Chapter 20
TWENTY
An Uber takes me to the club Addy chose for our girls’ night. I use the drive to check my lipstick in my phone’s camera before we pull up and I thank the driver. It feels good to dress up and go out, especially since I desperately needed to get away from Romel’s house.
This girls’ night came at the perfect time. Romel and I have barely talked to each other since our confrontation two nights ago, and the tension is nearly suffocating.
But the worst part is how Kay has pulled back in on herself because of it. She doesn’t say that’s why she’s gotten quiet, but the way she glances at her dad and me for the few minutes that we have to be in the same room together makes it clear she knows something is going on. I hate that she’s being affected, but at the same time, I don’t know how to fix it.
I don’t even know if it’s possible for me to fix it. How do you fix the issue when the issue is that your boss thinks being attracted to you is being unfaithful to his dead wife?
I didn’t learn how to handle this type of situation in college.
When I get inside the venue, I send a text to Addy because this place is packed and I have no idea where she is. She texts me that she’s in a booth in the back, and after pushing through the crowd of bodies, I finally see her standing and waving. I rush over and give her a hug, a smile splitting my face.
“You look amazing! I love this dress,” I say, gushing over the form-fitting red dress that makes her look like an absolute bombshell. Her smile is wide, her blonde hair falling in perfectly styled waves down her back.
“Thank you! You look great too! Here, come meet everyone.”
Her last words don’t fully register until I find myself in front of a booth filled with people I’ve never met before. I keep my smile pasted to my face as I turn to her. “I thought this was a girls’ night with Chelsea and Kate?”
“Oh, they couldn’t come so I decided to invite my work friends.” She leans closer to my ear so only I can hear. “Plus, I’ve got the worst crush on Jake and am hoping he’ll finally make a move tonight.” She pulls back with a smile and a wink as my heart drops to my stomach.
So much for a girls’ night.
I take a seat at the end of the U-shaped booth on the outskirts of a dance floor. Addy introduces everyone and then they all start talking about something that happened at work.
“I’m going to go get a drink,” I shout across the table to Addy. She smiles and nods and waves me off, so I slip out of the booth and head back to the bar.
For a second, I consider just going home. The thought of being social with a bunch of strangers does not sound appealing, but unfortunately, going home means possibly running into Romel, which sounds about as fun as having a root canal.
He was gone at a barbecue at a friend’s house when I left, but I have no idea when they’ll be back and I’m not willing to risk it. So I woman-up and order a drink, then head back to the booth and mentally prep myself to make new friends.
When I slide into the booth, the guy next to me scans down my short dress, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes at his blatant perusal. That is not the way to seduce me, buddy.
You want to make me melt into a puddle on the floor? Look at me like I’m beautiful, funny, and bring light to your life. Having a cute little dimple that only appears when you really smile helps too.
I take a big swallow of my lemon drop. It’s sugary sweet, but masks the alcohol so I can take a big gulp without feeling the burn right away. I will not think about Romel tonight , I tell myself for the millionth time.
“Hey, I’m Chad.”
I bite back a laugh. Of course, the dude-bro who looks like a stockbroker is named Chad.
“Hey, Chad. I’m Meredith.”
I figure it can’t hurt to be nice. I also expect him to ask me something about myself after this because that’s my experience with most guys, but instead he immediately starts talking about his new car and the condo he was able to buy. When he’s not talking about himself, he’s leering at me. I start to make a game of how many times he looks at my body—taking a drink every time he talks to my boobs instead of my face.
I finish my first drink in record time. The rest of the night starts to blur together as I drink more—much more than I planned on.
As Chad drones on, I don’t know what possesses me—alcohol, most definitely—to pull my phone out of my purse and drunk text Romel, but I do.
Me
ur a jerk
Dots immediately pop up.
Romel
What?
Me
You r Jen
My phone starts ringing and Romel’s name flashes on the screen. Panicked, I say to Chad, “Gotta take this. It’s my boss.” Or at least that’s what I try to say. It comes out a little more like “Gutta tuh this. S’ma boss.”
I walk away from the loud tables and down a short hallway where it’s somewhat quieter. “Hello?” Fuck, is my voice slurring?
There’s a pause, and then his smooth, deep voice comes through the phone and makes warm tingles burst to life between my legs. “Are you drunk?”
