Authors: Casey Elliot
*****
The feeling of her stirring next to him pulled him out of sleep's warm embrace, and his eyes fluttered open. The world around him was blurry, as he tried to adjust to the light that was shining ferociously through the bedroom window. He could faintly make out the body lying next to him, but she was silhouetted by the glowing embers of light.
He blinked the tiredness away, and squinted before turning over on his side to face her, the warm duvet falling off of his shoulders. He smiled, looking at her face for the first time since they’d fallen asleep the night before. He couldn’t believe it.
Michelle.
A woman he had found sleeping in a car outside of his house was the first woman he had actually spent an entire night with after sex. Not only that though, she was the first woman he actually wanted to spend an entire night with.
She was his best friend, and now he could only hope she would stay his lover. He could only hope that she felt the exact same way. She was good for him. He knew that she was. She was changing him. She was doing what all the others before her had tried and failed at. She was making him a better man.
He smiled. Maybe that was the problem all along. Maybe he hadn’t found anyone worth changing for before Michelle. Maybe his job was always more important, and women just didn’t mean enough to him because they all weren’t right for him. Maybe the women before weren’t what he needed. Maybe it was Michelle all along.
Her eyes blinked open. “Quit staring at me, you weirdo…” she mumbled before nuzzling back into her pillow and closing her eyes all over again.
He laughed. “I swear I wasn’t looking at you very long!”
She smirked. “Liar.”
“You know, I’ve learned so much about being a good person from you…” he sighed. Her eyes opened to look at him.
She smiled, tenderly. “Is this where you’re going to suddenly start being romantic?” She pulled her arm up and rested her head in her palm, as she leaned against her elbow.
“You make me want to be that way.” He turned on his back, unable to look at her directly before spilling everything he was feeling. “I honestly don’t want to live without you. I’ve never felt that way about anyone else.”
“You won’t,” she whispered. “I mean, you’re pretty much the only chance I have at having shelter.”
He laughed at her joke, blocking the tears that he knew were starting to well up in the brim of his eyes. “I’m serious.
“I am too – about the fact that you won’t have to live without me. I don’t just sleep around. I made my decision about wanting to try and make this work somewhere between you making the phone call to your VP and me ripping your towel off.”
She threw her arm over his chest and cuddled close to him; still resting on her hand and propping herself up with her elbow. “And, you were always a good person. Maybe you just needed someone to give the oomph to show it.”
“Well, you definitely did that,” he chuckled, turning to face her again.
He never realized what he was missing in his life until Michelle came along. She had touched his life so much that he knew there was no way in hell that he was ever going to let himself go back to the way that he was before. He nuzzled in close and threw his arm around her; their bodies intertwining as he held her close, refusing to ever let her go.
The End
*****
Hailee McAdams typed up her revisions on her paper like a mad woman. She had already finished her thesis on the topic of using classical conditioning in gaining affection from the opposite sex and her professor applauded her for her quick work on the thesis. Even the female students that she used as subjects for her thesis thanked her for her help in “bagging their guy”, as they called it.
She didn’t understand what the big deal was, though. It was literally a test of getting to know what a person is fond of, likes and dislikes, and using those he likes as a sort of reward or offer. Isn’t that how getting to know a person is basically? But, if they’re that amazed by her work and willing to award her a high grade for it, then that’s fine by her.
She typed the last word in and clicked ‘Save’ because she was paranoid like that before raising her hands over her head and stretching her back to get the creaks out. She took a look at the clock and was surprised to find that it was half past ten in the evening already. She’d been working non-stop on her revisions for about six hours now, and she hadn’t realized it. As if on cue, her stomach growled and reminded her that she hasn’t eaten anything since she woke up for class sixteen hours ago, and she’d only had cereal and a granola bar for breakfast.
She got up from her seat to preheat one of those microwave mac n’ cheese she bought with her measly allowance and caught a glance at herself in the mirror. She didn’t consider herself to be beautiful, just plain. Her glasses covered most of her eyes, so despite their rare shade of violet, no one actually took another shot at looking at them. Her brown hair was mousy and she didn’t take the time to fix herself up, so she mostly tied them in two braids going down her shoulders whenever she was at home, and in one braid whenever she went to class.
Her usual style of clothing consisted of jeans and an oversized tee that sometimes had some prints of emo bands or quotes from books or movies. Not a lot of people understood her shirts, and she was fine with that.
