Nephophile

IT'S 2 IN THE MORNING

Jane went to bed that night with Alexa's words churning in her head. How do you feel about Jake? She tossed and turned unsure of how she felt for someone whom she met just last week.

Her phone's ring tone broke her train of thought. She picked up the phone and heard Alexa slurring on the other end. "Hey, babes. I know it's pretty late... oops, let me correct that. I know it's pretty early, but can you help a girl out? Please." She slurred.

"Not this again, Alexa!" Jane said through gritted teeth and threw the covers off her. She jumped into a pair of sweatpants and pulled an oversized hoodie over her head and put on her sneakers.

"Sent me your location." Jane said, annoyed. She waited, but the call ended. Impatiently, she typed out a message and got no response back. She racked her brain for any possible clubs and bars Alexa might be at.

Jane rushed to her door with her keys rattling in her hand. She locked the door behind her and ran to her car. Jane's hand reached for the handle but froze. It then hit her. She could never finecomb the city by herself. She was going to need help. She groaned at the thought of having to ask for help. This time, she had no choice but to ask for help.

Jane jogged to her neighbor's house. Her bed hair bobbed on her shoulders. She came to a halt at his door and stuck out her hand to ring the bell. She rang the bell for quite some time before he opened. Jake wiped the sleep from his eyes. He saw Jane on his doorstep with disheveled hair and a blank expression. Her cheeks had a slight pink tint as her eyes scrutinized Jake's body. He wore nothing but his pants. The rest of his body were bare to Jane's eyes.

For the first time, she actually took in his appearance. Jake had soft, wavy, dark brown hair in a taper fade. His body looked like it was sculpted. His face chiseled to perfection, and his dark eyes were so dark that one could get lost in them and never find a way out.

"It's 2 in the morning. Is something the matter?" Jake asked and covered his mouth as a yawn escaped his lips. Jane woke from her trance and sighed. "Remember what you said. You said I could ask for help anytime of the day or night, remember?" She said and stared desperately into his eyes.

With arms crossed Jake leaned against his doorframe, amused at how hard Jane found it to ask for help. He raised a brow and decided to make it a bit harder for her. "Uh, no, I don't. Care to refresh my memory?" He said and folded his arms.

"When you brought my Takealot packages to my house...I really need your...h.. help. Please?" Her eyes doe eyes searched desperately Jake's orbs.

"Ah. Now I remember. So what do you need?"

"I need you to get dressed and get in your car. We need need to search for Alexa. She called just a few minutes ago. She needs help." Jane said and dialed her number again. Alexa's phone went straight to voicemail.

"See." She said and held up her phone. "She's drunk again, and I don't know at which club or bar she went to. Will you help? Please?"

Jake saw desperation in her eyes. He smiled and nodded. "Give me a minute." He said and disappeared into his house.

Jane waited outside. She dialed her number again. Voicemail, again and again and again. She sighed and ran her hand through her disheveled curls. Jake tapped her shoulder and smiled when she turned around. Jake came out dressed in a pair of black jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. "Let's go find your friend."

"I have a few names of clubs she normally goes to. So you can check a few, and I'll try the others." She was about to name the clubs when Jake stopped her. "Give me your number. That way, I can call you and let you know to which club I had gone and vice-versa." He said with a smirk. Jane saw what he was doing but decided to let it slide because she needed to find Alexa, and soon.

They exchanged digits and drove off to the clubs in search of Alexa.

"District. Done. Not a sight of her." Jake said and groaned. He drove to 5 nightclubs and still did not find Alexa. He had some hope that Jane might've had some luck in her search. He sighed when when she also had not found Alexa. "I'm on my way to Long Street. There's a lot of clubs there." Jane said.

"Yeah. That's a great place to start looking. I'm off to Coco." He said and hung up.

Jane searched almost every club that she could think of. Frustrated, Jane drove to the last club on her list. Oasis on Long.

She entered and started looking around for Alexa. A hand on her shoulder made her jerk back. "It's me." Jake said, and she visibly relaxed at the sight of him. "She better be here because I don't know where to search after this one." Jane said and dug her nails into her palm.

They searched the lounge area but couldn't find her. Jane spotted Alexa on the dance floor, grinding on some guy. Abstractedly, she grabbed Jake's hand and led him through the crowd. Jake looked down at their hands and smiled. He followed her gladly.

When they reached the crowded dance floor, they got shoved around as the drunk bodies bashed into them. Jane spun around and stopped. Jake crashed into her, and he almost made them topple. Jake steadied himself. A drunk flimsy young bloke bumped into Jake. He was now a mere few inches away from Jane's face. Jane's hazel eyes reeled Jake in. He was lost in her gaze. Somehow, they had forgotten the dancing bodies around them.

Jane saw how dangerously close they were, and Jake's cologne overpowered the smell of alcohol that hung in the air. She breathed him in. One second later, Jane found herself nestled in Jake's embrace. Her face rested on his chest. A little embarrassed at the situation she found them in, she shook her head and created a distance between them. Jake gave her side lobbed smile. "I think I'll take the lead. At this rate, we'll never get to Alexa." He said and tightened his grip on her hand. He walked in front and shielded Jane from any further collision. "I was going to ask you to take the lead. That's why I stopped." She said truthfully. Jake nodded at that.

They approached the dancing couple on the floor. People kept slamming into them. "Heeeeyyyy!!" Alexa yelled and grabbed a girl's drink. She downed it and shoved the empty glass back into her hand. The girl gaped and walked off pissed. "What took you s..so long?" She slurred.

"You asked me to come. Let's go!" Jane yelled over the music.She dropped Jake's hand as a surge of anger spurted through her limbs. "Are you leaving?" The guy she danced with asked. He looked at Jane and Jake with a murderous glare. Jake stepped up as he saw that the guy was going to be trouble. "Yeah, we're leaving." He said and grabbed Alexa's arm.

"Wait! I want you guys to meet Adam." Her tongue so heavy, to form the words perfectly. "Yeah." Jake said and led her outside with Jane short on their heels. "You're being fun sponges! I didn't call you to, to, to come fetch me. I called you to, to, (hiccuped) join meee!" Alexa pouted.
Jake led them outside.

"You called me, asking me to join you?! That's not what you sounded like over the freaking phone, Alexa! I nearly went out of my mind when I couldn't find you. When are you going to grow up? I am tired of driving through the streets in the am, looking for you. I'm tired of dragging your drunk bum home. You better get yourself together cause this is the very last time I'm dragging your drunk ass home!" Jane spat. Alexa's eyes glazed over.

"Can you take her to my house. I need to run some errands." Jane asked and did not wait for Jake to respond. She shoved the keys to her house in his hand and stomped off to her car, and drove off.

************

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This chapter was kinda jotted. A filler, to be honest, but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy and stay tuned in for more to come. Bye-Bye.