Chasing Love (Dark Love 1)

Placing my hands on the vanity, I stare into the mirror. I look a mess, and my lips are red-raw, though my lipstick has faded. My hair is unruly and out of place. Removing my makeup from my purse, I touch my face up as much as possible and fix my hair, then re-apply my lipstick.

“Listen, Charlie, you can’t always be in control of everything, including your thoughts. Sometimes we just need someone to confide in.”

“I don’t want to talk about it… not now.”

I’ve grown accustomed to bottling up my feelings, and I’ll not spend my birthday opening the can of worms known as my past. We need to have some fun now, and if that means I have to ignore all the drama I’ve managed to create for myself by drinking copious amounts of sangria, then so be it.

As I walk back to the table, my short-lived confidence turns into panic as Lex is nowhere to be seen. A few minutes later, I catch sight of him walking back to our table with Adriana.

She’s chatting away, but he appears dazed. She can do that to you sometimes, but I know it isn’t because of what she’s saying. As they sit down, he looks at me momentarily before Rocky starts talking to him about baseball.

I’m glad he came back, despite my earlier need to push him as far away as possible. But now what? What do I do? He carries on, pretending I’m not here which is good because Julian is still here, and I have to decide tonight.

This is stupid.

Such a big decision can’t be made in one night while drunk on your birthday.

“An incredibly good associate of mine works for ESPN here in Manhattan. It’s the only reason I get great seats all the time. Tomorrow night I’ve got box seats to the Yankees’ game if you’re interested. I’d like to introduce you to him,” Lex says to Rocky as he finishes the last of his meal. He looks famished. Of course he’d be, after that fuck in the bathroom.

“Dude, are you fucking serious? Are you talking about Bradley Sanders?”

“Yes, that’s him. We own part shares in a country club in The Hamptons,” Lex tells him.

It’s all I hear of the conversation before Eric announces it is gift time. I leave the seat beside Emma and walk back to my own, adjusting myself as I sit in soaked panties which are extremely uncomfortable. Can everyone at the table see that I’ve just been fucked by Lex against the bathroom door?

Julian doesn’t act any different, thank God. He places his arm around me again, Lex watching this time with an amused look on his face.

Eric and Adriana speak in unison, holding a box wrapped in silver paper with a huge green bow. “This is from Elijah and us, of course. Happy Birthday!”

As I unwrap the gift paper, the box alone makes me want to cream my pants. The tan-colored box marked with the signature Christian Louboutin is placed before me. I open it slowly, savoring every moment but excited as hell. Before my eyes appear a pair of emerald-studded pumps. The studs shine like diamonds as I hold them up to the light. They are breathtaking.

“Oh my God, you guys… I can’t even… wow! This is unbelievable, but I haven’t seen these in the fall line?”

“It’s not what you know, it is who you know, Char.” Adriana winks at the same time Eric happy claps.

I walk over to give the three of them a hug. As I sit back like Cinderella, I place the shoes on my feet. They fit perfectly. The gifts keep coming, and each time I feel more and more grateful to be surrounded by such a great group of friends.

Julian announces that my gift is to be given later. “For you to open in private.”

I turn to kiss him on the cheek, but he moves so our lips meet.

“Aww, aren’t they so cute,” Nikki gushes, staring directly at Lex.

Smiling, I pull myself away, wiping Julian’s bottom lip with my thumb.

Note to self—kill Nikki with bare hands.

“Our turn!” Nikki and Rocky hand me a box.

If birthdays from the past have taught me anything, it’s to open gifts with caution. I undo the bow of the first box, slowly sliding the lid off to reveal a hardcopy of one of my favorite books.

“Open the book,” Rocky persuades.

I open the book, the inside signed by none other than the author herself.

“Are you kidding me? How on earth did you get this signed?”

“It’s who you know,” Rocky repeats.