His To Take

Chapter One

Nixie

“Come on, Nix. It’s one Friday night, and it’s just for a small drink at the new club that’s opening. I’m sure your current boyfriend will let you have just one night off,” Darcy, my ever-loving friend and roommate says to me, that playful look twinkling in her eyes. She has a glass of wine in one hand and is pointing to my Kindle with the other.

Sitting on the couch all snuggled up with my blanket over me, I huff my frustration, rolling my eyes and putting my Kindle down next to me.

?“Listen to me, Darcy. I do not want to go.” I pick up my Kindle again and open it to start reading where I left off. My current book boyfriend was in the middle of going down on his girl; why would I want to go anywhere when it’s just getting to the best, juiciest part?

I can see her staring at me with that look that says she won’t give up until I give into her demands. I swear, if this girl wasn’t my best friend, I would happily never talk to her again; bitch is always pushing me out of my comfort zone.

After a few minutes under Darcy’s gaze, I lose my concentration on the story, snapping my Kindle shut and throwing it next to me.

?“Fine, you win,” I shout at her. Darcy has the nerve to start clapping and jumping. She runs to me, hugging me so tight I can barely breathe.

“Aww, don’t be so sad about it, Nix. It will do you good to actually get out on a Friday night and interact with the real world.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

“I hate you,” I say with the biggest smile on my face.

“And I hate you more, you little book nerd.”

Honestly, I sometimes wonder why we are friends, let alone best friends. We are complete opposites in every way. She is the outgoing, loving life kind of girl who loves attention. Me? I hate being social with anyone. People? Yeah, no thanks. Just leave me to my books so I can get lost in a world I dream of living in. I don’t mind being social for my work, but anything after that is a big fat nope.

Darcy begins rambling on about Friday night again.

“I’m going to invite Briar and Stella as well. We will have a girls night out.”

Oh, yay, more people to put up with. Just breathe, Nix, just breathe. How bad can it actually be?

“Okay, sure. That’s fine Darc, but don’t expect too much from me.” I smile at her.

She rolls her eyes at me and sits next to me, putting her arm around me.

“I know you don’t like the real world, Nix, but I hate seeing you so lost in your books sometimes. I just want you to experience what real life can offer before you get too old and regret it.” She lays her head on my shoulder and squeezes me before she gets up again.

I look up at her and remember why I love her. I smile. “I know. And I’m sorry, Darc. I will try my absolute best to enjoy our night, I promise.” I hold out my pinkie finger for her to put hers around, our way of knowing we are being completely honest with each other and will stick to our word.

Darcy nods and goes back to her room for what I can only guess is preparations for tomorrow night. I chuckle to myself, because I know how much she puts into a night out.

I get up from the couch and start clearing away the glasses, making sure everything is locked for the night before heading off to bed myself. I look out our apartment window and stare down the street. I can hear the slight buzzing of music from the bars doing Thirsty Thursdays. I close the blinds and start turning off all the lights, then I go back to the front door and triple check that it’s locked. Once I’m happy that everything is locked up properly for the night, I make my way to my bedroom, knocking on Darcy’s room as I go past to say goodnight to her. I can’t hear a response, so I assume that she either has headphones in or is already asleep, thanks to the glasses of wine she’s had tonight.

As I enter my room, I start stripping my clothes. Throwing them in my basket in the corner, I head over to drawers to get out my shorts and top for bed. I slip them on and slide into bed, the coldness of the sheets nipping at my bare legs as I get comfy.

I lay staring at the moonlight creeping in through a gap in the curtains, my mind beginning to wonder. I hate when it does this; I overthink everything and then I start to spiral back into my past.

I shake my head, trying to get rid of any negative thoughts, and try to focus on my breathing to help me fall asleep. Maybe one day I’ll be able to fall asleep without having a run down of every negative thing that has happened in my life.

The sound of my alarm pulls me from my dreams. I pull the covers over my head. Letting out a frustrated yet silent scream, I take the covers and shut off my alarm. I hate having a shit night”s sleep. It literally feels like I just closed my eyes and I’m already awake again. I swing my legs out of bed, ready to start the day.

