Deux

My limbs felt numb, brittle even. Stuck in the same position that man left me in. Or maybe I dreamt up that face, that touch. God knows I've been dreaming lately.

Just as I was about to sit on the plush oversized chair on the balcony- which I should've been sitting on in the first place- a pair of small hands wrapped themselves around my body. I peer up to find Hayley wearing a radiant grin, spanning from ear to ear. I whirl around completely to face her. I release a small gasp, my anxiety dwindling away as I took in her beautiful ombre features and shocking blonde hair. I throw my arms around her, almost throwing us both to the floor 

"Oh my God, I missed you so much. Don't you ever leave me in his place by myself again." She all but screamed in my ear. "Gosh, why are you all wet?" She pulled a face as she took me in.

Because the hottest man in all of France just save me from falling and I dunked myself in wine and him. Wait, did he get wet?

None of that comes from my mouth, "It was an accident, doesn't matter." I shake my head.

"Well, that accident looks like a thousand-dollar bottle of Lavigne to me." She deadpanned.

A noise from down below jolts me into defense mode. "Let's go somewhere else." I grab Hayley's arm.

"Why?" She winced. "Okay, I'm moving, I'm moving." I pop open the door to the kitchen and drag her to the nearest bathroom in the maze. It was a employees' bathroom, clean enough to sit in but with little privacy. I check the stalls to make sure we're alone.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She cried out, rubbing her wrist.

"I can't let dad see me." I huff out and sank onto a stool.

Just like that, her eyes softened. "It's been a lot right?" I sigh and nodded.

"It hasn't been any better here either, in fact, he's been worse. It has been events after events, he doesn't rest, he drives the staff crazy." That sounds a lot like Peter Monroe, putting work above all else. It got even worse when mom died. That's why I had to get the hell out of this place. 

"Hell, I feel it and I'm nowhere near him most of the time. Did he tell you why he wanted you back?" Hayley's complaint finally brought me out of my spiel.

"No, but I have a feeling that this year's going to end with an engagement ring on my finger." I grimace at my own words.

"Or a wedding ring." Hayley snorted in reply. She held her hand up as soon as she identifies the look of pure borrow I assume is on my face. "Joking, I'm joking. But I am really glad you're back. The place wasn't the same without you. So how was Chile, were the men as hot as they look on vacation pamphlets?"

"Is that all you think about?"

"I'm twenty years old, horny and single. Of course that's all that I think about. So?" She leaned her body on the wash stand and propped her chin up on her elbow.

I rolled my eyes, and fed her as much gossip as I could. "The men there are gorgeous, sun-washed glorious skin with impressive adams apples and ripped bodies." I didn't have the time to dabble in Chilean waters, no matter the amount of perfect fish swimming in it. "Speaking of gorgeous men, I saw a guy today, he looks like a lead in a Moschino commercial."

"You mean Xander? He's Mr. Monroe's driver, nasty attitude. He's never spoken to any one of us, only him. But God knows he doesn't even need to say a word to me. My body will do all the talking for him. Anyway he wants."

"First of all, eww, second of all, not a word to anyone? Why?"

"Heck if I know, he obviously wants to keep to himself so I don't even bother." I pick up a tone in all of that and I smirk.

"You totally want to jump his bones don't you?" Not that I would blame her.

"Don't you?" She shot back then pulled a bottle from her bag.

I raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"What does it look like?" She emptied the bottle into her mouth. I took the chance to read the label. My eyes widened.

"Gold rum? If your mom catches us with that, you'll be eating from a straw in your room until school starts." I remember the first time she drank this, I spent the next day trying to convince her that she wasn't riding on a unicorn on top of the Eiffel Tower.

"Eesh. So grim. Well, we won't finish them here. I'm saving some for the club." Her cheeks puckered as the taste kicked in. But I was more curious about the nonsense she said.

"Uh we?"

"Yes, Leah. We. As in me, you and half a dozen gold rum. What's the point of my best friend coming back home if we don't celebrate it, Davenport style."

I could feel it. The amount of booze in that bag could do for this entire house. I felt drunk already but somehow I couldn't bring myself to care.

***

"Uh, Hayley, I think you should slow down a bit."

Half an hour in one of South France's hippest clubs and my best friend was already on her way to being shitfaced. I watch her gulp another shot of rum and white champagne. Or what we call "gold rum". 

"You might not want to drink but I have to drink for the both of us. Besides, Danny's here." She grabbed the sides of her dress and wiggled upwards, fixing it to her comfort.

"What do you mean?" I spun to look in the direction she was staring the whole time. How did I not realize? Daniel, her on-again-off-again boyfriend was huddled up in a corner booth with a blonde number clinging to his side. My expression soured. "I see he's moving right along."

"Yeah, that one's actually a model. From wherever." She rolled her eyes, an attempt to seem unaffected but I knew better. Her tough girl persona can only go so far. And I was her best friend after all.

I hate to say I told you so but I did tell her so. Daniel Durand was a liar, a cheater, a heartbreaker, the worst of the worst. I smelled it from a mile away but my best friend, God bless her poor taste and judgment in men, wanted a taste of what the slums had to offer. I didn't like it and I made it clear. Apparently, something happened when I was away and Hayley, being Hayley, didn't want to upset me with it.

"You know, you're still the best girl yet. Blondie couldn't walk a mile in those overpriced stilettos." Her ankle chose that moment to twist out, throwing her onto me. "And neither can you apparently."

