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But she had, of course, overblown the whole thing. These people wouldn’t be friends with Iyore if they were horrible people, after all, and they’d perfectly understood. So, Joy guessed she had actual friends, now. Still new, still tentative, but feeling real with each and every day that passed.
She didn’t care one bit how her rapist had been found, if Malachi had made it look like he’d simply disappeared, or if he’d let it look like he’d somehow been mauled by a bear in his sleep. Her life was officially back on track.
Butthat persistent ache in her chest lingered.No matter what she did, the hole simply refused to go away.
“Joy?” Iyore’s voice registered. It sounded likethiswasn’t the first time she’d said her name. “You okay, babe?”
Joy snapped out of it, forcing a quick grin. “I’m fine. I’m good. Where are we going anyway? I’m really glad you suggested this because I really do feel like dancing.” And she meant it. Perhaps she’d meet a nice, sexy stranger, and it’d help her forget.
Sheneededto forget.
Iyore let her change the subject, grinning sunnily. “Where else?” she asked playfully.
As usual, Sound Control was packed on a Thursday. It was strictly Afrobeats night, which was unsurprisingly their most popular night of the week. The dancefloor was already packed despite it being only ten o’clock, with a remix of one of Joeboy’s songs blasting through the speakers.
Joy’s heart lurched with an anxiety she couldn’t manage to shake off when Iyore led them to the bar. Her eyes locked like a hawk on the vodka and coke she ordered, making sure no one slipped anything into her drink. Even when the bartender passed the drink to her, safe and sound, she still couldn’t be sure.
The glass could’ve been stained—the bartender might’ve had quick fingers—someone could’ve done something—
A pulse of pure fury and anguish beat in her stomach, which she quickly suppressed. Funny enough,hehadn’t even been the one to slip anything in her drink; he’d arrived late to the get together, and had been well across the room when Joy began to feel the effects. The way he’d pretended to be so concerned, when all along he’d just seen it as his opportunity.
Joy gritted her teeth, forcing herself to remember her blade sinking into his stomach, over and over, the warmth of his blood spilling across her knuckles, staining herredandwhitedress. Like it was therapy, she felt her heartbeat slow, her anxiety bleeding out of her limbs.
She glanced at her best friend, her soulmate—the one person on this earth she knew she could hundred percent trust, and bravely took a sip of her drink.
It felt like walking off a cliff. It felt like taking back something she hadn’t even known she’d lost. Her hand was shaking slightly, and she still felt anxious as fuck, but Iyore was here. Iyore wouldn’t let anything hurt her.
“Let’s dance!” Iyore said with excitement, grabbing her arm.
They began to shout along to the music as they made their way to the dancefloor, their hips shimmying. Joy truly let go of her inhibitions, laughing as Iyore twisted around to grind on her, her best friend laughing as well.
Iyore turned around again, finishing her drink with a quick gulp,carelessly dropping the plastic cup on the dancefloor. She wrapped her arms around Joy’s neck, leaningclose to whisper intoher ear.
“Don’t look now, but that guy has been staring at you since we entered!”
Joytried not to stiffen. Her stomach squirmed with a mixture of discomfort and only a little bit of anticipation. Could she do this? Would she be able to stand the touch of another person—anotherman, at that?
You stood Malachi’s touch fine.
That was different, she argued at her subconscious.
Malachi had felt like a dream, like something stolen; a brief pocket of time that had felt so real as it simultaneously felt like a fantasy.
The yawning ache in her chest forced Joy to straighten her shoulders. She couldn’t keep living like this. Malachi was gone. Her throat thickened. She’d practically driven him away, and he wasn’t coming back.
She wrapped herarmsaround Iyore’s hips, forcing her lips to curve up into a careless smile. “Is he behind me?” she asked playfully.
“Yup!” Iyore said happily, unaware of Joy’s brief turmoil. “He’s by the wall, in the corner.”
Joy slowly, casually turned her head, like she was simply perusing the dancing bodies around them.
And froze when her eyes alighted on familiar horns. Darkpurplewings. Her eyes locked with the familiar bright red of Malachi’s before she could stop herself, her stomach immediately bursting to life with what felt like a million butterflies.
Joy spun back around, her heart in her throat. No. What the fuck? No. She couldn’t hear the music anymore; all she could hear was her heartbeat, pounding loudly in her eardrums. The butterflies swarming in her stomach made her feel slightly ill.
How come no one had noticed him? Was she theonly one who could see him?
“Did you see him?” Iyore asked with excitement. “Tall, dark, and handsome? And I do mean that in the most literal sense of the phrase.” She giggled. Could she not see him the way Joy saw him? Was it a trick of his? Or was Iyore referring to someone else? “He’s wearing all black, and honestly, I didn’t think I was attracted to guys with long hair, but I have to say, he is rocking the shit out of that afro.” Iyore leered.
