Hell, Iamthe boss.
I can take the fucking day off if I want.
She’s right.
I have been moping around like a fucking lost puppy for days now. If I really think about it, it’s more like weeks. I need to let my hair down and try to forget about Ria.
So I take a swig of the potent liquid as Robert laughs while mopping the floor.
“Robert, you good to lock up?” Alex calls out.
“Yeah, you kids have fun,” he calls back.
I nod as we walk out the front of the gallery and onto the street. The night air feels damp, and only the street lights illuminate the gray night sky. The overcast, ominous clouds fill the dreary atmosphere with purple and black tones. It’s not late, but it looks like it, as the moon is hidden beneath the overclouded heavens.
“Where are we going? To a pub or something?” I ask, and Alex scoffs, then shakes her head.
“God no, pubs are for pussies. We’re going somewhere far more hardcore.”
Tensing up, I clench my jaw, wondering what kind of shit Alex is into. I don’t know her all that well. Besides we’ve been working together for only a short time. Sure, I spend a lot of time with her, but I know nothing about her. She could be an underground raver. She could be into BDSM. She could be one of those people who thinks they’re a freaking vampire. Fuck knows what I’m about to get myself into.
“Alex.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Nate! I didn’t picture you as a wimp.”
I puff my chest out slightly. “I’m not.”
“Then shut the hell up and trust me,” she says, dragging me toward my security detail’s car. I take a deep breath and nod matter-of-factly like I agree with her, even though I’m still not convinced I’m not heading to a dominatrix dungeon.
We slide into the car, where she leans forward and whispers to the driver. I crease my face in annoyance that I didn’t hear our destination, but I guess I have to trust her on this one.
She turns to me with a knowing smile as the car eases onto the road. “You’re gonna love it, Nate,” she murmurs, and I lift the bottle to my lips. I smirk, shaking my head just once, then take another long pull of tequila. The burn hits, sharp and alive—a reminder that there is still something alive inside me, a spark of a sensation that life isn’t entirely numb, even after losing something irreplaceable.
My chest squeezes while thinking of Ria, and I wince slightly.
Alex notices, places her hand on my knee, gives it a little squeeze, then takes the bottle from me and takes a sip. She looks at me and sighs. “Look, I know things with you and Ria are…strained—”
“I think strained is not the word I’d be looking for, Alex. Overis more like it.”
She frowns. “Well, in any case, I want you to try to have fun. I know breakups are hard. Trust me, I know. But Ria would still want you to live, not wallow your life away in the studio, pining for her.”
“Has she moved on?” I ask.
Alex furrows her brows, shaking her head slightly. “No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, she wants you to be happy, Nate. So, be happy. Live, paint, percussion-ate?” She scrunches up her face. “Is that even a word? I don’t think that’s a word—”
“Yeah, that’s not a word.” I laugh.
“It should be. It’s a freaking cool word.”
I laugh with a bright smile, and she grins back. “There it is. That’s the smile I’ve been missing. I know this is hard. You and she had a great thing going on. Things are complicated and messy, but if you’re meant to find your way back together, you will. I have faith in that. It’s written in the wind…”
Furrowing my brows at her words that sound eerily like something Whisper would say, I slump with a sigh as I take another long sip of the tequila. The effects of the alcohol swirling through my system make my body tingle and my head fuzzy. The buzz has kicked in, and I have no idea if Alex is feeling tipsy, but I know that if I drink any more, I probably won’t be able to walk in a straight line to wherever we’re going.
The car pulls to a stop, and I furrow my brows. We’ve only been driving for a maximum of five minutes, maybe not even that. Alex bounces up and down in her seat and claps her hands together excitedly as she looks out the window to the right. I follow her gaze and look at a building.
I let out a small, bemused laugh. “You gotta be kidding me?” I murmur, and she turns to face me, her eyes sparkling bright, almost twinkling with utter jubilation that bubbles over in excitement like a fricking kid.
“Nope, not kidding. I’m very, very serious. I take Inflatable Land with one hundred percent seriousness, Nate. So lock and load, my friend. Shit’s about to get crazy!”