But sometimes, she’d find herself hoping she was just like most of the girls here on campus, the ones that knew all the latest trends, had big, glamorous hair, and can walk around in four-inch heels with no problem.
Her best friend, Meaghan, was such a girl and she never had a problem getting dates. Hailee was usually the one who got a pity date, if there was anyone who was willing to pity her, at that. Being the DUFF in the group sucked big time.
“Well, at least I’m not failing,” she murmured. She was startled out of her thoughts when three loud bangs sounded at her door. Her brows furrowed and she opened the door a bit to check who it was, but then she was shoved out of the way and the door was pushed open fully.
“Hey, Hail! Get dressed, we’re going out for drinks at this bar just a little out of town,” Meaghan said, and Hailee adjusted her glasses as she looked at her best friend, and their two friends, Karen and Trish, all dolled up like they’re going to a club, and she winced.
“I can’t. I’m still working on my paper,” Hailee said. Technically, she wasn’t lying. She really was working on her paper, but those were additions she could do in an hour tops. Meaghan’s eyes narrowed and Hailee could already tell her best friend knew she was lying.
“I have it on good authority that you’d already finished your thesis like, weeks ago. Whatever refining on your paper can wait; let’s celebrate that in three weeks from now, we are graduating!” Meaghan exclaimed, and Hailee shook her head.
“I still can’t go, Meg. I don’t exactly have any clothes that are fit for a drink at the bar, or a club, or anything even remotely sexy. If you take me, I’m just going to be the odd one out again,” Hailee said miserably, and the three friends looked at each other sadly before they looked back at Hailee with determination.
“Well, it’s a good thing I expected you to say that because I brought another dress that I know would look amazing on you. Thank God we are the same size,” Meaghan said, taking out a little black dress from her bag.
“And I brought my makeup,” Karen said.
“And my hair curlers because your hair is a whole different part of the Amazon, and they need to be tamed,” Trish added, raising a huge and very intimidating looking paper bag.
Hailee gulped, her face paling.
She should have known her friends would be used to her excuses and will find a way to make sure she went with them. She opened her mouth to say no, but when all three pulled out their best, damn puppy dog begging expressions, she merely sighed in resignation.
“Darn puppy eyes always get me,” Hailee grumbled, and her friends smiled widely, as they can finally play Barbie on their very nerdy friend.
*****
Hailee felt like her scalp was on fire from the amount of tugs and pulls her friends did to her hair in order to turn it marvelous. They practically pushed her into the tub for a bath first, then proceeded to put her under extreme torture by lathering lots of cream and lotion on her body before performing their witching ritual, and by witching ritual, she meant they worked their magic on her face and made her really beautiful, she almost didn’t recognize herself.
“You are so…beautiful, Hailee,” Trish gushed, and Meaghan and Karen sighed, as they looked at Hailee’s transformation.
Hailee’s eyes widened, as she looked at herself up close. Contrary to what she expected, she wasn’t wearing much makeup at all. She was wearing just the right amount to make her violet eyes pop and her pink lips were vamped up with matte red. Her hair was curled and teased, and she looked incredible. She walked backward to check out her dress and her eyes started blurring, reminding her of one important thing.
“I…can’t see,” Hailee said, and their brows furrowed. “I mean…my glasses, I need my glasses,” she picked up her glasses from the table and put them on, making her three friends wince immediately.
“No way; you cannot be wearing that,” Karen said, still wincing.
“Don’t you have any contacts?” Meaghan asked, and Hailee shook her head.
“I’ve never had a reason to since my glasses work fine, and contacts are irritating,” Hailee explained. Meaghan sighed.
“Well, I guess you’re just gonna have to go blind tonight,” she said, and Hailee pouted.
“Can’t I just wear my glasses? I mean, I look pretty enough already with all the work you guys put in,” Hailee said.
“Exactly. We can’t ruin your look by having you wear those ginormous spectacles. It’ll be a waste,” Meaghan said.
“But, I can’t go there without seeing anything!” Hailee said.
“You’re near sighted, aren’t you? Then, don’t look anywhere far,” Karen said, and Hailee sighed while rolling her eyes. They just didn’t understand.
“Guys, come on. Hailee’s ready, we’re ready, let’s go,” Trish said.
Meaghan gave Hailee her arm and Hailee took it gratefully before taking a step and following the other two women out of her room and outside of the dorms. When all four of them piled into a cab, Hailee prayed that nothing bad would happen tonight, and that she gets home in time to do one more read-through for their exam tomorrow.
