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“Gianna, oh my god! What happened?” Luke asks, concern laced in his voice. He rushes to me and examines my knee.
He picks me up and rubs my back soothingly. “It's okay. Everything is okay. I'm sorry.” He carries me to a part of the house I've never been in and places me on a comfy sofa. He rummages through the wardrobe until he comes back with a first aid box. He kneels in front of me and tends to my wounds.
I watch him quietly wiping my tears. He should be the one in my heart, not that heartless brother of Nala’s.
Luke is too much of a gentleman that Chris will never be. He looks up only to find my eyes on him. He smiles at me sympathetically, “Please don't let what he says affect you so much. He didn't mean it. He wasn't in his right senses.”
I shake my head having none of it. “Even if he was in his right senses, he would have done the same thing.”
He sighs in defeat. “Chris is…” he pauses as if searching for the right words. “He's very difficult to understand. Even I get tired of him sometimes, which is funny because he's my best friend,” he chuckles lightly.
I smile despite myself.
“But underneath his tough exterior and the harsh words he dishes out, he's a soft man. Extremely soft. He just had to toughen up.”
I roll my eyes at the excuse. “That doesn't excuse him invading my privacy and mocking me.”
He nods. “No, it doesn't. I'm not trying to justify his actions. I just don't want you to hate him.”
I snort. “Too late. I hate him with every part of my being. I loathe the day I ever met him, and I never want to see him again.”
Luke's mouth opens and closes slightly in surprise at the certainty in my voice.
“I'm done.” I get up and walk out.
* * *
I thought I was done. That I’d gotten over it, I thought all these years of not seeing him had made me forget. But seeing him again, the hurt, the embarrassment and the anger is back. It hurts that he’s still the only one who has the power to rile me up.
My cell phone rings, bringing me back to the present. I take it out of my purse. It’s a message from my workplace bestie, Sam, reminding me of our hangout at the latest bar in the city.
My evening is already ruined. I can’t rest with my mind all muddled. I need a distraction, and the best way to get distracted is to get drunk. I will be reckless tonight.
I stand and walk to my room. I spend the next two hours freshening up and preparing for the night ahead. The ride I requested for soon arrives, and I leave for the newly opened club.
It’s almost ten o’clock when I arrive, the speakers blasting out some trap mix that makes me either want to claw my ears out just to rid myself of the noise. It has me rethinking why I came here in the first palace.
“Hey, G! Over here!” I see a tall, curvy figure of a woman with auburn hair shouting my name over the raging music of the nightclub as I make my way inside. The face of the woman belongs to no one other than Sam.
I swerve through the crowd, dodging the swaying and sweaty bodies of the people intoxicated by the alcohol and music on the dance floor. Nightclubs, alcohol, and loud music filled with strangers who have no idea what 'personal space' means aren't really a thing for an architecture nerd like me. But the event a few hours ago called for a distraction, and I couldn't refuse.
“Oh my god, you made it! I thought you would cancel on us as usual.” She teases me as she pulls me to sit next to her at the booth.
I shrug, grinning. “I almost did, but I changed my mind.”
“Good, because we are going to have so much fun!” She shakes her body in excitement.
“So, where are the others?” I ask, looking around the club, trying to catch a glimpse of my other colleagues.
She takes a gulp of her drink before she answers. “I don’t know. I can’t tell. I just know they excused themselves to go have some fun. I’m pretty sure Andrew is rocking some girl on the dance floor right now.”
I chuckle to myself. “Typical of him.”
She looks at me from head to toe, smirking. “You look so sexy. You really went all out.” She lifts my hand, her eyes dancing all over my day. “Damn, girl, you are making me doubt my sexuality.”
I playfully roll my eyes and take my hand from hers. “You are surely drunk,” I laugh back.
“But I'm telling you the truth.” She points all around the club. “Just look around. You stand out!”
