by Alison Mello
“I’m sorry. I’ll slow down. I’m right up the street from my friend’s house where I’m spending the night.”
“I’ll be right back,” he says, walking away from my car to run my plate and make sure the car is mine. While I wait for what feels like an eternity, I send Sadie a text.
Skyler: Got pulled over for speeding. Be there in a few.
Sadie: Slow down and get here safe.
The cop walks back to my car and hands me a ticket, my license, and registration and tells me to have a great night.
I roll up my window. Wonderful. I fought with my boyfriend and now I have a seventy-five dollar ticket. Thank God he didn’t catch me on the freeway.
I pull up to Sadie’s, and as soon as I ring her buzzer she lets me in. I go running up the stairs and she’s waiting with a hug for me.
I burst into tears. “I can’t believe him. He was like a raging lunatic, and it was so embarrassing.”
“Aww, sweetie, it’s okay,” she says, rubbing my back to soothe me. She hands me a tissue and a glass of wine she has already poured and pulls me toward the couch. “Tell me what happened.”
“I went to the club to sing like I was supposed to. When I was done, Mikey asked me to find him so we could talk about my next gig with him. He was on the dance floor with some friends so he asked me to join him. I was off the clock and figured it was no big deal.” I dab my eyes and take a deep breath. “All of a sudden I feel someone yank on my arm and when I turn around it’s Logan, livid that I’m dancing with Mikey. He screams at me, ‘What the fuck are you doing? You're coming with me!’ That’s when I told him the hell I was, that he needed to calm down and call me when he did.”
I take a sip of my wine. “That’s when I got my stuff and called you. I do not want to go back there. I don’t even know how I’m going to face him at work tomorrow. I don’t want to be unprofessional and call out sick because that will make it worse.”
“I agree. You need to go to work so you can show him that you two can work together, not to mention you don’t want other people at the club to start thinking every time you two fight you’ll disappear.”
“Would you mind going shopping with me tomorrow so I can get an outfit for work? I don’t want to go to the house unless he has called me much calmer to talk things over.”
“Me? Have a problem shopping? Come on, girl, really? Of course I’ll go shopping with you. I also think you should call him though. I know he screwed up, but I do believe he loves you.”
I shake my head. “He screwed up, so he should be calling me.”
“I partially agree with that, but this is a relationship, and if you love him, give him the chance to explain.”
I finish off my wine and ask if she has more. I want to get drunk and not think about it tonight. I’m disappointed because for the first time in my life I allowed someone in and didn’t screw up. Yet here I sit on my best friend’s couch, heartbroken and not knowing what Logan is doing or how he’s feeling.
Chapter 14
Logan
I sit in my home office trying to work on ideas for a new club, and I realize the only thing I’m doing is trying to block Skyler from my mind. Why, I don’t know. I love her, I know I do, but I don’t know how to fix what I’ve done. I’ve been debating texting her all night, but Mikey said I needed to let her cool down, and I’m not sure how long that takes.
I don’t even know what to do about work tonight. I keep playing over in my head the events of last night and what Jonah said to me when I got back: “Dude, you fucked this up. You need to fix it. For the first time she has let someone in and you hurt her.” He even told me Sadie texted him that she was at their house a mess over what I did. My phone pings and I check it; it’s a text from Jonah.
Jonah: Skyler plans on working tonight, what are you going to do?
Logan: Fuck! I figured she would call out.
Jonah: Nope wants to prove to everyone that she won’t run because you two had a fight. She’s even going shopping for clothes so she’ll have something to wear.
I pick up the phone and call Tony. “Hey, man, Skyler is leaving her friend Sadie’s to go shopping. Make sure to keep your distance but follow her.”
“You got it.”
Logan: Sky hates shopping.
Jonah: I know.
Logan: How do I fix this?
Jonah: The hell if I know. I think you need to start by figuring out why you were so mad and then talking to her about it.
I take a deep breath while I try to figure out how to respond. I know why I freaked. Can I tell her what happened with Lindsey? And will it make it worse that I basically compared her to my ex without even meaning to?
Logan: I’ll talk to her tonight.
Jonah: Don’t piss her off before her shift. We don’t need her running out tonight.
Logan: Good point. Talk to you later.
I text her next to see if we can talk tonight after our shift. I need to fix things with her or it’s going to be a long healing process. It has only been one night and I’m exhausted because I couldn’t sleep without her in my bed.
Logan: Can we talk after work tonight?
Her response is immediate.
Skyler: I don’t know. Heading out with Sadie right now to drop off the Porsche and pick up my car.
Logan: That is your car. Please don’t do this. I know I fucked up and I want to fix it.
Skyler: Well texting me isn’t going to fix it and I don’t want the car. I’m not with you for your money, I was with you because I love you and I thought you loved me.
Logan: I do love you, which is why I want to apologize and fix this.