“No,” I say too quickly and with a slur so it comes out more like “nuhhh.”
Jesus, I’m drunk. I didn’t think I had that much to drink.
His voice gets hard. “Where are you?”
“Like you care.” There. That came out mostly clear, so I can’t be that far gone.
“Meredith. Do not play with me. Where the hell are you?”
His voice is so deep, so demanding. I want to wrap myself up in it like it’s a blanket and fall asleep.
I mumble the name of the club as my eyes grow heavy. “So sleepy,” I murmur. How did I go from taking sips to sleepy drunk in just a couple of hours? Damn Chad and his stupid wandering eyes.
“Don’t fall asleep, and don’t hang up. I’ll be there in…” His voice gets distant like he pulled the phone away from his face. “Fifteen minutes, twenty tops. Where are you in the club?”
There’s a rustle in the background of wherever he is and I think I tell him where I am, but my eyelids are getting so heavy. I should go back to the table. Definitely back to Addy and see if she wants to blow this popsicle stand. Maybe get some Del Taco like old times.
Oh man, tacos sound so good right now.
“I gotta go,” I mumble and hang up. I stumble back to the table thinking about tacos, but when I get back to the group, Chad is waiting with that hooded look in his eyes as he once again stares at my boobs, and I’m quickly reminded that I have, in fact, had way more to drink than normal because of that stupid game I created.
Addy giggles as she stands up and hugs me, mushing her mouth to my cheek. Then very loudly she says, “You should totally go home with him. He’s hot.”
“Yeah, I am,” Chad says with all the confidence in the world, and I wonder if he thinks his smile is supposed to look seductive when all it looks is smarmy.
Why am I here? Why did I even stay? I don’t really like any of these people—not that I know them all that well to begin with—and right now my pajamas and my bed are looking way better than staying in this noisy and crowded club with a bunch of people I don’t know and a guy who looked at my boobs so much, I lost count of my drinks.
I pull my arm out of Addy’s grasp. “I gotta go.”
“Noo!” she whines.
“Yeah.” I give her a hug and then pull away.
“Fine. Text me when you get home.”
I nod and then quickly walk away before Chad gets any ideas about following me. That’s not happening, ever.
I stumble a few times as I make my way toward the exit, pulling out my phone to request an Uber from the app. It’s late and I don’t love the idea of being driven home by a stranger when I’m this wasted, but I need to get home.
I open the app when Romel’s name lights up the screen. Shit. I already forgot I texted him. What the hell is wrong with me tonight?
Plugging one ear, I hold my phone to the other and answer as I keep making my way to the exit. “Hello?”
I can barely hear him over the crowd, but I’m almost at the door, so I tell him to hold on and push my way through the last big crowd of people until I get to the bouncers and the exit doors.
“Coming back in?” one of the bouncers asks.
“No.”
“Alright, have a nice night.”
“You too,” I say as I walk out and take a breath of fresh air.
Romel’s deep voice breaks through the quiet of the night outside the club. “Where are you?” he demands.
“Outside the club.”
“Stay put. I’m almost there.”
My steps falter as I come to a stop a few steps away from the club doors. “What do you mean you’re almost here?” My words are still a little slurred, but the cool night air is clearing my head a little more.
“I told you I was on my way. Don’t move, and stay on the phone with me until I get there. GPS says I’m three minutes away.”
I’m speechless. Completely speechless as I stand frozen on the sidewalk.
“Talk to me, Meredith,” his voice rolls over me and sends tingles to my core.
I hate how much I respond to him when he wants so little to do with me. More than that, I hate that I’ve just become a burden for him.God, what if he fires me over this? I feel the sudden desire to explain myself.
“He kept staring at my boobs,” I say, tears of drunken frustration burning at the corners of my eyes.
“What?” he growls.
“Chad.”
“Who the fuck is Chad?”
Damn, he sounds pissed. That should not turn me on, but it does. I love the protective edge to his voice.
“I made a game out of him looking at my boobs every time he looked I drank I didn’t expect it to be so bad I don’t drink like this please don’t fire me.” I heave in a breath after rambling all my words.
His car pulls up to the curb, and he stares at me through the passenger window, his dark eyes holding me hostage.
“I’m not going to fire you.”