"Brian" Functions. [Reyna/Nona/Zane/Kai]

[Reyna Newalu]

Reyna looked at her reflection in the mirror and questioned the wisdom of wearing such a dress. It was a great dress. A very sexy dress. When she put it on in the shop she was asked out by three men and one woman, all good signs that if she wore this dress out tonight it would result in what her goal was; to have her first one night stand. The green-blue material clung to every curve, the deep V in the front held in place by a string just below her bust line and another that tied in back above the low scooped back. It was a dress that left little to the imagination though she had pointed out to Aunt Nikki that she wore less to the beach.

The goal may seem strange to many but Rey had decided recently that relationships was where she kept going wrong. She always wanted a relationship, something stable and comfortable. Something that she could control. But they never worked out. However, that didn’t mean she didn’t still have desires and wants. She had told Nona of her plan and though she seemed to understand, Reyna didn’t know if the other woman approved of what she wanted to do. Reyna took a deep breath and ran her hands over the soft material to smooth out invisible wrinkles.

She put the peacock feather earrings in her ears and then picked up her curling iron to give her hair a few finishing touches. Her makeup was actually minimal, nothing too distracting. Nude eye shadow with a smudge of black liner and mascara to emphasize their large almond shape and a light pink lip gloss were all she wore. It would hold up better if things went the way she was hoping. There were butterflies in her stomach as she turned the iron off and checked her reflection one more time before putting on her coat and tying the belt around her waist. In her pocket was her credit card and ID, though she doubted she’d need either, and some cash for the taxi driver. A quick glance out the window told her the taxi was downstairs waiting.

She walked by Gabi’s door and smiled, her daughter was staying the night at Noelle’s house that evening. It was why Reyna was going out, knowing that Gabi wouldn’t be aware of her activities. The light was on under Nikki’s door and she knocked quietly.

“Tia Nikki? I am headed out. Do not wait up. I will be back in the morning.”

Her aunt did not know what her plans were as she knew Nikki would not approve. But Nikki had been there through all the hear breaks and Reyna hoped she would eventually understand. In the meantime, there was no need to have Nikki worry about her. She heard her aunt call out a ‘good night’ and Reyna carefully navigated down the stairs in her gold stiletto heels. She opened the door and locked it behind her, not bothering to take a key. She didn’t need one as she could walk through that door any time she wanted to. It helped to be intangible, especially when you locked yourself out of places.

Reyna got in the taxi and told the driver where to go, hoping that Nona was already there. She was nervous, so much so that she might break her rule of ‘two drinks’ and have a third to help calm her nerves and give her a bit of courage. But then there was no guarantee that she’d even find a good candidate at the club. Reyna knew what she was looking for; tall, built, handsome, and not local. The last part was key. She wanted a one night stand with no repercussions and that meant having one with someone she’d never see again.

The taxi pulled up in front of the club and she climbed out, paying the driver from her cash and ignoring the comment about knocking some off the rate for something she’d rather peel her own skin off than do with the disgusting driver. She just smiled and declined and walked to where the entrance of the club was and the line to get in was waiting. Her eyes scanned the line but Nona was nowhere to be seen so Reyna just stood outside the line waiting for her friend. She knew that between the two of them they would not be waiting in a line to get in. It wasn’t a conceited thing but rather the fact that when they went out, they never paid for drinks and never waited to get in.

There were also two rules that she had when she went out. The first was she never told anyone her full name and the second was she never told anyone her real age. The first was for safety and the second because she didn’t look 31 and men generally didn’t want to know that she was that old with a ten year-old daughter. There was no third rule regarding Gabriella…mostly because no man she met would ever know she had a child because it was none of their business.

She turned down two invitations as she waited for Nona to show up. The younger woman had been down lately and Reyna hadn’t been able to get out of her what the cause was. She figured it was a man…usually when a woman looked as hurt as Nona did, it was due to a man. Which is why she said they should go to the club tonight, hoping to distract her friend from whatever it was that bothering her and at the very least, get in some dancing. Dancing with Nona was a lot of fun, and as one man had told her, ‘the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.’ Reyna’s lips parted in a smile at the memory. ‘If nothing else, at least tonight I will get to dance.’

