Finding new love

Prologue

It was supposed to be just another Saturday in a row, which I wanted to spend with my friends at the club, at a masquerade ball, pretending to be someone else. One drink, another, a third ... We didn't have a limit, we had fun; young, wacky, and cheerful. Sarah had invitations for the four of us. She even provided us with booths, so we took our seats, not looking around the crowded waiter club because booze was already waiting for us. "You must be good with the owner, or did you win the lottery and treat us?" we teased Sarah. "Anyway, enjoy, girls, we're only twenty-five years old once!" We sang, danced and had crazy fun. The men gathered around our booth and watched us, and we ... We absorbed those looks and felt real satisfaction at the carefreeness and youth. My black wig with bangs made me unrecognizable, so I took a breather. I was seduced by dancing, twisting sensually, and singing out loud. Still, my plain black strapless dress was awkward, so it slid over my chest and left them exposed to the gaze. But I didn't mind, I was still dancing with the girls, and at one point Kat found herself on the table entertaining the assembled crowd. Emily pulled her down, so the three of us fell into the booths and continued to laugh out loud. Everything was funny to us, the music was perfect, the company great, the energy addictive. How lucky I was to know that evening would change my life radically.

*

"So, girls, did you find a candidate to take home later?" Sarah asked, glancing across the crowd. 

“Um, not really, I was mostly looking at the bottom of the glass,” I joked, though I feel a deep warmth in my veins and cheeks. Still, I don't have nausea. I know my limit. Kat looks suspicious, especially when she gets up and points a finger at the guy in front of her. 

"You! Give. Come here. I want to make love to you! ” she orders him and just pushes him into the booths and starts kissing him. 

I can’t suppress my laughter, nor can Sarah and Emily, but let them do what they want and we keep commenting on the guys. 

"The blue one is not bad! Look at him, Emily, your guy totally. 

” "Mmmm, I don't know why, but lately I've been burning bald, shaved, and totally dangerous," he spins as he stares at the well-built guy across from our booth. He puts his finger in his mouth and knocks loudly. 

"To try my luck?" he asked Sarah and me. 

"As far as I'm concerned, go ahead. I stay to hang out with a bottle of water. ” 

I hug the bottle and press it to my chest, causing my girls to laugh. Emily pulled lipstick out of her purse and applied a layer to her lips and fixed her wig. 

"Then I'm ready to attack." 

We didn’t do this often, we didn’t catch guys and f**k with them in the restrooms. Still, we loved dating, flirting, and having fun. Here and there a little kissing with some handsome guy was not out of the question, because we knew that somewhere, for each of us, the real one. I follow her as she confidently approaches the guy, and he readily places a hand on her back. Well done, Emily.

"You're really not going to drink anything but water?" Sarah asked me. 

"No, I've had enough," 

I point to my bottle. The music suddenly gets louder and louder so I lean back to rest my legs in high heels. A crowd of people is pushing around the booth, Sarah is sipping her cocktail and bouncing on the spot, and I myself feel it’s time for the toilet. I show Sarah where I’m going and thank God the crowd isn’t too big. I get my turn quickly and get back to the booths even faster. Sarah is still alone, and Kat and Emily are with their new friends. The music is a little lighter, so I dance with my eyes closed. 

"Isabella, Jesus." Sarah suddenly rang near my ear so I got scared and looked at her abruptly. 

"What the hell? Do not do that!" Her hand found mine and squeezed it. He slipped into my face and tilted his head.

 "Look over my left shoulder. The guy stands and stares at you like a predator for five minutes. One does not blink. ” He tilted his head seriously and stepped back to have a look at that guy. 

"How do you know he's looking at me?"

"Look and see for yourself." 

I looked at him with the hope that he would look at me because he was ... Jesus God ... Jesus God ... ”She turned her eyes to heaven, and I know she doesn't mention God in vain. I’m sure the guy is divine too. We have a similar taste, so I trust her

"Come on, look at him if you dare. I swear your panties will fall down your legs on their own. ”

"Fool," 

I strain to her challenge and look behind her for that divine guy. My gaze met his at once. Zuri. Not just staring. Write. Observe. They breakthrough. The lights in the club alternate in colors so I don’t see everything, but the feeling of his gaze is so steady, that it makes me uncomfortable. Yes, it is divine.

 "He really doesn't take his eyes off me." 

"Stare at him, too, Isabella, don't be a coward!" Look at his suit, look at his face. He's handsome enough to be worshiped ... 

'' I just don't think he's very clean, Sarah. Just write. He holds a glass in his hand and stares. He didn't smile or look away all this time. " I know that because I focus his gaze. It is aimed exclusively at my face. He seems to have blue eyes, although there is something beyond his interest. I can’t read what, something that radiates and attracts, but also scares.

