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Waverly had been here before, more times than she would ever admit, and there’s no doubt she’d be here again.
A bar, which she had not been to, but a situation she was far too familiar with.
She hated this, the feeling that she was doing something wrong, something she should feel guilty about, as if being here in this club was some sort of sin. But she wasn’t the one who should have the guilt following her like a shadow on the dimly lit street.
Champ should.
He should feel the guilt that was slowly suffocating Waverly.
But he didn’t.
He never did.
Cheating was not something that Champ saw as wrong, or immoral, or disgusting. It was something he’d done since day one of their relationship, something Waverly did her best to turn a blind eye to.
But she was smarter than that, smarter than he ever gave her credit for, or anyone for that matter.
So here she was, in a club she didn’t know, with a confidence she forgot she had.
She had walked out on Champ, again, but she had told herself she wasn’t going back, and a part of her deep down knew she was serious this time.
Yet Waverly brushed that aside, let the thoughts of Champ drown in the glass she held in her hand as she downed the liquid inside, her throat burning, her mind racing.
Waverly eyed the crowd, scanning faces and waiting for someone to catch her eye, to grab her attention and for her to catch theirs. For someone to help burn the memories of champ into nothing but a nightmare, even if it was just for the night.
Eyes burned into Waverly’s skin, her low-cut shirt and short skirt catching the attention of those around her, but Waverly didn’t see them. She ignored the eyes looking at her body, at the parts of her that she already knew were wanted. She wanted someone to see past that, to see that she was more than Champ had said she was, more than the broken girl whose family are the talk of the town, more than a smile and wave.
That’s when she saw her.
Deep brown eyes staring straight at Waverly through the crowd.
Waverly found herself fixated, lost in the eyes of this woman, the darkness of them, like soil after a storm, but they glistened with a playfulness that almost embraced you.
If someone hadn’t shifted slightly, breaking the line of sight between them and the trance Waverly had fallen briefly into, the brunette wondered how long they could have done that. Stared, with no words, as if they weren’t two strangers in a club, as if they weren’t two people with lives outside of this room, with a story to tell and a secret to hide.
As if a moment as simple as that could have lasted forever.
Waverly turned back to the bar, asking for a refill and letting her mind wonder.
Maybe she was crazy, or maybe there was something there that Waverly would never be able to put into words, but every fibre in Waverly’s body was telling her to look over her shoulder, see if the eyes burning into skin her were the ones she wanted.
But Waverly held back, waited until she didn’t feel as though she was being watched before turning her head.
The woman was no longer looking, she was talking to the man beside her, but Waverly’s focus was not on him. It was on her.
This woman had deep red hair, the lighting in the club making it appear darker than it probably was. She was tall, her muscles defined, her smile even from the side was the most beautiful smile that Waverly had ever had the privilege of seeing. She was wearing a short black dress that fit her far too well, as if it was made for her.
Waverly lost track of time from the moment she laid eyes on this woman, not knowing anything but how much she wanted to hear this woman’s voice, know her name, learn anything and everything about her.
But despite Waverly being lost in this vortex, time ticked on, and the redhead looked over her shoulder, as if she was looking for Waverly, who was looking straight at her.
Waverly’s gut told her to look away, because that’s what you do when you’ve been caught looking at someone, you dip your head and cast your eyes away, you pretend you don’t feel your cheeks turning red and both respectively silently agree that it never happened.
And maybe it was the alcohol currently cursing through Waverly’s veins, or her desperate want to know this stranger which she could not explain that made her keep looking.
After it hit them, after the look between them lasted longer than it should have, a smile curved onto the redhead’s lips, the same smile reflected onto Waverly’s face.
Nicole wasn’t one to be in clubs like this, and she wasn’t comfortable dressed like this. But Dolls was right, she needed a change, somewhere she wasn’t known, somewhere she could escape, even if it was just for the night.
“you can’t work this one away, you can’t pick up every shift and make this change.”
Tough love, that’s what he had called it, and maybe he was right, maybe she had needed this.
Walking through the doors, the beat of the music vibrating in her chest, the room was dark yet light was everywhere. The room was flooded, alcohol thick in the air, strangers dancing and friends fighting.
It was like college all over again.
It took every strength Nicole had not to turn around and walk out right there and then. But she couldn’t, she knew she couldn’t, so she didn’t.
She knew this would make Dolls leave her alone, for a while at least. She knew her friend was trying to help, trying to see the smile Nicole forgot she had, reaching for the friend who lost herself.
Dolls had warned her, about this, about Shae and the damage she could do, but Nicole didn’t listen. She never did, not when Shae’s voice was in the back of her mind, or whispering in her ear.
Nicole wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the silence.
Dolls had said she would d leave, she would leave without a scratch, she would leave Nicole shattered into a thousand pieces. He was drunk when he had said that and he took it back the next day with a sombre expression and a look of panic in his eyes, as if she was going to shut him out, like she did with everyone else.
