by Pavan Kaur
Amie looks around by the bar where we are and stops a man. "Do you mind dancing with my friend for a moment?" she asks him, and that's when it hits me, they want me to dance with someone to make pretty boy come to me, nicely played girls.
The guy looks at me with a smile. "Put it away, nothing is happening but a dance," Tanya tells him, and he looks at her.
“So, you're using me to make someone jealous?”
"Yes, and you men do it all the time, so for a change let us," Tanya answers him and I start laughing. "You in?"
“Sure, might not be leaving with you, but I can sure make you wish you were,” he puts out his hand for me, “I’m Adam.”
"Emma." I follow him to the dance floor, he places his hands on my hips and we dance to the music for a few moments. The way Adam is grinding up and down me would make any girl want to leave with him. I'm impressed he can dance.
"May I cut in?" I hear a voice and it’s one that I won't be forgetting for a while.
"Is this him? Did I do a good job?" Adam asks with a touch of humor and I smile giving him a nod.
“Thank you.” I give him a kiss on the cheek.
“If you wanted to dance, all you had to do was ask.” Pretty boy pulls me in closer to him and I place my hands on his shoulders. “I was just about to leave. I’ve got a meeting in the morning.”
"And what is it that you do?" I still know nothing about him, and I think that's unfair.
"Does it matter what my job is? I can be a bin collector or a doctor, a job is a job," his eyes move behind me. "You know your friends haven't stopped watching us from the moment I got here.”
"And they won't stop either. Yes, a job is a job, but I would still like to know something about you." Just give me a name, I would be happy with a name.
"Okay, the guy that I sent over, his name is Blake, and his older brother is the owner of this club. That's why he wouldn't tell you who I am." No wonder Derek was quiet about where he was sitting. "Did you enjoy the cake?"
"I did, I've eaten half of it. I had to save some of it for those two," I nod my head back to Amie and Tanya.
He looks over at them, then back to me, and he takes a step closer to me, only leaving a few centimeters of space between us. "You look beautiful in this dress." His face is closer to mine, "and you smell very sweet, may I ask what that is?" His lips brush against my cheek as he pulls away from me. He is making me very weak in the knees with his scent and his breath on my skin.
"I will tell you mine, if you tell me yours." I bring my hands from his shoulders to his chest. I just want to know if he has a hard body under these clothes and he does, he feels lean.
"I'm wearing Versace Eros, and you?" He leans down and brings his face closer to mine. His hand moves to my lower back and pulls me close, making my body hit him.
My words get stuck in my throat as his hand moves along my back. “Miss Dior,” I whisper as his mouth moves closer to mine. God I hope he kisses me.
His lips brush against mine softly, slowly, teasing me. "I will see you again, Miss Cox, very soon." He gives me a kiss on the cheek and I watch him walk away to the guy from the bar and someone else. He looks back to me and gives me a wink before leaving the club.
“How turned on are you right now?” I hear Amie as I turn around to see them both standing there.
"I still have no name, no name for the cakes, no job. The only thing I do know is that he smells sexy as hell. Derek is the friends' brother, and my mystery man as just gone from a average six to a hot ten." I look back over at the door to see if he has left. The only thing I feel is his soft lips on my skin. Now I’m left wondering when we will be meeting again.
Chapter 6
Ocean
I’m on top of the world walking out of the club. It took a lot for me not to kiss her. I know she wanted it just as much as I did, and the hard-on in my trousers just shows how I feel around her. I would have asked her on a date, but I know she would have more questions for me. I want to see the look on her face when I walk in the meeting. The fact that I've gone this long without telling her my name is good.
"That girl played you at your own game," Marc utters as we make our way back home. We don't live too far from town, a cab is a ten-minute drive, and we all live a few minutes away from each other.
"I have a feeling this girl is a lot of fun to be around." There is something about her that tells me she can be fun when she wants to be. I'm hoping she has a little wild side to her. That is the one thing I can never find in a girl, someone who likes to go paintballing, snowboarding or do other adventurous things. The ones I seem to find are either too stuck up or scared to break a nail. There is something about Emma that shouts fun to me.
"She seems to like it," Blake flags down a taxi for us. "Want to come over for a bit, got the new Fifa game?"
“I’m in,” Marc says getting in the cab. “We still on for five-a-side tomorrow?”
“Yeah, is Derek bringing anyone?” I ask getting my phone out to see what orders I have tomorrow. I want to get in early so I can make Emma a treat before she gets into work. I’m planning what I could do.
“He said he's bringing one of the bartenders from the club, and I have to cancel tomorrow night’s movie. I have a date.” I look over at him, as he hasn’t mentioned this before. “I picked up a girl in the bar while you were busy.”
"I'm out too. Tiffany wants to go out for dinner, she said I spend too much time with you two." Marc lets out a laugh, because that woman controls everything. We keep telling him to dump her, but he won't. Blake always jokes that she must be the best sex he's ever had. He never replies to that.
