Broken Pieces

chapter 24

The ride was a silent one but it was comfortable silence. Sofia enjoyed the feeling of being out of the confines of her home. She was excited to socialize with people apart from the ones she knew already.

"Tell me something about your friends and being your girlfriend, I have no knowledge about who they are." She said as she leaned her head back at the headrest.

"Yeah, you're right. So there's four of us. Daniel, Josephine, Luca and me. Daniel loves  golf, girls, and wines. He owns a club on Long Island. He has sharp eyes and a very pathetic taste in women. You know what I mean." Carl said and Sofia nodded.

" Josephine is an artist. She loves to paint. She saved us all one night in a brawl when we got drunk back in college. She's just like a ninja. She's the mother hen of our gang. She cares for everyone but she doesn't like everyone. At least not the ones associating with us." He continued and smiled at the thought of Josephine. Sofia saw him smile. He must be very fond of her. She thought to herself.

"Luca is a racer. He loves the thrill. He loves wine, cars, and girls and not to mention he's Greek so he's very handsome. Just the little problem you could face with my friends is that they can be a little inquisitive and persuasive. But you'll be fine." Carl said as he finished talking about them.

They reached at the venue half an hour later. The house was big and stretched out on a wide area of land. It was big and spoke boldly of the wealth that its owner had. Carl stopped the car in front of the main door and got out. He gave the key to a valet as he approached them. Carl got out of the car first and helped Sofia out. He held her soft hand in his hard ones and walked inside.

"Mr. Alexander, it's so nice to see you here. I thought you weren't going to come." A young girl around Sofia's age opened the door wide as they rang the bell. She said as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"How could I not introduce my girlfriend to my friends, Nina?" Carl said focusing on the word girlfriend to rub it in her face. Her expressions changed. Her flirty smile fell and she gave Sofia a little nod before taking a look at their intertwined hands. Carl took Sofia's hand and led her further inside the house. They came to an indoor pool area and there were a lot of people there.

"I thought you said there were only going to be your friends but there are so many people here, Carl. I can't do this." She whispered to him as they stood outside.

"Relax, Sofia. You're not backing out of this now. I'm here with you. Don't worry." He said as he held her by her dainty waist. Sofia squirmed a little but she was fine once they entered.

Music was blaring and there were people in skimpy clothing all over the place. People were lazily swimming and drinking.

There were two boys sitting on a couch in their swimming trunks with girls all over them like bees to honey. They got up as soon as they saw Carl and Sofia enter.

"Hey, Carl. How are you and who's this arm candy with you? Can I have her?" A strikingly handsome man with brown ruffled hair came to hug Carl.

"Hi Danny, I'm great. And this gorgeous woman here is not an arm-candy. This is Sofia, my girlfriend." Carl said pulling Sofia closer to himself to show give him a warning message.

"Bro, you've done yourself proud. My, my, she's gorgeous." Daniel said as he took a step back and gave a once over look to Sofia.

"Sorry for not introducing myself properly. I'm Daniel Johnson. It's nice to meet my bro's girlfriend also known as you. I must say your presence has disappointed many girls here. But don't mind their expressions. They're here just for fun. We don't make commitments." He said as he winked at her. Sofia smiled. Carl led her to a couch and they sat there. Carl put his hand at the back of the couch behind her head and sat closer to her.