Chapter 3+4+5

Chapter 3

"So what do you want me to make you?" I ask Sean. Damn, I swear I could feel his eyes on me. "Grass skirt baby" He winks at me. Really? already when I just met him 5 minutes ago? Of course I look off to Bruno and he is no longer looking at me. I continue looking at him trying to make sure it really is Bruno. He taps his friend and says something. They both get up and start moving  towards me.  "Who you looking at?" Sean eyes at me. "My gosh, I'm so sorry Sean, I was distracted" I apologized.  How stupid am I! checking someone out while I am with someone else. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I get out a shot glass and pour 3/4 of Malibu rum, 3/4 of Absolut Mandarin,  1/2  of Midori, and a splash of pineapple. I mix all together and hand it to Sean. "So where do you work Nicole" Sean asks. "Obviously I work here but in the morning at the ATM bank" I replied.  Bruno and his friend sits a high stool away from Sean. I can hardly breathe. "Tell me about you, Sean, Ashley Probably told most about myself" I smile. Sean starts talking and I could hardly pay attention to him when Bruno is sitting so close to us. "Come on Brunz, do it before she starts to like him" His friend encourages Bruno. Is he really talking about me? I nod in approval to keep Sean talking. "Hey babe, can you give me one more shot?" He asks. "Sure, sure anything" I say. I turn to the cabinet  behind me and bend down to get a new shot glass. "Hey did I mention what a nice ass you have Nicole?" Sean says. I drop the shot glass and it shatters onto the cold hard floor. "What??" I say louder than necessary. "Bro how do you talk to your girl like that?" a smooth voice echoes. I look up and I see Bruno standing so close to Sean. "You okay miss?" He asks me. I smile in approval. Sean does not say anything but bitch slaps Bruno's left cheek. "bastard!" Bruno screams. And he pushes Sean up the wall. Everyone in the bar go silent, then gradually start cussing. Here am I watching two men fighting over me. He punches Sean multiple of times and wouldn't stop. "No! Please, don't hurt him!" I pleaded. I writhed in-between them and Bruno immediately stopped. He shoved me out of the way. "Your gonna let him talk to you like that?" Bruno yells at me. I sat on the floor crying like a baby. Sean was lying on the ground shuttering, all pinched in pain. Suddenly 3 security men hauled their way through the crowed and pulled Bruno and Sean out of the bar. "Nicole! Are you okay?" Ashley asks. She sits next to me and hugs me till I drowse into her shoulder. "it's okay, it's okay" she hushed me. "No it's not, don't ever set me up with a blind date" I cried like a wimp. "where is everyone? It's so quiet" I ask. "they are all outside. Do you know that guy who beat up Sean?" she asks. " Not personally, why?" " he seems to like you a lot" Ashley laughs. Which reminded me, I have to find him. I quickly get up and everything spins. "woah, where are you going!" says Ashley. She supports me up and I walk out. Bruno...Bruno.....Bruno. "hey you," I feel a hand on my shoulder and I flinch. I turn around. In relief it's Bruno. "I didn't mean to make you cry like that" he apologizes. I still look at him. "I'm sorry this is none of my business, but I really think you should date him no more. When he said that to you it really bugged me" he says. I started laughing. "it's okay I never really liked him anyway. My friend set me up with a date so.... But I'm glad you stepped in" I smile. "Thanks" I said. "my name is Peter, but everyone calls me Bruno" he introduces himself. Hahaha I knew it was him! "My name is Nicole, what a weird place to meet!" I laugh, he laughs too. "can I walk you home, Nicole?" he asks. His face was serious for a moment. "Sure, I'd like that" and we started walking. Even though my apartment was across the street, I walked the other way, I didn't want to miss a chance to know him. "can I hold your hand Nicole?" he asks. Wow I love how he just asks, makes life a lot easier. "Of course, go ahead" and his warm bronze hand intertwines with my petite hand. "so tell me, how did you learn all these manners of yours" I ask. He laughs for a second. "I actually had 4 sisters and all they could talk about is how annoying their boyfriends were, so I didn't want to be like that." he says. "you seem to have an accent Nicole, where ya from?" he asks me. "Calgary, Canada" I answered. "wow, and you came all the way here? How long are you staying in NY?" "I have been living here for almost a year now. But I haven't thought of when to leave" I told him. He smiled in approval revealing his brilliant pearl teeth in the dark. "that's good, because I think we will be good friends" we stop in front of my apartment. Had I lead him all the way here? I don't want to leave. "I guess this is where you live" he says taking both of my hands in his. "I want to meet you again" he pleaded. "I'm sure we will" and I gave him my number. He smiled wide. He leaned in too close, intentionally to kiss me. I didn't stop. His soft lips pressed onto mine and it gently burned. I moved away and left. I went through the lobby and took out my keys and went in my room. I stripped off my clothes and threw it on the ground and in slipped into my jammies. I hopped into my bed thinking of what just happened. I kissed Bruno Mars. I still feel the warmth where his lips left me. I wonder what will Lisa say if I told her. "bullshit" she'd definitely say to me. I grinned at the thought. I look out the window and see the busy streets of New York. Cars zooming pass by, faster than lightening. I look up and see the clear black ink painted on the sky. I guess It was a good day after all.