Skyler: I’m not sure how you plan on fixing this but trust is a deal breaker. Figure out whether you trust me or not and call me when you do.
She’s right. I have to trust her, and I thought I did right up until I saw her dancing with Mikey. I try to shake it off and go back to looking at more locations for another club. At least if I open another club, I can work out of the other one while I figure things out with Skyler.
My agent sends me three different locations to look at for potential clubs. One is a club that is struggling and looking to be taken over, and the other two are abandoned buildings that would need to be constructed into clubs and given new identities and need a lot of promoting. I email the agent and tell her I want to see all three as soon as possible.
The good thing is I can work on all of this stuff from outside of the club, so if I need to stay out of the club for the night I can and then see her tomorrow, or maybe she’ll come over with Jonah and Sadie for dinner on Monday.
My email pings and it’s the agent.
Can show you the abandoned ones whenever you want and I’ll work on an appointment for the other one.
I send her a message back telling her to meet me at the first one in one hour.
I run upstairs and quickly shower and dress. I’m out the door in thirty minutes and on my way to the first location. While I drive there, I tell myself this is what I need, a project to work on so I can clear my head. I know Sky loves me and isn’t Lindsey. Now I have to figure out how to stop myself from overreacting. Maybe if I tell her what happened she’ll understand and we can move past this. I turn up the radio, and I instantly think of Skyler and her singing, so I shut it off. A few minutes later I pull up to the first location. I jump out of the car when I see Ally waiting for me by the door. She punches in the code number on the lock box so she can pull out the key.
“Hey, Logan, good to see you!”
“Hey, Ally, good to see you too.”
“Is the club doing that well you're ready to buy again already? I didn’t think we would be doing this for about two years.”
“The club is doing amazingly well, and if I want to be ready to expand, I need to start looking. It took me a while to find the perfect location last time.”
“Yeah, it can be hard sometimes. This one isn’t in the best location, but the area is on the rise, an
d a good club could be what it needs to help push it along.”
“I’m not too sure I’m happy about this location. It’s in the middle of nowhere.”
“There are ups and downs to that, and you know that as well as I do.”
I walk into the building. It’s a good thing it’s daylight or you wouldn’t be able to see a thing in here. There is no electricity and the place is one big empty room. I walk through looking around to see if the place would work, and to be honest it isn’t a bad set up. I could make the VIP rooms up above like at Thrive to give them a connected feel but probably only have room for one bar as opposed to two. There could be a small catwalk for the ladies opposite the VIP section which would give the guys a show.
“Okay, I’ve seen enough. Let’s move to the next location.” I get into my car and head in the direction of the next building. I pull up and wait for Ally because I left without her. I know I’m being a dick, but I’m in a shitty mood. There’s only one person who can improve my mood and she won’t talk to me.
Ally pulls up, and I get out of my car to follow her to the entrance. She unlocks it, and it’s worse than the first one. “Come on, Ally, this place is a piece of shit.”
“It’s in a great location and you can expand on it. There is plenty of room around it.”
“If I’m going to expand, I might as well knock the thing down and start over. There is no room to do anything here. Call me when you find something for real or when you get me an appointment to check out that other club.”
I shake my head and walk out. I head to the florist to send Skyler some flowers before she gets to work tonight. When I pull in, I ask the girl if she can deliver two dozen red roses to Jonah’s address by 5:30. I pay for the flowers and pick a card to write her a note.
Skyler,
I’m sorry I was a fool! I do trust you and want to be with you. Please help me figure this out.
Love,
Logan
I hand the woman the card, and she shakes her head. “I see more apologies written on these little cards than you can imagine. If you want to fix things take the flowers to her yourself. Don’t have them delivered. You need to talk to her.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that to me? I want to talk to her. She’s the one who said she isn’t sure if she’s ready yet.”
“If you deliver them, she has no choice but to listen, right?”
I shake my head. “Who am I kidding? She isn’t going to care if I have flowers delivered. I bought her a damn Porsche that she dropped back off at my house. What the hell are flowers going to do?”
“Baby, want to start out fresh? You can buy me a Porsche.”
I laugh at her bluntness.
“I’ll deliver your flowers,” she says, “but you’re right, they’re not going to fix your problem. I’m willing to bet you know what you have to do, so how about you do it and get your girl back? If she’s willing to give back a Porsche, I bet she’s worth keeping around.”
“You have no idea.”
***
Skyler
“I can’t believe you’re giving up the Porsche. Why don’t you drive it? You know you want to,” Sadie whines.
“Because maybe he’ll realize that I’m not with him for his money or whatever his issue is, and we’ll be able to get past this problem. If I continue to drive it, then it looks like I only wanted him for his money and that’s not the case.”
I pull up to the valet and ask him to bring my Honda around. He looks at me like I have ten heads and says, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Miss Jones!” Greg calls.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude, but I overheard Mr. Michaels talking last night about your situation and, well, I want you to know he’s a good man. He has lived here a long time and has been through a lot. You have made a very positive impact in his life. I hope you two can work it out.”
