The bittersweet taste of gin-tonic rolled down my throat as I observed the imposing crowd on the dance floor. It made me realize one thing; most of the people were living for the moment and having fun like tomorrow would never come to break the little bubble they'd been living in. I was not one of those people. Nothing in my life was a product of luck or chance.
The words relax and take a break didn't exist in my dictionary. Even though I came from one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in New York, I'd always been taught to work hard for everything I wanted to achieve and without false modesty, I could tell that I was good at what I did. When it came to handling business, nobody could surpass me. I've brought millions to The Goliath Holding, making deals and building imposing structures all over the world. In my domain, everybody knew my name and they both feared and respected it.
The bass of the ridiculously loud music started thumping in my ears, annoying the life out of me and I had decided to head home and call it a night. Coming to this place had been a mistake as it was. But it seemed that I wouldn't be lucky enough to leave that easily, because the moment I got up to leave the booth, my good friend Jared who had somehow managed to convince me to join him for the night in this shitty club, decided to reappear with two drunk bimbos hanging around his neck.
"Where d... do you think you're... going?"
He was slurping and barely standing upright. It pissed me off when people lost control like that, especially since my good friend had been engaged for quite some time and I bet his fiancé would enjoy reading about her future husband's night escapades in the first issue of some crappy magazine the next day.
As I pictured the mess his life could become in a matter of hours, Jared didn't seem to be worried at all.
"I'm leaving this place and you are joining me." I glared at him, completely ignoring the two women who suddenly seemed to stare at me in wonder.
They probably recognized me and now they were busying their minds with a good come up line. Even though I consciously avoided meeting their eyes, I knew what I would see if I looked at either one of them; the tornado of rolling green dollar signs.
"Sebastian, will you relax for once in your life? We're not going anywhere. Can't you see I've brought company?!"
Smiling a wide smile, he winked at me and motioned towards the cleavage of the drunken blond girl who was barely standing on her legs. I shook my head at him and raised my eyebrows to openly demonstrate my annoyance at his behavior and Jared burst into laughter.
"I told you he'd be like that didn't I, ladies?" He made a joke, but I didn't find it funny. "I present to you the one and only...Sebastian Everett in the flesh," he said in an absurdly theatrical voice and one of the girls even gasped and faked to be shocked by the discovery.
Rolling my eyes, I had the need to scowl at myself and not Jared. I should have known it would end up like this.
Taking my eyes off of my wasted asshole of a friend, I looked towards his everything but lovely female entourage and I couldn't suppress a chuckle when I noticed they were glaring at each other as if it were a fucking competition and the winner got to talk to me first.
"Tell you what," Jared's slurry voice interrupted my moment of fun. "I'll let you pick. Which one do you like better? The brunette..." My eyes darted towards the girl who all of the sudden stroke a laughable pose, trying to make herself more presentable. "Or the beeeautiful... blonde?" His head fell down, but he lifted it back up in the record time, narrowing his eyes at me as if he was trying to emphasize that the blond was the choice I should go with.
For a short moment, I took in her appearance from head to toe and found no surprise there. I was staring at a live copy of a playboy cover and she looked as fake as they get. Platinum hair stood in contrast to her artificially tanned skin that was accentuated with way too much make - up for my taste. One look at her face and it was clear that she had been paying more than one visit to a plastic surgeon. As my eyes roamed lower, I inwardly laughed at the thought that somebody got rich on doing the work on this piece of art. She seemed to thrive on the fact that she got my attention when my gaze paused at the edge of her revealing skirt. If she could read my thoughts, I bet she wouldn't be smiling the way she did, but fortunate for her, she didn't have any psychic abilities and she probably busied her shallow mind with the idea that she could somehow wrap me around her conniving little finger. I couldn't blame her. All of them wanted exactly the same, but I knew better that to associate myself with women of her caliber.
Looking away in disgust, my eyes narrowed at Jared who already seemed to be busy with introducing himself to the brunette whose appearance matched that of her friends to almost every little sickening detail. The only thing that set them apart was the color of their unbelievably long hair. When my persistent stare finally got Jared's attention, he turned serious because he could read very well what my face expression was telling him. Fuck you!
Instead of doing the smart thing and leaving the place just like I suggested only moments ago, he gave me a boyish, pleading look and returned his attention to the slutty brunette. Jared's behavior was way out of line. It was natural that he had cold feet before the wedding, but he was acting like a horny teenager and I was going to put a stop to it.
I'd barely managed to make a step towards him, when the blonde's hand caught my elbow. Her audacity was unbelievable. I turned to her and gave her a questioning look. She swallowed and I watched as she fought to keep the flirtatious gaze on her sky blue eyes that radiated everything but honesty.
