Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding 1)

Lexi blinked furiously as her eyes adjusted to the flashes of lights ricocheting off of the mirrored walls. The night was young and Chyna and Lexi's hotspot was crammed with couples grinding on the dance floor. Lexi smiled at the outfit atrocities that circulated before her. No matter where she went in New York, she always managed to find people with no taste in fashion. Chyna never seemed to be able to keep her mouth shut about the terrible choices, and God forbid, the lack of designer label. Luckily, Chyna hadn't seen the couple that had just passed before them or else they probably would have caused a scene.

Still holding tight to Chyna's petite hand, Lexi followed her up a winding set of stairs marked for VIP clientele only. Without even batting an eye, the bouncer pulled back the rope and allowed them into the exclusive upstairs bar. Lexi felt that she'd never be able to get used to this life with Chyna. Only a month earlier she had been waiting in endless lines hoping for just a peek inside the most illustrious clubs, and now she was drinking for free in the VIP areas with certain hot celebrities. She couldn't believe this had happened to her. A young NYU Law student didn't get to do these types of things.

Chyna shimmied to an available couch and gingerly sat down on the black leather pulling Lexi down next to her. "This was such a good idea," she cooed into Lexi's ear.

"It was your idea."

"Alright. So this was a perfect idea!"

Lexi smacked her playfully. "My idea would have been perfect if you weren't such a snob."

"Me? A snob?" she asked sticking her nose up in the air, her voice thick with sarcasm. "Well if I'm such a snob, you can pay for your own drinks today skank."

"Did you just call me a skank?" Lexi asked placing her hand over her heart as if wounded.

"I call em like I see em honey."

Lexi gasped. "How dare you!"

"You're so silly," Chyna said through giggles. "Like you'd pay for a drink yourself looking so smoking hot."

"It's only due to your brilliance," Lexi commended her.

"Yes. I know. It's amazing what designer jeans can do to your ass. You should really let me take you shopping so I don't have to keep forcing you into my clothes when we go out."

Lexi just shook her head. "I'm not getting myself into any more debt."

"You wouldn't have to pay for anything. Te amo mi amor. That's all the payment I request," she replied, affectionately sweeping Lexi's hair behind her ear.

"Oh please," Lexi said brushing aside her hand.

"Fine. You'll come around. But for tonight, let's find a gorgeous someone who wants to pamper us senseless," she said allowing her eyes to crawl across the room.

Lexi sighed happily and turned to play her friend's favorite game. Under normal circumstances, the game went as follows. Whoever found a hot guy that met Chyna's standards and got offered a dance and a drink first would be able to choose who the other person had to kiss or take home depending on how the night went for them. When they had first started playing they had just accepted one of the two options, but that always ended up happening really quickly, so they had adjusted the rules to get more qualified men.

"Oh what about him?" Chyna suggested pointing at tall blonde in a sleek business suit.

Lexi assessed his features from behind enjoying the view. "We need a look at his face before a final decision can be made." Just then Blonde turned around bringing his beer to his mouth. Lexi nearly gagged as she got a look at his face. "I've never seen a nose like that before. It looks like it's been broken in three places."

"That's because he's a professional hockey player," Chyna said quickly, but Lexi could see the disgust written on her face.

"I don't care what he does for a living. That nose is atrocious."

"Okay, so Hockey Guy isn't for me. Moving on."

They pointed out a few other good looking men neither of them really satisfied with the selection. Chyna spoke up again, "Oh him!"

Lexi looked to where her finger pointed out a man wearing dark jeans and a bright blue button-up. Her heart froze as her eyes traveled farther upwards to the shaggy dark brown hair. She couldn't see his face, but her body couldn't resist allowing the butterflies loose in her stomach at the possibility. She could feel the blood draining from her face and her jaw going slack with fear and anticipation that he might be here. Short puffs escaped her mouth, her chest expanding and contracting with each movement. She tilted her head in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mr. Blue Shirt's face, her brows furrowed and eyes shining with concern.

"Alexa, sweetie, are you okay?" Chyna asked placing her hand on Lexi's forehead which was already clammy to the touch. "You look really sick all of a sudden. Do we need to get out of here?"

"No, s…s…sorry. He just looks like this guy I used to have a thing with," she mumbled recovering slightly when she realized how obvious she was being.

"Oh that Jack guy you were telling me about?" Chyna asked bluntly.

"Yeah. Jack. He just strongly resembles him."

"Well if he looks anything like this guy, then he's probably sexy," Chyna couldn't keep herself from mentioning as she took another glance at the Jack look-a-like.

Lexi managed a half-smile. "Yeah he is sexy, but I just…I don't know. I haven't really seen him in awhile and I haven't been thinking about him much either. It caught me off guard."

She was lying of course. She thought about him every time she walked around in New York. There were so many dark haired men in blue shirts; it was disconcerting. Not to mention the enormous amount of coffee shops. She was just expecting to walk into the store one day and there he would be standing behind the counter, handing her black coffee, while she studied for her tests. But college was over, and Jack wasn't in New York. Jack wasn't in her life. They'd talked a bit over the phone during the summer, but after she moved to New York, she just didn't have time to have open communication with anyone especially Jack. She could lose herself in conversations with Jack for hours if she let herself. Law school didn't exactly permit that kind of freedom. No, Jack was just part of her past, and she needed to accept that. She couldn't keep letting herself get so worked up over some guy in a club who almost resembled him.

"Well don't think about him. There's no need to when you have so many other men to choose from," Chyna said, speaking like a person who'd never had a real relationship. Not that Lexi was one to talk. Her and Jack had never really been functional.