Untamed Sweethearts

Chapter 6

By the time they walk out of the club, Cheryl is looking absolutely dreadful. Maggie can just guess why! She should have gone after this guy and proven he was a player before Cheryl spent the entire night waiting for him! Now Cheryl’s in love, and he has pulled his first disappearing act. Knowing Cheryl, this is going to carry on for a couple of months until he finally just disappears out of her life completely.

These players don’t always stick around the same club for too long. If they did, it would limit their hunting grounds. Damn bastard probably already picked up his little side dish for the night before even thinking of coming to the club.

Why did poor Cheryl always have to pick the pretty ones and then land up getting hurt? Maggie wishes for her friend to find real love. A man that will deserve her and treat her as if she’s his princess. They drive home in silence, and she waves at Cheryl when she drives off. Her heart aches for her friend, but in all honesty, there is not much she can do about it if Cheryl won’t listen.

Maggie gets undressed and crawls into bed. She will take a shower when she gets up in a couple of hours. Right now, she just wants some sleep.

***

Mateo takes one last look at the locked gate, then drives off. He was fighting with himself for most of the evening, trying to convince himself that he shouldn’t go to the club again. Things between him and Maggie’s friend were going in the wrong direction, and he didn’t want to hurt the poor girl, but then, he didn’t know if he wanted Maggie to even know who he was.

She hadn’t recognized him once, and if he was as important to her all those years ago… Shouldn’t she have? He sighs as he drops his keys in the crystal bowl before walking into his apartment.

In the end, he couldn’t help himself, and he drove to the club to wait for them to leave. Following them home to make sure they were safe. At least, now he knows where Maggie lives… But is that a good thing under the circumstances?

“Goddammit!” He swears at himself, pulling his fingers through his thick hair. He should never have gone to the damn club in the first place! Once again, Maggie had waltzed into his life, turned it completely upside down, and now he is left dealing with the consequences!

He sighs and walks into the kitchen. If he is brutally honest, it’s not her fault this time. She doesn’t even recognize him. He has an early morning meeting with the board and if he’s going to be awake enough to sit through it, he had better go to bed right now.

***

A couple of days had passed, and there was no sign of the player, which just confirmed what Maggie thought he would do. Handing her friend a glass of red wine, she sits down next to her on the couch. It’s Saturday, and they are both working a double shift tonight.

“But William was there, every night. He is positively swooning over Elina! Did you see them? It’s positively nauseating!”

“Oh, hun, just be happy for her that she found a good one.” Maggie took a huge sip from her glass. This had been carrying on for the past two hours, and she was out of tissues. They are scattered everywhere, soaked in Cheryl’s tears.

“Honey, I don’t want to say I told…”

“Yes, yes. I know!” Cheryl held up her hand to silence Maggie. “You told me so. But why on earth do I always have to end up with the ones who don’t want a girl? Or is it me? Do I repel men?!” Her eyes widen, she looks at Maggie, who steadily holds her glass to her mouth…

“It’s not you, sweetie, it’s your choice. You always go for the pretty boys.”

“But I don’t want someone I’m not attracted to. I’m sure you wouldn’t.”

“I wouldn’t go into any kind of date with the idea of a future wedding. Look, I just want one night with them, so they can scratch an itch, then I don’t want to see them again.” Cheryl rolls her eyes at this. They’ve had this discussion for the past couple of years now. Maggie has a pretty huge reputation for being a player herself, and that puts it nicely!

“You do realize that most of the locals in the club refer to you as a bit of a tart.” This comment makes Maggie laugh out loud.

“That was very diplomatic of you. Thanks!”

She looks at her watch and realizes they are going to be late if they don’t hurry up and get ready. Saturday nights are their busiest under normal circumstances, but on payday weekends, it’s almost unbearable. There will be no time for dancing or socializing. They move so fast to get people their drinks that they don’t even get drunk from the free drinks people buy them, but she’s figured out that it’s not a good night to drink. In fact, she spits her free drinks into an empty bottle to throw away later. Drinking on a night like this only gets you into trouble. You mess up orders and give people incorrect change, and that just put more stress on you.

Her first couple of nights, she swallowed… Her eyes roll at her own train of thought as they slide into Cheryl’s car and make their way to the club.

***

“Hey, man. Where have you been?” William answered the phone. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I had some serious urgent business to take care of. I just arrived back home this morning. Jet lag sucks!” Mateo sighs.

His board meeting turned into a couple of urgent travel arrangements, and he found himself in three countries within four days.

“How are things with you and your girl?” He wanted to know if they were going to the club, but he didn’t want to sound too obvious.

“Good, she’s actually sitting here next to me. Do you want to say Hi? Say hi. Love, it’s Mateo.”

“Oh, Hi Mateo, how are you?” Elina’s sharp, shrill voice comes onto the line before Mateo has a chance to get off the call.

“I’m good thanks, just tired. How are you?”

“Great! Are you coming with us tonight?” Who would have thought that she would give him the response he needed?

“Yeah, why the hell not? What time?” They make their arrangements and Mateo rushes to the shower. His jet lag is completely forgotten as all he can think about is seeing Maggie again.

Damn! How can you love someone so deeply even after they hurt you so badly?!

***

“He’s here! He’s here!” Cheryl grabs hold of Maggie’s arm, tightly squeezing it.

“Dude! Don’t you remember how you were crying in my flat just a couple of hours ago?!” She rolls her eyes, but knows full well that Cheryl isn’t hearing a word. Maggie could just see it. Cheryl will find a way to paw her bar off on Maggie and join yet another man for a night of partying.

She looks down the length of the bar at the number of people who are still waiting to be served and sighs. It’s going to be a long damn night!

***

The woman comes running out from behind the bar and jumps him, nearly making him tip over.

“I missed you! Where have you been?” Mateo’s hands held her up while her legs were around his waist.

“I had some work to deal with. Are you working tonight? I can see your friend is having a hard time on her own.” He nods in Margaret’s direction, but Cheryl simply waves it off, saying that she had already arranged for Maggie to take over her bar.

On the one hand, he almost feels sorry for Maggie, but on the other, maybe it will be the perfect punishment for her because she doesn’t remember him. While he was away, he stalked her on social media, and she’s been one hell of a partier.

There is no sign of her ex-husband or any boyfriends, and he wonders if she’s single. She was never single for a very long time. However, he can’t really ask Cheryl. Taking a seat while William and Elina get their drinks, he isn’t surprised when Cheryl makes herself comfortable on his lap.

She is a cute little thing, but she is not his cup of tea. She’s a whooohoooo girl, and he can’t deal with their over-excitement.

He had positioned them, so he could keep an eye on the bar, and he hoped that she didn’t notice. Slowly sipping on his beer, he pretends to listen to what she’s saying while watching Maggie.

“So? What do you think?” Dammit!

“About what?” The words slipped out before he could think, and he realized she just caught him not listening.