What To Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection Part Two (181 page)

“Garrett, I can’t do this. Not here, not now. Please, just go.” I freed my arm from his grip.

His head dropped. “Goodbye Leila.” He walked past me and out the front door.

I ran to the bathroom, dodging the crowds of people. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I was furious. As I paced back and forth, I began rambling to myself. “He has some fucking nerve. Who the fuck does he think he is? He walked out on me four years ago and thinks he can come back and act like nothing has happened. He left me when I needed him the most. I know I hurt him, but I was hurting too. He expects me to drop everything. He can go fuck himself. And what the hell is the matter with me? Helen has been preparing me for this. He was standing right in front of me and I freeze up like a freaking asshole!”

I couldn’t live like that anymore. I was trying to get myself to a good place, I had to move forward. Going back to him would be like taking twenty steps backwards. I went to the sink and splashed water on my face. I stared at myself in the mirror. “Come on Leila, pull it together. You can do this,” I said, trying to convince myself. A group of girls busted through the door laughing, they gave me a strange look as I stared at myself. I gave them a small smile and walked out the door.

I took a deep breath and went back onto the floor. I hoped my shift would fly by. After that run in with Garrett, I needed to let off some steam. Hillary and Nicole were meeting me here at ten, and I wasn’t going to let him ruin my night.

Even though the place was packed, and I was busy my entire shift, the night seemed to drag. When ten o’clock hit, I was thankful and headed over to Hillary and Nicole. They had been waiting for me at our table since nine.

“I will be back in a few. I want to shower and change,” I said looking directly at Hillary. I turned to Nicole, “You need to come with me.”

“Me? What did I do,” she said shocked.

“Oh, you know exactly what you did,” I snapped.

Nicole looked at Hillary uneasily shrugging her shoulders.

As Nicole and I headed toward the back door I heard Hillary shout, “I’ll have shots waiting for you guys when you get back.”

I went storming up the stairwell that led to my apartment refusing to even look at Nicole. I was livid.

“So are you going to tell me why you’re so pissed at me?” Nicole asked.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to her. “Really? Really? You honestly have no clue why I am so pissed!”

“No! I don’t,” Nicole snapped back at me.

“I can’t believe you told him where I work!”

“What? Who?”

“Garrett! That’s who. He showed up here.”

“He did what? I’m going to fucking kill him! He promised me he wouldn’t come here. Oh Christ, Leila. I’m sorry. I didn’t actually think he would show up here,” Nicole said with regret in her voice.

“Yeah, well he did,” I said continuing up the stairs to my apartment.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. He told me he wanted to talk to you. I made him promise me he wouldn’t come here while you were working. Obviously, he lied. Stupid fucker, I am going to kill him the next time I see him.”

As she followed me up the stairs her voice lowered. “So what happened? Did you talk to him?” She said flinching.

“No, I didn’t talk to him. I have nothing to say to him,” I snapped.

“Oh please don’t give me that shit. You know you want to talk to him. He’s all you think about. You need to stop lying to yourself.”

I fought with the lock on my door. “Really? You’re now saying this to me?”

“I don’t see what the big deal is. I thought your therapist wanted you to talk to him.”

I pushed my door open and stormed through my apartment and into my bedroom taking off my clothes as I went.

“The big deal is . . . It should be my choice if I want to talk to him not yours!” I yelled and slammed the bathroom door behind me.

I turned the shower on and stepped in. I heard the bathroom door open and shut.

“Okay, you’re right. I shouldn’t have told him you were working tonight. I guess I thought I was trying to help. I should have warned you.”

I poked my head out from the shower curtain. “I accept your apology, but I’m still pissed at you.”

“So . . . How did he look?” Nicole said trying to stifle her smile.

“You really have a set of balls on you don’t you?” I said shutting the shower curtain.

Nicole laughed, “Bigger than most men.”

I began to laugh too. I could never stay mad at her for too long. I knew what she did was not intended to hurt me. She was trying to help.

I shut the water off to the shower. “And to answer your question. . . He looked fucking hot,” I laughed. “Now, can you hand me a towel and get out so I can get ready?”