Hailee did not expect a bar to be this crowded.
It was more of a club than a bar with this amount of turnout, really. There were other girls in skimpy outfits grinding with other guys and girls on the dance floor, rowdy guys in leather vests and leather jackets playing and drinking over by the pool table, and it was really noisy. Hailee was worried that she might not be able to hear tomorrow’s lecture because of her busted eardrums when the night was over.
Trish and Karen had separated from them to go get some drinks. That was fifteen minutes ago. When Hailee turned toward the bar, her two friends were already seated and flirting with a group of guys surrounding them. Hailee shook her head, as she watched them giggle at something one of the guys said before turning her head to look for her other best friend that left her to go to the bathroom.
Hailee was growing more and more uncomfortable by the minute, and the booming club music wasn’t helping her nerves. She was standing stiff where the girls left her and had apparently forgotten about, and she didn’t know what to do. She could go to where Trish and Karen were, but she’d only be a bother, and that would make it awkward for everyone there. She could search for Meaghan, but with her eyesight, it would be a miracle.
She shouldn’t have come to this place at all.
“Excuse me, kitten, but are you alright?” a velvety male voice asked from behind her before she felt a hand hold her shoulder. Her spine tingled from the touch and she turned around. She had to tilt her head up because he was really tall, and she squinted to see his face clearly.
Slowly, his face began to sharpen like a film when it’s developed. The image became clearer and clearer until she could see that his bottom lip was fuller than the upper lip, five o’ clock shadow smattered in his angular jaw, his nose looked like it’s been broken a few times, his eyes were dark blue with green flecks around his pupils, and his brown hair was spiked up in a short faux hawk. He…was…
“…beautiful,” Hailee murmured, and the handsome stranger raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Hailee’s eyes widened.
‘What have I just done?’ she thought.
*****
Carter Maxwell had a rough day.
The package they were supposed to deliver was a bust, and then the boss railed on him because apparently, it was his job to keep the green members in line; as if he didn’t have enough problems running the operations on his own.
He took a swig of his beer, as he leaned his back to the bar, his eyes scanning everyone who came and went into their bar. He had spotted some newcomers earlier; four girls, and plenty attractive ones, too. It was the brunette in the simple black dress that caught his attention though, and he instantly thought that she’d be the woman who can take him home for the night….or he’ll take her home, whichever way she wanted it. It didn’t matter to him where it happened, as long as before the night ended, he’d be coming out of this bar and inside of her.
He scoped the girl the way a hunter would his prey, and the longer he watched, the more he realized that she wasn’t used to the feel of a club, judging by how stiff she was and the semi-fearful way her eyes took in everything. He smirked when she raised her hand up and made a motion to push something between her eyes, and then automatically dropping it once she realized nothing was there.
She really didn’t belong in a club. He wondered who brought her here and left her to fend for herself. It was a little sad.
At the corner of his eye, he saw that he wasn’t the only man that noticed this beautiful, yet uncomfortable bombshell. There were three guys over by one of the small tables holding drinks and looking her over lecherously, and Carter frowned. They didn’t look like they were up to any good.
In fact, Carter was sure they wanted to do the same thing he wanted to do to her, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.
So, he did what any male at this point would do when he wanted a woman that other men were gunning for: he staked his claim.
“Excuse me, kitten, but are you alright?” he asked, tapping her in the shoulder, as he walked up behind her. She jumped a bit before turning toward him, and Carter felt his heart skip a beat as soon as her dazzling violet eyes met his.
“God damn. She was even more beautiful up close,” he thought, utterly awed by her.
“…beautiful,” she said softly, and he was surprised because he’s heard a lot of women call him a lot of things, some of them were pretty horrible really, but never was he called ‘beautiful’ before. And, if anyone was beautiful in this equation, it was her without a doubt.
He coughed and she seemed to have come back to her senses because she slapped both of her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide, and he chuckled at how endearing and adorable she looked.
“Are you alright?” he repeated, and she nodded her head multiple times with her hands still covering her mouth. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “I’m sorry to be blunt, but…you’ve been standing here for about fifteen minutes now, and I’ve been wondering what you’re doing,” he continued, and she dropped her hands in shock.
“Has it really been that long?” she asked, and he nodded. She bit her lip and looked at something at the corner of her eye and he followed it, seeing two girls surrounded by men at the bar. It was the girls that came with her at the bar earlier.
