He smiled back, "It was a pleasure to meet you too."
He gave me a hug and left. After he had left I checked the time on my phone and decided it's time for me to leave too. I made a quick call to Baxter as I walked to the main entrance.
"Jill! Wait up!" I heard someone yell behind me. I put my phone back in my clutch and turned around. Kat was running towards me with a little box in her hand.
"Hey, are you leaving?" she asked, a little bit out of breath.
"Yes, it's getting late." I replied, eyeing the beautiful box she had in her hand.
"Well." she said, "This is for Ximena." She handed me the beautiful golden box.
"Well, thank you, I will give it to her tomorrow." I said.
She smiled. "Thanks for being here; I hope to see you again."
"Likewise." I gave her a hug and walked away.
I walked outside and waited for Baxter to come pick me up. "It will take a while." he had said in the phone, "There's so much traffic."
"Dammit!" I cursed when there was still no sight of Baxter after ten minutes of waiting. I needed to go to the restroom so bad. I walked back inside and searched for the bathroom. When I found it, I heard heavy breathing coming out of one of the stalls. I just ignored it and went into an empty stall. After I was done I washed my hands and fixed my hair.
Then, the door of the stall where the heavy breathing was coming from opened. The first thing I saw in the mirror was a girl in black lacy underwear and red stilettos, makeup smudged all over her face, looking like the Joker.
But she wasn't the one that caught my attention. It was the person who she was with. In his Calvin Klein underwear, white shirt on the floor, and a startled expression on his face that was covered in red lipstick stood the one and only Flynn Vasilios.
My eyes widened in shock. Not because I saw him almost naked, but because the girl he was with didn't look anything like the one he brought earlier!
Jill Malik P.O.V
"And then he brought me to the Eiffel tower and proposed!" Ximena squealed happily as she holds up her ring finger, showing me her engagement ring. A huge diamond rock, which probably must have cost a fortune.
"Congratulations!" I said happily. I was so genuinely happy for her since she and Blake were high school sweethearts. "When is the wedding?" I asked.
"I don't know yet, Blake wants to have it in December."
"Isn't that too early?" December is in a couple of months, I don't know if it will be enough to plan a millionaire's wedding. Blake Anderson was the son of the millionaire Damon and Catherine Anderson. When Damon and Catherine died a couple years ago in a car crash, Blake inherited everything from his parents. He also was the only heir of his dad's company Anderson enterprises.
"Yeah, but Blake told me he would make sure everything will be perfect and I don't need to worry. And by the way I want you to be my maid of honor." she took a bite of her Taco and then looked at me. "Why are you so quiet?"
If only she knew why I was so quiet. Seeing Flynn in his underwear is not something that I can forget easily, especially when he has a six pack and a V-line. He was shocked when he saw me. "I'm so sorry that you have to witness this!" he apologized, his face turning red from embarrassment. His little girl on the other hand, wasn't even a slightly bit embarrassed. Instead she was grinding herself on Flynn while he was trying to apologize to me. I didn't reply to his apology instead I hurriedly walked outside. I mean, what should I have said? Yes, it's okay I forgive you? If only that was so easy, his hot body is still taking up most space in my brain.
"Hey! Earth to Jill!" Ximena snapped her fingers in my face.
I shook my head and smiled sheepishly at her. "Sorry, I was zoning out."
"Did something happen at the party that you haven't told me about?" she asked lifting her eyebrows.
I shook my head. "Nope." I lied and tried to conceal it with a fake smile. I can't possibly tell her that I saw her brother in his underwear with this girl making out in the restroom of GoldBar. She would freak out.
"Anyways what do you think of the liquid lipsticks?" I asked instead.
"They are nice, but I wish they we---," The moment Ximena started talking again, I zoned out.
..........
"No way!" Reina shouted as she covered her mouth with her hands. Her face was beet red and her eyes were so wide, I was afraid they would fall off.
"You.saw.the.Flynn.Vasilios.naked?"
When I came home from work Reina was already waiting for me on the living room couch with a bottle of wine in her hand. I knew from the moment I walked in that it would be story time night.
