Chapter
48: Girls' Night Out
“Are you
ready yet?” Billie yelled from the living room at Sara’s apartment as she
continued to fuss with her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. It seemed like
everything she did or tried to do just didn’t cut it.
“Just a
minute!” Sara hollered back, still unable to get her hair right.
Billie
followed her voice to the bathroom, finding Sara in the midst of a hair crisis.
“Gimmie that,” she grabbed the pin out of Sara’s hand and immediately went
to work styling it herself, getting sick of waiting. ‘Boy, she’s horrible at
this,’ Billie thought, holding the pin open and separating the front of her
hair from the back and, starting from the center of the back section, divided
the hair in half in a two inch parting and pinned to the back of the head. She
took two additional sections, crissed-crossed them and pinned them also to the
back of Sara’s head. Billie then
moved to the front section, parted the hair, let the bangs fall and pinned up
the excess to create a disconnection.
After she
was finished, Sara looked in the mirror, unable to recognize her own head. It
looked amazing! “Shit, Billie, why didn’t you tell me you could style
hair?” she asked, still a little awe struck. Billie shrugged it off, heading
for Sara’s closet to pick out her outfit since she obviously couldn’t do
that either. The low rise jeans and electric blue tube top just weren’t going
to cut it.
“Oh, no!
You’ve already put me in one crazy outfit this week, there’s no WAY I’m
wearing that out tonight!” Sara quickly rejected the outfit that Billie had
chosen, but she gave her one of her death stares, and Sara immediately went into
the bathroom to try it.
“What’s
going on in here?” Vicky asked as she walked into Sara’s room to see what
was taking so long. Just then her friend walked out of the bathroom wearing the
most amazing outfit she had ever seen, a zebra striped sequin halter top, black
leather mini skirt, and a pair of black matching stilettos with straps that
wrapped all the way up to her knees.
“My
masterpiece,” Billie declared as Vicky continued to stare at Sara with wide
eyes. “Now, onto the makeup, then we’re leaving.” Sara sat down in front
of her bathroom mirror as Billie opened her little black clutch and pulled out
her makeup. “Hmm… Let’s see, what’ll work with this outfit…? Oh, I got
it! Black eye liner, silver eye shadow, and red lipstick.”
With
Sara’s transformation complete a few minutes later, Billie and Vicky stepped
back to take a look at the new woman standing in front of them. She was sexy and
stylish with a bit of a funky wild flair. Sara, on the other hand, felt a little
odd being the most wildly dressed of the three, even though Billie’s black
tube top, leopard print mini skirt, and tan suede hooker boots came in a close
second. She would have preferred wearing Vicky’s black leather pants and soft
pink halter top with matching pink mushroom necklace and stud earrings.
“Van
would flip if he saw you tonight,” Vicky commented as she walked around Sara
to make sure she wasn’t looking at a photograph. A half smile appeared on
Sara’s face as she glanced in the mirror and thought about him.
“He
would, wouldn’t he?” she replied, a full smile appearing on her red lips.
“Then he’d wanna jump my bones.” The three women laughed as they started
making their way out the door. “I wonder what he really would do if he saw me
like this.”
“Quit
thinking about him for one night and have some fun, will ya?” Billie groaned
as they headed for her silver Mercedes SL 500. “Tonight, he doesn’t exist,
and neither does Ian.” With the top down and the wind in their hair, the women
headed for the restaurant which Billie still hadn’t told them about.
*~*~*
Van had
been sitting outside his apartment that evening watching the moon slowly make
its way across the sky when Billie’s car rolled into the parking lot and she
stepped out wearing one hell of a wild outfit. His suspicions were immediately
confirmed when he saw her walk up the stairs and knock on Sara’s door. They
were definitely going out tonight, and he could only hope that nothing bad would
happen, like someone hit on Sara.
Shaking
the thought out of his head, Van tried to get over the pang of jealousy that hit
him, but he just couldn’t get over the fact that Sara had ditched him for the
girls that night.
“What’s
wrong with me?” Van started to ask himself, wondering why Sara was all so
suddenly wrapped up in her friends. He tried to tell himself that he was being
stupid and that she deserved to have a night out with the girls and that he
could trust her, but there was always that element of his personality that never
fully grasped these kinds of things.
It was odd
how only a few days earlier, he had been having a conversation about jealousy
with Sara. Van thought that he should probably take some of his own advice and
let the episode pass and not think about it any longer. But it was just so hard.
The last thing he wanted to do was lose her to someone else. But would she
actually flip on him like that? The possibility scared Van enough for him to
pull out his cell phone and dial the last number he ever thought to call.
“Ian?”
Van said the moment someone picked up on the other end.