Walking into the living room, I notice Darcy is already up and in the kitchen, which is very strange indeed, as she never rises before me. I eye her as I make my way over to her.

‘“Ermm, good morning? Not to sound rude here, Darc, but in the past three years I have known you, not once have I seen you out of bed before eleven. What’s going on”? I ask her with a questionable look.

She rolls her eyes at me and hands me a cup of my favorite tea. Okay, now I’m even more worried.

“Who are you?” I laugh at her.

“Nixie Black. Honestly, I’m just trying to do something nice for my best friend, and you’ve gotta make a big show about it.” She stomps over to the toaster, where a bagel has just popped up.

Ahhh. It all clicks. She”s trying to keep me sweet, so I won’t back out of going tonight. She tries to be sneaky, but I always catch on.

I take a sip of my tea and clear my throat to get her attention. “Darcy, you can stop now. I pinky swore last night, and you know I stick by them. I’m not going to make up an excuse to get out of tonight. Although if this is the treatment I get when you think I will, I may have to do it more often,” I say, smirking at her.

I can see the relief in her shoulders. She hands me a bagel, smirking at me.

“Oh, thank god. It really killed me getting up this early, Nix. I don’t know how you do it all the time.” She sighs and wipes the imaginary sweat from her brow. I roll my eyes at her.

“So, Stella and Briar are gonna be here around seven-thirty, so we will have around an hour and a half to get ready. The club opens at nine, but you don’t wanna be the first one in, so we will get there at around nine-thirty. Is that okay with you, Grandma?” she smirks.

Bitch knows I can’t argue with that, and she knows I’m an early bird for bed. She is going to push me right out of my little bubble tonight. I can see it.

I put my sweetest smile on my face. “Of course that’s fine with me. Why wouldn’t it be? Now, thanks for breakfast, girl, but you know this grandma has gotta get to work. Those books won’t find their own way back to the shelves, will they? I’ll see you tonight.”

Transferring my tea into a travel mug, I make my way out of the apartment. I reach for the main doors in the lobby and can already see that the weather is gray. Some rain clouds linger in the sky, and I just hope the rain holds off until I get to work. I begin my everyday walk to the library where I work. Where else would a girl obsessed with reading work? It’s perfect.

I’m grateful that the rain manages to hold off just as I get to the library steps. I make quick time running up them. As I walk through the library doors, I notice my favorite security guard is on today, and that brightens my mood ever so slightly.

“Good morning, Bert. How are you? How’s the wife and kids doing?”

He smiles back at me, the kind of smile that you know a father should have when talking about his children. The smile I wish I could have seen on my own father.

“Miss. Nixie. All is well in the household, although I am glad to be at work today. I don’t think I can cope with the teenage mood swings any longer. I’ll be glad when they grow out of them. It’s like walking on ticking time bombs in my own house.”

“Oh, Bert, has no one told you? We don’t grow out of them…like at all.” I laugh at him. Poor guy has not got it easy in a house full of women.

“Now, Miss. Nixie, why would you tell me such a thing?” he says with concern in his voice.

I chuckle as I say goodbye to him so I can start the day. Walking into the room, I can see Malcolm in the corner. Opening my locker, I start to put my things away. The back of my neck starts to tingle as I feel someone standing behind me. I close my locker and I take a deep breath before turning around to him. His blue eyes are full of mischief. He runs his hand through his dirty blonde hair and smirks at me.

“Good morning, Malcolm,” I rush my words out as I try to move away as quickly as I can. He is the reason why I will never ever have relations with a coworker.

He notices me moving away and rushes to my side as I get to the front desk, busying myself by getting the first cart ready with books that have been returned and need to go back on the correct shelves.

“Nixie, Nixie, Nixie. I hear someone is going out into the real world tonight. Let me tell you, when I heard such a thing, I thought, ‘surely not my little Nixie, she never goes out, especially not to a nightclub,’” he bitterly says to me.

