She was sitting on the couch, waiting for her mom, and Kale showed up. “I suddenly feel envious. I wanna come too!” she pouted.
The band has a gig at Ram’s bar, Homme’s brother. Unfortunately, she can’t join them because of her mom’s party.
“Shhh! Aunt Tori might hear you!” Kale scolded her, causing Lemon to cover her mouth.
“Make sure to text me, okay? Update me on the happenings!” She reminded him.
“Yes, and I’ll go ahead, or they’ll leave me alone at the studio,” then he kissed her cheek and hugged her, “Bye!”
“Fille?” She was about to sit down again when Tori called her. Looking at Victoria Juarez as she goes down the stairs, Lemon can’t help but be amazed by her beauty.
She’s wearing a black evening gown with a pasta strap. It comes with a V-shaped neckline and a low back.
“Oh my God, mom! Are you sure you already have me? You are stunning!” She praised, as she almost lost it when she laid her eyes on Tori. If she didn’t exist, she’d think that Tori was a single lady, ready to mingle.
“Come on, Lemon! Who do you think you took after?” she chuckled.
Tori designed their dresses. Lemon’s dress is a semi-sweetheart, knee-length dress with a big ribbon on the waist. The top half is white, while the skirt is black, and she paired it with black pumps.
When Lemon and Tori reached the venue, the media welcomed them. Tori opened her shop two months ago, but it’s now a household name in the fashion industry. It helped that her fashion house in France was a popular one too.
After almost 3 hours of socializing with people Lemon wasn’t familiar with, she suddenly felt tired, so she excused herself and headed back to their table.
Minutes after, Tori joined her with Dahlia. “What are you watching, fille?”
“It’s a live stream of our gig,” then Lemon showed it to her mother as Kale is live on Facebook, making her envious.
“You wanna go there?” Tori asked.
“It’s okay, mom. You know I can’t leave you here.”
“Le non-sens, you can go ahead, fille. Dahlia’s here, and it’s about to end anyway,” she said, referring to the party.
Lemon’s eyes widened in excitement, “Are you sure, mom?” She asked in confirmation, and the woman nodded. She couldn’t contain the joy in her voice when Tori confirmed that she could go.
“Go ahead! Ask Gab to take you there and tell him to come back for us.”
Lemon almost jumped off her chair, giving her mother a warm embrace. “I love you, mom!” she squealed.
“I love you too, my darling daughter. You take care, okay?” Lemon nodded right away with a wide grin on her face. “Now go!”
As if she heard the magic word, Lemon sprinted to the ballroom’s exit and down to the hotel front. She was about to reach the parking lot when she heard a man’s voice.
“Hey Miss!” he called, and though she was not sure he was calling for her, Lemon stopped to turn around and look. “Lemon, right?”
“Yel?!” She exclaimed as she recognized him. “Small world!” she even said.
“Indeed,” Yel nodded in agreement. “You’re in a hurry, off to somewhere?”
Lemon nodded quickly in return. “I’ll try to make it to our band’s gig.”
“Oh, okay then, I won’t hold you up. Take care!” Then he tapped her on the shoulder, but he grabbed her arm when she was about to walk away. “Can I have your number?” he handed her the phone. Lemon took it, keyed in her number, and returned it to him. “Thanks!” he said before she turned on her heel.
Lemon reached the venue in less than an hour. She called Kale to fetch her outside the bar since it was her first time there, and she didn’t know how they got in.
“Partner!” called the familiar voice that made her turn around. “Wait, I’m drooling!” holding up a hand, he pretended to be wiping his mouth while eyeing her from head to toe.
“Silly!” Lemon smacks Kevz’s arm before hooking it.
“Let’s go!” he said, and when they got in, she immediately spotted the table where their friends were. “Look who’s here!” Kevz announced, and everyone screamed in excitement.
Unfortunately, she still didn’t make it to their set. ‘Hopefully, next time.’ Nico did great anyway, so no regrets.
“Hi, babe!” Rawbin greeted her as he planted a kiss on her cheek and it felt burning when the group started teasing them.
“Do you drink?” Kip asked, and he handed her a bottle of Smirnoff when she nodded.
“Are you sure you’re gonna drink?” Rawbin whispered.
“It’s fine, it’s just one bottle,” then she smiled at him.
They started talking about the event and how great Nico was. She won’t argue with that since she watched their performance. She can only agree.