Chapter 4

I wake up in the afternoon with ease. I wonder what time it is in Calgary...I want to go on Skype. I already hear the cars arguing outside of my apartment, I guess I left the window open last night. I slowly open my eyes and till the eye of heavens beams right onto my face. I shut them quick. I roll onto the other side of my bed, my back facing the window. And there I open my eyes. I imagine Bruno. His body wrapped onto mine. Feeling his smooth bronze hand caressing my back. ´Good morning baby´ he would whisper into my ear. I would look into his eyes and kiss him. But the image of him disappeared like smoke. I moaned in disapproval. I roll out of bed and turn on my laptop. It wakes up and I login to my Skype account. Lisa is online. Perfect timing. I click onto the call button and it rings. Rings. Rings. No answer. I call again. Its rings but no answer. To my disappointment, I log out till. Lisa is calling you. I click answer. “Lisa? Can you see me?”. “ Hold on sweetheart” she says. I miss hearing her voice. An empty box shows up and I see Lisa. “Yay!!” I wave into the camera. “How’s everything?” She asks. “WOW where can I start” I said. “Ok so you know how Ashley sets me up with blind dates?” I said. “Did you have sex? Cause if you did, I don’t wanna know” Lisa warns me. We laugh. “Of course not! The guy yesterday was a total douche” I tell her. “I saw Bruno Mars at the bar yesterday” I look at her expression, it doesn’t change. “He offered to walk me home and kissed me good night.” I said with a huge smile on my face. Her expression doesn’t change at all. ”Bullshit” she says. ”It’s true! I swear!” I look into the camera. “OH MY GOD LUCKY GIRL!!!” she screams. I even had to lower the volume a smidge. “Please don’t lie to me Nicole! “ She begs. “I promise I am telling you the truth, you know I would never lie about this” I replied. “Wow” her eyes gleamed. “I never thought you would meet him, he even kissed you too” she grins big. I hear a baby cry in the background. Lisa turns around and shushes the baby and it stops crying. “Umm... was there something I missed Lisa?” I ask suspiciously. She picks up the baby and turns around to bring the baby in view. “Oh my goodness! You never told me that you had a baby!”. I didn’t know that she even went out....wow 3 years really does fly. I almost frowned at the thought. “Her name is Charlotte, say hi to auntie Nicole!” Lisa says and takes that baby’s paw and waves it into the camera. She has blonde hair, angel thin blonde hair. She looks at me with those big doe baby eyes. Charlotte couldn’t have gotten those nice genes from Lisa? Lisa is all Greek. She has all those Mediterranean features. I want to see her partner badly. “How old?” I ask. “In September, she’ll be a year, so two more months!” Lisa says proudly. As Lisa blows into Charlottes bubbly cheeks, and Charlotte lets out a jittery laugh so contagiously. “Oh hey Nicole, my laptop is dying right now, so I have to go” Lisa apologizes. “Tell that sweet Bruno I said hi” she winks. We laugh “Of course, only if he calls back!” I teased. But there was a part of me hoping he really would call. “Yes, yes, definitely! Anyways, bye!” she and Charlotte wave into the camera. I do the same. And the picture of them disappears. I shut my laptop down and plug it in to charge. I look out to the window. Bruno, Bruno, please take this relationship seriously. “No more pain” whisper, “No more”. I look at my blackberry and it says 2 missed calls. From who? I check the number and it was a number I didn’t know. Did Bruno call me? Shoot, I missed his call I guess. Before I put down my Blackberry my phone buzzes. The same number shows up. Could it really be? Butterflies swarmed in my stomach just by thinking of him. I answer