[Nona Constantine]

Nona sat in the back seat of the cab with her forehead pressed against the window. The ride from Sanglignee was at its most boring at night, when the countryside was cast in darkness beyond the range of the taxi’s headlights. All she could see was the ditch at the side of the road and her own reflection in the blackened window. Her eye make-up was dark, smoky and far sultrier than she felt. In contrast her lips almost their natural colour but shone with a healthy layer of gloss that tasted like cherry. She had the collar of her trench coat pulled up and it was fastened tightly around her waist. She didn’t want to feel quite so naked in the back of a taxi by herself, which is how she would have felt if she had left her coat at home.

The dress was Reyna’s idea. It was a red halter neck which plunged the whole way down to her navel, where it looked like the entire dress was being held together by one shiny silver hoop. It covered her modesty but just barely, flared out at the hips for a few inches before the skirt ended just below the curve of her bottom, and if she even so much as moved too fast she’d be showing the world that her underwear did in fact match her dress. Her shoes, well, her shoes were ones she had worn to work the previous night which really said it all. That had been Reyna’s idea too. When Nona said she could barely walk in them sober let alone when she’s had a few drinks, Reyna told her she wasn’t going to be walking; she was going to be dancing.

Nona knew she could definitely dance in those shoes.

She had spent most of the last two days at the Academy, either in training, classes or in the small single room she had there, avoiding everyone she knew. She had finally built up the courage to go back to Zane’s class last week (after skipping it so much people started wondering if she had dropped out) and it had been torture, sitting there not answering him, not even looking at him because she knew he wouldn’t be looking at her either. She had known that things were going to be different between them after they slept together, but she had no idea it was going to be this bad. The constant heaviness of dread that weighed down in her chest was not worth the night with him that she could barely even remember.

No. That was a lie. She could remember. She just wished she could forget. That was her main reason to go out tonight. She was going to go out and dance until her feet hurt and if Reyna ended up going home with a stranger then so would she. She would get drunk enough not to care and by morning she would be so completely over Zane Constantine and his disappearing act the morning after that she wouldn’t care about doing exactly the same to someone else. If Zane could do that and Reyna could do that then Nona could damn well do both.

The taxi pulled up outside the club and Nona tossed a note into the front seat as she opened the door and stepped out into the clammy night air. It took her about three seconds to see her friend, standing out and away from the queue like a beacon. Smiling, Nona strode up to her, her voluminous waves of brown hair bouncing gently against her back, her dangerous looking heels clicking sharply against the pavement.

“Are you ready to break a few hearts?” Nona asked as she reached Reyna. She was aware of several sets of eyes watching them but she didn’t grace them with a glance back. They were staring, but they had so little to stare at. Yet. She unbuttoned her coat and opened it with the pretence of showing Reyna her dress or cooling down or... something. She stood far enough to the side though to let the bouncers at the door see just how little she was wearing. The bottom of her coat was easily six inches lower than her dress.

“Come on, we both look like we need to get something in us. And it may or may not be a drink.”

Slipping her arm inside Reyna’s coat she curled her hand around the other woman’s waist and pulled her against her as she started walking to the entrance of the club. The intimacy, the closeness with Reyna was all part of the act. Sure enough, they didn’t have to say a word but offered a smile to the bouncers who let them straight past. It worked every time.

Once inside Nona shrugged off her coat led the way to the booth for the cloakroom, accepted her ticket and tucked it into waistband of her underwear, which – much to the approval of the cloakroom attendant – was easily accessible because of just how low cut her dress was. She smiled confidently and stood a little straighter. Yes, tonight was going to be all about forgetting Zane Constantine.

