The Man of My Prayers (Fitzmael 3) - COMPLETED

04: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

ADORN ZHARICK VALE

NOVAN DROVE TO Axi's club. He said it would be open in the morning.

"Don't they ever close? Most clubs are only open at night, right?"

"They have a lot of customers in the morning too, so the owner isn't losing money. In fact, they're getting even richer," he said with a laugh. "They only close from 6 AM to 10 AM every day to organize and clean the club."

I nodded slowly. "How do you know that?"

He laughed a little. "We're regulars at Axi's club."

When we arrived at Axi's club after an hour of driving, I sat down at the far end. Novan went straight to the counter, where the bartenders were, and ordered some food and drinks.

"I got us some bangus sisig," he said when he came back.

"Thanks," I smiled. "Isn't there a third floor here with a karaoke room? Can we go there?"

He quickly shook his head. "The private karaoke rooms aren't available in the morning. Only the first floor is open, and if there are a lot of people, they open the second floor so they can sit on the long circular couch."

"Oh, really?"

He nodded. "Only the Fitzmael are allowed up there in the morning."

"Hmm..." I pondered. "Do the Fitzmaels own this place?" I asked.

He nodded.

My mouth slightly opened in surprise. "I can't even count how many businesses the Fitzmaels own. Wow! They have so many!"

"Don't you know any Fitzmael personally?"

"I don't think I know any Fitzmael. You know I don't attend the social gatherings that Dad and Hunter go to."

"Try joining them sometime. Who knows, maybe the one for you is in the Fitzmael clan," he said, laughing.

"I haven't even moved on from being rejected by the person I like, so I'm not ready to mingle with them."

"Is that why you were crying earlier and asking to go out for drinks?"

I pouted and nodded. "Don't tell Hunter, okay?"

"Okay."

NOVAN AND I had been drinking for almost an hour. He was fun to be with, and we never ran out of things to talk about. He was quite talkative.

I was sipping my blue lagoon cocktail when my eyes wandered to the entrance of the club. My eyes widened as I saw Franco walk in and head straight to the counter. My heart started pounding rapidly.

"Adorn?" Novan called to me gently.

I kept my eyes on Franco. He was talking to the bartender. It seemed like he was here to drink too.

Could I be the reason he's drinking?

I shook my head. Impossible.

"Adorn?" Novan called again. "Who are you looking a—" he stopped mid-sentence. "Ah, is that Franco?"

Novan caught my attention. I looked at him with a furrowed brow. "You know him?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yes. He's the cousin of the owner of this club."

My mouth dropped open in surprise. "So, he's a Fitzmael?"

He nodded. "Looks like you already know a Fitzmael!"

"I just found out his last name," I explained. "So, Catmint and her brother Ren are also Fitzmaels?"

He laughed. "Yep. You actually know quite a few!"