Night Of The Party

Chapter 3

'Kill him. I'd like his death to be painful.'

My eyes widen and I feel a wave of terror run through me. What am I supposed to do?

I don't know what possesses me, or why I'm doing what I'm doing. But my curiosity gets the best of me and I peak my head past the wall that was acting as a barrier between us, and he looks up from his phone.

The man in the black suit.

His facial expression is hard to read. He looks angry, but also calm. I don't know how he manages it, but he does. His eyes widen for barely a second before they are neutral again.

I'm just standing there like an idiot. In my defence, what else am I supposed to do?

In that time I notice his facial features. His skin is tanned, olive. His eyes are a bright green and his jawline sharp. His hair is pushed back with only a few clumps of hair misplaced but also perfectly placed. He's handsome.

Realisation hits me. We have been staring at each other for what feels like eternity but my body is frozen. Am I about to die? At a club, that I didn't even want to go to. I swear when I see Adriana...

He's walking towards me. Oh my god he's walking towards me. Shit. Fuck. Shit. What do I do?

I break free from the trance that I'm in and I'm already running.

'HEY!' The man in the black suit calls after me but there's no way in hell I'm turning back. My head is pounding and my heart is beating out of my chest.

My hair is beginning to stick to the back of my neck from all the sweat and my clothes are too. I feel gross. I'm trying to find my way back to the bar but I'm too dizzy. My legs are trembling  and my eyesight starts to become blurry with what feels like tears.

'Now is not the time to fucking cry Valentina. Get your act together.' I tell myself as I continue to stumble and trip over my own feet. My stomach feels emptier than ever and I'm lost in my thoughts. I'm either about to throw up or pass out.

What did I just hear? Am I overreacting. Maybe he's talking about a video game or something. That sounds absurd and I know it.

I can finally see the bar and I feel tears rolling down my cheeks.

'Valentina? VALENTINA?' Tristan shouts and runs towards me as Adriana follows. 'What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?'

I have a million things to say right now but nothing is coming out.

I'm definitely overreacting, I keep telling myself. I'm acting as though I just saw the murder that definitely happened over the phone. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Someone could have just died because of the man in the black suit.

'Let's go.'

Tristan grabs my hand and as I look over at Adriana she has a mix of jealousy and worry on her face.

The feeling of cold air against my face feels like the most refreshing thing in the universe once we step outside. Like when you come out of a sauna into the cold air. Or when you walk into a air conditioned room on a hot day.

I try to calm myself by taking deep breaths. Enhala. Exhala. Enhala. Exhala. Thanks Rogelio.

I catch my breath and I'm finally able to speak.

'We have to go. Now.'

Tristan nods and asks Adriana where she parked her car. She points him in the direction of her space in the parking lot across the street and he crosses the street, holding both mine and Adriana's hand. At least Adriana isn't jealous that he's holding my hand so I don't like, die, whilst I cross the street in this state.

We make our way over to the car and Tristan opens Adriana's door for her and I open mine and climb in.

'Valentina, what happened?' Adriana asks as Tristan climes in the back.

'Just drive' I say a little to forcefully but she listens none the less.

A few minutes pass and I've had time to catch my breathe completely and recollect my thoughts. What just happened? Okay I definitely overreacted. I should've just minded my business and left without saying anything. Urgh. It's over now, I keep telling myself. It's over.