“Christina, can you give me your address?”
More giggles.
The pounding in my head intensified when I couldn’t get anything that made sense out of her. Christina laughed, a lot, and her answers didn’t match my questions. I gave up talking to her when I heard a faint sound … A phone ringing, and the sound was coming from Christina.
Growling, I got out of the car to search for the source of the tone. She had a bag draped across her body. I untangled her from it and got the phone out, but froze when I saw the name, Melissa, lighting the screen.
Melissa Alford was the friend Christina and I had in common. She also happened to be the girl I had a crush on for years. I worshiped the ground that girl walked on, but much to my dismay, she never loved me back. Loved me ... I chuckled at my thoughts because she never saw me as more than a friend.
Sighing, I took the call, mostly because I didn’t know what to do with Christina and taking her with me was not an option.
“Hello,” I answered the call.
“Who is this?” Melissa said. Her voice alarmed. “Can I speak to the owner of the phone?”
“Melissa, relax it’s Ezra.”
“Oh,” she breathed, and the line was silent for a few seconds. “Ezra?” She said my name as if she was confused. Then she fell quiet again.
“Listen.” I broke the silence. “Lucky you called ‘cause I’ve got Christina on the backseat of my car. I have no idea where to take her.”
“What? Is she okay?”
“Yes, just way too drunk.”
“Um, bring her here. Her mother will flip if she sees her that way. I’ll text you my address.”
She ended the call without a goodbye or asking for further explanation.
Motionless, I stared at the phone. Melissa was part of my past. I hadn’t thought about her in the last nine months, not since our last encounter. Drudging up those memories of hurt and rejection made me uneasy about seeing her in a few minutes. I pulled out of my trance and read the address she’d texted. We were already downtown, so the drive to the Harbor Club was quick.
After an intense pat-down at the lobby—even after Melissa called security and told them it was unnecessary—we rode the elevator car up to the penthouse. We were not alone, a man in a black suit followed us while I struggled to hold Christina up. She kept slipping out of my arms, not helping at all. Pulling her up, I caught sight of a speck of blood on my wrist. I looked away.
When the doors slid open, Melissa was pacing around the threshold. I stepped out of the elevator, bringing Christina with me. Looking at Melissa, I acknowledged her beauty but felt nothing out of the ordinary. The halo of light I once saw over her had faded. Time really was the best remedy.
“Andrew!” she called over her shoulder, running in my direction.
The creamy, silk robe she had on floated around her knees as she stirred. Her curly hair was loose and much longer, past her shoulders, bouncing with her strides. Andrew, her fiancé, appeared and offered to take Christina. I let him hurdle her over his shoulder and carry her inside.
“Thank you so much, Ezra.” Melissa cast her arms around my neck. It was a brief, innocent hug. “Would you like to come in?”
I shook my head. “It’s late and I have to get going.”
“It is late.” She smiled.
I waited for my heart to race like it always did when she smiled, but nothing happened. Once I assumed I knew Melissa; in reality, I never did. The sophisticated woman before me was the same girl I met in college years ago. She hadn’t changed, I simply never knew her at all.
Andrew returned and placed a protective hand around her. She looked up at him with admiration and exhaled, relaxing almost as if his touch brought her safety. She never looked at me that way.
“I’ll see you around,” I said before striding away.
Chapter Two
Christina
Iblinked my heavy eyelids open, adjusting to the morning light shining through the window in a soft shade of orange-yellow. Panicking, I bolted upright and my eyes widened, darting around the room. The moment I recognized the curved windows and the beige walls, my posture slackened. I sank back down on the enormous bed and covered my head with a pillow, blocking the sunlight.
“Get up,” I heard Nina, Melissa’s housekeeper, bark. “I know you’re awake.”
“I’m sleeping,” I whined. “Go away.”
She yanked the pillow off my face and the bright light forced my eyes to fasten. I drew the covers over my head, only to have them pulled back down.
“Stand up or I’ll call your mother and tell her in what state you were brought here last night.” The mention of my mother made me sit up. Not only that, but it brought to my attention that I had no idea how I got here in the first place. “Don’t worry. Melissa called her first thing this morning and told her you spent the night.”
“How did I get here, Nina?” She shrugged, pursing her lips, then sat on the bed holding a large pinkish drink and thrust it in my direction. I raised a brow, eyeing the cup with distrust. “What’s in it?”
“Strawberries, cherries, some other fruits, and yogurt.”
“Is the yogurt fat-free?”
“Yes, Christina.” Nina scowled and continued in an ironic tone, “Melissa buys them especially for you.”
“Did you add sugar?”
Growling, she rolled her eyes. “Drink.”
I raised my trembling hands and took the cup from her. The moment I sucked on the straw; my body was overtaken by the delicious flavors. The sweet taste of the fruit danced over my tongue. It tasted so good. I let out a long breath and continued slurping.
“Go get cleaned up,” Nina said, standing from the bed. “You smell and look like death. There are painkillers in the bathroom.”
Halfway through my drink, I put it down, climbed off the bed and shuffled straight into the bathroom. I stood before the enormous oval-shaped mirror hanging over the vanity and my reflection was petrifying. My hair was tousled. Mascara was smudged around my eyes and traces of it reached the side of my face. Fading tinges of the red lipstick I once had on outlined my mouth.
From the medicine cabinet, I took out two brown tablets from the Advil bottle and swallowed. Then I removed my clothes and jumped into the shower.
The warm water was a gift for my skin. I remained motionless under the cascading water for the longest time, until the tremors wracking my body eased. Feeling slightly better after the shower, I sauntered back into the room in a white robe and found Melissa and Erica on the bed.
The two girls were my best friends. Erica and I met back in elementary school and then we met Melissa six years ago. Ever since then, the three of us had been practically inseparable. But in the past few months so much had changed; for starters, Erica got married.
“Happy birthday,” Melissa sang.
“Happy birthday,” I said back to her because we shared birthdays—February 23rd.
Erica rolled on her side to look at me. She was radiant, the most tanned I’d ever seen her. Marriage agreed with the newly-minted Mrs. Bale.
“Happy birthday. How does it feel to be twenty- three?”
“Not as good as it feels to be twenty-four,” Melissa said.