“Did they abandon you or something?” he asked.
“Or something,” she replied before sighing. “Do you know where the restroom is?” she asked.
Carter could still feel the guys from the tale looking at them, so he nodded. “I’ll take you,” he said, putting his hand on her lower back, not giving her an option to reject his offer to escort her. He directed her toward the end of the opposite wall, and it looked like she was still looking around.
Hailee scoured the heads bobbing around the club and gasped when she saw her best friend trying to push a guy away from her. Hailee quickened her pace and got to Meaghan before the guy got any ideas.
“Hailee!” Meaghan cried in relief, clutching Hailee’s arm as they stared at the drunk guy.
“Are you ok? You were gone for a long time,” Hailee said.
“I’m fine, let’s just go,” Meaghan said, pulling Hailee away, but the drunk guy grabbed her hand, stopping her.
“Hey, where are you going? We’re still talking, hot stuff,” the drunk guy slurred. He tried to pull her back, but another hand grabbed at his wrist, making him look up in confusion. Carter had stopped him; his eyes livid as he positioned himself in between the two women and the guy.
“They don’t want to talk to you. Go away.” Carter said, his tone deep and threatening. The drunk man seemed to come to his senses and he nodded, sluggishly moving away from them and into the crowd. Carter watched him disappear before turning back to the girls. Meaghan was smiling brightly at him while Hailee looked anywhere but him and was scratching the back of her neck.
“Thanks,” Meaghan said, and Carter nodded.
“Don’t mention it. The name’s Carter,” he introduced himself, putting his hand out for them to shake.
“Meaghan, that’s Hailee.” She said, pointing to her best friend before taking his hand immediately with a smile.
He nodded and tilted his head to try to catch Hailee’s eye, and Meaghan noticed. “She’s been standing all alone on the dance floor while you were gone and your other friends are over by the bar,” Carter explained. Meaghan gasped at this and looked at Hailee guiltily.
“I am so sorry about that! I really did go to the rest room, but when I got out, the guy started hitting on me and wouldn’t let me leave. It was great timing when you two came when you did,” Meaghan said, and Hailee grinned.
“It’s okay. At least you’re safe,” Hailee said. “Listen, this really isn’t my scene, so I think I should leave,” she said, and Meaghan pouted.
“But, we haven’t even been here for long. Come on, can’t we stay a little bit longer? I want to have some fun!” Meaghan begged her.
Carter, who kept silent and listened to their conversation, intervened at this point. “Listen, my guys are playing pool over there, so you gals can join us if you want,” Carter suggested, and Meaghan’s eyes lit up. She turned her bright eyes to Hailee and the latter raised her hands in surrender, and the former cheered. Carter led them to their pool table, did a quick introduction for everyone, and sat beside Hailee who was sipping water from her glass, as they watched his friends try and teach Meaghan how to play ball.
“How are you feeling?” Carter asked. Hailee shrugged.
“Beats standing like an idiot in the middle of the dance floor,” Hailee shrugged, and Carter chuckled.
“So, what’s a good girl like you doing in a place like this?” he asked. She raised one eyebrow at him.
“What makes you think I’m a good girl?”
Carter made a show of roving his eyes from her toes all the way up to her face, making Hailee blush. “Trust me. I’ve been around. I know a good girl when I see one.”
Hailee sighed, knowing she was busted before she even began.
“Yeah, you got it. My friends dragged me here because they wanted to celebrate that we were graduating next month,” Hailee explained.
“High school or college?” Carter said, teasing her. Hailee gaped at him and hit his arm, causing him to chuckle.
“College! Duh. I don’t look like a high school student!” she said, and Carter shook his head.
“I’m just pulling your chain,” Carter moved closer to her and Hailee shivered a bit. “You want to dance?” he asked, looking over at the dance floor when the next song played. Hailee bit her lip.
“I don’t know how,” she admitted, and Carter smiled at her.
“Nothing to it. I’ll lead.” Carter said, making her laugh.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who leads when club dancing,” she said, and he took her hand in his and walked with his back to the dance floor, looking at her, as he pulled her there.
“There is always someone who leads, kitten. The question is, if you’ll follow,” Carter replied, and once they reached their spot, they only needed to look into each other’s eyes and they were totally in sync.
They danced with each other for the whole song, and when a slow one came next, they continued to sway against each other. It was only when Hailee noticed something vibrating in her purse that she snapped out of the bubble she and Carter created and looked for her phone.
Mom calling…