“I need to head to the back office too,” he responded.
We strolled to the back door as I pulled my phone out. The hairs on the back of my neck still standing, I happened to glance up ahead of me, and froze. I had to do a double-take to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me in the dark club. I blinked a few times, and sure enough, not ten feet from me stood Ethan fucking Miller—Chanel’s ex.
“You all right?” I heard Leon behind me.
In the back of my mind, I knew he was right behind me, but his voice sounded miles away. My brain had become consumed with too many questions and intentions to pay attention to anyone besides the clown who stood right in front of me. In my fucking club.
This couldnotbe happening. I’d spent months looking for this fool, had just spoken with Quincy earlier in the day, and now here he was, standing next to some guy who looked semi-familiar, but I was too focused on Ethan to try and recall who anyone else was.
“Nah,” I answered Leon, “but I will be,” I stated, balling my hands into fists. “You know that motherfucker?” I threw my chin towards Ethan.
“No,” Leon responded.
I approached Ethan. “What the fuck is your bitch ass doing in my club?”
I wasn’t in the mood for niceties. I’d been waiting for this moment ever since I saw that picture of Chanel bloodied and bruised. I could feel the blood boiling as it flowed through my veins and I was sure before the end of the night, someone was going to feel my wrath. And not just anyone, but Ethan fucking Miller.
“Who—?”
“Oh, shit! X, what the fuck!?” I heard Leon shout as soon as my fist connected with Ethan’s jaw.
The crunch of that first punch wasn’t nearly satisfying enough, considering Ethan was still on his feet.
“What the fuck!” He yelled before taking a swing at me, missing my face when I pivoted out of the way.
“Who the hell are you?” He asked, holding up his arm to prevent my next swing from connecting.
“Don’t act like you don’t know me,” I yelled back, landing a blow to his abdomen. Another blow with my right hand had him stumbling back. The entire club fell by the wayside, patrons be damned. Music seemed to halt and time stood still. I only heard my breathing as the image of Chanel in the horrible photo came to mind.
“Get the fuck up!” I yelled when he stumbled against the wall. “You like putting your hands on women, so do something to me!” I grunted when he swung, hitting my stomach, but I was too enraged to feel any pain. I did my best to take his head off.
At first, Ethan was just trying to figure out what was going on, but now I felt him start to fight back. That spurred me on.
I swung again, but missed when he ducked. I could hear and feel people on my arms trying to pull me back, but adrenaline had me amped and I didn’t see anyone but him. By that time, we’d backed up so far towards the back exit of the club, there were very few patrons around to witness what was happening. I still didn’t give a shit who was watching. My sole focus was to make Ethan as bruised and bloodied as I’d envisioned since I first learned what type of man he was.
I felt my blood boil when another swing of mine landed against Ethan’s forearm as he blocked it. I countered that last swing with another blow to his stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. Instead of waiting for him to stand upright again, I landed a hook to his chin. That was the blow that sent him back. I began pummeling him with blow after blow, anywhere I could land on his body. I lost count and track of how many times I hit him. I felt wetness hit my face, only to recognize it was the splash of blood that shot from his nose. That didn’t stop me.
“X, yo, that’s enough, man!” I vaguely heard Leon and a few others trying to calm me down.
“Fuck him!” I shouted at the same time I kept trying to hit him. I wasn’t in the mood to be talked down. Not until I heardhervoice.
“Xavier!” It wasn’t the shrill tone in her voice that got me. It wasn’t the fact that she was there in the first place that stopped me. It was the fear that penetrated her tone. I hated to hear anything akin to fear coming from her.
I caught myself right before I gave Ethan another punch and stood up, looking at Chanel. Her eyes were wide. She seemed confused...that is, until those big brown eyes strayed down to look at the man on the floor. Confusion was replaced by shock when recognition appeared on her face.
“Ethan?”
****
Chanel
“I cannot believe you!” I shouted as we walked in our hotel room.
I was just getting over my shock at seeing my boyfriend pummeling my ex in his nightclub. “I can’t even imagine what you were thinking,” I began as I paced back and forth in the hotel suite’s living room space. “When I’d heard on one of the security guard’s walkie-talkies that one of the owners of the club was in a fight, I thought surely, they were talking about Leon, because there was no way Xavier Grant—myXavier—would behave in such a way. But nooo, I come down the hallway to see my date for the evening beating the hell out of someone. And then, to see who it was…” I broke off, shaking my head.
I still was processing it. Leon had tried to hold me back as security tried to break it up. I managed to break free of Leon and get closer to Xavier. When I realized my eyes weren’t deceiving me and that I was indeed watching Xavier beat someone’s ass, I began screaming his name until he stopped. He looked like he was coming out of a trance as he looked up at me.
“Are you going to say anything?!” I squealed, my anger growing at his silence and seeming nonchalance.
