TANGLED WITH THE CARVERS

CHAPTER 7~QUILLOX CLUB~

||*NADIA*||

The booming sound of music is the first thing that greets us as the bouncers push open the entrance doors of Quilox.

As we enter, Xander places his hand on my lower back, gently guiding me as we walk through the open bar of the first floor, all the way to the VIP lounge on the third floor, where Zara said they would be.

My nerves kick up as we get closer to the VIP lounge, and Xander seems to notice how tense my body has become because he slows down, moving his hand around my waist to stop me. “You’re not alone. You have me, and other people in that room are your friends.” Xander gave my waist a light squeeze as he assured me. I nod, smiling at him and he leads me the rest of the way to the VIP lounge.

“Babe, you made it,” Zara comments as her eyes land on me and the next second she’s flying out of her seat with her arms wide open for a hug.

I meet her halfway, fitting myself into her warm embrace and I equally wrap my arm around her. “What made you think I won’t make it?” I mumble, sighing in relief at the familiarity of her presence. The tension in my body lessened a bit, and I reminded myself that Deion or not, I am in the midst of people who care for me.

“The interview, thought you’d be tired, and maybe want to take an out. And also him,” She whispered the last part of her sentence while looking at Deion through the corner of her eyes.

I follow Zara’s gaze, unsure of how seeing my ex-boyfriend for the first time in three months will feel like. Deion and his new item are seated in one of the love shares in the VIP lounge. Nice, way to announce to the world, by sharing a loveseat.

I divert my gaze back to Zara, a smile on my face. “You know I’ll never miss the chance to have fun with you guys, the only thing that can stop me is death or sickness,” I reply, detaching from the hug.

Zara smacks her lips against mine in a chaste kiss. “There’s a reason I love you so much,” she confessed, smiling wildly. “Let’s sit. Xander come on.”

We follow Zara to the L-shaped couch, where most of the rest of the group is seated, she pats the space beside her for me to sit while Xander takes the space to my left. “Where is Iffy?” I question, turning to face Tobi.

“Something came up, she will join us in a few, or not,” Tobi responds with a shrug and I nod.

Zara calls for the server who is tending to our Lounge, at the same time I see Xander mumbling greetings to his younger brother, whose eyes are trained on me while his hand is in between the thighs of his new handbag.

“Hey Nadia, been a while.” Deion says to me with a nod.

“Yeah, seems so,” I mumble my reply ready to turn my attention back to the bartender but the voice of the chick beside Deion has me pausing that action.

“Hi,” She leans over, offering her hand. “I’m Cynthia, Deion’s girlfriend, nice to me.” She introduces herself with a smile.

I noticed the silence that seemed to envelop the lounge as my friends stopped talking, and I felt their eyes on me because I knew for sure they were anticipating what I would do. Instead of being my usual self which is being a b***h, I decide to act civil because in all retrospect the girl has done nothing to offend me. “Hi, Cynthia, nice to meet you too. I am Nadia, Xander’s best friend.” I take her hand in mine, shaking it with a smile before pulling back.

But I guess my reply didn’t please Deion, because I watched as he clenched his jaw and his eyes thinned. What did he expect? Did he think I would introduce myself as his ex? Why would I give him such honour, when he dared to bring his fling to meet my friends?

Deion reclined into their seat, pulling Cynthia against his body as he said the words. “Actually babe, that’s Dia.” Cynthia’s eyes fleet back and forth between Deion and me, “Dia, your ex?” she asks Deion who nods with a smirk. “Yeah, my ex-girlfriend.” Deion replies, loud enough for us all to hear, with a coy smile on his lips.

I noticed immediately as Cynthia’s demeanour changed, “Oh. I see.” The smile she once wore while introducing herself to me was gone, and in place of that was a scowl.

I felt Zara’s hands squeezing my thighs, and Xander’s palm against my back. “Dia, are you okay?” They both whisper, concern lacing their voice.

“I’m fine,” I reply shifting my attention to the server.

I need something to drink, and I’d rather not think about Deion, and whatever his reasons are for being here right now. I don’t even know how to feel. Truth be told, I thought seeing him with another girl would break my heart, and ruin my evening. Am I heartbroken? No, I had walked in here, saw him all over his girl, and I felt nothing. The piercing pain I was anticipating in my chest didn’t come, nor did my lungs close up, except for the weird feeling of being uncomfortable with the entire situation, the hurt I was expecting from seeing him with another woman didn’t come.

And this makes my mind race back to Xander’s question. Do I love Deion? Am I in love with with him? Have I ever said those exact words to him? Although I always do tell him that I care about him, was that all it was? What does love even feel like?

I had all these thoughts racing through my mind, as I grabbed my first drink of the night and I chugged it down. I motion for the server to pour another drink, and I chug it again. What does being in love with someone entail? I had a crush on Xander once, but I would never equate it to love. After all, if I remember correctly, I developed those temporary feelings for him because I paid too much attention to him. But was it love? No, it wasn’t. Was there a potential that it could’ve ended up growing into love, if we had actually tried to date?

I cast my gaze on Xander for a moment, only getting a side view of his face as he chatted with Devin. The low red glow of the lounge light cast a perfect shadow on his face that does well to emphasise the sharpness of his jawline which isn’t hidden by his low beards, and his pointed nose. Xander is handsome, he should be any girl's wet dream, do I still feel that barely there excitement for him?

Perhaps, things would’ve worked out better between us, if he hadn’t turned me down in Uni. Or maybe the only reason I think so is because is the first person I ever felt anything close to excitement for. He was my first crush, no matter how short-term it was, but he didn’t need to know that anyway.

Out of curiosity that I can’t control, my gaze moves to Deion and I find him lip-locked with his girl, while his hand travels deeper between her legs. Yeah, of course, he’ll do that.

“Hey,” I pull my attention from the two as Zara nudges my side. “You alright? We can leave if you’re not feeling the atmosphere.” Zara suggests, and I shake my head. Why would I leave? If I do, everyone will know it’s because of him, and I have never been the type that hides from a confrontation or back down from the fight.

I smile at Zara, “Nah, that’s not happening. I need to unwind after my interview today, I am here to have fun, and you know me I don’t right from a fight.” I reply low, only for her ears.

Zara’s smile widens as she raises her hand for a high-five. “Now that’s my girl. Come on, drink up, and then we’ll go dance once we are s**t-faced.”

I laugh at her words, “You mean once you’re s**t-faced? You know alcohol’s got nothing on me, baby.” Picking up my third shot, I chug it down my throat and grabbed a thin slice of lemon to suck on.

“I’ve got to use the restroom,” I tell Zara, standing up. Xander seems to notice, and he grabs my hand to stop me.

“Something wrong?” I heard mumble, and I shook my head as I leaned down.

“No, gotta use the restroom, I’ll be right back,” I reply, smiling as he nods, and I make my way towards the VIP restroom.

After relieving myself, I walked out of the stall to wash my hands and the door to the restroom opened right at the same time. I really didn’t care to look at who just entered the restroom, but I noticed the person stopped walking I could feel their stare at the back of my head, and that’s when I raised my head, looking into the mirror to find Cynthia, Deions’ new thing, with a disapproving scowl on her face, and hands on her hips.

Oh boy, here we go.