Chapter 36 VIOLET
I GRABBED RAZER'S ADDRESS off the records in the office since I didn’t actually know where he lived – it wasn’t that far from the club – and I ran to the bus stop.
With an offer like that on the table, I had no idea if he wanted to see me. Even if he'd been rushing for the airport, how long does it take to send a text while you are just sitting around in the cab? That he hadn’t even thought of contacting me pierced my heart like a poisoned dart. He might not think of me but he had a whole bunch of other people involved in this too. They deserved some notice.
I searched down the street for the bus but there was no bus in sight. I checked my watch.
I paced the street and checked my watch again. Still no bus. A bunch of people waited – some old ladies with shopping jeeps filled with vegetables, a teenage couple feeling each other up, a few bored people leaning against a shop window.
"It's already five minutes late, love," said one of the old ladies. "Could be another twenty minutes for all we know. It's never on time."
I kicked the bus stop sign pole and screaming. I didn't have twenty minutes.
I got the address out of my pocket. It wasn't that far. I took off, running, instead.
Damn people kept getting in my way. I shoved them aside and dodged around them trying to get down the crowded street. I got to the intersection and wasn't sure which way to go. If I checked my phone, that just took up valuable time but it beat running in the wrong direction. Finally, the map loaded. I turned left. Off the main street, it wasn't as crowded so I picked up my pace.
I stumbled on something and went sprawling forward but righted myself and kept running.
I had to see him. Even if he didn't play the show, I needed to see him.
I got to the apartment block. He lived on the fifth floor. I ran in and hit the button for the elevator then leaned against the wall, trying to recover my breath. I wouldn't be saying anything to him in this state, just doing a load of heavy breathing.
The elevator took forever. I looked at the stairs and considered running up them but my heart already pounded like it was going to jump out of my chest. Luckily, the elevator dinged and I flung myself inside, punching the buttons.
When I got out, I belted down the hallway until I found his door. I jabbed the doorbell about fifty times, then waited. I heard a noise and my heart pounded even more. Then it went silent.
I knocked. Bashing my fist against that door until it felt like my arms would drop off. Maybe I'd imagined that noise. It could've been next door.
"Shut the fuckin' noise up." An old man poked his head into the hallway. "He's not there, love. He left a while ago."
I'd never have Razer barging into my office again with his stupid jokes and crazy innuendos. I’d never feel the way his gaze caressed my body, the way his lips had felt on mine.
Unaware, I'd raised my fingers to my lips in memory of that kiss.
All I had between us was one kiss. One stupid kiss.
I should've let the phone keep ringing that night and stayed with him in our bubble, away from the world.
I should’ve stayed with him on the back of that bike. I should’ve told Chuck to go to hell with his stupid no dating rule.
At least I’d have memories now of something more than a kiss. Razer had gone and if I saw him again in the future, he’d be a different person and it was all too late.
Then I heard a thudding sound on the landing and looked up.
Razer.
“Violet?” he said.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I yelled. "Why aren't you at the airport?"
I punched him, wanting to make sure he was real. I didn't mean to yell at him. This was the chance I'd wanted and, instead of pouring out my feelings, I had to yell and punch?
"That keen to see me go, are you? " He grinned at me in that way that made my belly do flip-flops. That damn dimple.
Emotion overwhelmed me, the world that had seemed so grey and cold a moment ago became a bright and sparkling thing.
"But Dazza said..." I stumbled over my words.