"I want you to tell me everything what happened at the party in details." she said emphasizing the word details.
I sighed and roll my eyes for the hundredth time. "I didn't saw him naked." I said once again. "He wore his boxer’s shorts or underwear, whatever you call them."
Reina didn't like it when I said that I saw Flynn in his underwear. "It is boxers shorts for boys and underwear for girls." she said in a matter-of-fact tone. I know that it didn't matter and that girls also wear boxer shorts - especially when they are on their period- because it's more comfortable. But Reina is being Reina and she can be really weird sometimes
"The fact is that you saw him almost naked." Reina squeaked, "Meu Deus was he big?"
My eyes widened instantly at her question. "Reina! How should I know, I wasn't the one that was with him in the stall."
"I know." she chuckled, taking a sip of her wine. "What I mean is, it probably must have shown right. Through the thin fabric of his boxers? Like a huge bubble? Do you know---?"
"Reina!" I interjected her with a horrified expression. I was trying to erase the whole bathroom incident from my brains, but she is not helping.
"No, no, you should tell me."
I took a deep breath before answering her question. "Yes, he was huge, if that answers your question."
Her eyes widened once again at my answer. "Meu Deus, can you imagine how great a night would be with him? If he would ask me for a one night stand, I wouldn't decline."
"Ew, now you sound like a hoe."
She laughed. "Oh stop it; you're not a goody two shoe either."
Reina was right. I wasn't a goody two shoe either.
"Do you still think about him?" she asked curiously. I nodded my head, sadness making its way to my face.
"It was just a one night stand, but it felt so good and so right. It's been six years and I still. I still can feel his touch. Is that weird?" I asked sadly, staring at my hands. My heart felt once again empty. Every time I think about it I have this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Reina shook her head and patted me softly on my shoulder. "It's not weird Jill; I guess you fell in love with him during that one night stand. It's a shame you can't remember who he is."
"In love?" I asked astonished. "Can it be? Is it possible to fall in love during a one night stand?”
I let out a heavy frustrated sigh.
"I was drunk and I blacked out and when I woke up he wasn't there anymore. Also the necklace that had my parent’s picture in it was gone. I bet it got stuck on his shirt or something. I wish I knew who he was, because as much as I can remember about that one night stand is that we didn't just fucked, we made love."
"If only you weren't so drunk or didn't black out, maybe we could still find him. But based on what we know now it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
I sighed heavily, what she said was true. If only.
..........
This was heaven of bikinis. Pink bikinis, purple bikinis, off the shoulder bikinis, name it and you can find it at Victoria's Secret. I was wandering through the aisles of bikinis, trying to choose one.
Last night Ximena called me and said that she would pick me up on Saturday to go to her brother's yacht. "It will be so much fun and bring a bikini." she had said before ending the call.
That's why I'm currently wandering like a lost puppy in here. One of the workers came to ask me for the fifth time if I needed help. I didn't need help. I know my size, I know my color, I know what I want, it's just that I like to wander around and compare the one bikini to the other. See which one is less revealing or less expensive.
Suddenly my eyes fell on a black bikini. It was plain, simple, and black.
I love it.
I grabbed it from the rack and walked to the cashier. "Is this the only item miss?" she asked, looking at me from under her thick eyelashes. It was definitely fake; you could see the glue when she looked down even though she tried to hide it with a thick coat of eyeliner. "That would be $40."
She put the bikini in a bag and handed it to me. Damn, 40 bucks for a plain black bikini.
"Thank you so much for shopping here, have a great day....Next!" she yelled at the customer behind me.
I turned around and that's when my eyes and mouth turned wide open in an expression of stunned surprise. Behind me stood no other then Flynn Vasilios with a stick thin red haired girl who wasn't Zoe or bathroom girl.
"Jill..." He said surprised, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. Wow, he did remember my name and I wasn't even one of his regulars. "Who is that babe?" the stick thin girl asked. For a small body, she does have a really high pitched voice. She didn't look young, the plastic surgery made her look young. Or maybe she was young, but the plastic surgery made her look old. I don't know which one it is, but it should be either one.