I wrapped a towel around me and ran a brush through my hair. As I entered my bedroom, Nicole was sitting on the corner of my bed.

“I picked out some clothes for you,” Nicole said sheepishly. Lying next to her on my bed was my favorite denim mini skirt and my black knit top that had sequins on the front and was cut into a V in the back. For shoes, she chose my black leather high heel boots. I looked at her and sighed, “Nicole, don’t worry about it. I know you what you were trying to do.”

“I just feel so bad. I honestly didn’t think he was going to show up.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “It is what it is. Maybe someday I’ll get the courage to talk to him. He was the last person I expected to see at Danny’s. It really threw me for a loop.”

Nicole stood up from my bed. “Alright that is enough talking about him. Let’s get you ready, Hillary is waiting for us. You want me to do your hair?”

Forty minutes later I was finally ready, and we headed back down to Danny’s. Nicole convinced me to leave my hair down, and she teased it so my waves were crazy. My stomach was full of nerves. I was hoping and praying Garrett hadn’t shown back up while we were gone. I don’t think I could handle another run in with him at this point. I need a few drinks in me to settle my nerves. I took a deep breath as we walked through the employee entrance. The DJ had
Let’s Get it Started
by the Black Eyed Peas blaring. We spotted Hillary on the dance floor. She was wearing black leather shorts that barely covered her ass, fishnet stockings, and a black almost see through top with a red, sequin tank underneath. Her feet were sporting red stilettos that matched her tank top. She had her hair styled in a high ponytail with a few tendrils coming down in the back. Nicole grabbed my hand. “Come on let’s dance.”

I hesitated scanning the room for Garrett. Hoping to God he wasn’t here. “I need a drink first,” I shouted over the music. Nicole gave me a look.

Nicole walked out onto the dance floor to get Hillary and I headed to our table. I flagged Kimberly, one of the waitresses, down. Kimberly walked over with a big smile on her face. “Hey ladies how are we doing tonight?

“Hey Kimberly, we are doing great!” Hillary replied. “We need a round of shots,” Hillary said with a smile. “You better make it a double for Leila. She looks like she needs it.”

“Yeah, what happened earlier?” Kimberly said looking directly at me. “I heard some dude made a scene.”

“Eh. . . It was nothing. He’s my ex. Let’s just say he’s an ex for a reason,” I said trying to make light of the subject.

“Oh, I know about ex’s drama,” Kimberly said giving me a reassuring smile. “Alright, a round of shots coming up. Don’t worry, Leila, I’ll make it double for you,” she said with a wink.

While we waited for our drinks Nicole filled Hillary in on what had happened earlier with Garrett. I was half listening to their conversation, but most of my attention was on the front door. I was hoping that Garrett was not going to walk through that door. Kimberly returned with our drinks. “Here you go, Ladies. Danny said he would run a tab for you.”

“Thanks, Kimberly,” we all said in unison.

I reached for the shot glass, but before I could grab it, Nicole put her hand over the top of it. “Not so fast, promise me you’re going to behave tonight, you’ve been doing so well. I know seeing Garrett tonight threw you for a loop, but I really would hate to see you fall back into your old habits because of one little incident.”

I rolled my eyes and put my right hand over my heart and raised my left hand. “I promise I will behave tonight,” I said laughing. Inside, my heart was racing and I was full of self-doubt. Nicole removed her hand from my shot glass and down the hatch it went. “Wooooo!” I yelled. “Let’s dance!”

The three of us were out on the crowded dance floor having a great time. I was definitely feeling a buzz. We were dancing with a few different guys around us, and I noticed Justin by the bar. He was a regular at Danny’s. He and I had hooked up quite a few times over the years. He was one of the only guys I had remained friendly with. With Justin, I knew exactly what I was getting. Neither of us wanted a relationship, so a night of meaningless sex every few months was exactly what we did.