I could do way better than watch her bludgeon her liver. I reached for one of the bottles and toss it back before she could get to it, welcoming the burn that followed.

"Hey! That one was mine." She complained with a cute little pout. Right now it was so hard to picture her as the aspiring lawyer she was studying to be.

I slammed the bottle down on the marble counter and swiped the excess rum from my lips. Maybe that was one too many shots, but I needed to be drunk for the plan devising in my head.

I drank three more and wrap my hands around her waist and pulled her into the crowd of gyrating bodies. 

"Who are you and what have you done with Leah Monroe? Seriously, did you spend your sabbatical in a club?" I swing my hips playfully in her direction. You wouldn't catch me dead in a club like this or even drinking this much. But desperate times….

Her complaints were short-lived when a familiar upbeat song chipped in on the overhead speakers. And just like that, Hayley Davenport busted out her chacha moves she learned from years of experience, I, on the other hand, bounced to the music, downing as much rum as I could. 

My eyes never left Daniel as he hacked off that poor girl's ear. He chuckled. I bet he was hearing just the right words from his flavor of the week. I'd like to snatch that smirk off his face and wipe the floor with it.

Soon the drinks I had started to kick in. I no longer saw one Hayley, I saw three. But on the upside, my confidence was through the roof. It was at that moment I decided to match across the dancefloor to Daniel.

"Leah, where are you going?" I heard Hayley shouting after me. Her voice died down when I finally came to a halt, right in front of her ex.

"They just let anyone in the club these days." Daniel sniff when he saw us.

"Shut up. We both know you're the only riffraff here." I can only imagine the nasty smirk on my face as I stare down at him.

"Leah, what are you doing?"

Daniel scoffed, looking at Hayley. "Do you let your little bestie do all the fighting for you?" 

"Don't talk to her, as a matter of fact, don't even look at her. I don't know what you did but you should be glad I wasn't here when it happened." I was pissed and the alcohol in my viens was making it so much easier to let it all out on him.

"Leah, let's just go." I turn to look at Hayley, her large eyes bore into mine, pleading. I sighed. "Fine, we're going."

Just then a bartender walked up to the booth and dropped a bottle of Lavigne Red on the table between us. I snatched it up and took a sip before Daniel could get to it. "Yeah," I turn back to her, "we will go."

"But first," I reach forward and poured the bottle on his head, soaking him and his little friend. "Complements from the vineyard little bitch." He shot up from the seat, his eyes wide in horror. I was starting to think that I shouldn't have done that. 

Before he made after us, I dashed out of the booth with Hayley following and set for the back door. Luckily my car was right around the corner so we didn't have to run far. It was the fastest I started and drove a car in heels. The club was in my rearview. A few moments later, my white E-class Mercedes Benz was rolling through the rustic gates of the estate.

The night lights were off so the only light on the compound was from my car. Hayley quickly hopped out and I made sure she slipped in through the side window of her house before I drove down to the Monroe quarters. I hobbled to the back door, the frosty air biting in my skin. I quickly searched for the keys but before I could open it, my feet collapsed.

A large pair of feet appeared in view. I smelled that before. My eyes trailed up. Oh shit. It was the man from today, smirking down at me.

"If I ask if you're drunk, will you say yes this time?" He offered a hand to me and I quickly took it. His hands were velvety, just as I remembered. And a single shot of awareness shot through my body as I took in that godlike face.

Wait. What was he doing here so late? Oh he was a driver. But he was here now, that meant my father was leaving or he just came home. 

"My father." I gulped, attempting to steady myself on him, I fell face down into his chest instead. The spices of his powerful cologne attacked me, the liquor coursing through my veins heightened it.

"Yeah yeah, princess." He finished turning the key I abandoned in the door and it creaked open. I couldn't help but hang on to his body for support, even though I could full well walk by myself. He felt too good not to touch. My body stiffened when I realized he was going toward the kitchen. If my father sees me like this, he'll have my head.

"Not that way." I clung to his arm tightly, pulling him back. His steps halted and he turned to face me.

"What now?" He snapped with open disdain.

"My bedroom, it's up there." I pointed towards the steps. I half expected him to drag me up there but instead, he flipped me into a cradle and mounted the steps.

"I should really pay you for all the saving you've been doing today." I joked. He made a noncommittal sound. Something tells me he didn't find anything I say remotely funny. What the hell did I ever do to him anyway?

I vaguely heard him mutter "you rich people really like throwing money, huh?" I chose to not acknowledge it. Now wasn't the time to be pissy, especially since he saved my ass again. He helped me to the bed and pulled the covers off.

I shifted my weight to the bed, propping my back on the mountain of plush pillows. "So, I hear that you're a real talker, Mr. Xander." I heard myself say. Why can't I take a damn hint and shut the hell up? 

"Are you always this annoying or is this the alcohol talking?"

"Now now. That's not a nice thing to say. Especially to your boss' daughter?" I tsked.

"I'm not a nice guy, sweetheart." He released a grunt as he kneeled to pull my shoes off. "Why the fuck am I talking to a drunk twenty-year-old?" He asked, more himself than me. 

"For your information mister, I'm twenty-two." I corrected with a huff. Suddenly, I felt all my strength leave my body. Guess that's what happens when you drink in pints.

"Good to know." He chided, I could feel the annoyance rolling from his body in waves before he retreated from my bedside and finally, the room.