Like Shae had made her.
But she forgave him, because everything he had said was true, but she just didn’t see it then, or at least she didn’t admit it.
Dolls had been telling her for months to get out, to move on, or at least to try. Nicole had spent the last few months coming up with excuse after excuse, until they ran dry.
So, here she was, three months later, in a club she didn’t know, surrounded by strangers and attention she didn’t want.
At least that is what she thought, looking around the room, convincing herself she should leave, that there was nothing here for her. That was until her eyes met hers, and then everything came to a stop.
It was as if someone had dampened the music, cleared the air and put a spotlight on the brunette sat on the other side of the club.
Nicole couldn’t look away, captured by the curious eyes that held so much more than was on the surface. Those eyes were accompanied by a goddess, an angel without wings, someone who words alone could never justify their beauty.
However, like every moment that you never want to end, it ended far too quickly, someone stepping in the way and Nicole fell back to earth.
Nicole leaned back in her stool slightly, catching a glance of the brunette and feeling a tightening in her chest. But she couldn’t lean on her stool like that for long, and soon he turned back to the bar, unsure where else to look, trying to avoid leering eyes of the men around her.
Of course, Nicole drew the attention of those around her, the man next to her offered to buy her a drink, offering her a sweet smile laced in a motive clearer than the summer sky.
Nicole stitched a smile on her own face, politely saying no to another drink, hoping that someone else would buy it for her, specifically the woman she could feel looking at her from across the bar.
By the time the man had given up on talking Nicole into being interested, he turned to the woman on the other side of him, giving her the same line he gave Nicole, real classy.
Nicole could still feel those eyes on her, watching her with an intention Nicole couldn’t put her finger on. Yet, unlike all the other eyes in the room, Nicole wanted these ones on her.
When she looked over her shoulder, to get a better look at the woman who suddenly consumed her thoughts, she was met with those intriguing eyes and a smirk. This woman, didn’t back down, didn’t look away, she held her head high and Nicole felt the first genuine smile in months spread across her face.
Whoever this woman was, Nicole not only wanted to, but needed to know more.
Waverly looked away first, knowing that she had to, her cheeks turning red as she sipped her drink.
She tried to focus on something, anything but the urge to turn and see if this woman was still there, still looking, if she was still as captivated by the brunette as she was by her.
Waverly downed another drink, her confidence growing and her insecurities shrinking.
She knew what she had come here for, she wasn’t naïve enough to pretend she had come here for the simplicity of the lights and the music to distract herself from her shamble of a love life, she knew she needed something more than that.
She wanted something more than that.
She just didn’t think that this was going to be in the form of a woman, not that she was complaining. Waverly had always known there was something about her feelings, towards women, that was different to her other friends, but no one had ever told her that it was okay, that it was normal. So, she pushed it down, turned the want into a wanting to be them, not with them.
And it had worked, until now.
But Waverly knew herself better than to pretend that the feeling curling in her stomach was a simple desire to be this woman, but instead it was the desire to be underneath her.
Or near her, anything would do.
Waverly had gone looking for a distraction and somehow she had stumbled upon the rest of her life.
Not that she knew that, yet.
For now, the redhead whose eyes kept darting back to where Waverly was sat, was everything she had been looking for, a gorgeous distraction. Little did Waverly know, that Nicole had unknowingly been looking for the exact same thing.
So, Waverly decided she was not leaving tonight without at least her name, or preferably her own name spilling from the woman’s lips.
Either would do, the latter was preferable though.
Waverly had no idea how she knew that Nicole had the mind set as her, but she just knew.
No one had ever looked at Waverly like that, man or woman, and it filled Waverly with a desire to be seen.
Waverly never made the first move, it scared her, the thought of rejection. The idea of being brave was something she had lost since when she was a child, everyone putting her down, reinforcing Waverly’s worst fears about herself, that she wasn’t worth it. But the way those eyes ran down the length of her body, and the alcohol warming her system, made it a lot easier for the brunette to make the first step.
The first step towards the dance floor, somewhere she felt at home, somewhere she could lose herself yet be in control. Somewhere she could put on a show and nobody knew who it was for, except for her.
Nicole watched, trying her best not to stare, but the brunette was making it next to impossible, her hips swaying, her arms drifting over the length of her whole body.
This woman knew exactly what she was doing to Nicole, glancing every so often to make sure the redhead’s attention was where it should be, on her.
And the redhead’s attention was definitely something she had.
Once, Nicole would have gone over, joined her, placed her hands on the brunettes and let her lead, dance the night away with this stranger. Nicole had always been one that when she saw something she like, she’d go get it, never knowing how to hold herself back from what she wanted. But Shae had taught her that, how to hold back, how to stay still when every bone in her body had told her to run.
