I drunk enough to deal with your crazy ass!"
"His name is Clint," Marko supplied as he stood up and walked to the sofa where Nicole had been placed. "Why don't you come and sit down. We have things to discuss."
"He will be Tree Trunk until he apologies for carrying me like that. I am sure I flashed a few people!" Nicole crossed her arms and gave Clint her most unamused look.
"He will apologize once we are done with our conversation. Now, come sit your sexy ass down and let's get this over with so that we can both get back to what we have planned for the night."
Nicole took a deep calming breath and walked back reluctantly to the sofa. She sat as far away from Marko as the sofa allowed and gave him a dark look. "Talk."
"I want you to be my girlfriend," Marko stated looking straight into her eyes.