The restaurant was loud and busy, especially considering it was the day after Christmas. There were groups of couples and friends dressed in their high class apparel waiting for a table to be vacant. Once a table was cleared, it was cleaned up and quickly filled with guests.
I had been on my feet for about four hours before the rush started to calm down. I finally had the chance to talk to Bailey about going to the club after work. Elijah and I agreed on meeting at the White Dove around midnight to meet for the first in what felt like an eternity.
To be completely honest, I wasn't ready to meet him but it was time to hear him out completely. The distractions I once relied on were slowing dwindling and I needed to come to terms with reality.
As Bailey wiped down a table, I walked beside her and placed my hands on her arm. "Got a minute?" I said, looking at her.
"What's up?"
"We're getting out in an hour. Do you want to hit the club after? Maybe go to White Dove?" I gave her a nervous smkle. She didn't know me enough to decode it and translate it to what it really was, a desperate plead for help.
"Of course! We can get ready at my place and call some people up."
"Fantastic," I squealed in relief but it must have came across as excitement due to Bailey's exaggerated smile.
The rest of my work shift was filled with butterflies in my stomach and how I would react once I saw Elijah. Would I be so taken aback by his manliness and want to jump his bones? Would he want us to take it slow and go on a walk to talk about our separated days? Would we go back to square one?
All these thoughts filled my head and made my heart ache. I had been so fixated on my meeting with Elijah that I kept vigorously scrubbing the same spot on the table.
"It's pretty clean," Art commented, placing his hand over mine to stop by excessive behavior.
I snatched my hand away and gave him the cold shoulder. I moved over to clean the remaining tables. He slowly walked behind me with an apologetic look on his face.
"Doe --"
I glared at him, warning him to correct himself. I never understood his nickname for me.
He cleared his throat as he rolled his eyes. "Morena, I'm really sorry for earlier today. After you left, I made it clear to everyone that nothing happened between us. I shouldn't have acted like that."
"Thanks for the apology," I muttered and attempted to walk away but Art had grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing me closer to his hard chest.
Haley, who was singing her last song, looked at me with amused smile on her face. She continued singing her sultry love song, making sure to direct her hand movements towards us. My cheeks were heated with embarrassment and I attempted to push Art away.
"Stop fighting me... about this," Art pleaded. "The song is almost over."
I rolled my eyes and in the process, noticed Monsieur leaning against the wall with a bald man. They were deep in conversation yet his eyes fixated on mine for a second too long. I placed my hand on Arturo's chest and pushed him away. He flailed his hands up in annoyance but I moved to the other side of the restaurant to avoid hearing him rant.
Art headed towards my direction but Monsieur tapped his walking stick to get his attention. Art tilted his head with a displeased expression which Monsieur noticed. Monsieur waved his long finger, signaling Art to talk to him.
I started to excessively clean another table as I watched Monsieur lecture him. Art balled his hands into tight fists before turning his back to our boss and headed towards the back.
"Monsieur has been up his ass the whole day today," Bailey shared. "Art says he keeps giving him shit for insignificant things."
"Maybe Art should focus more on work than goofing around," I responded.
Bailey patted my arm as she forced a laugh out. "Seriously? How can he focus when he has a full on distraction here?"
"What?" I snarled. "What do you mean?"
Bailey rolled her eyes. "Whatever, babe, play dumb. I'll see you at my place," she said before walking away. She knew I wouldn't be able to keep the conversation going if she wasn't directly looking at me.
***
I didn't have any club attire but Bailey was more than happy to lend me a dress. I had told her about meeting Elijah and she was excited for me, but advised me to keep my emotions in check.
It was just Bailey and I in her apartment, the rest of her friends were going to meet us at the lounge. I applied some red lipstick on and made my way down the hallway wearing 4 inch stilettos and a black ruched body con dress.
"There might be a lot less talking and a lot more fucking when he sees you," Bailey complimented with a mischevious grin.
I held onto my stomach to ease the butterflies. Every fiber wanted to back out and not go to the club but I needed to see Elijah. I wanted to feel his warm skin under my hands, to hear his sexy voice tell me that everything will be okay, and to feel protected by his loving embrace. I wanted to hear his side of the story. After all, I owed him that much.
We opened the door and I stumbled back at the sight of Art. He grabbed my arm, pulling me towards him to avoid me falling back. I placed an arm on his chest and he looked down, pleased by our position.
"Hey there, beautiful," he smirked.
I pulled back and fixed myself. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, he's our ride! It's his turn to be the DD," she cheered as she walked past us.
"More like secret service," he corrected, following behind us.
We arrived at the club, and I could hear the music thumping from a block away. When we walked in, Cooper, Mateo and a few other unrecognizable people were already on the dance floor with their hands in the air and bodies pressed against each other. Bailey grabbed my hand and led me to the middle of the floor to dance. Art greeted everybody with a fist bump and proceeded to circle around me and Bailey.
Although this wasn't my scene, I felt like a normal college student. A student who is on break and enjoying her freedom with friends, a student who hadn't lost practically everyone she loved in a short amount a time, and a student who actually had some fun.
Arturo brought a round of shots for us and we circled around him like piranhas, devouring the vile liquid. I was sticky from dancing but it didn't matter. I danced with one of Art's friends named ElIiot who not only had a name that resembled Elijah but looked like a teenage version of Elijah. I was competely mesmerized to say the least. I cheerfully pranced towards Art who bobbed his head to the music.
"What's the time, sir?" I joked.
"Someone seems happier." He twisted his wrist to read his watch. "Ten minutes to 12. Ready to go home?" He smoothly circled his hands around my waist, pulling me towards the dance floor.
"Nope, can't go home yet!" I informed without giving him details about my meeting with Elijah. He would disapprove which would result into me losing my patience and spoiling the whole night.
The music slowed down and we swayed to the music. "I'm really sorry again. I don't want you to be mad at me."
"Im not," I sighed. "Just stop saying stupid things."
"I'll try... it's just hard because I have these feelings and it's so hard to think."
"What feelings?" I whispered cautiously.
"I really like you, Morena."
Those were not the words I wanted to hear at the time. I closed my eyes and remained silent, giving him a small smile. I excused myself before walking out of the heated space and into the freezing, cold night.
I pressed my back against the brick wall and tried to breathe in to combat the nausea that was taking over my body. The street lights started to blur together and I attempted to lift my hands over my head but I had no control over my muscles.
"Fuck," I yelled in a panic. I sunk down onto the cold, wet pavement. Everything was going wrong and I didn't know what to do. My body wasn't reacting to what I wanted it to do and everything felt unknown.
"Babe, what are you doing out here?" I heard a familiar voice ask.
Despite the sick feeling taking over my body, I was able to breath again knowing someone I trusted was nearby. It was very much like Elijah to come when I needed him the most.
"Eli-" I placed my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from vomiting. I looked at him with fear and couldn't decipher his reaction. Waves of nausea and dizziness was casted on me which prevented me from getting a good look at him.
"Let's get out of here," he proposed and lifted me up. Once in his embrace, my body completely gave out and everything turned into darkness.