[Zane Constantine]

The lights were flashing along with the thumping of the music and Zane wondered why on earth he was at the club in the first place. He hadn’t really wanted to come here tonight. Hadn’t wanted to play wingman to Kai. Definitely didn’t want to force himself to make small talk and act like he was flirting with the blonde with the bad dye job so Kai could talk to her friend. From his height, he could see the roots of her dark hair, even in the poor lighting and thick air. He was so tired of fakeness. He had spent years with it dealing with Thora and her like.

But Kai had said it would do him good to go out considering he had been living like a hermit for a month. Zane had actually told Kai the whole story about how he had screwed up and slept with his best friend’s little sister, who also happened to be a student in one of his classes. The fact they were both consenting adults aside, it was still a pretty low thing to do. Sure, they both had been drunk at the time, but he knew better. He had wanted to sleep with Nona and damn the consequences. At least that had been his drunken theory. Once the liquor had worn off, Zane had to face the fact he had messed up and badly. Kai found the situation amusing and didn’t seem to realize just how terrible Zane felt about it. And how he still couldn’t decide if he’d rather go back to the way things were before between him and Nona.

He missed her. He missed her laugh, her sense of humor. He missed listening to her and Keiran bicker back and forth and the way she’d smile at him because they both knew that Keiran didn’t mean a word he was saying. Zane had been avoiding the pub, telling Keiran he was busy with his class and research for his book, because he knew the second Keiran saw him he’d know something was wrong. And Keiran didn’t even have to ask a question. He just looked at you and you were spilling you guts before you knew it. The last thing he needed was Keiran knowing he had taken advantage of Nona. But damn, he missed her.

The liquor and ice swirled in his glass as he moved his hand in a circle, his attention drawn to the motion rather than the woman whom he was supposed to be talking to. ‘This is ridiculous.’ He let out a quiet sigh and lifted his gaze to the door as he thought about making an escape and leaving Kai on his own. Kai didn’t really need him…he could peel the women off of himself that he wasn’t interested in. It was then a flash of red caught his attention and his eyes narrowed. No. It wasn’t possible. There was no way that the one person he wanted to see most in the world who was also the only one he absolutely had to avoid just walked into the club.

Zane’s body stiffened and his gaze locked on the petite woman with dark hair who was wearing very little other than the equivalent of a tissue and some rather dangerous looking shoes. She was standing next to a taller woman also wearing a tissue and deadly shoes, but his attention was so focused on Nona that he completely ignored her companion. Already he felt that familiar tug to go be near her, like a magnetic pull that just being in the same room with her activated. The memory of her scent, warm skin, and silky hair rolled over him and he closed his eyes as his chest burned. When he opened them again, much to his relief, the woman he had been talking to had walked off.

Part of him wanted to hide, to find a corner or pillar and disappear before she spotted him. It would be kind of hard as he and Kai were the two largest things in the room. And she looked so damn beautiful. So beautiful that when Zane let his eyes wander around for a second he realized he wasn’t the only man oogling her. He clenched his teeth and turned his back towards the dance floor and stepped over to between Kai and the woman he had been talking to and told him just loud enough to be heard over the music and noise of the club.

“Nona’s here. Just walked in. Red dress, long dark hair. Standing next to a woman in a blue-ish dress. Fuck.”

The last word was his assessment of the situation. Zane leaned on the bar and set his drink in front of him. If he didn’t turn around, maybe she wouldn’t realize it was him. And then maybe he could figure out what to do. Other than march over there and demand to know how she could go out wearing so little and then make her put on his jacket. The bartender switched out his now empty glass with a full one and Zane gave the man a brief nod of ‘thank you.’ Too many emotions were going on inside of him at the moment for him to be able to figure out which ones he should focus on and which he should ignore. Mostly he still felt the overwhelming sense of guilt over having given in to what he had truly desired to do and then leaving her without so much as a word in the morning. When he looked in those eyes again, would he see hatred? It would kill him if he did.

