The following morning I had a hard time getting ready for work all because of my very persistent boyfriend. He dropped me off at the club leaning in to kiss me, but I turned my head and stepped out of the car.
“That’s what you get for slowing me down this morning!”
“I don’t recall you protesting at all…”
I was definitely not protesting considering how much he pleased me, but I wouldn’t admit that. Instead, I stuck my tongue out to him and slammed the door shut for dramatic effect. As I walked around the car I could feel his amused eyes on me. I grabbed my phone and texted him that I love him, just letting him know how I really felt about him. I glanced over my shoulder throwing him a smile before I entered the club. I wasn’t focused on where I was going because my gaze was fixed on my screen. Putting it away in my bag I looked up and nearly ran smack into a table as I saw my best friend in a compromising position. The disgusting view in front of me almost made me run back out of the club. Brandon glanced over his shoulder, looking horrified as he saw me at the entrance. The new waitress he was banging didn’t look as horrified as him if anything she looked quite pleased with getting caught. No self-respect whatsoever. All Brandon’s exes or whatever you called them had very little self-respect. I guessed that was his type.
“Nice Bran.” I shook my head, walking past them and headed straight for the office.
I could hear Brandon’s loud curses as I kicked the door shut behind me. If Nick had followed me inside Brandon would have been in serious trouble. Nick did not tolerate behavior like that. They were banging each other in plain sight for anyone to see. Burying my head in my hands I took deep breaths to calm myself down, hearing my phone beeping inside my purse. It was probably Nick who had read my text. I needed the distraction right now.
Walking around the desk, I took a seat and quickly reached for my phone, wishing it was Nick providing me with a very much needed distraction.
Love you more
– Nick
Smiling like an idiot I stared at the text for a minute. Trying to let the thoughts of Nick cloud my mind instead of Brandon who did the naughty with the shameless waitress.
“You’re back!”
I glanced up from my phone and stared at Brandon who entered the office. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it as if to ensure that I’d stayed in the office while we ‘talked’. I’d start yelling at him for his inappropriate behavior and we both knew it.
“I’m back.” I agreed, “You knew I was back in town since I left you like a dozen messages yesterday.”
He folded his arms across his chest, “You were out together with Nick and his friends so I figured you’d be running late today.”
I knew I heard something dark in his voice. He didn’t sound pleased when he mentioned Nick. Somehow I had a feeling he disliked it that I went out yesterday. I just didn’t understand why. It wasn’t anything special, just a small get together with friends.
“Chris needed his friends so we went out to have a drink with them.” I frowned, “We’re not dating, Brandon. I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“And I don’t owe you one.” He threw back at me.
I stood up, furious he dared to turn this around, “No you don’t owe me an explanation. You owe me a fucking apology. If Nick had joined me you’d be in serious trouble. What the hell were you thinking? If you needed to fuck someone so badly you could have done it here while locking the door or the employees’ room. Not in fucking plain sight, Brandon!”
I heard him inhale a deep breath, his whole body tensed while he glared at me. I never felt this angry with him before. All I wanted to do was march up to him and slap him in his face. That would seriously make me feel better, but it wouldn’t solve anything and it looked like Brandon was just as furious so it wouldn’t end well for our friendship.
“I shouldn’t have done that.” He said after a while, “You’re right, I’m the club manager I should set an example for my employees.” His shoulders slumped as he flashed me a smile, “I’m sorry, Em.”
“You’re lucky it was just me today, don’t let it happen again.” I lowered my voice, “Who is she anyway? She wasn’t here when I left.”
“I hired her after you left, we needed the help, Em.” He ran a hand through his hair, “We somehow ended up… Like that.” He looked away, actually having the decency to look embarrassed.
I didn’t want to hear more about the waitress. Catching Brandon in the act had been the last thing I thought would happen this morning. I had been looking forward to seeing him again and getting back to work, but I had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to act very normal toward each other today.
“If she is covering my shift I can go-”
“No!” Brandon stepped forward, “No, it’s your shift, Em. She is going home and you’re going to work your shift, just as planned.”
I wanted to say a few things about that but I let it pass. If I didn’t keep my opinion to myself right now we would never go back to our usual behavior. Sometimes it was good to lower your pride and let things slide. It wouldn’t help anyone to dwell on things. He apologized for his behavior so everything was good. Now I just needed the image of him banging that girl erased from my memory.
“I’ll get ready for my shift then.”
As I walked past Brandon he caught my arm in his hand and made sure to stop me in my tracks.
“Can we go back to the way we were before you saw that?”
I let out a shaky breath, “We’ll try. We have to.”
He tightened his grip on me, “You’re all I have, Em. I already lost part of you to Nick and I’m now coping with that, but I can’t lose all of you. I can’t.”
I spun around, “You’re not losing me, Brandon.” I assured him, “You’re like a brother to me.” I smiled, “We’ll get past this, trust me. A girl just never wants to see her brother in that position.” I tried to laugh it off but we both knew how forced it sounded.
He nodded, “We’ll get past this.”
When he released me I left the office, hating that I had to lie to him. I didn’t know if we could move on so easily. It was just awkward and right now I couldn’t forget the look on that woman’s face. I just had to calm Brandon down, otherwise, we would be stuck in his office all day.