I drag my tired body up the stairs to my small apartment, all day's stress catching up to me. Grocery shopping can wait, I will go tomorrow.
I open my apartment door with my key and sigh in relief. I am going to take a long shower and then a much needed long sleep.
'You are early. Good.'
Lana is sprawled on the couch, munching some chips and watching Netflix. I inwardly groan. Here goes my peaceful night.
'Don't you have anything to do? What're you doing here?' I leave my purse on the floor and sit beside her, filling up the little space. The coach squeak under me. I have to change it next month. I note mentally.
'We're going to have a talk.' She ignores my question completely.
'What talk?'
'Don't play innocent. You wouldn't have begged me to sleepover here yesterday, if nothing happened. So spill.'
'You are watching Stranger things? I haven't seen this episode yet.'
'Don't you dare change the subject.' She huffs.
Deterring Lana from discovering something when she is that determined, is not something you can do. It is impossible and not worth the trouble.
I sulkily steal some chips from her. If it is my confession day, I deserve some food in my stomach.
'Hey. It's mine.' She snatches the packet from me.
'Caden kissed me yesterday.'
'Ouch.' Lana accidentally bites her finger while putting chips on her mouth. 'Damn, Sia. Don't joke like that.'
I stay silent.
'You aren't joking, are you? Fuck.' She turns completely towards me, her eyes frantic. 'He forced himself on you, didn't he? That bastard. I'm going to chop his dick off and feed it to the piranhas.'
Oh, how I wish you could really do that.
'Please tell me, you punched him.'
I cringe inside. 'I kissed him back.' I wait for her wrath.
She stares at me for a while, probably to see whether I was serious or not. 'God, Sia.' She slings her arms around me instead. 'Are you ok?'
'I don't know.' I hug her tighter, seeking comfort. 'I thought I was over him. But then- then this happened. I hate this. I hate me.'
Half an hour later, after I pour out my soul to her. She comments. 'We need to get wasted.'
'No. We don't.'
'Come on. Live a little.' She whines.
'You know, my alcohol tolerance level is close to zero.' Besides, clubbing means sweaty bodies and lots of horny people. I don't like either of them. But then again, may be this is what I need. A distraction from all the drama of my life.
'We're going. End of discussion. Hop on the shower and get ready.'
'I don't have dress for this.' I find an excuse, hoping to get out this even though I know, it won't happen.
'I know. You're borrowing mine. I already brought one with me here. Also I'm doing your make up, no complaints.' She pauses dramatically. 'And you're welcome. I know you can't live without me.'
I narrow my eyes in suspicion. 'You brought an extra dress with you? For me? How did you know, we were going to club?' I leave an exasperated sigh as realisation struck. 'We were going to club tonight either way, weren't we? And you would have dragged me with you like always.'
'Congratulations. You've solved an enigma. Should I give you a gold medal?' She makes a face.
I hop onto the shower, feeling irritated. Why am I friend with her again?
One and half hour later, I am ready. Well, I was ready from the beginning. It doesn't take much time to just put on the dress. The only make up I am wearing is eye liner and lip gloss.
It is Lana who is getting ready, fuzzing around and glaring at me from time to time.
'Are you sure, you don't want me to do your make up?'
'Yes, Lana. For the hundredths time.'
'How can you go like that? Just let me do it. I promise, I won't put on much.' She literally begs.
'No and if you ask me again, I will bang my head on the wall just to show you how serious I am.'
'Fine. Have it your way.' She says sullenly.
'Are we going there yet or do you need another hour to get ready?' Ian peeks from outside of my room. 'I swear, I don't understand how you girls can take all day to put on whatever you do on your face.'
'Shut it Ian. How do I look?' Lana interjects.
'Same.'
'How can you say that?' She flings her index finger at him accusingly like it is scandalous to even think that.
Ian laughs. He always gets a kick out of ruffling her feather. I will admit sometimes, I get it too. This is definitely one of those times. Lana is very passionate about her make ups. So it is absolutely humorous to tease her about it.
'I changed my lipstick shade and added some highlighter.'
'You lips look red like it did an hour before.' Ian looks at her critically, inspecting her.
'Exactly. I'm trying to tell her that for an hour now.' I put in.
'No. It does not. I changed it to cherry red.'
'I rest my case.' He rolls his eyes in vexation, motioning his hands up in surrender.
'Anyway, where are we going?' I cut in.
'New York Mirage.' Lana replies.
'You're joking, right?' I exclaim, horrified. 'They won't even let us in. And who'll pay for the drinks? Cause I obviously can't.'
This club is one of the most expensive nightclubs out there. A couple of shots from that club would cost my entire wardrobe. Only super rich people and celebrities go there. It's pretty exclusive too. You need to have membership cards to even get in.
'Well, good thing, we won't be paying then. Fred will. He knows the owner. So end of the story, we're going.'
'When are you going to dump this rich boyfriend of yours? It's been almost a month.' Ian is always at cross with all of Lana's boyfriends but this one he seems to like the least.
'Well, I like this one. He's got a great di-'
'We don't need to know that.' Ian complains, grumbling.
'By the way, what's with being with him for a month? Who said I couldn't date some one for more than a month?'
I laugh disbelieveingly. 'Yeah. You normally ditch them after two dates which approximately takes two weeks.'
'Honey, it's called having fun. Loosen up a little.' She pats my shoulder dramatically and pulls Ian's hand, getting him out of the door.
'Why are you always at him? You bring those bimbos home at night and make so much noise. Do you see me complaining? No. Then why do you? You are the worst best friend ever. I really need to find my own apartment soon or start to live with Sia-'
'Go ahead. See if I care.'
I sigh. This is going to be a long ride.
