Just what the Doctor ordered

Chapter 5 - Inferno

Addison’s POV

“I’m not going, Tori,” I stated in a huff as I jumped into bed and pulled the covers over my head.

I heard Tori’s footsteps get closer until the covers were ripped away, and my annoyed best friend was staring down at me, “Addie, you need to get out of this place its been over a week and a half. The only times you leave are the one time I dragged you out shopping and when you take Maggie out for walks every day. Your bruises are nearly gone, and it’s time for you to get out in the world again.”

“I’ll be back in the world on Monday when I return to work,” I promised.

She rolled her eyes at me and sat down on the bed, “You can’t hide away and then bury yourself in your work. It’s not the way to deal with things. What Alec did to you was wrong on so many levels, and if you let him continue to control your life, he wins.”

I knew she was right. I had spent my time off camped out on the couch watching bad, made for tv movies, dealing with the insurance company regarding a payout for my damaged belongings and talking with the cops and district attorneys office regarding Alec. When the cops went to arrest Alec on assault charges, he was nowhere to be found. His apartment was empty, and the company he said he worked for had never heard of him. I was starting to think whether I ever knew the real Alec at all. He now had a warrant out for his arrest but what scared me more was that if he couldn’t be located, he couldn’t be served with the protection order paperwork, and as such, he could still come near me with no repercussions. The logical part of me knew I was safe. Alec had only ever met Tori when we were out and about and had no idea where she lived. But I still felt safer inside her apartment with a very surly looking doorman stopping strangers from entering than I did out and about.

My landlord had fixed the front door off my apartment and had even added a few more locks to make me feel safe, but while that place had once felt like my safe haven, it had been violated, and I doubted that I would ever feel safe there again. So I finally took Tori up on her offer to move in with her. It had been a pretty easy move since all my belongings were damaged and broken beyond repair, so it all got thrown out. All my important belongs were already at Tori’s apartment. The rest was just stuff, and considering Tori’s place was fully furnished, I didn’t need any of it. My best friend was stubborn and wouldn’t let me pay rent since she owned the apartment, so I wore her down until she agreed to let me pay for all the groceries, and we split the utilities in half.

Given Tori’s status in the world of the rich and famous, even though she rejected it at every turn, she was always inundated with invitations to the most exclusive parties and club openings, and tonight was no exception. She was trying to get me to attend the opening of a brand new club in Manhatten. Apparently, it was supposed to be the biggest event this year.

“Come on, Addie.” She pleaded, “the best way to get over a bad break-up is to go have some fun. You remember what fun is, don’t you?”

I let out a defeated sigh, “If I agree to go with you will you leave me alone.”

Tori grinned, “I promise I won't bug you for a week.”

“A month.” I countered sternly.

“Two weeks, and that’s my final offer.” She advised holding out her hand.

I took her hand, shaking it, “deal.”

We spent the few hours showering, shaving and primping to get ready for the night. I was still sporting a pale yellow bruise on my cheekbone and a rough scab where Alec’s punch had broken the skin, but with enough concealer and foundation, you couldn’t see it at all. I had to be gentle applying it as my cheekbone was still a little tender. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bone was bruised.

Tori skillfully curled my straight blonde locks until perfect ringlets cascaded down my back. When we had gone out shopping earlier in the week to replace my destroyed clothing, I had gotten just the bare essentials while I waited for my insurance payout to come through. Tori had offered to pay for a new wardrobe for me, but she was already doing so much for me, so I declined. But I hadn’t anticipated going to some ritzy club opening, so I had to relent and borrow a dress from my roommate.

After I slipped it on and studied my appearance in the mirror, I was filled with self-doubt, “I don’t know if this is a good idea, Tori, maybe I better stay home.”

She poked her head into my bathroom, and I watched her eyes light up, “Are you kidding me, Addison you look hot. I’m actually jealous you look better in that dress than I do.”

The dress that she had picked out for me wasn’t exactly subtle. It was probably worth more than I was paid in a month and barely covered enough skin to be called a dress, but even I had to admit I looked good. It was a silver mini halter dress that rested a few inches below my rear end and was skin tight. The neck of the dress was cut into a very low cut v shape that stopped just above my belly button, and the back of the dress was cut just over the top of my ass. Unfortunately, the way the dress was cut didn’t allow for a bra. But thankfully, my b-cup breasts were perky enough to get away with not wearing one, and I had enough body tape on the dress to stop any potential wardrobe malfunctions. Tori had paired my dress with a pair of white gold hoop earrings and a silver pair of four-inch stilettos. I didn’t wear heels often, but I was confident enough not to fall on my face.

Tori had gone a little more overboard than I had, her black dress was even more revealing as mine, and her make up well and truly heavier, but that was Tori. No one could ever accuse her of being a wallflower.

We made our way downstairs, where a town car was waiting to take us to this club, Inferno, I think it was called. When we arrived at the club, I was a little nervous. There were photographers and people everywhere.

“Jeez, who owns this place.” I queried, staring out the window while we waited for the driver to get out and open the back door.