"A takeaway for one it is then." Putting my phone away as we pull up outside Blake's house, I pay the taxi driver and head in.
We all have apartments as the houses are a little too expensive for one income. We did think about buying one and sharing it, but when we sat down and spoke about it, it wasn't going to work out. It would be hard if one of us wanted to move in with our girlfriend or something else, so we ended up getting apartments instead.
Putting all my stuff on the table, I grab a controller as Blake orders a pizza for us. Marc and I start the first game.
“We still good to go snowboarding next month?” Marc asks.
“Friday through Monday, just let me know which weekend it is?” I reply as I take a beer from Blake.
“Are we going to France or Austria?”
"I was thinking Austria this time. We went to France five months ago, and you complained the whole time saying it wasn't challenging for you." I start laughing at Blake and Marc. Blake was a right girl about it though, saying he could do the jumps with his eyes closed.
We try to go skiing twice a year, and if we can fit it in for a third time, we go again. "I'm good with either just let me know which weekend it is. Now can we play the game?" I look over at Marc on his phone.
"Tell her that you're with the guys and she can spend the night by herself." Blake slaps the phone out of his hand and Marc tells him to fuck off. When they first started dating she seemed really nice, but the more time passed, the more nothing felt right about her. There was a time that Blake was convinced she cheated on him, but she denied it, and Marc was head over heels for her. Blake and I stay out of her way. Blake because he will say something, and me, I just don't trust her, and that makes it hard for us to all hangout. But Marc always hangs out with us over her, so maybe things won't last much longer.
“Don’t worry. You two will be happy to know that I’m breaking up with her tomorrow. She is become way too clingy for me.” I pause the game to look over at him, maybe six months of telling him over and over again has finally sunk in. “You guys were right, she is a cheat and...well, I’ve had enough.”
“About fucking time, now I have a wingman as this one seems busy with Emma,” Blake takes the controller out of my hand as he starts the match against Marc.
***
By the time we finished gaming and had food, it was late. We
just stayed there for the night. I left before they both woke up. I had an order at work, but I wanted to get in before that so I could give Emma a treat for the morning, and I had the perfect thing to get.
"Another gift for her? Do I get to know who is sending these to her?" the lady behind the desk asks. She has been asking me every time I bring something.
“Now if I did that, I would have to kill you.” She starts laughing. “But trust me when I say, he will be showing his face very soon.” I leave the red box on the desk. I need to get to work.
I don’t have much to do, so I should be out by early afternoon. I can rest a bit for football tonight, and I can count down the time until tomorrow when she finally gets to know my name.
Chapter 7
Emma
I look up when I hear the door open to the office. "Morning Betty," I say to the owner of the business. I love working here, and I love working for her too, but I wish I got more say in things, as there is only the two of us, she is trying to get her daughter more involved into the business, but at the moment she isn’t getting that many clients. I keep telling her that we need to revamp the business, new sign, new front of house but she won't listen. When I bring in a client she gets all funny with me. She hates that Cassie asked to work with me and not her. I told Betty that she needs to start changing her view on things and change with the times, but she still likes things old school, and that really isn't going to work anymore.
“Morning. How is everything with the Jones-Rivers wedding plans going?”
“Good. I’m going to finish the save the date cards today, then they are coming in for a meeting about the engagement party tomorrow.” I finish the card I’m working on and hand it over to her so she can see what I’m doing.
“This is amazing Emma, you put so much thought into things,” she hands it back over to me. “I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”
Putting everything to the side so that I can give her my full attention, I ask. "Is everything okay?" I have worked here a long time, and have always known Betty very well. I know something serious is about to happen.
"As you know, the business is getting busier and thanks to you we are getting some very big names walking through the door. They’re time consuming and book you for the year. If another client comes in wanting you, I’ll have to tell them you’re booked and they’ll go somewhere else, she stops and sits up in her chair. "So, I'm thinking about selling the company or joining up with another company and we can work together."
I sit there staring at her, not sure where to take this or what to say to her. "Sell it to me. Give me a year and I will be able to buy it. I've been saving and…"
"I know you've been thinking about leaving and opening your own business. I was hoping you want to take over, so I thought about other options too. If you need a year, then in a year we can talk about it and see where we stand." Betty looks over at me, but I don't know if I trust her. She brought her daughter to work here once she had finished college, but all her clients left her and asked to work with me. Neither of them was happy when Cassie asked to work with me. I think it pushed Betty to the edge, so I'm on the fence about trusting her.
Choosing not to say anything at the moment, I respond with, “If you can just keep me in the loop about what is happening, that’s all I ask.”
“Of course Emma, I will let you get back to the planning,” she says as she leaves the office. I take my phone out and send the girls a message asking if they want to meet up for lunch.