"This...this...uhm." Flynn bit his lips and had trouble to explain. Why did he had trouble to explain who I was? I am literally a no one to him.
"This is my uhm...my girlfriend." he suddenly blurted out.
"What?!" me and the girl both yelled out in unison.
………..
Jill Malik P.O.V
Anger boiled deep in my system, as hot as lava...
"What the hell was that?!" I yelled out at Flynn once he dragged me out of Victoria's secret, away from the seething redhead. I know redheads were hot tempered, but that girl was on a whole other level of being hot tempered.
We were in the middle of the sidewalk in busy New York City and people who passed us gave us strange looks. "Can you please calm down." he hushed as he ran his hand through his hair three times, before he fixed his eyes back on me. Deep ocean blue eyes, the kind of eyes that you could get lost in.
"No, no, no!" I stopped in my tracks and he let out a loud frustrated groan.
"We can talk, but just not here." he hissed, as he held me firmly on my arm and continued to walk.
"We will talk here! I don't care!" I seethed as I narrowed my eyes angrily at him.
He threw his hands in the air out of frustration and snapped: "Fine you want to talk? Let's talk!"
"What the hell was that inside of Victoria's secret with that redhead?! Now I'm kicked out of that store thanks to you!" I was infuriated about what happened. I have never been kicked out of a store and then Flynn comes along and manages to do that in less than ten minutes.
After Flynn claimed that I was his girlfriend, redhead started to go crazy. She threw the red corset she had in her hand in my face while calling me all the synonyms of the word bitch. In simple words, she was causing a scene, which led to us being kicked out of the store.
"Will you please calm the fuck down?!" he snapped, and muttered under his breath loud enough for me to hear: "If one hot tempered redhead wasn't enough, karma had given me another one to deal with and you're not even a redhead."
My face turned red as I was getting furious at what he just said. This guy really knows how to push my buttons I didn’t even know exist.
"What did you just say?!" I snarled giving him a death stare.
"I said calm down! You look like you're about to explode!"
"I am about to explode, if you're not telling me now what was going on in there!"
He let out a deep breath. "Do you really want me to say it here? In the middle of the sidewalk?"
"Yes! I don't think it can get any worse than what had happened in Victoria's secret."
What can get any worse than being kicked out of Victoria's Secret?
"She was the worse one night stand I had ever had and I needed to get rid of her!" After those words left his mouth, all the people that were passing by, stared at us wide eyed.
"You know what?" I massaged my temples as I closed my eyes for a second, this guy is unbelievable. "Let's go to the coffee shop across the street and talk."
He smirked. “Good, I thought you'd never ask."
..........
"Now, explain." I said, looking at the hot specimen in front of me. We had just ordered our coffee and settled down in the corner of the coffee shop, away from the bustle. Now that I was sitting across him on eye level I had a better look at his face. He was even more handsome from close up. His face, something about him looks oddly familiar. I just can’t seem to remember if I have met him before.