His mind frantically tried to work out the best strategy for the situation, relying on his intellect rather than his instincts. Instincts were what got him in this situation in the first place. He had given in to them and touched her. It had all been downhill from there, like a cascade of dominos that couldn’t be stopped once you pushed down the first one. And he hadn’t wanted to stop them that night. Even now, he didn’t think he’d go back and change it. At least if he could figure out a way to deal with it. He took a sip of his drink and wished the floor would open up and swallow him. Then maybe he wouldn’t have to look her in the eyes and see the disappointment he was sure that he’d find there.

[Kai Newalu]

“Twins?!” Kai yelled over the music close to the woman’s ear. “You mean there’s another one of you? Is she here?”

Kai had one intention that night. Well, two, if you considered his intention of the same thing for his friend separate from his own. Zane had been so tense and irritable over the last month that Kai announced earlier in the day that he had had enough and that Zane was going to have fun over the weekend even if it killed him. He had hoped all his friend would need were a few drinks and a few women to choose from. About twenty minutes after they arrived at the club Kai realised Zane really wasn’t all that interested. Sure, the women who were showing them interest were mostly vapid creatures, but they were still women. That was sort of the point. It was the uninteresting ones that you didn’t feel guilty about not sharing breakfast with the morning after.

Kai had grown tired of Zane’s moping and decided that he didn’t want the night to be a complete waste, and set about finding his own vapid creature. The one he was currently talking to was clearly in the market for something quick and easy. Well, easy anyway. Kai was trying to figure out if it was also going to be quick when Zane stepped between them.

Exasperated, Kai watched the woman give Zane a disgusted look, grab her drink and walk off. “I think you’ve forgotten the concept of ‘wingman,’” he muttered, but Zane hadn’t heard him. It took him a couple of moments to realise what his friend was saying.

Nona was here.

Kai grinned. He couldn’t help it. A face-splitting grin tore across his face with complete disregard for Zane’s turmoil. Any thoughts about whats-her-name-with-the-twin were lost as Kai straightened up and scanned the crowd of people. It didn’t take long to spot the two women. Many eyes were directed towards them so he only had to follow the lines of sight.

“Damn. You weren’t kidding when you said she was-“ Kai cut himself off when he looked back at Zane and fully appreciated just how bad the situation was. He heaved a breath which puffed out his chest, sent another observing look at the two women, and turned back to the bar like Zane had done. With a nod of his head he called the bartender back over.

“All right, you miserable bastard,” he spoke to Zane. “You’re going to buy her a drink and take it over there. All you’re doing by avoiding her is moping around and feeling sorry for yourself. So what if she’s your friend’s kid sister? She’s not a kid anymore and the world hasn’t imploded yet because you slept with her. What’s the worst that could happen? Oh yeah... she goes home with some other guy tonight.”

[Reyna Newalu]

It was a good night to be out at the club. Already the place was crowded and there were plenty of people moving on the floor, not all of them doing it very well. Reyna smiled and let her eyes wander over the crowd, not really seeing anyone at all. She was just looking for an opening to get to the floor and the random faces oogling her and Nona were just not that important. The two women were here to have fun, and dammit, Reyna was going to make sure they did.

Reyna grabbed Nona’s hand and dragged her out onto the dance floor. The music was thumping and she felt the rhythm in her bones and needed to move to it. Once the reached a spot, she pulled her friend near her and the two began to move together. Already men were circling but none of them were worth any of their time yet. But they didn’t matter…all that mattered was moving to the music. Eventually a tall man with sandy brown hair approached and Reyna liked the look of him enough to let herself be pulled away from Nona to dance with him.

Two songs later, she had had to move his hands from ‘inappropriate’ areas about four times already. Reyna didn’t mind when bodies touched during dancing but his hands weren’t just brushing, they were practically grabbing. And though she knew her dress invited such familiarity on one level, the fact remained he didn’t even know her name yet. If she was going to get to the point where that sort of thing didn’t bother her, she was going to need to get some liquor in her…and fast. Reyna moved back over to where Nona was dancing and shouted over the music.

