I immediately turned away, my hand almost missing my glass as I dove for it as cover. I lifted the rim to my lips, ignoring the thudding of my heart against my chest and faced Tracy. “Texting Jared?” I asked, glancing at the phone in her hands and the worried look on her face.
“Yeah,” she said. “He was sick today. He couldn’t even go to work.”
I sucked in my breath. “That sucks.”
“Yeah,” she said.
Then I noticed Anne was missing.
“She went to the bathroom,” Tracy told me.
Nodding, I turned around to watch all the fun people were having on the dance floor beyond. I tried to push away the thought that perhaps the man had noticed me just like I had him, but I didn’t expect this to be likely, given the plethora of women who paraded near us in even shorter skirts and dangerous stilettos.
I chatted and laughed lightly with Tracy, but my mind was no longer with her. It was across the room, with the hot looking stranger I so desperately wanted to come up to me to introduce himself.
I set my empty glass down to my left and didn’t bother ordering a refill. I hoped to God that he would take the hint and come over with an offering to buy me another.
The minutes ticked away… and nothing happened.
My hopes fell, as I fought with myself about turning towards his direction to catch another look, but my head refused to move, especially since I’d already gotten caught staring. So I continued speaking to Tracy, “What’s the best way to get a man to come say hello to you?”
Tracy rested her gaze on me. “What man?”
“No one,” I shifted on the stool. “I’m just asking.”
“I have no idea,” she answered and returned her attention to her phone.
“Didn’t you meet Jared at that French coffee shop?”
“He came up to me on his own. I had nothing to do with it.”
“Ah, so I’m screwed.”
She paid attention then. “Where is he?” she asked and started to look around.
My heart almost gave out. “I will punch you,” I threatened.
She laughed. “Seriously, where is he?”
I turned in my stool to face the bar. “Nine o’clock.”
She faced it too. “Yours or mine?”
“Mine,” I groaned. “Towards the end of the curve, he’s talking to someone.”
She looked, discretely enough I hoped.
“There’s no one there,” she said.
My brows furrowed. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
I shot my gaze over to where he had been sitting.
Tracy was right.
He was gone.
Chapter 2
Leah
The hours that followed were completely uneventful.
Loosened up after a few drinks, myself and Tracy eventually went down to the dance floor. But we remained in a safe corner, moving in comical spurts with each other and then pausing when we got tired to watch the rest of the crowd.
They all seemed to grind and twist their bodies against each other to the rhythm of the deafening music.
Anne was in the midst of them somewhere, as we had long set her free to experience the night in the very wild way she wanted to.
Soon enough, Tracy was itching to return home and so was I, but a corner of my heart still held out the hope that perhaps I would see the hot guy again. So I stalled, refusing to take her suggestions of leaving to heart. “When the foam machines begin, we’ll leave,” I said, so we pressed on.
Soon enough, the machines started.
After an announcement that no one could make out amidst the deafening blare of music, the lights went out for a moment, plunging the entire club into a frightening darkness. Then the sound of running machines sounded across the room. The lights came back on and from the ceiling, soap foams were blasted down.
The crowd went wild!
“Time to go,” Tracy said and held my hand as we tried to get off the dance floor, but people thrashed around in wild excitement. Everything and everyone seemed to have chosen to stand in our path, so getting around the railing to the exit steps got harder and harder.
My stomach roiled with the concern that we would eventually be trapped in the midst, unable to get away before the bubbles made everyone wet. My heart also went out to my sandals. They were low heeled and comfortable, but had cost me quite a ridiculous amount, so having them ruined was not part of the agenda tonight.
A cloud of foam began to drift towards us but thankfully a group of half-drunken people attacked it. The middle of the club was fast becoming completely covered in foam and we were running out of time.
“Get out of my way!” Tracy yelled as she pulled me along.
I went amusedly along with her.
We eventually made it to the steps before things could get out of hand, and I released a deep sigh of relief.
Tracy let go of my hand, and I held onto the railing, but then suddenly I slid on something wet and I started to go down.
A hand suddenly locked around my arm, holding me upright and I was able to regain my footing. “Thank you so much,” I said, and lifted my gaze to see who’d saved me.
It was him.
Every external noise seemed to fade into the background, and for the longest time I couldn’t speak until I heard Tracy call out my name. “I’ll be right there,” I called back to her, and tucked my curly hair behind my ears as I glanced at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said and retreated till I was on solid ground. I turned to walk away, my knees wobbly.
He called out to me, “Can I buy you a drink?”
My legs almost gave away again as I turned and nodded much too eagerly and had to catch myself.
He smiled in response, perhaps finding me endearing. I hoped.
“But I have to speak to my friend for just a moment,” I said. “I’ll come join you.”
“Sure,” he said and went on his way.
I returned,