“Only one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City, Maximus Rossi.” She replied, “he hasn’t been back in the city for a while, so this place will be crawling with girls trying to pimp themselves out to him. But this is our night for fun. We will drink, we will dance and maybe find a couple of cute boys to have some unattached fun with.”

It was at that point I knew she was right. Alec was a jackass for what he did to me, but my life shouldn’t just revolve around the clinic. I was thirty years old, not fifty. I had spent my twenties studying and working my ass off. It was time to have some fun.

I waited for Tori to get out of the vehicle before I slid towards the car door and exited as gracefully as possible so I didn’t give the photographers a view that they would never forget. The flashbulbs were going off from every direction as we walked the red carpet up to the beefy bouncer that was operating the door with a perky young woman holding a clipboard, taking into an earpiece in her ear. Tori gave her name over as we handed our ids over to the bouncer to be scanned. After we got them back, the velvet rope was pulled aside for us to enter.

I spent most of my twenties in a library or hospital, so I hadn’t experienced many clubs, but even with my minimal experience, I knew that this place was amazing. There was a large, fully stocked bar in the centre of the room that could be accessed from all sides, with a large VIP area to our left filled with plush couches and its own separate bar area. To the far right was a substantial dancefloor already filled with sweaty bodies getting their grove on to the music the DJ was pumping out from her platform. It was only eleven o’clock, so it was still early in club terms, but this place was already busy.

We made our way to the bar and ordered a round of tequila shots to start with and some vodka martinis to sip on as we got our bearings. Tori handed her credit card over to set up a bar tab for us, and then we moved to the dancefloor. I hated to admit it, but I was actually having a blast. So many guys approached us to dance, but I wasn’t interested. After a few more drinks and an hour or so of non-stop dancing, I went to grab some water, but Tori had found herself a very cute dance partner, so I went on my own.

I was nursing my glass of water at the bar, fending off a bunch of suitors wanting to buy me my next drink, when the bartender that had been serving me all night placed another tequila shot in front of me.

“Thanks, Zoe.” I advised, reading her name badge, “but I didn’t order this.”

“No, you didn’t, but he did.’ She answered, nodding her head in the direction of the VIP area.

I turned slightly, and my eyes drifted over to where she was gesturing, landing on a gorgeous man in a dark suit, sitting on one of the lounges. His eyes felt like they were burning a hole through mine.

I glanced away, trying not to blush. He seemed to have perfected the smouldering look and even turned away, I could still feel his eyes on me.

I pushed the drink towards the bartender, “please extend my thanks to him for the drink, but I don’t accept drinks from strangers.”

She nodded and took back the shot before moving over to the phone, probably to get one of the staff in the VIP area to pass on the message to the mystery man. I forced myself to stay focused on my water and not turn around to look at the guy again. There was something about how he looked at me and made me want to throw away all common sense, but I needed to stay strong.

I finished the last of my drink and was about to head back to the dance floor to check on Tori, but when I turned around, I was face to face with the mystery man, well face to chest as he was a lot taller than me, even in my heels, I put him at least 6’4, maybe 6’5. Looking at him from a long distance and in dark mood, lighting did not do him any justice. From his perfectly styled jet black hair to his piercing dark brown, almost black eyes to his chiselled jaw and muscular build that couldn’t be hidden beneath his perfectly tailored suit, he was mouth-watering.

He was so close that even with my back pressed against the bar, he was still close enough to smell his cologne, and he smelled as good as he looked.

The mystery man didn’t say anything, just continued to look at me, “Can I help you?”

His lip twitched into a small smile, “I’m Max.”

“I didn’t ask,” I replied, a look of confusion on my face.

Max shrugged, “Well, a little birdie told me that you don’t accept drinks from strangers, so I’m introducing myself. I’m actually a little surprised most people around these circles know me.”

“Well, Max.” I answered, putting a strong emphasis on his name, “I’m not really from these circles. I’m here as here with somebody as a plus one.”

He raised his eyebrow, “Boyfriend?”

“Girlfriend”, I advised but swore to myself as I saw the look of surprise on his face, “a girl who is a friend, well roommate actually.”

“You sound flustered.” He stated, still sounding amused, “Do I fluster you?”

And then it hit me, this was his play. Some guys used pick up lines, others used flattery, some guys even pretended to insult a girl to get her attention. Max seemed to use his looks in combination with confidence to pick up women.

“Well, you are invading my personal space, Max, so that’s enough to make any girl flustered.” I countered.

He stepped back a little and motioned at the bartender Zoe, who I spoke to before, who came over with two shot glasses, filling each one with very expensive tequila.

Max picked up the two shots and held out one to me, “Well then, now that we are not strangers, please allow me to offer you this drink as an apology for getting in your personal space…… you know I don’t even know your name yet.”

I eyed the drink carefully before taking one from him, my fingers brushing across his as I took it, “Addie, my name is Addie.”

He held his shot up and clicked it against mine, “It’s nice to meet you, Addie.”

I downed my shot at the same time as him trying to regain some of my composure. My name rolled off his tongue in an extremely seductive tone. Damn, this guy had trouble written all over him. Normally, I would have run as quickly as I could in the other direction, but something about him made me want to know more. I couldn’t figure out if that made me brave or stupid, but I guess I would find out.