Since I was little, all I ever wanted to do was make every girl's dream come true and plan the perfect wedding for them. I want to make sure they don't stress about a thing. No matter what happens here, I will keep doing that. I have everything planned for my own business. I’m going to call it Dream Wedding, or something, but I know my dream won’t come true for about two years. I would have to buy a building, bank loans, designing the inside of it, and I don't have the money just yet.
“You got something again,” Jess walks over to the desk with a red box. “If this mystery man is as sexy as the delivery guy, you have hit the jackpot.” She runs out of the office as the phone rings.
Dear Lady in Red,
Last night you looked like a beautiful swan,
I could have spent all night just staring at you,
But we still have some time before we get to do that.
From, Pretty Boy
Opening the box, it's not a cake. They are macaroons, beautiful red ones with a little gold sparkle to them. God, please don't let this man be too good to be true, at the moment he's what every girl in the world wants.
I put them to the side as I need to get these cards done. I’m not working through lunch again because I have plans. I want them done before the meeting tomorrow, otherwise I’m going to end up falling behind. But one won’t take me to long to eat. I pop one in my mouth and I let it melt on my tongue. Where is he getting these from?
Grabbing the box off the table, I head out to meet the girls for lunch at the cafe around the corner. When I get there, I place the box onto the empty chair beside me.
"Hey, what's in the box this time?" Amie asks.
"Macaroons," I say, then proceed to tell them about Betty's conversation with me about the business.
"She won't sell it to you. You know she has always wanted to give it to her daughter. I think she is waiting to see what you are going to do." Amie plays with her salad as she talks. "The only reason you got this couple was because Cassie said she won't work with anyone else. Betty wanted her daughter to take it."
“I agree with Amie. I still think after this wedding you get out. You think you won’t be able to do it by yourself, but couples ask for you for a reason,” Tanya adds. They are both forgetting one thing I need and don’t have... money.
"At the moment, I'm going to focus on this wedding, so I have to wait until after that. I signed a contract to work with them," I tell them both. I'm really not that person who is always stressed about things. I always think about what can happen. One thing I know is if Betty brings her daughter on board I might have to leave. There is no way I can work with her.
“We both know you will do the right thing, but more importantly how are the macaroons?” I laugh as Tan is eyeing up the box.
“There is enough in there to last us a few days.” Opening the box up and placing it on the middle of the table, I shake my head as they dive in like they haven’t eaten all day.
I look over at the two older women watching our table as Amie and Tanya start making noises. I know they are for the macaroons but the women next to us don't, and it's starting to make me feel uncomfortable now.
"You need to stop with the noises, we have an audience now," I’m pulling the box away from them. "See the noise coming from your room is a lot more…"
“They are screams,” Amie finishes my sentence for me.
"Whereas now they are more…"
“Sexual.” I start laughing out loud as Amie looks at Tanya. “It’s either Ben is losing his touch with you or, you have broken him.” That comment has water coming out my eyes and a fit of giggles with it.
"I have not broken him. I'm just bored now, and we both thought it was for the best." Tanya gets back to the macaroons. She was in a relationship once. They were together a good three years, but that dick broke her. He broke her to the point where she doesn't trust men anymore. The last year he cheated on her so much. In the end, they always get caught, and when he got caught, Tanya went all Hulk on him. She ripped a load of his clothes, broke the window to his car, and burned his phone. Since then, she has always said she won't let a man play her again and this is her new life. She is happy playing the field. I'm happy she is smiling.
“Well, I will leave these with you, I have cards to finish off,” I go to take my card out.
"We can pay, you got dessert," Amie stops me. Saying thank you to her and that I will see them tonight, I get back to the office and put what Betty said in the back of my mind for
now. I have a kick-ass wedding to plan, and I don't want anything to take my focus off it. This needs to be amazing, and I need to do good if I ever do want to open my own business.
***
"Oh come on, it will be fun, and we had the best time last time we went," Tanya sulks in front of me. "Even you said that you wanted to do it again."
“I know, but I have this wedding to plan, and…”
"And nothing, I'm booking it for next month. You will just have to figure it out," Tanya looks at me, and I know that she means it. Whether I like it or not, she is booking the holiday.
“Fine, just give me a heads up on when we’re going, and then I can work around it, Friday through Monday. Not longer.” I make sure that she hears the last part.
"Yes," I hear Amie behind me. "Can Pete come to, you said no last time," Amie looks at us, and I say nothing.
"We said no because all he does is moan about the cold weather. I mean it's not going to be hot there," Tanya tells her, and I nod to agree with it.
“But…”
"I don't want to hear it, tell him we are going skiing, and if he moans about the weather I will leave him outside in the cold. He might be naked at the time." I burst out laughing, spraying my orange juice over the counter.
“I’m with her. I will even help,” I add as I put all my things in the dishwasher. “ Off to work, time to plan the engagement party,” I grab my bag and head to the door. “Text me the dates you book please,” I shout back at them as I leave.