Taking yet another deep breath, I turn to him. “First things first, I’m not ‘your’ little Nixie. Never really have been, and you know that. Secondly, if I want to go to a nightclub with some friends, then I will. People can change Malcolm. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get on with my job.”

He tilts his head and looks at me, then moves to the side. Just as I’m moving past him, it hits me. “How did you know I was going out, Malcolm?”

He chuckles whilst he walks up to me, whispering in my ear. I can feel my own heartbeat in my throat.

“My dear dear Nixie, you think I don’t have people keeping tabs on you? I need to know you’re being safe, seen as though I’m no longer around to protect you from the big bad world.”

My face drops and he smirks at me. “Oh, and it also may have something to do with the fact that you”re going out with Stella, who also happens to be a very good friend of mine.” He laughs and walks away.

Fucking asshole. I knew I should never have gotten involved with him, but sometimes a girl has needs that some special toys can’t live up to. In saying that, the toys could have done a better job than him.

I grab my cart and go about my morning, sorting out the books. One thing I love about working in the library is seeing the kinds of people who check out the books.

I remember grabbing the next one in the pile earlier in the week, and seeing that it was a new paranormal why choose novel. Nothing could have prepared me for seeing the old lady on the other side of the counter checking it out later that afternoon. When I looked at her and smiled, she told me that her granddaughter was raving about it, so she just had to see for herself what the young girls of today are reading about. I told her she gets no judgment from me, but if she ever needed some recommendations, then I was her girl.

That’s what I love about the book community. We don’t judge you. We embrace you and all that crazy stuff you may be into. Judgment free zone!

As the day comes to an end, I can already feel my anxiety creeping in. I hate this feeling. Why can’t I just be a normal twenty-four year old that loves going out on the weekend with her friends? I grab my things from my locker, grateful that I don’t bump into Malcolm again.

I look at my phone and notice I have a million messages from Darcy, making sure I’m not backing out and that I’m home on time, so we can get ready before the other girls get there. I don’t know how I feel about seeing this Stella. I’ve only really seen her once or twice before, but knowing she’s good friends with Malcolm makes me question her a little bit. But hey, we shall see how the night goes.

I say goodbye to the night security guard. I think his name is Dave. I’m rarely here this late. I make my way out of the door and start to walk back to the apartment, pulling my coat around me as the wind has picked up. As I’m walking down the street, I see the familiar old blue pickup truck as it comes screeching to a halt next to me. The window comes down and I see Malcolm behind the wheel, smiling at me.

“Need a ride?” he smirks at me. I ignore him and carry on walking.

“Not talking? No? Alright then. I”ll see you tonight, Nix.”” He winks at me and speeds off in his shitty little truck. I actually hate the guy. And tonight? I really hope I don’t see him, because that will put a downer on the night.

I keep my head down and walk the twenty-minute journey back to my apartment block. Just as I arrive, the heavens start to open. Even the weather is sending me signals about how the night is going to go. I make my way over to the elevator and press the call button. When it arrives, I step inside and press for the third floor. The doors close and I stare at myself in the silver doors, trying to will myself to have a good night.

The elevator dings when it gets to my floor. I step out and turn to the right and walk down a few doors, pulling out my key to open the door. But before I even have a chance to get the key in the lock, the door swings open, Darcy standing there with what I can only assume is one of her deadly homemade cocktails. She hands it to me and drags me inside. I dump my bag and coat onto the back of the chair near the door and look back at Darcy. I can already see her mind going into overdrive.

She taps her finger to her lips. “Right, let’s get you looking less like a book nerd, shall we?” she says as she starts to drag me towards her bedroom, pushing me into her chair at the dressing table. I can see all the short tight dresses lay out on her bed and my heart starts to race. “Erm, Darcy? When I agreed to this, I didn’t agree to go out looking like you. No offense”

She laughs, like, actually belly laughs. “Oh, Nix, I’m not offended. Listen, babe, for us to have a good night and to hardly pay for any drinks, it is the sacrifice I am willing to make. Now hush and let me work my magic on you. Drink up.” She winks as she gets to work.

Well, this night is going to be fan-fucking-tastic.