Emily didn’t show up at school for days and was not picking up her calls which forced Jessica and Mark to come around looking for her. She was coming from the small mart where she went to restock her beer collection after consuming almost seven cans the previous night. She would have ran away to hide from them but they walked up on her unexpectedly so she didn’t have a choice than to entertain them.
Jessica yelled angrily as she sighted her from afar and ran to catch up with her while shouting “Is your phone for decoration? Why are you not picking up our calls? Are you asking for a death wish?” loudly making her scared for a second.
On seeing that it was her friends, she just sighed and asked why they were there but that earned her a smack from Jessica and a puzzled look from Mark.
“Are you serious right now? Are you asking us why we are here? After ghosting us for days?” Jessica yelled at her and the passersby began to take interest in whatever was going on with them. On seeing the reaction, she invited them inside the house to continue their conversation.
She eventually opened up to them about what happened between her, her roommate and Eddy which made them speechless. “Why would you do something like that to Amber? Amber has always been a pure lady who doesn’t covet whatever doesn’t belong to her. She has always shouldered most of your responsibilities and took you like a sister but you did what? This is so disappointing” Jessica lashed at her and she just stood there to take it because who was she to defend herself in the first place.
Mark let out a small cough before proceeding to question her from his own end, “Do you love Eddy? I mean do you really love him?” he asked and she stared at him for some seconds before muttering a low “I don’t even know anymore” and that broke the last straw for Jessica.
She hit her shoulder hard making her wince in pain before yelling “How could you jeopardize your healthy friend relationship for something you weren’t even sure of in the first place? This is so absurd no matter how I think about it. Was that the reason why you locked yourself up, refused to pick our calls or come to school? You have turned to a drunkard now? You seriously need to get your life on track!” while Emily just sat there absorbing every words thrown at her, she deserves them all after all.
After rebuking her actions, her friends started laying out different options for her and in the end, she chose the moving out option. Since Amber was not around, it would be less guilty for her to move out.
“Make sure you leave a letter of apology behind” Mark instructed her.
That very day, she packed out of the house and moved in with Jessica who decided to provide her an accommodation till she’s ready to live on her own. She was done unpacking her bags when Eddy’s call came through.
“Do you want to meet up?” was his first statement and she could perceive so much joy in it but strangely she was not excited like the old times. A sigh left her tired mouth as she pondered over the invitation for a while but ended up responding “Maybe another time, I am tired right now” and disconnected the call.
Ever since that day, she was either avoiding his call or making excuses about not being able to see him for now.
***
Amber spent all day indoors reading up on so many arts related contents that she didn’t even know when the night time crawled in. She was served her dinner and she decided to step out of the hotel room for a night scroll, using that opportunity to look around Paris.
Luckily for her, Lawrence had come to check up on her too and when she explained her plan of walking out, he proposed taking her to see the popular club down the hotel’s alley so she could enjoy herself for the night and she would be going out properly tomorrow to sightsee the city.
She clapped her hands in happiness and blurt out a sharp “That is a nice idea” with a wide smile.
“I will be waiting by the reception so you can take your time to come out” he told her and went back to the hotel’s lobby while she jumped inside the room to scatter her box for an appropriate wear.
She ended up picking a strap hand white gown that ended just a few inches above her knees. She combed all her hair to the right shoulder, leaving it to flow over her shoulder and neck, her lips were cherry red and glossy, she finished her simple but powerful look with a pairs of red heels and a small red chain bag to match.
The alluring flowery perfume oozing from her was what prompted Lawrence to look up and check where the scent was coming from, only to see her dressed up in front of him. His mouth parted in awe as she stood there glammed in awestruck beauty but he was quick to close it before he actually drool in her presence.
“You look ready to kill the club” he remarked and she chuckled as he motioned for her to walk to the car. Being the gentleman he is, he rushed to open the door for her, she let out a small “Thank you” with shyness but was also glad that Lawrence was making everything easy for her and she was comfortable with him every passing second.
The blaring music coming out from the invisible speakers welcomed them as soon as they stepped into the dimly lit large hall. Various people of different colors and styles were busy rocking and rolling to the music and she was enjoying every bit of the atmosphere, she realized how much she had missed the club after she quitted her job.
“Let’s find ourselves a seat” he said to her and led her to the bar where they were luckily some empty spaces. They settled on the chair and ordered for their drinks before he left to take a phone call.
The music was controlling her mood in unison with the alcohol she was consuming making her relaxed and comfortable every passing minutes, she had even forgotten that Lawrence was out to take a call. Some minutes after, one of the men approached her in a white shirt and black chinos that was kind of tight for his size. He laced his wrists with golden bracelets and his appearance was also like that of a playboy was still stylish.
“Hey sweetie!” he greeted, displaying his perfectly set white teeth. “Hey” she responded and he took his seat on the space Lawrence was previously occupying.
She wanted to tell him to stand up from the space but decided to leave it since he would be leaving by himself soon anyways when Lawrence returns. She was about sipping her alcohol when he started asking her “Are you new here? I party here almost every day but I haven’t met you here except today”. She was taken aback by his partying almost every day statement because who could be so jobless to party every day? Well the guy in front of her is claiming to be one right now.
“That must be nice” was what she could manage to utter to the absurd statement.
They started talking about random things and he was making her laugh so hard that she didn’t realize when she was carried away with his jokes. They both laughed at some point that he mistakenly hit her bag on the table to the floor.
He covered his mouth with his hand at the incident and quickly let out an “Oh my God, I am so sorry” but she waved it off and told him it was nothing but an incident after all.
“Let me pick it up for you” he offered and tried standing up but she jumped down the stool and told him not to worry about that. She picked it up and settled back on the stool to resume their conversation.
“You must have a lot of places you want to visit in Paris then since this is your first time” he continued and she nodded in agreement. “I have always dreamt of coming to Paris because of the various beautiful places of attraction and I can’t wait to tour the ones I can for now” she explained with a huge smile and blush.
“Don’t worry, you can take your time as you look around and if you are ever in need of a companion then you can call me over” he told her and she twisted the tip of her hair around her fingers for a while before nodding, “I will do that but I don’t even know your name” she responded with a shrug.
“Ailey, and you?”
“Amber” she answered, followed by a puzzled look when she saw him cover his mouth dramatically. “That is a very beautiful name” was what he blurted out before she could ask why he covered his mouth and that sent her blushing till her cheeks hurt.
“We should cheers to the new friendship” he stated and raised his glass to clink with her and she also did the same.
She was about to drink from her cup when someone snatched it from her unexpectedly making her jump in fear.
“Harvey L?” she muttered in shock as Harvey stood unexpectedly in front of her.