Defy Desire

Chapter 19 - Maia

I painted on my red lipstick slowly as the finishing touch to my makeup. My eyes were a smoky blend of darks and my foundation was heavy and topped with brown bronzer and white highlight to contour my features. I had pinned up my hair from my face and had on light blue high waist leggings on top of a white lacey bodysuit that was actually a form of lingerie and only just hid my nipples. My heels were higher than usual tonight and I finished my look with my white Stella McCartney shoulder bag Harrison had bought me three years ago for my birthday.

I had my music playing in the background and was drinking a gin and lemonade as I got dressed. I had started getting ready several hours ago to allow myself to take my time and try and have a few drinks before Nate picked me up to get me in the mood.

Waking up this morning after last night was a nightmare. My head was pounding and the memories of my conversation with Tom played on my mind all day. Getting ready for tonight was the only thing making me feel better and I tried to push away the guilt of being so harsh to him and replace it with thoughts of telling myself I did the right thing. Now, he would probably stay clear of me, most likely because he thought I was a psycho and completely childish for getting so drunk, but this meant I wouldn't have to deal with him again.

I glanced at the clock and it was only 8pm. Nate would be another hour and I was ready, meaning I could have a few drinks before I left. At this point, I was dying to call Lola, who hadn't been in touch at all, and I was desperate to invite her over here. Getting ready with her was my favourite thing to do with our music blaring and chatting about our week on placement. The alcohol was helping me not feel so lonely without her here and I moved out onto my balcony to sit and enjoy my drink in the cool air.

It was slightly dark outside, and my apartment overlooked the outer part of the city centre, meaning it wasn't buzzing with activity all night long, but still fairly busy with people going about their night. There was a lot of cafés and a few bars on the street facing my block and I watched as people came in and out minding their own business. My balcony was my favourite part of my apartment and being high up in the block meant I had a lot of privacy when I sat out here.

My phone buzzed, breaking me out of my thoughts, and I glanced down to see Ava's name.

"Can't wait to see you! I'm drunk already...see you soon x"

I replied with a cocktail emoji followed by a kiss face and set my phone down, taking another swig from my glass. I was tipsy now and knew another drink or two would have me in the right mood for tonight.

I was excited to see Nate too, surprisingly. Last time we were out it had been so awkward. I had been wanting to spend some time with him and see where things went but looking back I knew I was just trying to distract myself from Tom. Now, I didn't see him that way, I was just really looking forward to having a good night with my friend and I hoped he saw it that way too now.

As the time passed, I had another drink and was halfway through my last one when I noticed the clock was almost at 9pm. I turned everything off in my place, grabbed my bag, double checking I had everything in it and left my apartment. I headed down in the lift to the lobby and stepped out the door, looking around for Nate. I waited on the street for a few minutes until a taxi eventually appeared and Nate jumped out and signalled for me to get in. He held the door open for me as I climbed in then jumped in after me.

'How're you?' he asked, smiling at me.

He was such a gentleman and I wished somewhere inside me that Nate and I could have had something. He seemed like the perfect boyfriend.

'Tipsy!' I laughed.

'Good!' he replied, showing his perfect white teeth.

We chatted on the way to the club about our week at the hospital and he told me about some guy who had been brought into trauma with an angle-grinder still hanging from his arm. I was secretly disappointed that I missed out on seeing things like this as I rarely got time in trauma and the time I had managed to get in there didn't bring anything as graphic as that.