Chapter Two: Lacey

I watched Ezra flirt with the two scantily clad women outside my office window, the ones now running their hands over his chest, sidling up to him as though attached at the hip, whispering sweet nothings in his ear as they trailed fingernails up and down his muscled arms.

It was sickening.

I got to my feet with a disgusted groan and shut the blinds to my inside office window, wishing I could just throw something at them instead. Of course, my best friend was allowed to flirt and fuck whoever he wanted to, but was it necessary to do it everywhere he went? I sometimes swore that another woman was lined up with every step he took, just waiting to hop into bed with the notorious Ezra Trevino; rich, handsome, successful, and a womanizer. Somehow, they didn’t seem to mind the womanizer part.

I sat back down behind my desk and booted up my laptop to run the numbers for the club. I was the official bookkeeper for Club Phoenix but often felt like so much more than that. Bartender, manager, supervisor, wait staff, dancer—I did what needed to be done and when mostly because I had watched and even helped Ezra build this club from the ground up. It was my baby as much as his, and it was a great job to have; that is when everything was working and running the way it was supposed to. Most of the time, Ezra seemed to just wing it; his job, social life, career, everything. I guess you could say that I was there to help him manage it … manage him, even, because that’s what best friends did.

Or at least, that’s what I did.

I got up and opened the curtains to my office window to peer out into the city sprawled out in front of us, admiring the twinkle of the lights against the huge windowpane. The view here never got old; it was something I could look forward to every day, and its ambiance put me at ease and calmed my nerves. Ezra often liked to point out what a basket case I was and that sometimes I just needed to relax, but that was easier said than done. Maybe that’s why we were such good friends, opposites, and all that.

I sat back down at my desk and checked my phone, noticing that I had a text from a guy I’d been loosely seeing. And by loosely, I mean we’d gone out on two dates, and now he wouldn’t stop harassing me. I was convinced he just wanted to get close to me so he could get close to Ezra, too, because every time we spoke, the dude happened to bring up some stupid business opportunity he wanted to try, and that was something I couldn’t care less about. The guy, Carl, was charming enough. And handsome. But he wasn’t my type, and he didn’t seem to grasp that very well. Besides, I did better on my own. A recluse, as Ezra would say, but the truth was … I didn’t like being alone. I definitely preferred it more than the average person, sure, but who didn’t dream of finding their soulmate? I think everyone gets lonely sometimes. It’s human nature.

A hard knock on the door shook me out of my trance, and before I could get over to open it, my good friend and server extraordinaire Tilly poked her head in, eyes landing immediately on me.

“Whaddup, pretty lady?” she said, welcoming herself into the office before I could speak. She shut the door behind her and went at once to the liquor cabinet behind the desk (Ezra made it a habit to make sure each room in the damn club was well stocked with booze, even though I didn’t need it and rarely used it).

“Oh, you know,” I said, sitting back down in my chair. “Just working. Or trying to.”

Missing the point entirely, Tilly poured herself a vodka tonic before falling dramatically into the seat across the desk from me, swinging her long, slender legs over the side of the chair as she sipped on her drink.

“Where’s Ezra?” she asked, and I shrugged, feeling annoyed suddenly at the sound of his name.

“Last I saw, he was with two hookers outside the door. Probably took them to the apartment.”

“Hmmm,” said Tilly, furrowing her brow at me. “Do I sense some—jealousy?”

“Jealous? Of them?” I tried to play it off, but I knew she could see right through me. “I just think it’s irresponsible of him, is all. Like, doesn’t he worry about STDs? Or pregnancy?”

“You’ve met Ezra, right?” she teased. “He doesn’t worry about anything.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s part of the problem.”

Tilly watched me longer as I typed notes into the computer, simply reading me like an open book. On the outside, my friend looked like the cliched, possibly air-headed dancer you might see in a strip club with her long, thick blonde hair that she ratted up for the show, fake lashes, red lipstick, and high heels, but the truth of it was, Tilly was one of the smartest and most observant people I knew. It’s what made her so damn intimidating. She could spot a lie before it even came out of your mouth.

“How’s Carl?” Tilly asked, running a perfectly manicured hand through her hair. “Are you guys going to go out again?” Just thinking about the guy again made me groan, and Tilly laughed. “Things are that good, huh?”

“I mean, they’re not horrible,” I admitted. “But the guy is just—I don’t know. Not my type, I guess.”

“Honey, rich and handsome is everyone’s type,” insisted Tilly. “And he obviously likes you. Why not give it a try?”

“I did give it a try. Twice.”

“That’s not long enough to gauge whether or not someone is relationship material,” she said. “You’re barely dipping your toe in the sand. Have you two even had sex?”

“Tilly!” I snapped, feeling the heat rise up my neck and cheeks. “No, we haven’t had sex. I don’t make it a habit to sleep with a guy on the first date.”

“Or the second, apparently,” she said with a laugh. “How can you determine if a relationship will be any good if you don’t fuck the guy?”

I turned my head away from her, mostly to try and hide the humiliation that I knew was burning bright on my face. Tilly, much like Ezra, was not a stranger to her sexual adventures. One of the many things I envied about her was how openly she embraced it. On the other hand, I was what Ezra would call a prude.

“I just don’t think he’s the one,” I said finally, pouring myself a drink. I rarely drank on the job, but sometimes these conversations made it difficult not to. “Why would I sleep with him if I don’t see a future with him?”

“Uh, because he’s cute, duh.” Tilly finished her drink and set the empty glass down on my desk, eying me. “Sex can be for fun, you know,” she continued. “It doesn’t always have to be about whether or not the guy you’re fucking is marriage material. You’re young, Lacey. You’re allowed to let loose.”

“I know I’m allowed to,” I insisted. “I just don’t see the point.”

“Is it that you don’t see the point, or is it that you’re in love with someone else?”

Her words hit me hard, just as they always did, and I glared at her as I mixed my martini and sat back down, wishing I wasn’t so damn easy for her to read.

“Ezra is my best friend,” I said steadily. “Just because we’re close doesn’t mean I’m in love with him.”

“Keep telling yourself that, and you might actually believe it someday.” Tilly stood from her seat with a shrug, then came around the desk to wrap her arms around me, squeezing me tight. I couldn’t be angry at her; she simply spoke the words I couldn’t say aloud. As she walked to the door to get back to her shift, she stopped once more and turned to me. “Maybe you should tell him how you feel,” she said softly. “If you don’t, you might never know if he feels the same way.”

“Have you met Ezra?” I said, forcing a laugh. “We all know how he feels, and it has nothing to do with me.”

Shaking her head, Tilly left me alone to mope about it by myself. I took another drink of my martini and reached for my cell phone to text to Carl back with a sigh. Maybe Tilly was right; I was young, moderately attractive, and basically waiting on something I knew would probably never happen. I couldn’t let him hold me back, not anymore.

It was time to move on.