the call. “Hello?” “Hi Is this Nicole?” Bruno’s fluid voice filled in my ears. “Yeah I’m here. I’m so sorry I missed your call!” I apologized. He started laughing “It really is you. I’m glad you didn’t give me some random number” I imagine him smiling. “So I want to know you some more, how about we meet at that cafe next to your apartment tonight” he says. “Yeah definitely! What time do we meet?” I ask. “Hmm...8:30?” “Ok sounds great then!” “Alright I’ll see you” After that we both hang up. Feeling light as air. Thinking if I jump out of my window, I might fly. I lie onto my bed wondering what I should wear. Maybe a dress...nah too fancy. A pair of jeans? Sure but I have to wear a nice top to even the casualty out. I grab my dark wash skinnies and put them on. After I take my blue blouse and button it. I step back to see my reflection. I didn’t like the blue so I took it off. I tried on my blushing red blouse and looked again. I like it. I went to the bathroom to turn on my flat iron. I started to brush out any tangles in my hair. Then I took the piping hot flat iron and started straightening my hair. After straightening my hair pin straight, I went to do my makeup. I did a quick cat eye look and a coat of mascara. I went to my closet and put on my leather jacket and wore my liquorice black stilettos. I stood back and look at my reflection. I am going to see Bruno. I am going out with Bruno. Wow. Does he really like me? No shit, he does. I looked out the window and up at the sky. I see vast thick white clouds covering every spot of blue that belonged to the old sky. I decided that since Mike is working today, I thought to kill time before the enchanting Bruno comes. I took my purse filled it with my keys and my Blackberry and head out to the lobby. I opened the doors of the apartment I live in and walk to Mike’s beloved cafe. “I think we should celebrate every time you come in Nicole!” Said Mike. “Come here gimme a hug!” he laughs as I joined his embrace. “Your gonna have to cut back on the hugging, Nicole has a date tonight!” I joked. I went to take a seat on the single bar so I can talk to him while he works. “Ohh...I was wondering why your all dolled up” He says smiling. A lady stands up in line and Mike takes her order. Quickly he gets out a cup and starts squirting different syrups and filling it with all different liquids. Finally he shakes it all and pours it into the cup and clicks on the lid. I just stare at him in awe. He looks at me and laughs. “What?” he asks. “I work at a late night bar and you did this in like what, 10 seconds?” I answer him. “Maybe ‘cause your sleeping half the time” He jokes. "So tell me how was the blind date?" He asks. "My date? a total jerk. But, you will not believe who I saw yesterday" I grinned like crazy. "I saw Bruno Mars! I gave him my number last night and he called, asking me out" I whispered. "So? I mean he's a great guy but It isn't a big deal…" He comments. "Big deal? Lisa and I have been huge fans of him ever since we were teenagers! I never thought I would meet him in person but I'm actually going out with him!" I ranted on. "Ahh, girls" Mike laughs. I look around the room and it was just the two of us. No costumers. "Mike, did I make you lose all your costumers?"I ask slowly. "Haha, no I'm closing up" He said while he cleans. All mind boggled I quickly grab my cell phone to check the time, 9:45. "Mike what time did I come here?" I ask. "Hmm… 8:00ish, yeah around that time. When was Bruno supposed to come?" He says. "8:30" I barely said. "Awe Nicole, don't worry" He comes around and hugs me tight. "There has to be a good reason why he didn't come" Mike promises me. It felt as if the world were crashing down on me, piece by piece, and all he did was watch.