“Drinks?!”

She saw a head movement and assumed it was a nod and grabbed her friend’s wrist and led her off the dance floor towards the bar. Reyna paused to smile at her dance partner over her shoulder to see if he would follow. After all, they were going to need someone to pay for the drinks. She weaved her way through the crowd, keeping a hold of Nona so they didn’t get separated. There wasn’t much room to spare in the club but one area of the bar seemed particularly crowded so Rey headed to the other side where not so many were standing around.

By the time she reached the bar, Reyna was flushed from the dancing and pushing her way through the multitude of bodies around them. She turned her back to the bar and grinned at Nona. Looking back at the way they came, the men they had been dancing with were attempting to make their way over to them. ‘Perfect…the wallets are about to arrive.’ Reyna leaned forward and brushed some of Nona’s hair back over her shoulders so she could speak into her ear.

“They are almost here. Do you know what you want to drink?”

[Nona Constantine]

Nona loved dancing with Reyna in any club or bar they went to. They attracted the wrong kind of attention for all the right reasons. It was an entirely different kind of dancing to when she had time by herself when she was lucky enough to find one of the studios or halls in the Academy unoccupied. The dancing she did there freed her mind and soul. The dancing she did here was supposed to free her heart.

She danced closer to Reyna than she would dance with the majority of the men that offered that night, but all it took was one. That was all she needed; just one tall, powerful guy to make her forget. He didn’t have to be blond, either. In fact, as she glanced at one or two of the fairer faces that were turned towards them, she decided she’d rather he was dark.

When Reyna left her to dance with some half-decent looking guy, Nona found one for herself. It wasn’t hard to do. He was tall, But not tall enough, she thought, and built But not strong enough, with dark skin and even darker eyes. He’ll do. Any time he laid his hands somewhere she didn’t want him to, though, Nona just made it uncomfortable for him. At one point he stooped his huge head to her ear, asking in heavily accented French if she was running a temperature. She simply shrugged. The man had more than enough drink in him already to believe anything.

Reyna grabbed her away soon enough and their dancing partners followed like stray dogs after the first humans to show them affection. She didn’t pay too much attention to where Reyna led them but once at the bar she felt thirsty. As Reyna called into her ear she turned her head and let her eyes drift over the bar to the bartender, who was making his way towards them. Nona twisted back and her lips brushed against Reyna’s hair as she said into her ear, “The barkeep is hot.”

Seemingly forgetting her first conquest, Nona stood up on the edge of the footrest in front of the bar and craned her body over the polished surface. The bartender leaned forward too and Nona caught a glimpse of brightness in his eyes before she opened her mouth to ask him what he’d recommend for a good night.

That was when she saw him. The shock whipped through her body and she half jumped, half fell backwards off the footrest. Her hand snapped to Reyna’s wrist and she turned to her friend, horror widening her mismatched eyes to the size of side-plates.

“Zane is here. At the other end of the bar. Maybe he didn’t see me. Can we go? Fuck.”

[Zane Constantine]

When Kai was about to comment on how hot Nona was, Zane was only a hair’s breadth away from punching his friend. He knew how hot Nona was. He knew that other men found her attractive and wanted to do the things to her that he had been lucky enough to experience. He also knew that he’d rather pummel any man who tried to move on her into a bloody pulp than to watch it happen; Kai included. Kai was a ladies’ man and Nona would have definitely been his kind of conquest.

But Kai was right. Avoiding Nona hadn’t resulted in anything but him becoming more and more miserable. He wanted to be with her, not away from her. And if he wasn’t with her then the odds were she’d find someone else who would be. And then he’d be either forced to watch her date another guy or keep making them all disappear, which would eventually get him in trouble. Zane wondered how Keiran had done it all those years being in love with Allison but watching her date other guys when he didn’t have the guts to ask her out. Fuck that. He didn’t have Keiran’s patience. He took a sip of his drink and waved the bartender down.