"He's not like the guys we mess with, Sarah. He's ... a man. And the one who intends to attack and not back down, until the victim gives in ", I say as if I know what I am saying. That’s not how I express myself, this is being said by someone else from me. I’ve never had contact with men, only with guys my age. Parties, going out, movies and s*x. Three longer relationships that I knew wouldn’t last forever. Namely, I didn't fall in love so much that I wanted us to last ... Forever. I can't take my eyes off him, something tells me he'll notice my weakness that way. I only slightly move a lock of hair from my face and fixes the bangs, but I still have a man on my eye. 

"f**k, Isabella, smile at him!" 

"No way, Mr. No way. That would give him an incentive. ” 

"Wink at him," he urged me again. 

"Not at all." 

"Okay, but know that then he'll play his own way." Her words upset me a little and blew air out of my lungs. Under the gaze of this man and oxygen is harder to inhale. My mouth is dry and craving fluids. 

"Please give me your cocktail," I say to Sarah, who is by my side all the time, following this man. I can't drink water now, I need something for courage. I take, without looking, a glass from her hand and drain it. A man standing just a few steps from our booth did the same. It's as if alcohol gives us both courage. But what about me? Why am I staring hypnotically at him? Why can't I look away? It is no longer just caution, it is now a silent desire. Why is he looking at me like that? In front of everyone, noticeably and openly, without restraint? In a minute the music dies down, and a pair of security guards appear around our booth. Then something happens that I have never seen. The guys in black move the people away from our booth, clear the space, and give the man a clear path to me. What the hell? Like in some weird ritual ... I'm being watched, I feel someone else's attention, but most of all the look of a man who just ... Jesus ... He's just taking the first step towards me. His hands are empty now, I don't know at what point he lowered his glass because I was looking at him without interruption. My body turns on its defense mechanisms and I step back, but I have nowhere to go. The table is behind me and is roughly pressing against my thighs. I manage to lean my hands on the table when a tall and serious man stops in front of me. He looks into my eyes, then into my lips and hair. He's analyzing me, and I don't know what to tell him. I'm still on guard. I know I have to be, but be careful what I say. Sarah is there somewhere, I can feel her, but she is as far away as the people from us. We are alone in the middle of a clean space while he, like an animal, evaluates me. I look at the blue of his clear eyes. He's not drunk. It is neat and very, very beautiful. A couple of strands of golden-brown hair fall on his forehead, and a short three-day beard and a few wrinkles around his eyes betray his maturity. Suddenly his fingers touched my jaw and turned my head left and right, very lightly. I don't breathe or talk. 

"It's you," is all that comes out of his mouth. 

His voice is serious and indescribably hoarse, deep. His expression changes as if he has realized something and he ... Smile at me! As if looking at another man in front of me, I can’t help but marvel at his change. He looks at me as if he knows me, he smiles at me as if he likes me. I can't help but smile back at him. There is something strange and sad about him and he makes me please him. Confused, I stand under him as he touches my face. I don’t know what this moment looks like to the people around me but at one point

I hear Emily calling to me: 

"Isabella!"

 That sound suddenly takes my attention and after so many minutes I interrupt the look I was holding on my blue eyes. I look left at her, and he raises his hand and points left as if to stop Emily. 

"One hundred thousand dollars." The man makes me look him in the eye. 

"I beg your pardon?" I am more confused than before. 

"In one night," he added in a deep voice. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"One hundred thousand dollars for one night with you." 

The moment my brain realizes that he is offering me money to buy me or to sell his body to him for use, I feel disappointment and anger at the same time. 

"I'm not a w***e!" I strain with the urge to slap him, but I don’t. I'm still captivated by a look that's so ... Strong. 

"It would be invaluable to me. Just one night. She would never forget that. I'll give you what you want. " 

"I don't want anything, just to ... Just get away from me," I finally regained consciousness, and his fingers moved away from my face and reached into my jacket. 

"Answer me. As soon as possible. Please." 

Then he reaches for my hand, strokes it, and kisses the back of her hand. He put the card in my palm and whispered once more, "I'm waiting for your call." 

I shudder at those words as if he's sure I'll do it. I don’t look at the card, but I don’t throw it away. I don't even know why. I open my purse and put it away while the man whose name I don't know walks away from me. I finally sighed deeply, and the reason seems to come into my brain. 

"What the f**k was that?" Jesus, Isabella! I'm just wet from watching, 

”Sarah told me, and I shook my head. "I do not know. Something strange, I can't even describe. " I dare not look after him, I don’t know if he’s still there somewhere or gone. I don't even know his name. Does it matter? He made an impression on me so for the next two hours I think only of him. "So what did he tell you?" girls are interested. 

"Nothing special, he asked me to meet." 

"Wow, are you going on a date with this guy?" Because, realistically, Isabella, this is a new category of types. It's like you've been dating a theater actor before, and now you're suddenly with a Hollywood star. ” 

"Jesus, girls, we haven't even met. I'm not going to date him, he just told me he liked me. " I keep all the other words to myself because I don’t want to share them with anyone. As the girls order new drink tours, I feel tired and want this evening to end and to go to bed. Until I leave I feel someone’s gaze on my body and I just know it belongs to that man. Still, this time I dare not look for him. I am afraid I would agree to anything he asks of me.