“Keep your hands off my girlfriend,” Harley warns.
The guy raises his hands in defence, then, without warning, swings a punch that connects with Harley’s cheekbone and knocks him out cold. He hits the floor with a thud, eyes closed, dead to the world.
Two burly security guards force their way through the crowd and drag the pervert away. He doesn’t care at all, and when my eyes lock onto his, he calls out, “Give me your number, gorgeous?”
“As if loser.” Jess jumps up on her tippy toes screaming profanities that would make a sailor blush as the security guards escort the guy out the front door of the club.
I kneel beside Harley, smoothing my hand over his forehead. “Harley, wake up.” My lip quivers as panic sets in. He’s going to be furious, and I’ll be on the receiving end of his ire. In public, Harley is always the doting boyfriend, but behind closed doors, he’s nothing like the brown-haired boy I fell in love with in high school. He’s moody, unpredictable, and mean.
Jess kneels opposite me and shoves his shoulder. “Harley. Open your eyes.”
Mere seconds pass before Harley opens his eyes and puts his hand to his cheek. “Fucking prick.” He pushes himself up on his elbows and shakes his head as one of the waitresses comes over with an ice pack.
“You all okay?” She bites her lip as she stares down at him. “That guy was so mean.” Her plump red lips turn down at the corners when she pouts.
Anger mixed with shame clearly burning in his dark brown eyes, Harley drops his head.
“He’ll be fine.” I don’t tell her his ego will be more bruised than his face.
When Harley’s on his feet, the waitress’ eyes devour him before she leads us over to the VIP area where she tells us we have access—and free drinks—for the remainder of the night.
Jess’s eyes light up. “Woo hoo, VIP room... and on my birthday. This rocks.” She glances at Harley. “I mean... you’re okay, right?”
Blaire laughs as she rubs her hands over the leather sofa. “He’s fine.” She waves a hand in his direction. “Besides, we’re VIP’s now, baby.”
Harley’s brows knit together in a frown. “Yeah, it’s nothin’.” He drops the ice pack to reveal a purple bruise blooming across his cheek and beneath his eye. “Bruise?” he asks me.
When I don’t reply, he sighs and drops his head. One thing Harley hates is looking weak. He’s going to have a shitty attitude for as long as he has the bruise. Tomorrow, I’ll be reminded that it was all my fault, and he’ll give me a hundred reasons why I shouldn’t hang out with Jess.
His mood changes instantly when a familiar blonde walks into the VIP area. “You should go have fun,” Harley says. “I’ll be right here.”
Biting the inside of my mouth, I remain quiet in a desperate attempt not to turn into the jealous girlfriend. I am not jealous. Jess must sense my unease when she speaks up. “You want us to leave so you can ogle Candie-Cane, right?”
Nice one, Jess.
Harley glares at her. “Shut up, bitch.”
There’s no love lost between the two of them. In fact, if I’m completely honest, they abhor one another and have since high school when Jess turned Harley down because even at fifteen, he was an “egotistical wanker”. Jess is always begging me to break up with him, but he’s familiar... safe. We’ve been dating on and off since we were fourteen, and I know what to expect with him. Sure, he’s immature, and possessive, and sometimes he’s a little aggressive, but he chose me when no one else did. For that reason, I owe it to him to make this work... right? Delusional much, Lexi?
My cheeks heat with embarrassment. Harley brings out the jealousy in me, constantly. Or... it could be the fact he’s cheated on me more times than I can count, and I’ve taken him back every time without complaint. You’re a fool. Uh huh... my inner voice, which loves to taunt me with logic and reason brings with it a timely reminder... I am a fool. I need to grow up and move on from immature boyfriends and drama, to a career and learning to stand on my own two feet.
I grab Jessica’s hand. “Let’s get another drink.”
She jumps to her feet. “You coming, Blaire?”
Blaire shakes her head. “I’ll wait here for Lori.”
We sit at a small table at the back of the club with pink cocktails decorated with fairy floss and edible glitter that sparkles around the edge of the sugar rimmed glass. For the past few months, Jess and I have come to The Ivory Tower every Friday and Saturday night to drink, talk, and meet up with our friends. When Jess realised her birthday was on a Saturday night, she was ecstatic. Now that we’re both working, we can afford to let loose and enjoy ourselves.
Since I’ve been working at Fallon Worldwide, I’ve managed to save over fifteen thousand dollars. Me and Jess have our eye on a small apartment near the lake in the centre of town, and soon, we hope to move in together. Once we’ve settled in, I’ll start saving for the blue convertible I’ve always wanted.
Jessica’s eyes lock onto someone at the bar. “Ugh... that blonde bimbo is a pain in the ass.” She turns her nose up in disgust, her eyes on the bar where Harley is talking to said blonde bimbo who goes by the name of Candie-Cane.
Yes, you heard right. Her name is Candie-Cane, “with an E” which she told Jessica and I, is “like so unique”.
I roll my eyes at the uniquely bleached blonde hussy whose eyes are locked onto my boyfriend. Who am I kidding? Our ‘relationship’ is a mess. Harley’s become more distant since I started my new job. He hates the fact that his application for a position as a security guard with Fallon Worldwide was turned down. Right now, he’s still slumming it at the local fish and chip shop and constantly complains he’s broke.
I turn back to Jessica and ask her about her new job at the childcare centre.
“It’s the best, Lex. I love it there. Gabe was so excited to see me. He told the other kids I’m his favourite.”
“Aww. You can have him.”
She laughs. Jessica is an only child, like her parents. She has no siblings and no cousins and has always wanted to work with kids. I couldn’t think of anything worse.
“I know you hate having a three-year-old brother and all, but he’s beautiful.”
I sigh. “Thanks for making me feel guilty.” The truth is, I’m not a great big sister. I envy the attention Gabe gets from my parents, especially my mum. Before Gabe came along, we were so close and spent most of our free time together. Then there was Gabe’s brush with death after swallowing one of my silver rings. The guilt has been weighing me down lately, and as hard as I try, I can’t seem to form a bond with the little rascal who is my brother.
Jess puts her hand over mine on the table. “Aww sorry, Lex. I get it, I really do.”
After a long sip of her cocktail, she glides her tongue around the sugar rimmed glass as she leans back against the chair. She glances over to the bar. “Where the hell is Harley now? I swear if he’s with...” she trails off, shaking her head before she takes another sip of her cocktail.
I wave a hand toward her. “Typical. His attention span is shorter than his dick.”
Jess laughs hysterically. “Oh my god, it’s not like you want his dick anyway. Why do you put up with him? You could do so much better. Like any one of those guys you work with would be perfect.” She raises her brow.