Chapter 5

I tried to hold back the tears that tried to escape. But the harder I try, the bigger the hole in my heart grew. "I'll see you later" I said flatly. Mike grabs my shoulders and faces me square to him. "Don’t take this too hard on yourself okay?" He looks at me serious. "Yeah I'll be fine" I grab my jacket and purse and head out. As I began walking, tears began to spill. He was drunk, he probably didn't know what happened last night. I was stupid to actually think that he liked me. I never want to talk to him ever again. "Nicole, Nicole" I recognize the voice instantly. I don't bother turning around. "Nicole please just listen to me" Bruno comes to my side, and I keep walking. "Can you please wait for a sec?" He asks. "What are you gonna tell me huh?" I finally came to a stop. "Just take me to your place and I'll explain" He says."No" I said sharply. "Just please--" "No". "just leave me alone, I'm not part of your life anymore" I tried to keep my voice slow and steady. He didn't say anything he just looked side to side. All of a sudden, his hand muffles my mouth and pulls me into a corner. Wide-eyed I try to scream and shift and squirm anything, trying to loosen his iron grip. With one hand he manages to take his shirt off and finally lets me go. I fall but He catches me before I hit the ground. He pulls me up to balance. I look at his chest, perfectly sculpted but I notice something. He has a big white bandage on his left shoulder and his right arm. I look at his neck full of small cuts, bleeding. I finally look up to his face, bruises are appearing and his hair a mess. He put his shirt back on, with a million things I want to say to him. "Just take me to your room and I'll explain" he said to me calmly. I take him into my apartment room and I close the door. I gently pull his shirt off and look at the wounds. He turns around to reveal his back to me. There I see thin long gash. ''Bruno what happened?'' I ask broken hearted. How can I be mad at this man? I go to my kitchen and open my first aid kit. I open up a bunch of bandages and walk over to him. I take his cold hand and bring him to my bed with all the first aid stuff. Bruno lies on his stomach as I wash his wounded back. ''Remember that guy in the bar last night?'' Bruno asks. "yeah." "He found me and wanted revenge for taking you, so he had his switch blade ready and wanted to fight" Bruno mutters quietly. I unwrap the band-aid, cover it and sealed it with a kiss. "And you did this for me" I said. "Yeah I did" Bruno answers. "Why would you ever do that to me. You just met me" I objected. He flips over and takes off the bandage on his left shoulder and I start to wash it. "I don't want anyone else to have your heart, I want you, only you" He replies. "I'm gonna have to put alcohol on this one" I say. He makes a face. "I can handle it" we laugh. I take the bottle and pour it on a tissue and lightly dab his shoulder. At first he flinched but remained still. I stopped and unwrap another band-aid, stuck it on the wound and sealed it with a kiss. I slowly lie down on his bare chest. "I'm sorry I didn't let you know beforehand" he apologizes. "Don't worry, it wasn't your fault. It's just I'm worried about you. I feel so guilty on what happened earlier. Please don't do it again" I cracked on the last word. Uncontrollably, tears poured out of my eyes. Why am I so weak when it comes to him? I have to be strong. "It's ok…" he says. He hugs me so closely but I don't feel close enough. He wipes each tear with his thumb and bends his head to kiss me. He tried to kiss me softly. I could tell that he tried. But his intentions went up in smoke, just like before. There was fire everywhere, because he was everywhere. His hands traced my skin, burning it. His lips tasted every inch of my face. My fingers knotted in his hair, pulling him to me as if there were any possible way for us to be closer… not enough. My legs wrapped around his waist. His tongue twisted with mine, and there was no part of my mind that was not invaded by the insane desire that possessed me. Our lips mimicked each other's movement, and his breath mingled with mine. He gently pulled back and whispered in my ear. "Are you sure you want to do this?". My hand slid down and unzipped his jeans, this gave the message yes. I realize that my blouse was off, no one has ever seen me without a shirt. I felt embarrassed. But I had an urge to go on. With him, there was nothing to hide. We move with the same speed like lightening. So many things happening at once, that I had no time to soak it all in. But there was one thing that I knew, we were close enough.