What To Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection Part Two (180 page)

“I have no idea,” she said shrugging her shoulders.

I shrugged my shoulders too and took a sip of water. I worked with so many people between weddings and Danny’s, it could have been anyone.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
came on, and Nicole screamed and dragged me onto the dance floor. We stayed on the dance floor for six or seven songs until I pleaded with her. “I need another drink,” I yelled over George Michael singing
The Edge of Heaven
.

We danced our way over to the bar and flagged the bartender down. He was dressed like Michael Jackson. He was even wearing a red leather jacket and one sequin glove. Nicole and I burst out laughing. He walked over with two shots in his hand and put them in front of us. I gave him a strange look.

“These are from them.” He motioned with his head towards the other end of the bar. Nicole and I looked down and saw two guys who looked like they were cast members from an episode of Miami Vice. Each of them had on light colored sports jackets with skinny ties around their necks. I looked at Nicole with a skeptical look. She nodded her head giving me the it’s ok look. We raised our shot glasses to them and drank. I winced as the shot went down my throat and yelled to the bartender, “A Slippery Nipple?” I gasped.

The bartender looked at me and laughed. “That is what they ordered.”

I turned to look back at the guys that had bought the shots and noticed they were making their way over to us. Once they reached us Miami Vice #1 turned to the bartender and ordered more shots. I put my hand up to stop him. “Please, not another slippery nipple. I can’t handle another one of those.”

Miami Vice #1 laughed, “Well, order what you want then.”

I paused for a moment . . . “Tequila,” I said to the bartender.

I immediately turned to see if Nicole had heard my order. Lucky for me she was preoccupied with Miami Vice #2. I reached for one shot, then another. Miami Vice #1 introduced himself, “Hi, I’m Jake and my friend over there is Ryan.” He smiled extending his hand.

I smiled and clasped his hand, “I’m Leila and Madonna over there is Nicole. Thanks for the shots.”

“No, problem. Would you like to dance?” He said, leaning into me.

“Yeah, in a few, we were just out there for a bunch of songs. I need to take a breather.”

I grabbed Nicole’s arm and pulled her away from Ryan. “You want to go to the bathroom?”

She nodded her head. We turned to Jake and Ryan. “Excuse us, we will be right back.”

As we entered the bathroom I turned to her. “So, you and Miami Vice #2 are hitting it off,” I said smiling.

“Oh my fucking God. Did you just call him Miami Vice?” She laughed hysterically.

“Well, that is their costume, right? Jesus, please tell me they’re wearing costumes,” I laughed.

“Yeah, he seems nice enough,” Nicole replied.

I felt extremely sweaty out on the dance floor, and I needed to cool down. I took a few paper towels and blotted my face. Taking my lipstick out of my purse, I re-applied it and fluffed my hair with my fingers. As I looked into the mirror, I noticed the girl from the dance floor. This time I remembered exactly who she was. I could feel my eyes almost popping out of my head. She also recognized me. I could tell by the look on her face. As soon as she left the bathroom . . . “Holy fucking shit!” I shouted.

Nicole spun around. “What? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost!”

“Oh, how I wish she was a ghost. Remember that girl I pointed out to you on the dance floor? That’s the douche of honor that was with Garrett at the wedding!” I began to fan my face with my hands. Not only was I hot from dancing and seeing douchey, now I could feel the tequila working its way into my system.

“Fuck her!” Nicole said. “She’s not going to ruin our night.” She hooked her arm around mine. “Come on, we have Miami Vice one and two out there. Let’s let them buy us another drink,” she laughed.

Jake and Ryan were waiting for us at the bar when we returned from the bathroom. They had ordered more shots for us. After I took another shot, I looked around for douchey. Thankfully, I didn’t see her. I let out a big sigh of relief.
I’m going to need more shots. . .

Everybody
by Madonna started playing. Nicole screamed, “They’re playing one of my songs!” She grabbed Ryan’s hand, leading him to the dance floor. Jake and I were left standing there awkwardly.

“You want to dance?” He asked hesitantly.

I smiled at him. Against my better judgment I grabbed another shot that was sitting on the bar and slung it down my throat. Taking him by the hand I led him to the dance floor. We joined Nicole and Ryan. The four of us had a great time dancing and laughing. Ryan and Jake busted out into the “Thriller Dance” when
Thriller
was played. Nicole and I laughed so hard, we had tears running down our faces.

As we began to compose ourselves
Careless Whisper
by Wham began to play. Jake gently took one of my hands in his and put his other hand on my hip. He pulled me close to him, and I felt my body tense up. I was having such a good time, and I didn’t want to ruin it. I slowly rested my head on his shoulder and let myself relax. He smelled good, despite all the dancing we had done, his cologne had masked any scent of sweat. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the song. The DJ played a few slow songs in a row, and I took complete advantage of it. It felt really good not to have a guy pawing all over me. I was actually feeling normal again. I began thinking to myself maybe I could actually have some sort of a normal relationship.

As
Save a Prayer
by Duran Duran was ending, Jake let go of my hand and slowly lifted my chin. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered…

I rolled my eyes and laughed nervously. I hadn’t had someone pay me a compliment sober in such a long time. Usually, it was some drunk asshole who wanted to get lucky by telling me I was beautiful so he could get into my pants. Little did they know they would have wound up in my bed no matter what.

“No, you really are. You’re the most beautiful girl in this room,” he said trying to convince me.

He leaned in and gently kissed me. I felt my body tense up again as he gripped me tighter around my waist. He noticed. “It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said softly.

He kissed me again, easing his tongue into my mouth. I slowly let all the tension from my body go and kissed him back. It was a very soft and gentle kiss, something I hadn’t experienced in a very long time and the butterflies in my stomach immediately began to flutter.

