The next day...
It's the last night in this city for Nikki and his bandmates. Last party here.
Everyone seems to be having a great time, except for Nikki, who seems like his thoughts are somewhere else.
He spoke to Hazel yesterday. Will she come to the party in the end? She said she didn't promise anything. But the party is just onset. Maybe she will appear at the end. He says to himself, sitting on the couch thinking.
There's no way his bandmates can't notice his restiveness.
"Hey man," says Vince. "Are you ok?"
"Yes, you haven't said a word all day," adds Tommy.
"Yes, I am," Nikki says grumpily.
"I think it has to do with the 'little Amazon' from last night," Tommy elbows Vince in the ribs and they both giggle.
"It's not about that," says Nikki and gets up from the couch.
"Then why did you go after her last night?" Tommy questions him.
"We are also curious about who this mysterious chick could be," smiles Vince. "Looks like she rocked your world."
"Leave him alone, you idiots," addresses Mick, who sits on another couch close to them, now standing up and walking towards Nikki. "Let's go talk."
Nikki glares at Mick. Does he want to have a discussion with him?
Mick is the oldest of all, he was always like a father figure for the rest of the members.
Nikki can sometimes see that he is worried about him and the rest like a real father.
So, Nikki nods without thinking much and goes with Mick to another room, quiet, safe from prying eyes, private.
"So what's the matter with this girl?" Mick asks him.
"It's complicated," sighs Nikki.
"I deduced this from last night. But really now... Who is this girl? What did she mean to you? You seem to know her. I've never seen you so stirred by a girl that you run after her. What's her name?" Mick tries to approach him with another topic, to appease him.
"Hazel..." Nikki looks down. "And she's my ex-girlfriend. She was my high school sweetheart."
"I see now," Mick nods his head, his face is clarified now. "It sounds like she meant someone dear to you. Last night when I was watching Tommy and Vince talking about her, I could see a pinch of jealousy in you."
"I wasn't jealous!" Nikki snaps like a scolded child.
Mick frowns a little at him, with his arms crossed, incapable to believe his last sentence.
"Ok... Maybe... Maybe I was, but very, very little," admits Nikki.
Intriguing eyes fall on Hazel as the blonde occurs at the party where Nikki invited her yesterday.
Hazel told him that she did not promise that she would come. But the blonde did everything possible to succeed in arriving.
She searches for him in the crowd of people, in the semi-darkness.
Further back, she sees two of Nikki's bandmates standing on the couch, drinking beer. The blond one and the other one with puffy brown hair.
She walks towards them, not really sure it's a good idea if Nikki isn't there. But she has to find out where he is.
"Hey!"
The two men turn their curious peeks at the blonde woman.
"Oh, hey, I know you," smiles Tommy and leaves the bottle on the table in front of the couch. "You are the little Amazon from the last night."
"Um," the blonde looks baffled. "Yeah, let's say I'm that one. Anyway--"
"Did you come to us?" Vince cuts her off, pulling her gently by the hand.
"No," Hazel frees herself from the grip of his hand. "Where's Fra... Nikki."
"Mick gives him a pep talk or something like that," Tommy explains, gesturing behind him, to the room where Mick went with Nikki.
"We can go and tell him that you are here," Vince grins, approaching her.
"No, thank you," the blonde crosses her arms, looking riled. "I will wait for him."
"You might be waiting for a while," says Tommy. "Until then..." He pulls her hand and the blonde falls into his lap, her hands on his shoulders, her face close to his. "You could spend time with us," he grins lustfully.
Hazel doesn't seem amazed by his gesture. If he wants to play such a game, then she joins in too. So she determine to not move.
Eagerness can be read in his eyes and he bravely places his hands on her hips, attracted more by her A-line leather skirt.
"Wow," he gushes, exploring her hazel eyes. "You are like a dream."
"Do you really think so?" She arches an eyebrow.
"Yes," he nods.
He intends to lower his hands. At her buttocks and maybe even under the short skirt.
Hazel doesn't give him that chance and instantly jumps out of his arms, standing up.
"Then keep dreaming because I'm out of your dream," she tells him rudely.
"Take your hand off her!" A shout is heard immediately.
Tommy and Vince looks behind her. Turning, Hazel sees Nikki and the other member. The mature one.
When did they come? She does not know.
But it is certain that they both saw the scene before. With her in Tommy's arms.
Nikki looks shocked, but also mad, incapable to get a word out, looking for her for Tommy. He was the one who yelled. His voice cannot omit to be recognized by Hazel.
"Hey, man, chill out," says Tommy. "What happened?"
Nikki takes heavy steps towards him, Hazel is afraid that he will punch Tommy in the face at what an annoyed look he has.
Mick follows him, sensing the same thing as her.
"Just stop touching her!" Nikki leans over him, clenching his teeth.
"Why are you so angry?" Vince asks him too. "We always share the groupies."
Nikki seems even more annoyed at Vince who glances at how displeased his bandmate is.
"She is not a groupie!" Nikki points out. "Leave her alone."
Hazel follows their conversation with interest, not considerate that Vince named a groupie. She's more involved about the fact that Nikki seems... Jealous. She had never seen him so angry.
"You two," Mick also intervenes, pointing at Vince and Tommy. "Mind your own business. Leave them alone."
"Ok, I got it, man!" Tommy shouts. She is your woman. "Ok. We don't touch her. Jesus."
"Yes, sure!" Hazel scoffs. "I don't belong to anyone!"
"Ok, let's all take a break," says Mick, who looks fatigued.
He's so tired of always babysitting his bandmates. Usually he was the nanny of three boys and now a girl has also been included. Tonight could not be more special.
Hazel walks away from them, but looks after Nikki. Her eyes shining in the dark, catching the attention of Nikki, who follows her like a cobra to the sound of the flute.
His eyes going down to her light blond hair that reaches to the short leather skirt that highlights the tights that he was madly attracted to when they were in high school. And he still is.
They both get outside, where it is quieter and there are not so many people.
At the top of the stairs, Hazel turns to meet his green eyes.
"It's much quieter here," she says calmly.
"Yes... You know... I have a question," Nikki seems hesitant if it's really a good idea, to ask her what he has in mind.
"What it is?" Hazel is terribly curious.
"When I saw you with Tommy... You... Do you have a thing for him or something like that?"
Hazel giggles suddenly. So he's really jealous as she presumed.
That was not her intention. She didn't know that he would appear there so quickly.
But why does she like to see him like this? Is this, probably because he proves that he still has feelings for her?
Like she still has some feelings for him too.
"Hell no!" She shouts. "Of course not! He pulled my hand and I fell on him. I was just... Playing around. That's it."
Since Hazel has been part of her gang, she has had to seduce men many times. They were various criminals and she was just trying to get out of trouble. But she never slept with them. She had a limit and she knew how to use it to achieve her goal.
She had boyfriends in these years, besides that. Frivolous and toxic relationships. They came and went quickly.
But none of them made her feel something deeper like Nikki.
Their pure love during high school will remain like a fairy tale in the diary of her life.
Regardless if whether she and Nikki would give their relationship another chance and start a reconnection.
"Anyway," she approaches him, Nikki's breath breaks, looking at her face who is lit by the moon, stars and the street lamps. "I am not interested in Tommy. That's not what I came here for."
"You came for me," he grins.
Hazel giggles and holds out her hand to him:
"I came by car. Do you want a ride?"
Nikki looks at her delicate hand, wrapped in a black leather fingerless glove.
He would like to go with her. But something prevents him from answering her faster.
"What's on your mind, Hazel?" He grins and grabs her hand.