- - -
'So what's a beautiful girl like you doing here alone?' The guy sitting beside me on the stool at the bar asks.
I stop scrolling Instagram on my phone and look at him. He has dirty blonde hair and a cute face. He is good loooking, I will give him that.
And he is definitely well dressed wearing a button down white shirt with top two buttons undone, a loosened necktie and black slacks. But what really caught my attention is his very expensive Rolex watch.
He is rich. Then again everyone in this club is, making me remember that I don't belong here.
'I'm actually here with my friends.' I muse and take a sip of fruity sweetness from my glass.
'Really? I am not seeing them with you though.' He raises a brow.
'They're on the floor, dancing.'
'You should be there too. Wanna come with me?'
Is he flirting?
'I'm good here.'
'Two more shots please.' That guy asks the bystander and turns towards me. 'I'm Nick.'
'Sia.' I give him a tight smile.
I look at the dance floor, trying to distinguish among all those grinding bodies for my so called 'friends' who abandoned me here with this guy. But it's very hard to recognise them on flickering lights and loud music.
'Need a refill?' He indicates towards my almost empty glass.
Is he really interested in me and trying to buy me alcohol? I am surprised. It is rare for a guy to take a interest in me and I seldom come to clubs too. But still. Men usually take instant liking towards Lana and thankfully leave me alone.
'No, thanks.' I decline. 'I'm the designated driver tonight.' Sadly I am not here for that.
I have bad history with alcohol and clubs. All the bad things happened to me occured when I was in club. So I never get wasted in unfamiliar environment. Besides the obvious scandal with Caden, also a few blurry imeges of my drunk escapades from when I was in London flash into my mind.
That was a dark time of my life. I do not want go there again. I have made too many bad decisions in my life to afford one now specially when it is slowly going back to normal.
Also one night stands were never my thing. So it is a definite no no, no matter how cute the guy is.
I have had only one relationship in my whole life and look how that turned out.
I keep looking for Lana's blonde hair or Ian's bulky body whose drunk asses I need to bring back home.
Suddenly my eyes get stuck on the figure at the end of the floor, close to the door, opposite to me and he is coming this way. Shit.
The universe is sure making a sick joke of me. I narrow my eyes to get a better look on him to make sure, I am seeing right. Yeah, it is Caden.
My face drains all colour. I am so intranced on looking at him that I completely miss the body clung to his side. Camilla freaking Sunchaz.
'Too bad.' Nick laughs. 'So Sia, what do you do?'
Can the guy not take a damn hint? He sure is persistent. My eyes keep going back to Caden. A few more meters and he would be here. From the look of it, he has not seen me yet.
'Look Nick. You seem nice and all but I'm really not interested.' I interrupt him rudely. I need to leave. Now.
But I can't go without Ian and Lana. When I told Nick that I was the designated driver tonight, I was not lying. I drove all of us here with Ian's car. I also have the car keys with me. I have to give it back to him before I go anywhere else.
So I decide to go to the dance floor and look for them. Hopefully, Caden won't see me there like I couldn't see my stupid friends.
I practically run to the dance floor looking for them, stumbling on the edge of it. But it is nearly impossible to get past all those moving bodies. After a while I give up.
Standing on the dance floor awkwardly for a while, I see Caden drowning shot after shot, sitting on the sofa beside the bar counter. Camilla draps on his side, almost on his lap and whispers something on his ear, touching his arm provocatively.
Something inside me twists which has no business to. They two look so good together, complimenting each other.
A sigh leaves my mouth. They are from the same circle. Caden will never be embarrassed of showing her off to the world.
I get angry realising I am staring at him. Why am I wasting my time on him? I have no claim over him. He can do whatever the hell he wants and I can too. Did I not come here to have a good time? I will have just that.
Grabbing the hand of the body next to mine, I start swaying on the beat of the music. He puts his hands on the small of my back.
I school myself and remind me that I will let go of all my worries for one night, will not think about anything and dance here till my feet hurt.
That guy comes too close to my comfort, his whole body touching me making me stiffen. I pull my hand away from him and push him a little to make a little space between us but he resists. My heart thuds in weird fear.
I take a close look at him for the first time. He must be in his mid forties and he is staring at me like I am his last meal, giving me chill. He lowers his hand and puts it on top of my butt.
'What the hell? Get away from me.' I try to get out of his arm but he catches me in a vice like grip.
He squeezes my butt painfully. 'Come on. We're only dancing.' He drawls.
I punch him but he is too strong. He catches my fist and twists it at an odd angle, making me cry out in pain. I can smell his breath. It stinks of tequila.
He tries to kiss me. I scream and move my face sideways. My scream blends in with the loud music. He presses his hand on my mouth, muffling the rest of it. 'Don't scream, bitch.'
I feel like crying. Why is anyone not interfering? I guess, they are too drunk to care and I can not even see anyone properly in dim light.
Pressing his hand on my mouth more forcefully, he nibbles on my neck. I feel revulsed and sick to my stomach. I bite into his hand. He hissed, his hold on my hands tightened. 'Feisty, I like it.'
I draw my right leg forward and am about knee him where the sun does not shine when someone pulls him off me. I feel light headed and trip by the force.
That creep gets punched and falls down with a thud. I stand up and see Caden on top of that guy, punching him on his mouth repeatedly.
Relief courses through me. I shiver and put my arms around me, hugging myself.
Thank God.
- - -
Song of this chapter- One Call Away by Charlie Puth.
Hey guys. Sorry for ending this chapter here. I know I am evil (insert evil drum rolls here!). 😄😁
But... but the next update will be soon. Hopefully.
Anyway, what do you think of the chapter? Comment and let me know.
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Lots of love. ♡♡
-Alayna