3. Eclipse

"Sweeeeeet!" Rosie whistled as she took in the interior of her room. The hotel's exterior was magnificent but inside was simply perfection.

Meanwhile, I collapsed on the bed from exhaustion. I hadn't slept much the night before and now the soft fluffy pillows and royalty standard silky sheets had me wanting to take a quick nap with the way they caressed my skin and pampered me tenderly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rosie asked, pulling me out of my fantasy.

"I could literally stay here forever." I confessed with a content sigh while snuggling more into the sheets but before I could even get comfortable, Rosie was on me, pulling the covers off.

"What the hell Rosie?" I cried in protest.

"You can have your silly nap another time but once I get showered and changed, we're going out to have some fun and I mean real fun."

I couldn't even believe what I was hearing.

"Didn't you just get off a flight?"

"Yes and?"

"Shouldn't you be like exhausted and extremely jetlagged and needing rest even more so than me?"

"Under normal circumstances yes."

"And these aren't? Normal circumstances I mean."

"Girl, nothing about me is normal okay? And the next time you imply that or something remotely close to that, I'm going to be taking offence. Look at me..." She continued, giving me a full twirl so I could see her properly and I couldn'tgelp but laugh. "...I'm a queen, a diva, elegance extraordinaire. Jet lag has got nothing on me."

"Maybe not, but Im no diva and I need my beauty sleep. "

"Yes you do." I quirked up thinking that she was agreeing with me but she quickly added, "and you will get your beauty sleep after you spend the day with me."

Knowing Rosie, she also meant the night too and I didn't know if I was down for that.

"Come on friend, we've not seen each other in like forever..."

"So let's stay here and catch up." I offered quickly.

"Or let's go out and have a splendid time. We can have all the time to catch up tomorrow and after."

"Fine." I agreed with a sigh. it was impossible to argue with Rosie and win so on most days I simply avoided it since it was pointless anyway.

"Yaaaay." Rosie exclaimed delightfully "So any suggestions?"

"Well, there's a new spot that just opened up downtown. ita called the Eclipse. I've never been but I hear it's the rave these days."

"Of course you've never been. " Rosie tsked. "you never do anything fun only work, work, and work."

"That's not entirely true." I argued but all it took was one look from Rosie for me to abandon that thought.

I mean I could be fun. I am a fun person, I just got really really busy at work that I barely had time for anything else.

"Well, thankfully I'm here now so we're going to remedy that." I was a little afraid to think about what Rosie meant by that and I could only hope that her time away in Africa had helped her to tone down some of her extremities.

"Oh by the way, I've got nothing to wear." I pointed out.

"Dont worry about that. We'll spend the first couple of hours shopping and doing other fun stuff. we can even catch up over lunch. trust me, it'll take a while before we eventually head over to this eclipse place of yours.

Rosie wasn't lying when she said it was going to take a while before we got to Eclipse. in fact, by the time we arrived, i realized it was already 10 PM and I wondered where the time always flew to whenever Rosie and I were together.

Eclipse was a high end establishment that not just anyone could gain access to so as expected there was a massive crowd at the entrance, an endless line of not so patient people waiting for their turn to get inside, and could anyone really blame them for being impatient? I mean, they had waited for weeks, maybe even months in order to secure a reservation, and even now that they were here, they were being told that they still had to wait some more before they were allowed inside.

It was pure and utter chaos outside.

people without reservations hovered at the sides, trying to either sweet talk or con their way past those velvet ropes. Of course, It hardly ever worked . The staff at Eclipse weren't amateurs and they had tons of experience with situations like this.

Thankfully, Rosie and I didn't have any issues getting in even though we didn't have a reservation. Turns out that eith the right amount of money and the right connections. anything was possible.

Once inside, the explosion of light and sound that hit us was almost physical. I squinted my eyes against the neon brilliance, the intensity of everything clouding my senses. The music throbbed through the floor beneath my feet, wrapping around me and caressing my nerves like it had hands.

I had been to nightclubs but this...this wasn't a club, it was a spectacle.