"Oh my God! This is so crazy," she said in an excited voice. "I can't believe I'm actually standing in front of Sebastian Everett. You're like even more beautiful than in the pictures. I just...I feel like screaming right now." She squeaked and I had to clench my teeth to control the urge to push her away from me.
Instead, I just smiled courteously when I noticed there were people watching in our direction. I needed to get rid of the annoying blond and remove myself from that club. ASAP. However, it seemed it would be a very difficult mission to leave quietly and without losing my nerves, because the girl was set on her mission to irritate me with her unwanted company.
"I'm Kayla, but friends call me Kay." She smiled a wide, artificial smile, revealing her snow white teeth and continued blabbing her nonsense, ignoring the fact that I was anything but amused by her presence. "It's funny because everybody thinks it's because of my name, but actually I'd always say kay instead of okay when I was little and that's how I got the nickname. My family thinks it's adorable. What do you think?"
Honey, you don't want to know what I think. A sarcastic smile escaped my lips, but she didn't get the message. Instead of finishing her stupid rambling, she topped it off with the most ridiculous suggestion ever. "You can call me Kay if you want. We could be friends. I'd really like that."
A loud giggle sounded in my ears when that shameless girl leaned closer to me and I'd finally had enough. I took hold of her sweaty shoulders and pushed her away from me. She looked at me in surprise for a few moments before putting herself together and apparently preparing to start ranting her shit again.
I silenced her before she got the chance to have another giggly outburst. "No offense darling, but you're really not the type of a girl..." I took a deep breath, trying to come up with something courteous to say, but it turned out to be impossible. "... I'd like to be friends with."
I expected her to act all offended and shocked by what I had said, but when she started smiling again in that flirtatious manner, even I was took off guard. This woman was a nutcase.
"It's okay," she whispered seductively. "Men rarely want to be only friends." She winked at me and I was sure that was the last drop, but surprisingly she had more aces up her sleeve. "I've read that you broke off the engagement with Cora Fields. I'm so sorry to hear that." She didn't even try to hide the insincerity in her voice and she took another brave step towards me.
Hearing Cora's name roll off of the lips of this abomination of a woman made me want to scream at her. It was still fresh and my usually perfectly ordered and planned out life had turned into a tangled mess. My thoughts wandered off to the woman whom I expected to marry my entire life, but no longer could because all of the sudden she was unfit to play the role that was given to her ever since she was a little girl. Glancing at this Kayla character, Cora's face and graceful body features appeared before my eyes. She was the complete opposite of the girl in front of me. My now former fiancé was taciturn, yet well outspoken; serious, yet sweet. She'd fit into my world perfectly, because she was born into it. Even though we didn't love each other, throughout the years of our engagement we developed a deep sense of respect for one another. It was an arranged marriage, but I was okay with that. After everything I'd seen, I was positive that love was an illusion reserved only for fools who kept their heads in the sand.
"I could make you feel better. So much better." Kayla pouted her lips and then licked one of them, sending an open invitation my way.
"I think I'll take a rain check on that one," I said politely.
"You'll be sorry. Who knows, maybe if you gave me a chance you'd forget all about Cora and decide to marry me instead." She chuckled, trying to make it sound as a joke, but her intentions were crystal clear.
I snickered, because I knew something that she and all the women like her didn't. They could try all they wanted, but there would never be a diamond ring shining on their finger. Not even if they managed to do the impossible and steal my heart because my wealthy and prominent family held a very interesting secret. A code we were set to live by. A code that I had learnt to accept, unaware of the fact that it would eventually ruin my life.
"Don't flatter yourself." My voice was freed of any amusement. "I wouldn't marry you if you were the last woman at the face of the Earth."
The message had gotten through the burned strands of blond hair and finally settled in Kayla's brain. And just like I thought, she didn't like it one little bit.
The woman, who tried to get me to fuck her only moments ago, was now screaming all kinds of insults in a high – pitched voice, but I didn't give a damn. My eyes darted towards the man who approached us with a camera in his hands and even though I managed to pull Jared away from the brunette, the damage had been done and there would be a very embarrassing picture my idiot of a friend would have to deal with the following day. The brunette who had a smeared lipstick all around her lips and messy hair wore a satisfactory look on her face when she approached Jared, but he pushed her away. Even drunk, he was aware of what had happened and I could tell he was scared shitless. It's funny how things turn around sometimes, because all of the sudden, he was the one who was eager to leave the club.
***
Author's note:
So, here is the first chapter of Strings Attached. Hope you guys enjoyed getting into Sebastian's head. :) <3