Chapter 1

The chill of the evening and the starless sky were the perfect lookalikes for Lily’s downtrodden heart. She walked quietly beside her best friend Ash, who on the contrary, had a lighter spirit.

“ I don’t think this is a good idea Ash”, Lily said , stopping in her tracks.

“Why not? What better way to get your mood up after your work place just shut down than to go see your boyfriend?”

“He said he was going to meet me at the send off party, I don’t want to disturb him.”

“ Well, it’s the same thing if you go together right? I don’t want you dragging your feet through the party door with a mood like that. Come on, I’m sure Sam would be happy to see you”, Ash smiled and grabbed Lily’s hand as they made their way up Sam’s front steps.

The door was locked when Lily turned the doorknob,”He’s not home. I’m sure he’s still at work ”, she said sadly.

“Bummer”, Ash sighed as they came down his steps.

“Let’s just go home.”

“Wait! That’s his car over there right?” Ash pointed to a red truck packed behind a hedge of bushes.

Lily’s eyes narrowed to where Ash pointed and she saw the car too,” Strange, why would he park there?”

“Girl, I don’t know. Now I have a bad feeling.Let’s check the back door, if it’s locked then we go home.”

Lily nodded in agreement and they both moved silently to the back of the house. To their surprise, the back door was open.

The whole house was dark when they got in.

“Sam?”Lily called out dreadfully.

No response.

The hallway was dark but they could hear soft music from the living room. Lily’s heart pounded against her chest with frantic beats as they emerged into the living room.

“Sam?” Lily called out in a broken whisper.

Her eyes burned with the sting of a heartbreak as she saw her boyfriend get up hastily from his blonde entanglement. Lily recognized who he was with immediately, it was Brittany, her colleague from work.

“Wow!” Lily gave a bleak laugh, tears welling up in her eyes.

“It’s not what you think_”, Sam started.

“It is damn well what we think, Sam!” Ash cut him off.

Brittany buttoned her blouse in a haste, her face flushing with embarrassment. In an instance, she dashed out of sight through the back door.

Tears rolled down Lily’s cheeks, “ Is this because we haven’t had sex yet? You said you could wait.”

“ No, no!”, Sam tried to explain,” This is all me, you had no hand in this”

“Of course she didn’t”, Ash said,” you’re a disappointment! With her own colleague?, That’s low, even for you”

Lily felt like her heart had been broken into a million pieces, and she knew immediately that the bar where she worked wasn’t going to be the only goodbye she was going to say tonight.

Sam rained apologies from his mouth which all fell flat to the ground as soon as they left his mouth.

“How long has this been going on?”

Sam bowed his head “ A month. But, I can fix this Lil_”

“It’s over Sam”, Lily said, breaking down in a pool of tears.

Ash held her immediately and supported her through the hallway, both turning deaf ears to Sam’s pleas.

Once outback Ash gave Lily a long hug,” I’m so sorry friend”

Lily didn’t say a word. She only wiped away uncontrollable tears.

Luckily they had come with Dan’s, Ash’s boyfriend's car. Ash helped Lily get in and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

“You know what?” Ash asked Lily.

“What?”Lily cried.

“Sam doesn’t deserve you, you shouldn’t waste your golden tears on a low life like him. It’ll still hurt tomorrow, but I wanna make you forget tonight!”

“I don’t want to party anymore Ash, I’m so broken, I just want to prepare for my job interview tomorrow and sleep this pain away”, Lily sniffled.

“No friend.”, Ash said, turning the car key into the ignition “ Wipe your eyes, we’re going to that party“

The bar was full when they arrived. There was music blasting at every corner, people dancing and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Lily looked around at the swirl of faces , it was like a den of sorrow, each person dancing with a heavy heart before kissing the bar goodbye. She had loved this place, she loved every glass she had served.

Ash started dancing in front of her,” Come on girl!”, she screamed,” Show me what you got!!”

The neon lights flickered across Lily’s face as she laughed.

“How? You know I’m not exactly the party type Ash.”

“First, take these “,she pulled Lily to the counter and gave her two tequila shots.

“What?!” Lily laughed.

‘ No questions ma’am’

Without another thought, Lily gulped the two shots and grimaced,’ so not nice’

‘Wait for the feeling’, Ash  smirked, pulling her slowly into the crowd.

In no time, they were both dancing and laughing like everyone else until Ash got a call and had to go out to take it.

The air was filled with a mingling mix of sweat and perfume and the crowd was decreasing with people leaving, some muttering words to themselves and staggering out.

Lily looked around, her eyes stopped immediately at a figure at the back. It was a man.

His large frame slouched against the dimly lit corner of the room. His disheveled appearance was a reflection of the two empty bottles in front of him. Her gaze was fixed, almost piercing. 

There was something questionable about his presence, he looked like a lone wolf in a bustling city, out of place yet undeniably captivating. She wondered what on earth brought him to a place like this.

He wasn’t partying with everyone else, instead his gaze was fixed on the window. He looked lost in his thoughts.

She tried to study him.He looked slightly wasted . His hair fell carelessly on his brow, probably because of how he sat. His shirt clung to his chest revealing strength underneath the pump.

 Even in his inebriated state, there was something charming about him - a wildness that gave off a series of untamed nights and reckless abandon. His presence was like a storm on the horizon,thrilling and dangerous all at once.

She mustered courage and walked up to him, maintaining a slight distance.

 It was only up close that she noticed fragments of shattered glass under the table he sat on.She considered retreating but instead she took a seat in front of him.

“Rough day?”

He turned to her immediately, his icy blue eyes fixed on her,” You could say that “, he said, turning away again to the window.

“Well ”,she reached out and caressed his hand,”you didn’t ask but you could say the same for me. Today has been a bad day for me also”

He kept silent.

“Instead  of wallowing in our sorrows’, she stood up and walked over to him. “We should dance it away”, she traced her fingers along his shoulders and down to his back. 

Lily didn’t know why she was doing what she was doing but she couldn’t stop herself , she wanted to take her mind off Sam.

All her life, she had never had sex with anyone because she felt it was sacred and had to be done with the right person . Tonight, she dared to risk it all.

“I don’t dance.”He finally looked up at her.

“Although, there are other things I do very well”, he added as he stood up behind her, grabbing her waist tightly to himself ,”Only if you can play”, his voice was deep and raspy, making every word sound like an invitation.

Lily closed her eyes . She bit her lip as he breathed down the nape of her neck. His hands squeezed her side as she let out a low moan.

She relaxed in the moment, the tension in her muscles, easing with every touch from him. It was as if he unleashed something in her that had been waiting to be set free.

“Close your eyes”, he said, unknotting his tie.

As she did,she felt him place the tie on her eyelids as a blindfold. His hands were cold as ice as he wrapped it round hers.

She followed his lead as he swept her through the crowd and outside the door into the night.

A dark figure followed them quietly through the shadows ,stopping right after they left the door, eyes fixed on every move.