Clementine had become a wild child. Born in America but raised abroad, she now had little regard for the expectations of high society. But her reckless ways eventually catch up with her when she is kicked out of college in New York City and forced t...
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In truth she did't have a plan. And that was evident the moment she stepped out of the car, and joined the long line in front of the church.
But she didn't want to have a plan or a strategy. She only wanted serendipity, and maybe to have a little fun in the process.
She kept her head down, trying not to stand out too much.
It got dark on the drive down, and the evening moon was rising now. She wanted to keep a low profile, but couldn't help but look around at the other people in awe. They all seemed so much older, cooler, wiser than her.
She was afraid she'd see him right away, but there was no sign of him at all. After about 5 minutes in the line, she heard a familiar voice getting nearer.
"Clementine!" Laticia paused on her walk up with Ernesto and their other friends.
"Ha! I told you she'd make it!" Ernesto laughed approvingly.
In a manner that was somehow both scolding and friendly all together, Laticia grabbed Clementine by the arm, pulling her out of the line gently, and bypassing the line altogether.
Of course, Laticia and Ernesto and their friends were given immediate entry. And Clementine wondered if them working for her parents maybe gave them some sort of status within their own group.
She smiled at the irony, but didn't have long to think about it. Because inside, the party was already underway. The room was only half full, but people were streaming in steadily.
The first thing Clementine did was take a look around the room to see if...
"Relax, he's not here. At least not yet," Laticia leaned it and whispered to her.
Clementine looked at her with wide yees.
"Yes, don't try to look so innocent girl. I know what you came for. None of my business though," Laticia held up her arms as if not guilty herself, but she knew how concerned she seemed earlier that day in the kitchen and tried not to think about it.
Suddenly, Clementine felt lucky to have at least someone she knew with her in this strange room, and she told them both to not leave without her.
"Not a chance!" Ernesto said.
They went to the bar and Ernesto got all of them drinks. Sol beers.
"Are you sure?" Clementine asked him, offering to pay.
"You'll get the next round," he gave her a friendly wink and proceeded to give the beers around. To Latricia he wasn't just friendly, but Clementine couldn't think about that now.
She had other things on her mind.
The church was painted white on the inside which made it easier for the projectors inside the room to color it depending on the lights. This created an ambient effect which both dizzied and dazzled her.
With the music, she knew she hit the jackpot. It wasn't that she loved it, though she could learn to love it, but that it was exactly the kind of thing Zico would listen to.
The next hour she spent with a nervous energy.
Trying to have fun, but constantly looking up, looking around to see if he was here.
But after an hour, which consisted of a few more beers, Clementine was getting significantly tipsy. No, drunk, she realized when she stumbled out of the bathroom stall and looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but notice that she felt a bit cross eyed. Definitely drunk.
The girl handing out the paper towels and cheap perfume gave her one, and Clementine tipped her generously.
She then made her way to the bar, doing her best to imitate her most confident walk. This was her first outing since the incident. Not that she would see anybody she knew here, but she still wanted to feel good. At this point, she gave up on any hope of seeing him, and decided to just enjoy the night at this point.
So she made beeline straight for the bar, and thought the girl bartender with a less than forgiving nose job ignored her, the other, nice asian man bartender held her forearm as if to let her know she was next. She didn't know what was going on here really, but she didn't mind. She got some beers and one water, she knew shed have to sober up eventually, and went back into the crowd to find Ernesto and Latricia.
The room was significantly fuller than when they first got there, and she had a sense they were approaching the climax of the party.
"You ok?" Latricia asked, seeing her approaching them.
Clementine nodded in between swivels of beer, "I was just getting you this!" She handed the other beers to her.
Then something happened in the music, and the room got a significant burst of energy.
The elevated levels around the space created a unique set of levels that made the room seem alive, and made a rather small space seem much bigger.
At that point, everyone was drunk enough to not care about what they were talking about.
And it was at precisely that point, that she looked up and he was standing there.