Justin was almost six feet tall and had dirty blonde hair that he just let hang everywhere. He was average build and was always wearing a black leather biker jacket, white t-shirt, jeans and white sneakers. The very first night I met him I told him he was a Jax Teller look-a-like from Sons of Anarchy. This for me was a very, very good thing. Tonight was no exception. He sauntered onto the dance floor and by the look in his eyes, I knew he wanted to do more than just dance. I waved him over, and I started grinding on him.
Tonight I’m Lovin You
was blasting as he moved his hands up and down my body, raising my skirt a little bit at a time. Things definitely were beginning to heat up between us. The music was pumping and the alcohol was quickly going to my head. I could feel myself losing control. I closed my eyes as he started to kiss my neck and ear.

I felt a sudden jerk. I quickly opened my eyes and saw Justin on the floor and Garrett standing over him. “Don’t you fucking touch her!” Garrett yelled.

I pushed him away from Justin. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“You’re just going to let him touch you like that, like some cheap whore?” He yelled back at me with rage in his voice.

Justin stepped behind me. I felt him forcefully pushing up against my back. “What the fuck is your problem?” He screamed at Garrett as he breathed heavily on my neck.

Getting between these two was not some place I wanted to be. But I knew Danny would call the cops in a second if a punch was thrown. He did not tolerate any sort of violence in his bar.

I quickly turned to Justin, putting my hands on his face I stared directly into his eyes, “Justin, please let this go. I don’t want to see you get in a fight over me.”

He closed his eyes tightly and tried to control his breathing. As he opened his eyes “Leila, I’m not going to let some asshole come in here and call you a whore. It’s not going to fucking happen.”

“I can handle him,” I said adamantly. “Him and I . . . We have a history. I want you to leave before Danny calls the cops. You know how he is about fighting in here.”

“Are you sure you know what you are doing? I swear to fucking God, Leila, I will knock his fucking block off for you.”

His words brought a small smile to my face. “I know you would Justin and I really appreciate that, but what I really need you to do is go.”

He lifted my chin with his fingers. “I am doing this only because you asked me nicely,” he said with a smile and then kissed my lips gently.

Justin backed away from me slowly and raised his hand pointing directly at Garrett, “You’re lucky mother fucker.”

“Justin,” I said raising my voice.

Raising his hands up like he was surrendering. “Alright, I’m outta here. You have my number if you need me,” he said loudly, staring Garrett down. “If you hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Once I knew for sure Justin was leaving I quickly spun around to face Garrett. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You have no right to call me a whore!” I began walking toward him. “How dare you come in here and judge me, I am
not
your girlfriend. You made that perfectly clear four years ago. Just remember you were the one that left me. You deserted me when I needed you the most. Did you think I was going to be celibate for the rest of my life? That I was going to pine over you?”

I could tell by the look on his face my words hurt him. A crowd of people began to surround us. I felt like the walls were closing in on me, and I started to see spots. The atmosphere was real thick in the bar, and I needed fresh air. I took off out the front door and ran as fast as I could down the sidewalk. Tears were falling, and I started to gasp as if I was going to hyperventilate. I couldn’t catch my breath. I bent over, my hands on my thighs and my head down, taking deep breathes.

“Leila!” I heard from behind me. I could tell by the tone in Garrett’s voice, he was furious.

“Go away and leave me alone!” I screamed, “Haven’t you hurt me enough? I have been trying to get over you so please just let me go.”

“Oh, yeah . . . It took you a real long time to get over me?” He screamed.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Oh, please don’t act so innocent. You say I deserted you, how long did it take you to start sleeping with other guys?” He yelled.

His words cut me like a razor. I tried to slap him, but he stepped back. “I’m not going to listen to your bullshit Garrett! You are the one who left. You may not have liked the decision I made, but it was my choice. You walked away and left me here to deal with everything. I hope you have had fun these last few years. Take a good look at what you have created. . . . A drunken whore.”

“You think I have been on vacation for the last four years? You betrayed me. You said we would talk about things. Instead you went behind my back. I couldn’t look at you. I was out of my mind. I needed to get away from you… From us. The only way for me to do that was to leave. So I joined the Marines. I needed time to clear my head.” He paused, considering his next words. “While I was at boot camp, I realized I had made the biggest mistake of my life leaving you.”

“Oh please. Don’t give me that bullshit. You knew my phone number. You could have called me,” I yelled back. I was not backing down from this and was now enraged.