“That’s sweet, Greg, thank you. I hope we can work it out too.”
“I’m sorry if I overstepped. I don’t usually get involved. I wanted you to know he was a bit of a mess both last night and when I saw him leave earlier today.”
“Do you have any idea where he went?”
“No, he just called down for his car and took off.”
The valet comes around with my Honda.
“Thank you for the information, Greg. I’m sure we’ll work things out.”
He nods and heads back to his spot at the door, smiling. He knows exactly what I’m doing. Sadie and I climb into my car and head off to shop. Since I don’t have Logan’s money and refuse to go back to the expensive ass stores on Rodeo Drive, we head over to the Fashion District to do a little shopping and grab some lunch.
“Shop first then lunch!” Sadie says as I pull up and park.
I find a pair of skinny jeans, and I need a top and some boots to wear for tonight.
Sadie pulls me into one of the stores. “There is a super cute gray top over there that would look great on you and then you can buy black boots.”
“That’s cute. It’s off the shoulder though, so I’ll have to get a tank top to put under it.” I find it in a medium and head over to a table where they have a bunch of tank tops, and I choose one in black. “Now to find some boots.”
Sadie links her arm through mine, and we head off to the shoe store.
“Do you think he’s as miserable as I am?” I ask my best friend. “I’m having fun with you but I’m dying on the inside.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “I’m pretty confident he’s as miserable as you are and probably out doing the same thing you are, and that’s trying to figure out what to do.”
I try to hold my tears back and I’m struggling. My fun lasted for all of thirty minutes.
Sadie and I walk into the shoe store. I find a pair of boots, but I’m no longer as excited because I can’t help but wonder what Logan is doing.
We head to get some lunch, and as soon as we sit down my phone pings.
Logan: I can’t even listen to music without thinking about you.
A tear slides down my cheek.
“What’s wrong, Sky?” Sadie asks.
I show her my phone. “I need him, but he also needs to know he hurt me. He can’t do this to me ever again because if he does I’m done. I need him to trust me and if he can’t then we have no relationship.”
Skyler: I’m thinking about you too :-(
Logan: Will you come home and talk to me tonight?
Skyler: I don’t know. Have you decided if you trust me or not?
Logan: You’ll see as soon as you get to Sadie’s.
I smile and wonder what he did.
“You went from sad to smiling real quick.”
“He asked me to come home and talk tonight, and I asked him if he decided if he could trust me and his response was, ‘You’ll see when you get back to Sadie’s place.’ Now I want to get back to see what he did.”
She bursts out laughing. “You need to eat before work, and at this point you’ll have enough time to eat and then shower before you have to head to work. Our lunch has turned into more of an early dinner.”
“You're right. I haven't eaten all day.” We are at a little cafe and the menu options are perfect because they are quick, filling options and I’ll be able to get back to Sadie’s to see what Logan did. Jonah is home so I’m wondering if he helped him pull something off. I’m bouncing my leg under the table from the suspense. Anxious to see Logan, I eat quickly.
“Girl, if you don’t stop fidgeting, you’re going to knock this entire table over.”
“I’m sorry. I told Logan I don’t like surprises, and now I have no idea what he’s up to.”
“Okay, okay, let’s get out of here so you can find out what’s going on.”
I laugh because I know it’s killing her too. As we leave, her phone pings and she grins. “It’s Jonah,” she says as she replies to his text.
We walk the short distance back to my car. We put my bags
in the back seat and we both climb in. My phone pings next.
Logan: Where are you?
Skyler: Leaving the fashion district why?
Logan: Just curious xoxo.
“He’s up to no good!” I say as I drive off toward Sadie’s house.
“Why do you say that?” Sadie asks, and even her voice sounds suspicious now.
“Because first Jonah texts you and then Logan texts me. That doesn’t seem suspicious to you?”
She shrugs and stares straight ahead.
***
Logan
The florist is right; actions speak louder than words, and flowers with a cheesy apology won’t mean shit to Skyler. It’s time to go big or go home alone. I text Jonah.
Logan: Hey, can I recruit your help?
Jonah: Is it to get Skyler back?
Logan: Of course.
Jonah: Then I’m in! How can I help?
Logan: I need to use your house since they are going back there. I’ll be there soon. I have to make a quick stop.
Jonah: See you soon.
I head to a jewelry store to pick out a ring for Skyler. When I walk in, I tell the jeweler exactly what I want. He shows me what he has; I pick one out, pay for it, and run out the door. I have to be quick because I know Skyler won’t be gone long. My next stop is back to the florist. I walk in, and the same woman is behind the counter.
“So you were right,” I say. “I need to change my order and I’ll take the original two dozen with me. I need loose rose petals too. Can you do that?”