“Yes,
Van, what is it?” Ian replied, a little annoyed at being interrupted in the
middle of doing absolutely nothing besides sulking over the fact that he
wasn’t with Billie that evening.
“What
are you doing tonight?” Van asked as he started to make his way to his car.
“Nothing,
why?” Ian knew Van was up to something. He could feel the blind jealousy
emanating from his ring to Ian’s. He had been tempted to make a quick
connection to see what Van’s real thoughts were, but decided against it
fearing that he’d probably notice this time. Besides, if he was reading the
signs right, the two were probably thinking the same thing.
“You
wanna do a little recon mission with me?” Van replied, trying to get on
Ian’s good side. If he played his cards right, they’d be friends tonight
instead of enemies, even though they weren’t really enemies, even though Van
had technically stolen his girl, but that was history, right?
“What
kind of reconnaissance mission?” Ian questioned, getting the feeling that he
was just about to hear what he wanted to hear.
“I
dunno, follow Sara and Billie and see what they do tonight,” Van made his
response sound like a suggestion instead of an actual idea.
Ian’s
suspicions had been right all along. At least now he had someone else to pin it
on. At least now Sara couldn’t get pissed at only him. “Alright, do you know
where they’re going or are you trailing them at the moment?”
“Actually, they haven’t left yet. Billie just pulled up, oh, wait, I think they’re coming down.” Van paused for a moment as he ducked behind his car and watched through the windshield. His mouth dropped when he saw the outfit Sara was wearing. His jealousy grew as he began to wonder why she didn’t dress like that for him.
Ian
immediately felt the change in Van’s mood and started to make a b-line towards
the front door. There was no way he’d let him screw this up. “Donovan,
listen to me,” Ian said in a strong tone that snapped Van out of his blind
rage and got him back into the real world. “Follow them, but do NOT make your
presence known. And whatever you do, please try to mask your moods. They’re
reading loud and clear. Even though Sara isn’t as perceptive to them as I am,
she can still sense them if they’re this strong.”
“I’ll
try,” Van replied, a little annoyed that Ian had called him by his full name,
but he knew it was for his own good. He got into his car and started to follow
Billie’s.
“Call me
when you have their exact location,” Ian said as he hopped into his Escalade
and started to drive away from the mansion.
“Should
we talk to Deaq about getting in on this?” Van asked, suddenly remembering his
friend and partner in crime.
“Why
not?” Ian shrugged. “They’ll blame us less if we’re discovered.”
“Smart
man,” Van commented as he hung up and speed dialed Deaq’s number.
“What
Van?” Deaq said after the first ring in an angry tone. “I thought you said
you’d leave me alone tonight.”
“I
thought you just might like to know, Billie pulled up a few minutes ago wearing
animal print,” Van replied.
“So,
what’s your point?” Deaq asked.
“She,
Sara, and Vicky walked out a few minutes later wearing what you refer to as
‘scandalicious’ outfits,” Van answered.
“What
the hell does this have to do with me?” Deaq nearly yelled, getting annoyed
with Van.
“You
like Vicky, don’t you?”
“AH!
ENOUGH ALREADY! Do you wanna hear me say it again? I LIKE VICKY! I THINK SHE’S
HOT! Are you happy now?” Deaq shouted over the phone, causing Van to pull it
away from his ear just so it wouldn’t cause him to deaf.
“Jeez,
you don’t have to get so offended about it. I was just asking,” he retorted.
“What’s…your…point…Van?”
Deaq emphasized, still unclear as to why his partner was being such an ass that
evening. What the hell was he trying to get at anyway?
“Alright,
Ian and I are gonna follow them tonight,” Van finally answered.
“Oh, my
God!” Deaq cried in that half laugh half ‘you must be crazy’ tone. “You
know you’re being paranoid! Why do you wanna intrude on their night out?
It’s not like they’re gonna do anything!”
“I know,
well, at least I think I know Sara and Billie aren’t gonna do anything, but
what about Vicky?” Van started to propose a scenario that Deaq really didn’t
want to hear because he knew he’d get suckered into this as soon as the words
came out of Van’s mouth. “What if Mr. Wonderful starts to hit on her and she
spends the rest of the evening with him? What if it turns into something more
than just one evening? You’re gonna be kicking yourself for not asking her out
when you had the chance.”
Deaq was
already mentally kicking himself for letting Van speak. He knew he should have
hung up when he had the chance, but he just had to listen, didn’t he? He
sighed, then replied, “Where are they?”
“I’m
following them now,” Van answered. “I’ll give you a call when I find out
where they’re headed.”
“I’ll
be there in twenty minutes, just don’t go in without me, because then I’ll
be kicking you,” Deaq warned as he hung up the phone.
