A Little Too Late

Chapter 3

Nicole entered the restaurant and looked around, spotting Ethan and a few other co-workers she headed over in that direction.

"Hey Nikki," Ethan called out spotting her walking towards them. "Glad you could join us."

"Nicole," She froze seeing the Blackbourne Toma group in the booth beside her co-workers.

"Dakota," She nodded. "Mr. Blackbourne, Dr. Green, Axel, North, Lucian, Yevgeny, Brandon, Corey, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Victor, Marc, how nice to see you. Will Momma and Jessica be joining you?" She spotted a female setting between North and Luke and a shot of pain went through her, but she remained emotionless. "I'm so sorry. Nice to meet you as well Miss."

"They will not," Owen said adjusting his tie. "How was court today?"

"You tell me, Mr. Blackbourne," She said rolling her eyes. "You were there so why even ask such a ridiculous question. I expect better than that from you, Owen," she said scoffing.

"Hey Nikki, what would you like to drink?" Ethan said coming over to her and draping his arm over her shoulders. "Hey Guys."

"Hello," They all said in unison.

"Family?" Ethan asked and they nodded while Nicole shook her head making them glare.

"Best friend's brother and his friends," Nicole explained. "Dr. Pepper and Crown Apple sounds excellent right now."

"You got it, Hon," he nodded. "Want to grab something to eat with that?"

"Sure," She nodded, "I haven't had a chance to eat all day."

"So that's your secret to staying so smoking hot," He chuckled as he walked over to the bar.

"Nicole," North and Sean said at the same time.

"Well, enjoy your dinner and date," She smiled sweetly. "Hopefully you last longer than their previous fiancé but I'm sure you will, she was a downright bitch."

"Nicole," They all said at the same time causing her to roll her eyes.

"Just stating facts," She shrugged. "Make sure you see your sister and mother before you decide to disappear again, they don't deserve to be ghosted all the time from all of you. It takes 2.5 seconds to send a text, you could at least do that for them every so often."

She walked over to the booth with her co-workers and forced herself to ignore the feeling of being watched. She downed about half her drink before ordering a small appetizer. She laughed and snacked on her food. She ended up ordering three more drinks by the time everyone was getting ready to leave.

"Damn Girl, how are you able to drink so much and still be sober?" One of the girls asked slightly slurring her words.

Nicole chuckled and took a drink of her water that she was now drinking. "When you grow up with most of your chosen family being men and one of them being Russian, you learn how to hold your alcohol," She shrugged. "Plus, I'm drinking water and eating more carbs than I normally do to help absorb it. I also didn't just down it, I consumed it throughout the meal. But mainly, I was rebellious as a teenager and loved testing my limitations with the Russian and a few of the others." She heard a few snickers from the booth next to them but she ignored them.

"Oh, I've heard a few things about exotic men," A couple of girls giggled. "Growing up with mostly men must have given you lots of options."

"Well, I wouldn't know," Nicole chuckled, "I grew up with them so off limits."

"Girl, unless they are gay, married, taken, blood, or a huge fucking age gap they are not off limits," One of the girls slapped the table and giggled.

Nicole rolled her eyes, "Well they went through lots of flings so nope," She popped a fry into her mouth then took her friend's shot of vodka and downed it with no reaction. "Even now I wouldn't touch them, they are too much of men whores for my taste. They like to jump from one relationship to another."

"Just think of all the experiences though," One of the girls groaned. "Man, I love men with experience."

"How the fuck did you drink that with no face?" Another asked.

Nicole shrugged, "Russians have vodka in their blood, huh, maybe I'm like an adopted Russian." She chuckled and shook her head. "Anyway."

"Hey, where did the guys go?" One of the girls asked looking around.

"Girl, they left awhile ago to go hit the bars," Another rolled her eyes.

"So, you really aren't even the least bit interested in your childhood friends?" One of the girls asked. "I heard those are the best kind because there's none of that awkward dating shit."

"Nope," Nicole shook her head eating another fry. "Like I said, I don't date man whores. I'm not going to risk catching something because they go around faster than spin the bottle. I want a real relationship not just friends with benefits or flings."

"So, what's the deal with you and Ethan?" Another girl asked.

Nicole thought she heard some dishes clattering and felt eyes on her, but she had to be imaging it with all the drinks she had. "Nothing," She shook her head and shrugged. "He's made it known that he wants me, but I've made it clear that I'm not interested in a relationship right now. I got to focus on my career and besides, he's not over Ashley yet. I refuse to be a rebound girl."

"Alright, let's get out of here," one of the girls said, "it's going to be hell in the morning."

"You go call Ubers," Nicole chuckled, "I got this round." They hugged her and she waved the waitress over. "Can I get the bill please?"

"It's already been paid for," The waitress smiled, "and I'm not allowed to say who from."