“Where is she, by the way?” Lemon asked the group while looking around.
“He’s there at Zeke’s table,” Kip pointed at a table not too far from them.
Nico’s there with her friends, along with some college guys. Lemon decided to go to her later as she was shy with her company.
They continued the talk, and they couldn’t stop discussing their performance. After a while, Lemon’s phone started vibrating.
“Who’s calling?” Rawbin asked.
The caller ID was registering an international call. It could be one of her friends from France. Lemon was about to stand up and go out to answer the call, but it ended.
“I’ll just go out for a second. Whoever that was might call again,” Lemon told Rawbin before excusing herself from the rest of their friends.
He volunteered to go with her, but she insisted he stay because she was sure the call wouldn’t last long. Lemon’s friends from France would only ask how she was, and they’ll end the call, that’s it.
Kevz told Lemon that she could go through the fire exit. He said there were benches outside where she could sit while waiting.
She hadn’t been out for more than five minutes when she heard some movements. Then something fell not far from her.
Lemon looked around the area surrounded by chain links. A few moments after, she heard someone moan in pain.
Though it’s a bit creepy, she mustered the courage and walked toward the back part of the bar. It’s a secluded area, and it’s dark.
She peeked, and the horror she saw was unimaginable. She was right when she thought someone’s moaning, but it wasn’t because of pain. It’s because of pleasure.
Lemon froze in place and was shocked by what she saw. She wanted to run away, but her feet weren’t cooperative. Lemon was thinking of covering her eyes but for what? She already saw them, so there’s no use.
A girl is standing not far from her position. Her foot’s up on the bench behind the guy. Her arms wrapped around his neck while they were kissing aggressively.
Someone suddenly covered Lemon’s eyes. “Hey, playboy, Lemon just saw you!” Kevz yelled. She wanted to wring his neck right there and then.
‘Why does he have to get their attention?’
And if calling the couple’s attention isn’t embarrassing enough, she just had to see what would happen next when she removed his hand from her eyes. And it’s by far the biggest regret of her life.
Lemon saw the hand of the guy coming out from under the girl’s dress, and the guy was none other than Drew. ‘What the fuck?!’
As she felt humiliated, Lemon grabbed Kevz by the arm and dragged him away until they reached the parking lot. “Are you okay, Partner?” she nodded at him then he burst into laughter.
“Why?” she asked, confused while fanning her face and while he continued to laugh at her. Lemon feels like she’s on fire as she suddenly feels extremely hot.
“Why is your face red as a tomato?” he said between laughs.
Lemon glared at him, feeling the urge to give him a good punch to return to his senses. But her glare alone didn’t stop him.
“You are so embarrassing! Why did you have to call them?”
“Of course! That asshole! He should have thought that you might see them!” Then he continued laughing, and she could only shake her head. “Let’s go back! Rawbin’s probably looking for you already,” then he pulled her towards the entrance.
Lemon sat right next to Rawbin, and he immediately placed an arm on her shoulders. She smiled at him before downing her bottle.
“Hey, easy!” he said as he tried to stop her, but he was too late. She had emptied it. “Are you okay, babe?”
She quickly nodded to end the questioning, but Kevz just had to say something. “How will she be okay? She watched a semi-porn!” His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, and everyone started laughing though they didn’t know the details.
“Oh, here’s the leading man!” Homme announced, and true enough, Drew showed up, sitting next to Kevz and right in front of Rawbin.
Lemon doesn’t know whether she’ll bow her head or look somewhere else. It suddenly felt awkward and suffocating.
She was thankful when she saw Nico. She had the chance to excuse herself from the group. Lemon followed her to the restroom.
“Nico!” She squealed, and she faced her, smiling. “I saw your performance. You’re so good~”
“Thank you! It should have been you!” then she pursed her lips.
“I can join them next time. You rocked that performance! I watched it on video. It would have been better if I watched it live,” she scowled.
“Thank you! That’s one hell of a confidence booster!” Nico chuckled. Lemon let go of her so she could do her thing and told her she was going back to their table.
Before she did, she answered nature’s call first. Nico was still inside the cubicle when Lemon came out, so she didn’t bother calling her again.
As she was to go out, she checked her reflection first. Lemon even retouched her makeup before exiting the restroom. Then again, trouble came as soon as she stepped out.
‘Now, how can I walk back to our table when Drew is blocking my way?’