Nemesis(22)

“I’ll let you know,” I say, knowing that I probably won’t be inviting him over tonight, unless Sadie and I get drunk and I text him, which actually is a possibility. Maybe there will be a late-night booty call after all. “Bye.”

He closes the door and I drive home, my mind racing. He said to call him if I need anything, so maybe that means he has no plans tonight? I make it home before Sadie for once, jump in the shower and start getting ready for our night out. I pick out a black off-the-shoulder dress, and pair it with some black ankle boots. They’re cut-out boots, my favourite ones. I hear Sadie call my name just as I’m about to do my makeup, so I grab my bag and join her in her room, so I can chat to her while we get ready.

“Where are we even going?” I ask, sitting on the floor in front of the full-length mirror in her room. I need to know so I can choose between a light makeup or something more dramatic.

“Dinner followed by a few drinks?” she suggests, opening her bathroom door. “I’ll have a quick shower and then we can decide.”

“Okay, sounds good,” I say, even though the two of us will probably end up at our regular bar. We don’t seem to like change very much. I decide on a brown smoky eye and a red lip. While Sadie finishes getting ready, I sit on the kitchen countertop and pour myself a drink, a vodka and orange juice. May as well get the party started.

“You’re drinking before dinner?” she asks, eyebrows lifting. “And before we even took a photo of the two of us? Now you’re going to have drunk face in them.”

“I’m not going to have drunk face after one drink,” I reply, rolling my eyes. I point to her cup. “I poured you one.” I pause, taking in her tight red dress. “You look amazing. I wonder if I can fit my ass in that dress.”

“Try and see.” She grins and picks up her drink. “So, we’re taking a taxi then?”

“Yep,” I say, popping the P. “If we’re going out, we may as well go big.”

“Go big or go home,” she adds, lifting her cup in the air. “To a good night with my best friend in the world.”

I clink my cup with hers, and then we both drink.

*****

“How good is this?” I ask Sadie, eyes wide, pointing to my mojito which they’ve given me in some fancy jar.

“Pretty amazing,” Sadie concedes, taking a sip of her own. “And the jars are super cute too.”

“We should buy jars for home,” I say, nodding. “And mojito ingredients. I’ll bet we make great mojitos.”

After a delicious dinner—I got the hamburger and fries, Sadie had nachos—we ended up at our usual watering hole, and are now on our third drink. We decided to mix things up, trying a few different cocktails that we’ve never had before.

“We should try a new shot next,” Sadie says, scanning the drink menu. “How about a ‘wet *’ shot? Have you tried that before?”

“Yeah, I have. They’re good.”

“Lemon drop?”

“No, I haven’t tried that one,” I say, reading the ingredients. My phone beeps with a message from Cohen.

Hope you’re having a good night.

I smile as I reply.

I am. Are you?

Sadies stands. “I’ll go get the next round. Don’t make eye contact, there are men circling and just hoping for a cue to approach.”

I laugh and keep my eyes on my phone, waiting for his reply. I get it almost instantly.

Send me a photo of you.

I send him one of the selfies I took before leaving the house. It’s of me smiling into the camera, makeup and hair on point.

You look f*cking beautiful, he replies, making me glance up, smiling like an idiot. Unfortunately for me, I happen to unintentionally make eye contact with a random guy walking by. When he sees me, he must think I’m smiling at him because he starts to make his way over. Sadie told me not to make eye contact, but smiling is even worse, because some men take that as an invitation.

“Hello,” he says, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to me.

“Uhh, hi,” I say, looking behind him for Sadie. “I’m sorry, I’m just waiting here for my friend to come back, I didn’t mean to—”

“You’re too pretty to be sitting here all alone,” he cuts me off. “Why don’t I keep you company until your friend gets back?”

I purse my lips, then look down into my drink. Not like he’s giving me a chance here. I can just ask him to please leave, and am just about to do that when Sadie returns to the table with two shot in her hands.

“Who are you?” she asks, sitting down and sliding my shot over to me. She turns to me and says, “Thought I told you not to make eye contact.”

“It was an accident.”

She sighs and turns to the man. “We’re kind of on a girls’ night. No men allowed.”

“Well, maybe I’ll buy us a round of drinks,” he says, grinning at Sadie like she’s being cute. “That might change your mind.”

“No, thank you,” I tell him. “Appreciate the offer, but we kind of want to be left alone.”

“No women want to be left alone” is his smug reply.

I glance at Sadie, who stares back at me.

At the same time, both of us do our shots, slam the empty glasses down, stand up, and then head to the bar for another drink.