Van made a
mental note never to do something this stupid again, and proceeded to follow
Billie’s car down
*~*~*
“Oh, my
God! You’ve got to be shittin’ me! Spago?” Sara exclaimed as they pulled
up to the valet and got out. “I can’t afford this!”
“Oh, yes
you can,” Billie replied. “Besides, it’s not like you’re paying.”
“Ohhhh…
Billie! You don’t have to…” Sara started.
“I’m
not either.” She gave Sara a wink and proceeded to walk up to the host. Sara
immediately knew that what they were doing was illegal, but hell, it’s not
like she hadn’t done enough illegal things in her life. This was just going to
be one of the many. So what if the Candy Store lost a couple hundred dollars
tonight. It made enough from illegal drug busts and whatnot.
The three
women were immediately seated at a table near the bar. Sara had a feeling that
Billie had a few connections here as well. She waved off any of her suspicions
as she sat down on the comfortable velvet seat and grabbed the menu.
“Oh, my
God!” Vicky was squealing as she glanced around the restaurant. Sara looked up
at her, a puzzled expression on her face. “Do you not know who’s here?”
“Who?”
Sara asked, craning her neck to get a glimpse at who Vicky was staring at. Her
eyes widened as she squeaked, “Holy shit, it’s Paul Walker.”
“I
swear, if Vin Diesel shows up, I’m just gonna die,” Vicky said.
Billie
started to laugh at them. “What, you’ve never seen a celebrity before?”
she asked, still giggling.
“Uh,
no!” the other two replied in unison as they glared at her.
“We
don’t live in LA like you do,” Sara retorted.
Billie
merely rolled her eyes as the waiter came over to their table to take their
drink orders. They started talking about how bad work was when Billie finally
blurted, “Van can be such an ass sometimes. That outburst the other night was
so predictable. But that proposal, well, that’s something I’d really like to
hear about, if you don’t mind.” She turned to Sara and grinned.
Vicky
propped her elbows on the table, gently resting her head on them as she leaned
in and added, “Yes, please, we want all the details. How’d you resolve that
little fight you two had about
“One
question at a time,” Sara replied politely, a smile gracing her red lips as
she dreamily thought about that night. “Before I can even get to those
questions, I have to tell you what happened beforehand. I knew something was up
when he took me to a jewelry store on Rodeo and had me try on several rings, the
last one being the one I was most likely to ask as an engagement ring… this
one,” she said as she held up her hand to show them. “Then that night we had
the fight, and of course we split. I found him using you know what. I apologized
first, then he apologized and said that he’d move to
“Awww!
You’re gonna make me cry!” Vicky started to tear up as she grabbed her
napkin and started to dab her eyes with it. “I want someone to propose to me
like that.”
Billie
just sat there shaking her head, a wide grin on her face as she replied, “You
know I’m never gonna stop ragging you about that.” Sara and Vicky began to
laugh as the waiter came by with fresh drinks.
“Hey,
um… we didn’t order these,” Sara said, pointing to her glass.
“They’re
from the gentleman at the bar,” the waiter answered as he pointed behind them.
The three
women craned their necks to get a better look at what the guy was pointing on.
Their eyes popped when they saw just who had ordered their drinks.
“Vicky,
I thought you said you’d die if you saw Vin Diesel. How come you ain’t dead
yet?” Sara half heartedly joked as she gazed at the movie star staring back at
them, smiling and giving them a little wave. If there hadn’t been arm rests on
her seat, she probably would have fallen over.
“Pinch
me,” Vicky dreamily replied as she waved back. Sara did. “OW! I didn’t
mean it literally!” She turned back to the table and glared at her friend.
*~*~*
“I have
their location,” Van told Ian as he pulled into an empty parking lot next to
the restaurant. “Meet me across the street from Spago in the empty parking
lot.” Ian didn’t say anything and just sped down the road as Van hung up and
called Deaq to tell him the say thing.
Once all
the guys had gathered in the parking lot and hopped into Ian’s SUV. Van sat in
the passenger’s seat as Deaq leaned in from the back watching him and Ian
stare at the restaurant as if something was going to happen and they were just
waiting for it.
“I
can’t believe you two,” Deaq sighed as he shook his head. “Have you ever
heard of anything called trust?” Van and Ian glared at him.
“Oh,
shut up!” Van retorted.
“I
won’t shut up! You should trust your women! It’s not like they’ve done
anything to make it seem like they’re disloyal or deceiving, except for maybe
Sara, who kinda did lie about he relationship with Ian, so maybe you have a
right to be suspicious, Van, but still! This is crazy! You shouldn’t be spying
on them on their night out! There’s a reasons it’s called ‘girl’s night
out.’ They want to get away from the men!”
“Then
what the hell are you doing here, Deaq?” