Winning Back Mr. Right

Chapter 10

I stand by the window watching Nate as he leaves. He looks up meeting my gaze before riding his Challenger. I pull the curtain on my room and choose to end the night quietly. I drag myself away from the window, dropping my body across the bed.

Just the thought of how he may be hurting right now turns me inside out. But he must know that it hurts me in the process as well. Tonight is the first big fight we had after a long time and I know it is bound to happen eventually. I realize I'm this firecracker ready to explode any minute and I actually did, at the most inconvenient time. I decide to go take a short bath.

After stepping out of the shower, I change to a glossy red lingerie the girls gave me as a birthday present last year. It feels so smooth on my skin and it shows the length of my thighs. I study myself in the mirror, stupidly appreciating my own reflection. While squeezing my damped hair against the towel, Nate's words hammer repeatedly inside my head. "He likes you!"

His words alone make me shiver like someone put ice on my spine. Am I just being naïve? I saw him once before but somehow his face registers more tonight than the first time we met. I lay in bed trying to imagine him once more. Hazel brown eyes, almost like mine, with long lashes sitting down trim eyebrows. Perfect nose to a full lips. His tall and athletic body makes him so freaking hot! He has this strong Persian look but somehow changes to innocence every time he flashes that lingering smile. "Where is this going?" I'm talking to myself. "Why am I even entertaining the thoughts?"

I haven't seen Kevin in a while. Never heard from him since that night. Word is, Urban functioned a week ago and is currently the town's craze. Contrary to what happened, it pulls a much larger group night after night. What else? Nathaniel calls every day asking about how my mine is. He also fills me in with his experiences in the hospital and how he manages to sleep while standing. He jokes that it has become one of his special talents lately. I certainly miss him but I honestly am growing fond of being alone too.

My girlfriends appear before me unannounced. "I heard about another party coming up! We have to be there." Gabby shares the big news excitedly. She leans on my study table and picks up the pocketbooks piled up, checking it out one by one to see if she can find anything interesting to read. "How's the job hunting going for you?" Nessa asks while trying on the pink column gown Nate gave me. Ellie and Cadie are busy painting each other's nails.

"Not so lucky." I can't help but frown at my own answer.

"So let's go to the party then. I'll drive." Gabby faces me and holds up a thick paperback book. "I'm borrowing this." Then she checks her phone and a big "o" suddenly forms in her mouth. "Oh. My. Gosh!"

"What?" Nessa raises her eyebrows. "How do you feel about going home with a just-got-out-of-bed look?" Gabby still is hooked in her cellphone. Clueless, I narrow my eyes on her. "We have to wear a smudge-free, water-resistant and the most-attentive-to-the-slightest-strand product we have." She continues reading whatever it is in her phone.

"Why?" I ask, a little irritated. Gabby is trying her best to keep the suspense going. "Buckle up, girls. It's happy hour!" She exclaims. "Why?!" This time the question is louder because we all said it the same time. "Coldplay is playing. We NEED to be in that party! It's a must!" Our eyes widen altogether. We all turn to her and scream at the top of our lungs.

We LOVE Coldplay. So it is decided. We are going to that party.

Within hailing distance were parked cars, beer cups scattered with people in clusters, sitting around either making out or just talking.

It's almost sunset when I step out of Gabby's car. I can't believe the incredible site before my eyes. It's a cliff. We are in a freaking giant cliff! We walk towards it as Gabby finds a spot to park her car near the edge. The view is breathtaking.

"This is amazing." Other than that comment from Cadie, everyone else is speechless.

"It's terrifying though. It's like you don't really think about the fact if you fall you'll die but your body does." I look down and throw myself to oblivion for a second. "Oh, my god. I'm hundreds of feet up." The surrounding sea and the soft cool breeze blow my hair back.

"Stay focused, Airie. You don't want to slip." Ellie reminds me.

I spend all my energy moving and stepping to the right spot before I am able to sit comfortably at the edge. I suddenly feel the adrenaline in my veins. We sit quietly together and watch the crimson sunset. The glorious scene makes me want to paint it with different kinds of red and orange like fire, swimming in a huge empty land so the horizon could easily be seen. "My fingers are numb. It's like I can't really grab anything."

"Oh, trust me. This is just the beginning." A familiar voice speaks softly in my ears. I can feel his breath on my neck. I turn my face up and there he is, a gorgeous man standing behind me.

"Kevin..." He smirks upon hearing his name. "What are you doing here?" My friends follow my eyes' direction and scan Kevin head-to-toe.

"Well. Well. Who do we have here?" Gabby stares at him intently yet Kevin's eyes are on me. Just me.

"You girls have to wait until it's dark." He looks up the horizon and smiles beautifully. His thoughts are wandering at the moment, savoring the vast sea. "You ain't seen nothing yet." He concludes.

The night slowly turns into blackness and the crowd starts to get loud. Bouncers put guard rails and lights to keep people off straying over into the dangerous cliff. My girls and I, also Kevin, have to move up and change our spot.

So this is what he is trying to tell us.

The crowd is still in groups. Some are drinking and smoking, others kissing and dancing or doing both. I see guys setting up a stage with a single sound system taking turns mixing in and out different rhythms. Drivers turn on their car's headlights. Girls from another group share glow sticks to the rest and the hosts put strobe lights, fog machines and lasers to stand in all four corners surrounding us.

It's changing from a sun-soaked soiree setting to a rave, trance party. I'm not sure of the terms.