Harlem's POV
I walk away, seething to my bones. To my brain; that man was a bystander and watched it happen. Although he wasn't there when I was being assaulted by that woman, it still feels like it. But maybe I was too harsh?
No.
This isn't the time to be pitying him, fuck him and fuck all those assholes I met that day. They deserve whatever they get.
I step out and almost run into a woman who is also turning the corner to the bathroom. Can people watch where they're going?
I mutter an apology and glance at her briefly just to do a double take.
And colour me disgusted. Speak of the fucking devil. Standing right in front of me was Little Miss Blondie. Charming. She also glances at me annoyed but does a double take as well. Fuck me, could this night get any worse? Well yes, for her.
"I know you; you're the waitress. What the hell are you doing here?" she says pointing a claw-like finger at me. Okay, no.
"What everyone else is doing here. Attending an event." I cross my arms and take a step closer to her. We're not in the bar today and she just happened to run into me when I'm on fire. It's her lucky day. "Oh, and I remember what happened the last time we met. You assaulted me in my workplace. Don't think I'll just forget. You're lucky I didn't sue. I'd like to know how your bribed lawyer and judge will take to seeing some camera footage of you and your friends doing coke in my bar, in case you think you're going to win. And for the record, if you EVER lay your hands on me again, I'll make sure they're the last time you use them." I flick an invisible lint off her shoulder and smile sweetly at her.
Her mouth falls open and she just stands there. Thank God she didn't make a scene and people aren't looking at us.
I walk away quickly before the weird man also meets us and head towards the far end of the hall to where I'm supposed to meet up with Lex, she's going to eat this story up.
I'm still buzzing from the showdown, adrenaline crackling under my skin, when I nearly walk straight into another wall of problems. Except this time, it's not a problem: it's Lucas.
For a second, I almost snap at him but then I remember; shit, this is different. I forgot all about him. And just like that, the fire in my chest cools, replaced by something else: curiosity.
"My apologies for the long wait, I ran into some old friends." I say to him.
"It's fine. In fact, I just wanted to give you my card and maybe collect yours?" he says handing me a nice little card.
"Oh umm, maybe I should be the one to call you. How's that?" I ask.
"That's fine, whatever makes you feel comfortable. Actually, I'm recruiting people right now for a play that I'm producing and I thought it would be a good idea to get you into it. I know we just met and from what you have told me, you don't really have as much experience but I believe we all have to start somewhere, so please do give me a call if you're up for it. I look forward to it." Wait, what? He's recruiting for a play? I look at the card he gave me which says "NEXA STAGE" with his name signed as producer. Wow, I just met a producer of Charis media. THE Nexa stage.
"You want to recruit me?" I ask incredulous.
He smiles and shrugs boyishly. I'm somehow creeped but I decide to play it cool.
"Wow, thank you. This is wonderful, I'm actually a bit informed about a few of your plays. Never even believed it would get to me but I'll be sure to give you a call when I make up my mind." I say looking at Lucas in a different light. Thank God I wasn't rude to hm.
"You're welcome. Please do." and with one last lingering look, Lucas walks off. Did I just get a job offer?
-----
I walked over to where I can see Lex standing, barely even remembering how I walked here. This night has certainly been a mix of both good and bad.
"Girl, where have you been? I thought you'd be the one standing here by the time I came back but I've been waiting for like 15 minutes." Lexi says taking my palm and leading me to one of the few chairs in a corner. Bless their hearts for these chairs.
"Sorry, I was too caught in my drama of a life. You wouldn't believe the people I ran into tonight." I say.
"Seriously? Girl, give me all the gist" Lexi says. So, I do. I tell her about Lucas, about the green-eyed stranger and Little Miss Blondie.
"Wait. All this happened just now?" she asks and I nod like I can't believe it either.
"Woah, I can't tell if you're luck is good or bad. It's so crazy though. And I absolutely love how you gave it to that blonde bitch. I truly wish I was there, I would've been cheering you on, you're literally so badass." she says smiling. I mean as long as I didn't make things worse, maybe it was really badass.
"Yeah I know, but you really need to take this more seriously Lex." I say. "What if these people come for me?" I ask already exhausted.
