This is part four of a five-part collaborative short story by members of the Vocal Creators Saloon Facebook group.
Part One: Part Two: Part Three:
Stephano felt the constriction around his heart loosen when he saw the two brothers happily reunited. A moment he'd never experience with his deceased older brother. He'd never have the opportunity to make amends for wrongfully blaming him for sleeping with his ex-girlfriend.
When he noticed a woman selling long, stemmed red roses, he approached her and purchased three for Nadia. He shouldn't have laughed when she fell earlier that evening, before, entering the Lyft ride he was going to provide for her.
Nadia saw the red roses laying on the glass tabletop in front of him and blushed. She had felt silly and embarrassed for falling outside his black BMW. Money had always been hard for her. She never seemed to be able to afford the nice lingerie, pedicures, manicures, and hair salon.
“I’m sorry for laughing at your fall.” He said, offering her the roses.
“Apology accepted.” She said, lifting the roses to her nose and taking in their seductive fragrance.
“Would you like to dance with me?” He asked brushing a stray curl away from her face.
“ Sure,”
“Give me two minutes. I’ll be right back.”
He intended to put everything right between them and strode toward the DJ.
When she heard the John Paul Young song start to play, her heart began to beat to a rhythm she’d felt only once before when she’d met her ex-fiance. A man who’d broken her heart with the first punch to her face.
“Shall we dance Miss be quiet?”
She put her hand into his, and he led her to the dance floor. With his arms wrapped around his waist, she rested her head on his shoulder. The gentle caresses on her back were something she’d stopped dreaming of ever feeling again.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered into her ear.
“I’m sorry for all the jerks who scarred your heart.”
She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes, then, brushed her lips against his. The kiss made her knees go weak, and she knew she’d found a soulmate.
When they returned to the table where Sasha, Helen, Sam, and Leon sat admiring their two friends lucky in love, they all raised to a toast of love over crime.
Nadia caught her ex-fiance’s gaze from across the club. She didn’t know how long he’d been staring in her direction, and chills crept down her spine. Not thinking right, she excused herself to use the lady's room.
Helen noticed Nadia’s quick change in mood and asked her if she was alright.
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.”
Nadia felt the daggers her ex-fiance was directing at her back and she quickened her pace. Fear took a hold of her as she slammed the stall door and dropped her head into her hands. She was shaking, and tears ran down her cheeks. It'd been three years since she’d last set eyes upon him, yet the therapy she’d gone through after his physical and emotional attacks seemed like a lifetime.
When she heard the restroom door open, she peered under the stall door and saw a black pair of cowboy boots. She stifled a scream as her ex-fiance began approaching where she was hiding.
It had been a flight response to flee to the lady's room. She felt trapped like a mouse cornered by a cat. She peeked under the stall door again then got down on her hands and knees wondering if she could crawl under to the next stall. But she was too slow. The stall door swung open and hit her head.
This short story will be continued by Courtney Capone.
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