As our faces parted, I felt light headed and my eyes scanned the room for Nicole, hoping she didn’t see what just happened. The last thing I needed from her was another lecture. From across the dance floor I saw him. . . Garrett. He was dancing with the douche of honor, but he was glaring at Jake and me. My heart dropped into my stomach, and I pushed away from Jake abruptly.

“You ok?” He asked with worry in his voice.

A sharp pain shot through me, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. “Yeah . . . I’m fine. I just need to go outside and get some fresh air,” I said as I slowly walked backwards off the dance floor with my eyes locked on Garrett’s.

Jake took a step towards me and reached for my elbow to lead me off the dance floor. “I’ll come with you,” he said.

“No, you stay here. I’ll be right back,” I lied. I was now totally freaking out.

Nicole noticed me backing off the dance floor and saw the look on my face. “Leila?”

She turned her head to see what I was looking at. “Oh, shit.” I heard her say. Nicole took my hand. “We’ll be right back,” she said to Jake and Ryan. We began to rush up the stairs and out the front door.

As we hit the parking lot, I began shouting “Really? Out of all the clubs in this fucking state he has to be here! With her. . . The Jersey Shore Douche of Honor!”

Nicole was rushing through the parking lot making a B-line for her car.

“Move your ass, Leila!” She yelled. “Before Miami Vice boys realize we’re not coming back and we have to explain what just happened.”

I kicked off my shoes and began running to the other end of the parking lot. I was cursing under my breath at the size of the parking lot. When we finally reached her car, I slumped into the passenger’s seat. I rested my head on the headrest, and I closed my eyes. This was all too much for me. One minute I was having a great time and felt like I haven’t felt in years. The next minute my heart was nearly beating out of my chest, and I was right back to where I was four years ago. Nicole pulled out of the parking lot, and we headed home. We drove in silence for some time.

“Leila?”

“Yeah?” I said sadly.

“Do you think you are ever going to move on?” She asked sincerely.

“You know. . .” I said with a huge sigh. “I really wish I could. I feel like every time I find myself feeling almost normal, he shows back up in my life. I need closure––there are so many things I want to tell him.” I felt a tear run down my cheek and quickly wiped it away before Nicole noticed. The rest of the ride we sat in silence. Nicole dropped me off at my apartment.

“It’s going to get easier, I promise,” she said to me. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

T
he next three weeks went by like a blur. I had an emergency session with Helen after everything that happened at the Halloween Party. She didn’t fault me for running away, though she thought I really should get closure with Garrett. She’d been encouraging me to get in contact with him. She actually suggested we have him come to her office and she could act as a moderator, if needed. I had been warming up to the idea, but I just wasn’t ready to make that step.

It was already the night before Thanksgiving. Originally, I hadn’t been on the schedule, but Danny had asked me if I could work at the last minute. Although, I needed a break, I couldn’t say no to him. It really helped me out by him giving me the extra hours because I needed the extra money to pay for my therapy sessions.

Danny was expecting the bar to be packed and wanted everyone working. I was glad he put me on the earlier shift because that meant I could hang out with Nicole and Hillary and dance for a few hours after my shift was over. I put on my usual work outfit of a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I’d planned on coming back up to my apartment after my shift to freshen up and change.

As I walked through the employee entrance, I could feel the heat had already accumulated in the bar. The place was hopping. All of the bar stools at the bar were occupied.
Wow! This is going to be a great night for tips.
I pushed my way through the crowd and made it behind the bar. I grabbed my apron and my order pad and hit the floor.

As I pushed my way through the crowd, I heard a bunch of guys laughing in the corner. I turned my head to see what was so funny and saw Garrett sitting in the corner surrounded by five guys.

My heart felt as if it was going to explode inside my chest. Why was he here? Even though sheer panic was rushing through my body, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He looked amazing. He had a huge smile on his face and looked like he was having a great time. He was wearing a tight Jimi Hendrix t-shirt. His arms were exposed revealing the tattoos that covered them. He had what was called “
sleeves”
, there was no skin exposed just ink. I hadn’t noticed them at the wedding because he had been wearing his Marine uniform. I laughed to myself, when we were together I had always told him I wanted us to get matching tattoos. He told me I was corny and that he would never get one. Obviously, something had changed his mind for him to be covered in them now.

I began to feel a little lightheaded. I wasn’t sure if it was the heat, the amount of people in the bar, or the fact that Garrett was in the same room as me again. I wanted to run for the back door before he saw me. As I turned to make a B-line for the kitchen, I heard my name. I stopped dead in my tracks, “Fucking A,” I said. I turned back towards him.

He was on his feet walking towards me. “Garrett? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see you. I ran into Nicole earlier today, and she told me you would be working tonight.

“Oh, remind me to thank her later,” I said.

“I didn’t like how we left things at the wedding and I haven’t stopped thinking about you since. . . .” His head dropped slightly and his voice became softer. “The Halloween Party. I wanted to make sure you were ok. You left in such a rush.”

Part of me became angry, and I wasn’t sure why. “Well, you’ve seen me. I’m fine. Thanks for stopping by.” As I turned to walk away he grabbed my arm.

“Don’t run from me, Leila. I need to talk to you,” he pleaded.

“It’s too late for talking. There is nothing left to say so please let me go.”

I could feel my anger growing inside me. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. For the past few weeks, I had been sitting in Helen’s office telling her how I had longed for an opportunity to talk to him because I needed closure. Now here I was pushing him away. I think the reality of it all was too much.

“Is that what you really want? Just say the word and I will walk out the door.”