“Vodka and coke, with a slice of lime.”

It was Nona’s drink. He’d take it to her and see if she wanted to give him a chance or if she’d throw it in his face. He turned around and watched her on the dance floor, moving in such a way he felt his desire rise and his breathing turn shallow. It was then he realized who her dancing partner was. Shit. Agent Reyna Delarosa. Zane didn’t trust her…she was a CCA agent. Why she hung out with a younger Tainted woman, he just didn’t understand.

Eventually they left the floor and headed towards the bar. Nona’s drink was sitting in front of him and he downed the last of his own as he watched her make her way to the bar. He’d need to get her away from Delarosa if he was going to apologize. The last thing he needed was the CCA Liaison knowing he had slept with one of his students. But as far as Delarosa knew, he was just her brother’s best friend as well as her teacher.

“Kai…I need to talk to Nona. Any chance you can distract her friend? She’s…”

He didn’t finish because Nona had made it to the bar and spotted him and looked like she was going to leave immediately. Zane couldn’t let that happen. He quickly pushed through the crowd at the bar and made his way to Nona, her drink in his hand. He knew she probably could feel him behind her, few people as large as he was could ever sneak up on anyone. So he tapped her shoulder and held out her drink while he held his breath for a moment.

“Nona…got a moment?”

[Kai Newalu]

What exactly Nona’s friend was, Kai didn’t get to find out. As soon as he really started paying attention to what Zane was saying the man took off and Kai was left frowning at the back of his head. He marvelled at just how quickly Zane changed his mind. Five minutes earlier the last thing he wanted to see was Nona’s face, but now, now that he actually laid eyes on the girl he had been ranting about for weeks, Zane didn’t even pause to think it through. Kai was more than happy with that. With any luck his friend would stop moping around after tonight, but even if everything just got worse, well, at least it was a change of pace.

Kai downed the last sip of his drink and put his empty glass on the bar, straightened up, and followed the line Zane took through the crowd where the people seemed reluctant to close the space again as though they expected Zane to return or Kai to follow, and moving the foot or two that they had to was so much of a hassle.

When he reached Zane and the two women it was to find Nona chattering to her friend so fast that Kai hadn’t a clue what she was saying, but as soon as Zane got closer behind her she stopped. To Kai, it was a little bit strange and he gave the petite brunette a quizzical look which, rather unexpectedly, she sent back to him in the form of a glare. What did I do? he wondered as he looked from Nona to Zane, walked up behind the other woman and leaned against the bar.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked in a low, deep, rumble of a voice close behind Nona’s friend. He hadn’t had a good look at the woman’s face yet but from where he stood the view was definitely enough to keep him interested.

“Vodka, coke and lime,” was the short and snappy answer from the short and snappy Nona. Kai looked at her again and found that she was still glaring at him so he wasn’t about to tell her that he didn’t mean her. “Double,” she added.

Kai shrugged and gave the bartender an affirmative nod and while he waited for the sound of a second order being placed, an awkward movement caught his eye from a few feet away out on the dance floor. Two men who apparently had been tailing the women had suddenly found themselves without their attention. Kai, who was easily a foot taller and broader than either of them, gave them a huge, toothy smile and thumbs up. The men knew they had no chance now and bumbled away again.

Kai pulled out his wallet and paid for the drinks (including another he ordered for himself), and turned his attention fully on the taller woman. “Damn,” he uttered with a tone of appreciation, finally getting to see her face properly, “you’re even more awe-inspiring from the front.”

[Reyna Newalu]

From Nona’s frantic words and gestures, Reyna quickly put two and two together. Zane Constantine. The reason Nona had been so down lately was indeed a man, but the man happened to be her brother’s best friend and one of her teachers at the academy. Reyna figured the reason she hadn’t been told the whole story was they figured she’d disapprove. The thing was while she was a stickler for the rules, in matters of love, Reyna had herself thrown them out the window enough times to know better than to judge others.

