The Unexpected Partner (JULY 2021 MULTI-CHAP UPDATE)

Chapter 12 - Tequila and Tapas

(A/N: Next two will come later today! Technical difficulties ಥ_ಥ...Enjoy otherwise!!!)

"Damn...that goood A?!" Sade teasingly dragged out, as the group were celebrating the fluttering embers of Aliana's birthday at a well-known and popular Spanish bar in Central London, "Tequila and Tapas".

Well, most of the group were celebrating. Aliana was seated on one side alongside Sade and Dame, whilst AJ was seated next to Javier and Alenari.

One person, in particular, seemed to spend more of his time brooding in the corner of the booth.

"Yeah..." Aliana awkwardly replied in response, sensing the cold atmosphere surrounding AJ, as he seemed to be trying his best to zone out of the group conversation, not yet fully realising the ramifications that his mood would have on her special night. "It was...like nothing I've ever experienced Sade...it took me by surprise but...I'm...not mad that it...did? Does that make sense?".

Aliana was in a state of inner turmoil. So long had her feelings been repressed that the basic primal desire awakened so fiercely by a near-complete stranger had taken her aback.

"Tell me mo-" Sade was automatically cut off as a haze seemed to covet her best friend's iris', as though she was transported back to that moment...with Danté. Everyone else had long ago stopped their external conversations to listen in as she told them more, whilst AJ was looking off with disinterest into the dancing crowd. At least, that's what Aliana initially thought.

"Sade, I don't even know how to explain it all. The warmth of his hands, the sheer size of them! His skilled footwork and imposing demeanour... He was so assured and decisive in his actions and his words that I blanked on numerous occasions and was able to just lean against him and his scent. Lord, I was gonna act u- I did! I did act up!" as if in that moment in the corridor of the studio again, Aliana began to remember with explicit detail just how much of a 'performance' the two of them put on. Second-hand embarrassment started to curl its fine claws deep within her chest.

She let out a resounding huff and knocked back her fifth shot of the night so far. That was the main reason for her friend's recurring skill in attentive listening; Aliana was quite the talker when she drank a few drinks...

"Oooh, does Lil' Ali have a crush? Ya'll did seem cosy up on that studio floor..." Dame joined in on the teasing, "He's got you so in your damn feelings you're knocking it back the most I've ever seen you...and I've seen you with a bottle of Uncle Wray." Aliana reached over Sade and pinched him in response; the "Wrays Incident" was something that was not brought up, under any circumstances.

Sade also pinched him.

"Hey!" Dame jolted from both the shock and the pain of Sade's fingers. She always left bruises with her pinches...

"You got the number, yes?" Alenari pestered, already setting herself up for disappointment, knowing how Aliana can get when a man asked for her number.

"I...yeah..."Aliana replied, flushing indiscriminately. She was in a continuous struggle to control herself just reminiscing; what would she do when she saw him again?

"He gave me his phone and I put it in...then he kissed me goodbye as we parted ways...it was really good...I think, I mean, it felt really good." The girls were on the edge of the red leather seats of the booth, thoroughly entertained by there normally uptight friend who showed a limited barrage of emotions, especially when it came to potential significant others.

Aliana didn't even initiate the group conversation on her evolving love-life. Sade went right in for the kill as soon as she met back up with the group...forty minutes later. It didn't even seem that long for Aliana but she couldn't lie to her friends about what happened, especially when they were suspicious already.