"Then we're ready for them. I told you I'm standing by your side. Besides I can be ruthless in court." she says smiling proudly. It's true, she can. She absolutely fucked up the last person that she sued.
"Thanks Lex, I needed that." I feel a lot lighter.
She holds my palm. "Do you want to go home? We can go home now."
"No. We won't run, even if they come marching, we're not tucking our tails between our legs and running. We came here to have fun and have fun we shall." I say assuredly squeezing her palm. She smiles proudly at me.
"How was your meeting with the Ken Doll, your Hollywood crush?" I ask smiling.
"Ugh, don't even get me started. He was such a douchebag, unsurprisingly considering his divorce counts, but I did get a selfie. I just had to listen to him talk about himself for minutes. Like, I don't understand how narcissistic you have to be able to talk that long to someone you're just meeting. And he even made a misogynistic comment. I was so gone at that point." I laugh and pat her hand sympathetically.
We hear some mic noises and we turn to the stage at the other end of the hall, and we see a middle-aged man fixing up the standing mic.
"Guess they're doing some kind of speech. Let's move a bit forward" Lexi says.
The man clears his throat. "Excuse me everyone, can we have a moment of silence and can everyone face their attention here.... Thank you. I'm not the one giving the speech but I'm here to introduce the man. He's the man behind the operations and the reason we're all here today, he's also the upcoming heir to the Briggs Corp and one of Europe's top ten bachelors. Please can we all give a warm round of applause to Briggs Corp new CEO, Ezra Roth!"
The place goes up in loud applause and hooting. Whoever that guy is, he's pretty popular. I see a man climbing up the steps to the stage and he faces the crowd and shows a dashing smile, which earns more applause. Oh, and did I forget to mention he's the green-eyed fucking man? Yup, that's right. The universe has a grudge against me.
"Fuck me," I mutter.
"What?" Lexi asks me also clapping, please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know this guy was a billionaire?
"That's the guy," I say.
"What guy?" Lexi asks as the applause dies down. I face her a bit and look her in the eye. She sees my seriousness and blanches, her eyes widening.
"No way." I face forward again and close my eyes for a moment as if to be sure this is all real.
"He's the guy that followed you? To the bathroom? Ezra fucking Roth?" Lexi whisper shouts.
"I swear, I didn't know it was him". Wait, what the fuck was he doing at the beatdown bar? Better yet, what does he want with me? I had a lot of questions, none of which looked like they would be answered anytime soon. Lexi looks like she's still trying to understand what the hell I'm saying. I look at the stage just in time for the applause to fully die down and Ezra to start talking.
"Good evening everyone. It's an honor to be before you this evening especially before the great men and women we have in this hall today." He starts talking about the origin of the event, how much the event means to Briggs Corp, how it's an order of rites for Brigg Corp to be in unison with Hollywood and what it means to him as an upcoming heir. He calls out a list of honorable people who were impressive both in the Hollywood sector, the business sector and other minor sectors. Surprisingly, he even did a shoutout to those who helped set up the event.
And I had to give it to him; he talks so well. I could actually listen to him without getting bored or zoning out. And the crowd seemed to love him too, it was like he cast a spell on them. Ezra wasn't some guy who was the heir to a billion-dollar fortune, he radiated the position. He was leader or nothing. With the way he communicated, you'd think he'd been the CEO all his life.
By the time he was finishing the end of his speech, he paused a bit and his eyes started roaming, but not in a way that would make it weird. People started clapping for him without him saying anything. Ugh, piss offs.
I looked back at him just to see him directly looking at me. We held eye contact and I felt like I was holding my breath. He did a little smile and I broke our little staring competition. Fuck, that felt way too intense.
"I'm pretty sure he was staring right at you Har." Lexi whispers to me. Oh, she had no idea.
I sigh and tell her "I'm so ready to leave right now." She looks at me, nodding like she knows and we walk out the door, not before I steal another pig in a blanket. We drive back home in our Cadillac and I fall right asleep beside Lexi.
I'm pretty sure today is going to come bite me back in the ass, soon enough.