So, that’s what she did, she sat and watched the show. She got lost in it, the world around her melting into nothing but background noise as the brunette stole the show.
When the music changed, the pace slowing and the gentle beat of the bass dropping, the brunette stopped, turning on her heels and walking over to where Nicole was sat, not breaking the eye contact as she sat down in the stool next to Nicole.
Neither of them spoke for a moment, trying to decipher if this was a reality or a dream, if they were actually only a foot away from one another or if there was still a distance between them.
“Hey,” Nicole said over the music, clearing her throat before adding, “can I buy you a drink?”
The brunette took a second before answering, as if she was contemplating something, not that Nicole would ever know what.
“I’d love that.” She said, slowly. Nicole got the bartenders attention, gesturing to Waverly who ordered herself another drink.
“Thanks.” The brunette said as she swivelled her seat slightly, facing more towards Nicole.
Nicole mirrored her actions, their legs nearly touching as Nicole stopped her stool.
“I’m Nicole.” Nicole offered her hand, watching as Waverly’s lips curved into a delicate smile.
“Nicole.” Waverly repeated, exhaling as she spoke, as if she had been waiting to hear her name, and maybe she had.
Nicole hoped she had.
“And you are?” Nicole said, her voice coming out higher than expected as Waverly gently shook her hand, her eyes sparkling as she registered the effect that simple touch had had on the redhead.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The brunette said, her voice deeper than a second ago, her words laced with a sarcasm that made Nicole’s stomach drop.
“I would indeed.” Nicole fired back, not a second between their words. The smaller woman let out a small laugh in response, turning to pick up the drink the bartender had slid towards her, taking a small sip before replying.
“Impress me.” Waverly said, almost bluntly, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head.
“Impress you?” Nicole wasn’t sure if she had heard the brunette correctly, but she had.
“I’ll tell you my name if you do.” The brunette teased, Nicole unconsciously making the decision to play along in whatever game this woman had just begun, too caught up in this façade to remember reality.
“I don’t know how to impress someone as impressive as you.” Nicole returned, watching as Waverly cast her eyes to the floor, the bold act faltering for a second, but she looked back up and the game was still on.
“I am sure you’ll find a way.” And Nicole was sure she would.
Nicole paused for a moment, scanning her brain for anything that could impress the woman before her, her mind circling back to the same thing.
Fuck it.
“I can tie a cherry stem,” Nicole began, hoping that this would be more than enough to earn the brunettes name, “with my tongue.”
The small break in brunette’s confident attitude made Nicole’s day.
Out of all the things that could have come out of Nicole’s mouth, Waverly had not been expecting that, nor had she expected the “prove it that” from her own tongue, but here they were, Nicole ordering a drink with a cherry simply to get her name.
No one had ever cared enough about her first name, more interested in the body that came with it or the supposed curse that followed her family. Yet, here Nicole was, buying a drink just so she could tie the stem of the cherry and hear her name.
And much to Waverly’s disbelief, Nicole placed the cherry in her mouth, holding eye contact with Waverly as she swirled the stem around her mouth.
Waverly crossed her legs… for reasons.
“Told you I could.” Nicole said as she took the cherry stem from her mouth, the stem tied in a neat knot. The redhead looked proud of herself, almost as if she was surprised she could still do the trick.
What Waverly didn’t know was that Nicole was impressed with herself, her college days far behind her meant she hadn’t had a need to do that party trick in quiet some time, but thankfully she hadn’t forgotten.
“Oh, I believed you could.” Waverly said, “I enjoyed the demonstration though.”
“I’m sure you did.” Nicole said, her voice a quieter, the music of the club drowning her words, but then she spoke up, “any chance I get your name now?”
The brunette licked her lips and took another sip of her drink before answering, “Waverly.”
Waverly.
Nicole felt every cliché line enter her head, abeautiful name for a beautiful woman, every cheesy line from every rom-com ever made rushed through her. But Nicole’s didn’t say any of them, she needed something that wasn’t a cliché, because the woman sat before her was anything but a cliché.
“That’s different,” Nicole leaned closer to Waverly as she spoke, so she could lower her voice, their legs brushing together as she did so, “I really like it, suits you.”
Nicole could see the shiver run down Waverly’s spine as she spoke, suddenly glad she had leaned closer to the brunette, the alcohol giving her a gentle shove she was sure of it.
“Thanks.” Waverly managed to choke out, swallowing the lump in her throat as her only consistent thought was the fact Nicole’s leg was touching hers, and the touch burned, but she liked it.
The two of them fell into a silence, both consumed with the thought of the other, their bodies sent into an overdrive from a small touch.
“Is there any chance you want to get out of here?” Waverly asked, her eyes glistening in the neon lights, Nicole’s heart suddenly beating faster than the beat surrounding them.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”