It was bright and elegant and simply Brilliant.

Opulence dropped from every surface, from the diamond-cut chandaliers to the leather booths and glass floors. this place didn't just scream money, it purred smooth and untouchable.

I cast a sideways glance at Rosie and her expression seemed to be mirroring mine. She was simply mesmerized

Seeing her expression, I knew that we were about to have the time of our lives. it had literally been ages since I did anything fun and I was ready to make up for all that lost time.

"Let's get some drinks first. I know I'm in the mood for some shots" Rosie suggested. gesturing towards the bar.

But just as I was about to agree, a familiar voice cut through the noise.

"Well, well well, who do we have here?."

My stomach twisted. I didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Aaron.

On seeing him, Rosie like it up like a Christmas tree. "Aaron!" she squealed, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she all but draped herself on him.

"Rosie," he greeted, voice low and smooth. "How wonderful it is too see you. You look gorgeous as always."

"Oh please. " Rosie blushed, smacking his arm playfully but coyly.

"When did you come into town?" he asked, giving Rosie the attention that she all but craved.

"Arrived this morning. Jazz picked me up from the airport."

"Did she now?" He asked as his eyes flicked to me, a lazy smirk tugging at his lips.

"Yeah she did." Rosie replied, literally hanging on to his every word. Quite frankly, it was a pain to watch. "But enough about us, what brings you here?"

Now, she was adjusting her dress to give Aaron a better view of her boobs which were perfect by the way. She was also rubbing his arm in a seductive manner and I wanted to scream at the girl to get a hold of herself even though I knew that it wasn't going to make much of a difference.

"Nothing much." He replied casually. "Just the usual, you know, unwinding after a stressful week, blowing up some steam, I'm sure you know a thing or two about that, although I'm not so sure Jasmine over here has the slightest clue. How did you manage to get her fo come here?"

"it was a literal struggle, you have no idea." Rosie replied and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"You guys, I'm literally standing right here. Stop talking about me like I'm not here."

"Fine." Aaron began, turning.around so he could face me directly. Now that I had his full attention, I felt a little bit of heat creep into my cheeks and I couldn't understand why, then I remembered the dream from last night and the puzzles started to fit perfectly together. I was quick to shove all thoughts of that dream into the deepest darkest and blackest part of my mind because what other choice did I have.

"I was telling this beautiful damsel over here..." He paused, allowing Rosie to back in the compliment he had just given her before continuing. The two if them were shameless. "...that I didn’t think I’d ever see you at a place like this, Jasmine. Eclipse doesn’t really seem like your scene — too much fun, not enough spreadsheets."

My good mood evaporated instantly, oh right, that happened a while ago.

"You really think you are funny don't you?" I shot back bitterly. "Because news flash, you're not."

"The world must really be coming to an end if the great and mighty Jasmine is learning how to have fun and chill."

From beside me Rosie giggled and I shot her a look that told her she wasnt helping but she only covered her mouth with her hand and continued giggling at my expense. Sometimes, I wondered if she was really my best friend or some weapon fashioned to torment me.

"Come on Rosie, let's go." I ordered, but Rosie looked like there was nowhere she would rather be than in Aaron's arms.

Disgusting.

"Fine." I declared. "I'll just go on my own, and have fun by myself. "

"You wouldn't know how to have fun by yourself even if you tried." Aaron Replied, his voice dripping with mockery.

I was ready to fire back the perfect retort which was was going to be about how I was going have the best time of my life well on myown, but before I could get any words out, my phone buzzed, and almost immediately Aaron's phone buzzed too.

Frowning, I pulled mine out. Aaron did the same.

A single message stared back at me, and suddenly the club, the music, the lights — it all disappeared.

It was from Aaron’s dad. My stepdad. it read;

"I’ve decided to retire. How soon can you get home?"

I looked up at Aaron, and his expression mirrored mine, suggesting that he had received the same text I had.

confusion, worry, and a bunch of other emotions assaulted me.

This was Cleary not how I had seen my night going.