“If you want but…” she never got to finish.

Zane had reached them and was standing behind Nona with what could only be described as a look of misery on his handsome face. Reyna had to hold back a snicker. If Nona only turned around and saw the man, she’d know she had the upper hand. It was then a man’s voice came from behind her and rolled over her like a layer of silk. It was the kind of voice that made you want to close your eyes and smile to…so she did. He was offering to buy her a drink, and even though Nona jumped in on the deal, Reyna didn’t mind.

She turned back to the bartender and placed her order, sneaking a glance at the man with the voice. He was so large she couldn’t take in his appearance all at once or she’d probably be overwhelmed. Tall. Broad shoulders. Long, dark hair. He paid for the drinks and she took a sip of hers as she finally looked at his face. Her knees gave a little. “Madre de Dios,” she murmured under her breath. Yup. Dammit. Her stomach did that annoying fluttering thing it did when she found a man seriously attractive. Then he spoke again.

Her lips curled up in a smile and she gave him an amused look. Reyna secretly prayed he was not a local and therefore fair game for her plans for the night. No entanglements. If she was going to do this, it would be once and then move on. Which was a shame, because everything about this man screamed “Bad Boy” and that was just her type.

“Gracias, senor. I can honestly say, I have never been paid such a compliment as that before,” she spoke with a bit of her native accent.

She picked up Nona’s drink and handed it to her, standing near her friend to give her support but her eyes still on the man who was quite easily the most attractive one she had ever seen. Poor Zane stood there with his rejected drink, still waiting for Nona to look at him. The problem was Reyna was now torn. She wanted to be there for Nona but she also wanted to see what kind of trouble she and the man with the silk voice could get into.

[Nona Constantine]

Even now it hadn’t crossed Nona’s mind that she had revealed the one thing she shouldn’t have to Reyna. Later, she would try and figure a way to explain it. Maybe Reyna would believe her if she told her that Zane had been giving her a hard time about her ‘real’ issues... but that was later, and right now Nona wasn’t thinking very clearly.

The hand that gripped Reyna’s wrist tightened as she sensed him standing behind her. She couldn’t turn around. The guy that came up behind Rey then was a very small but welcome distraction. She didn’t even really want a drink but figured she could at least stop Zane from buying her one if she snatched up the other guy’s offer. Besides, alcohol in the bloodstream would be welcome. Still clinging to her friend like a child to her mother, Nona took the drink. She sipped it, trying to ignore the fact that she was quickly losing Reyna to the gorilla of a man with the money, and finally turned around to face Zane.

Even though she was no closer to him than she had been seconds before, facing him felt like she had moved ten times nearer. Her breathing turned shallow in an instant and she dragged her eyes from the middle of his chest to the glass in his hand. She couldn’t bear to look at him. In one go she downed the double vodka, her face screwed up in discomfort as the alcohol tore down her throat and sat in her stomach like acid. When her glass was empty, she put it on the bar with a loud bang, heaved a deep breath, and took the glass from Zane’s hand. She downed that too.

Her eyes pricked with tears which she blamed on the alcohol and she coughed. It wasn’t the wisest thing she could have done but it was only with the three vodkas inside her that she had the courage to finally answer him.

“Thanks, buddy,” she chirruped, clapping him on the bicep rather weakly. “Or...” she tilted her head, frowning as though deep in thought, “Should I call you Sir?” She paused for a moment but didn’t expect an answer. It was only then that she glanced up into his face, her eyes projecting all of the hurt and misery she had been feeling for the last few weeks. Dropping the second glass to the bar she turned and headed back to the dance floor, ducking and weaving between writhing bodies until she felt she was far enough away that Zane wouldn’t find her easily. She caught the attention of another guy and started dancing with him, this time not even paying enough attention to notice the colour of his hair. She didn’t care. All that matter was that it wasn’t Zane.