I didn't realize the car had stopped or that I was home. Not until I heard that knock on the window.
I wasn't sober, and that was probably why I wasn't as nervous as I should be with Andras so close to me.
Yes, I was nervous, but these were nerves I could handle. Nerves intertwined with excitement and desire. The latter being something I hadn't allowed myself to feel for a long time.
So, when I heard that angry knock on the window and saw who had produced it, I was overcome with another feeling I hadn't felt in a long time. Rage.
I don't even know if I said goodbye to Andras before quickly getting out of the car, grabbing Darsh's elbow, and hauling him inside. Darsh was a big guy, but it was extremely easy for me to drag him into the lobby, despite his constant struggle. I chucked it up to feminine rage and dismissed it.
I planned to haul him to my penthouse so I could kick his ass in private, but he opened his mouth "Arella," he said, and he sounded angry.
How dare he be angry? He ruined my night. Granted, it started with me almost having a panic attack, but everything after was magnificent.
From Andras managing to calm me down in a way I can barely remember, to the feeling of safety and peace that inundated me every time we touched. I had been so drunk, and instead of taking advantage of me, he made me drink water and then refused to even kiss me for fear I might regret it.
We'd only known each other for such a short amount of time, but I had never felt so seen. He knew me even though he didn't. And every moment I spent by his side was precious.
So, when Darsh dared to look like he was pissed at me, I exploded. "What are you doing here?" I demanded.
"What am I? --" he scoffed as he ran a hand through his short hair "What was he doing here?"
"I asked you a question," I said firmly, "What the hell are you doing here and why did you knock on the window like you might break it?"
"Does it matter?" he kept going, "What were you doing with him? You promised--"
"Of course, it matters!" I exclaimed, "You have no right to show up here and demand things of me, you are my friend, not my father!"
"Well, I certainly do not feel like your friend right now," he said lowly "I don't even know who you are anymore, look at you!" He looked at what I was wearing, at me with disgust. "This is not who you are! Where even were you?"
I tried to hide how much his words were hurting me "I was at a party," I said simply, suddenly feeling the need to defend myself. Was it weird that I loved this dress? Did I look like a girl wearing her mother's clothes?
I thought back to Andras' reaction and he didn't seem to think so.
"A party?" he asked incredulously "You don't go to parties; you hate big groups of people." He crossed his arms and gave me a satisfied smile "He can't be so great if he didn't know that."
I didn't say anything anymore, so he continued "Was he the one who dressed you like this?" he eyed me up and down, "Seriously Ella, you've known him for such a short time and he's already changing you!" his eyes filled with something I could only describe as pity, "This is exactly why you shouldn't be around him, people like him manipulate you and turn you into what they want you to be."
He took a step closer and put a hand on my cheek, "You're vulnerable right now, I'm just trying to protect you," he said tenderly, and I almost believed him.
If it weren't for her.
"Are you?" a female voice said from behind me.
I turned around at the same time Darsh noticed she was there. The lobby was otherwise empty, and although she hadn't said anything I hardly believed we hadn't seen her, she was hard to miss.
Black hair neatly styled into curls, short white skirt paired with a black top, tights, and red bottoms. She was already tall, but with heels, she was the same size as Darsh, I only noticed that when she walked over.
But he wasn't focused on that, or on how perfect her body was, no. His eyes were glued to hers. And I suspect it was for the same reason I was flabbergasted when I first saw her that night in the club.
We have the same eyes.
"I asked you a question," she said simply, her accent the same as Andras'.
He was too busy gawking at her to answer and I really couldn't blame him. Our resemblance was uncanny, she looked more like my sister than Aliyah ever did.
"Who are you?" Darsh finally said but it was me that answered.
"Violette," I said, remembering Andras referencing how she was in a very serious relationship or something. It was incredible how I hadn't forgotten a single detail about that night.
I didn't understand what she was doing here, but that didn't matter. The way she looked at me made me feel strong while also feeling safe.
"Arella," she said with a soft tone, "I do apologize for meddling, I was going to wait until he finished his little temper tantrum to approach you," her red-painted lips parted into a smile as Darsh's face contorted in anger. "But I could not handle the utter gall and hypocrisy of this man-child."
Darsh struggled to calm down as he said "Look--"
"No, you look," she interrupted firmly but not loudly "I think you should leave."
"What?" he fumed, and he looked at me "Are you going to let her treat me--"
"I," she said, anger evident in her tone this time, " Am not going to let you treat her like that," She got in his face, "So take your manipulative, toxic, insecure jealous ex-act and get the bloody hell out of here."
What she said shocked me for a moment. Why would Darsh be jealous?
But then I saw it.
I could see his emotions coming out of his body in wisps of energy. He was jealous, angry, and insecure. And he was trying to manipulate me. How did I not see it before?
He looked at me like I might contradict her. Like I might stand up for him. Because he's used to me doing it, used to me defending him.
"I think it's best if you go," I said calmly, finally finding the strength I had lost when I lost her.
As he left, I struggled to manage my guilt and sadness.
But I also knew it was for the best. He needed to calm down.
"Darling," Violette said softly as she beheld me with affection "You look ravishing," she said with a smile as bright as the moon that night.
I didn't know if I believed her, but I smiled back "Thank you," I finally looked at my surroundings.
The lobby was empty, with no security in sight. Before I could even start to think why that was strange, she spoke.
"Do not take that boy's words to heart," she squeezed my upper arm in comfort, and I sighed.
"What words? The ones about Andras or the ones about me?" I asked, still wondering if I had truly changed.
"He was wrong either way," she said with a small frown "People change, we grow, learn, and constantly adapt," she let go of my arm "But we also heal, sometimes with the help of others.
"I have known Andras for a very long time," she snorted at that, and I furrowed my brow, maybe it was an inside joke, "And he is not a good person, he has never been. He is an arrogant, manipulative liar who doesn't care about anyone but himself," she said, and my stomach tightened, "Or at least he used to be."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Andras was once good and kind, but that was before I met him," she started "Horrible things happened in his life and he made choices he had to live with, he had to change to survive, he had to... grow horns," she smiled nostalgically, and I wondered how she had come up with such an expression, "Hum-- We tend to believe that people don't change, but we are wrong. Our experiences shape us into who we are today, and that is only natural.
"But we often make the mistake of letting that define us," she sighed "I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes we need defenses to survive horrible situations, but we forget to put them down once the storm has passed." She didn't seem to notice my confusion, lost in her thoughts, but when she did, she added: "His life was a lightning storm for so long he became thunder to withstand it, but there shouldn't be thunder when the sky is clear, so he made sure it never was."
I had never heard someone describe self-destructive tendencies so beautifully, and I couldn't help but cry as she continued, every word making the whole in my chest bigger, "He made himself and others miserable and for a while, I thought there was nothing good left in his heart..."
She looked me in the eye and smiled "But then he called me and asked me to make sure you were okay because he knew if you weren't, he wouldn't know how to deal with it."
I didn't know how to respond to that, or what that even meant.
"I think..." her voice cracked, and she looked down, but she had a hopeful smile "I think the storm is dying down."