Because I knew this meant taking another step for Clint and me.A step I felt we’d both been ready for.“You want to rehearse?”I peeked over at Michael. “What?”He snickered. “Rehearse. You know, what you’re going to say to him tonight.”I shrugged. “Nah. I’m good. I usually wing it with stuff like this.”“You’re going to wing it when it comes to telling Clint how you feel for the very first time>”“I mean, I usually wing it with my English speeches and I do just fine with those.”He paused. “You didn’t plan out that speech you gave last year?”I shook my head. “Nope.”“That massive speech you gave on 1984 sort of applying today.”“Are you not hearing me right? Clean out your ears, Michael.”He chuckled. “Holy shit, you’re amazing. You know that?”I smiled. “And I hope that’s one of Clint’s many reactions tonight.”“If it isn’t, I’ll kick his ass for you.”“Michael!”“What? Come on, Rae. I see how happy he makes you. I see how much this boy means to you. And if he doesn't love you o
And I decided she would be. If she knew what was happening right now, she’d be proud. Possibly screaming at me like Cecilia currently was. But she’d be proud after the fact.Not today, Dad. You’re done with this shit today.The only thing I processed was the smell of alcohol. The only thing I felt was my father’s storm unleashing against me. He held so much anger within him. He had such fury in his fists. The only thing I saw were his angry eyes coming at me as I shoved him in his chest, listening as Cecilia screamed in the background.“Stop it! I’m calling the police if you don’t cut it out right now!”Her voice faded away. Fell into the background as I moved and ducked my father. Whatever this storm brewed from, I wasn’t going to be my father’s punching bag any longer. If he wanted a fight, a fight is what he’d get. And I’d make sure to repay him for every fist that ever connected with my face. I’d repay him for every bruise he ever wrung around my neck. I’d repay him for every knee
I felt myself blush. “Okay, yes. We are officially together. So, yeah. We’re going to prom together.”“You still don’t sound too sure of that. Is everything going okay with his recuperation?”I shrugged. “I mean, he’s always struggling with his dad. Which I’m sure is affecting his recuperation efforts. But he’s okay. Far as I can tell.”“I’d like to get his dad in a room for a few minutes.”I scoffed. “Wouldn't we all.”“So, how are the two of you? You know, now that he’s on the mend?”I felt myself blush deeper. “I guess we’re good.”“You guess, huh?”“You’re a dick, you know that?”He chuckled. “Maybe a bit. Can I ask you something, though?”“Of course. I mean, you have to spit it out soon because I only have one more minute, but—”“Do you love him?”The question didn’t catch me as off-guard as I figured it would. In fact, it was easy to answer. I bit down onto the inside of my cheek as I turned to face Michael. And with a nod of my head, I answered his question.“Yeah. I really thi
I stopped for one last breather a couple of blocks away from my house. I watched it looming in the distance, sparkling underneath the harshness of the sun. Sweat dripped down my back as I sighed. I watched the off-colored white glisten against the deep red shutters of the house. During the entirety of my childhood, I remembered that house in three distinct ways. Three different sets of colors that all popped more than the houses around it. Maybe it was the fresh coats of paint put on it every year that kept the house lively. Maybe it was the fact that it was the biggest house on the block. Or, maybe, it was the fact that we had the only house with a wrap-around porch as well as a wrought iron front gate that was barely utilized.Either way, it stood out.I picked up the pace. I went from standing still to walking. To speed walking. To jogging. I burst into a sprint, pumping air through my lungs and feeling them expand into my back. I felt the last pangs from my ribcage fall free, rele
“What? I mean, seriously. Come on. Your dad can’t actually think any of this was your fault. They almost killed you. They were drunk, from what I could gather from that night. They should be rotting away in jail. Or juvie. Or something.”I shrugged. “My father pretty much showed his ass in that office. Said things like I needed to be focusing on school instead of chasing down four guys I’d provoked.”Aly’s jaw dropped open. “What!?”“He also said I’d been a problem child my whole life. Essentially tried to paint me as some bad boy trying to get the one-up on someone before they got the one-up on me. He told the lawyer that he didn’t see those boys pressing assault charges on me when I started the fight. So why should I press attempted murder charges on them simply because they were seeking out revenge like most young boys do?”Mike’s face turned red. “Is it always like this with your father?”I sighed. “I mean, let’s just say I’ve talked a big game in the past with bruises I’ve come t
I snickered. “Which is apparently not very good. I know something’s wrong. Do you want to talk about it?”Clint dropped his bag. “Just—that shit with the lawyer yesterday.”I nodded. “What happened?”He leaned against the brick wall of the school. “Dad’s back in town.”“Oh, no.”“Oh, yeah. I told Cecilia time and time again not to tell Dad about the fucking lawyer. And of course, she didn’t listen. She’s awesome, but she never fucking listens. It’s like she thinks Dad’s actually gonna be this decent-as-fuck person one of these days. Then she gets shocked and hurt and scared when he loses his shit. She’s been married to him for four years! The fuck is she thinking!?”I placed my hands against his chest. “Deep breaths. Come on, take them with me. There we go.”I walked Clint through some even breathing. He was shaking against my hands, and I needed him to settle down. That explained everything. With his father back in town, shit always popped off. I smoothed my hands over his torso, try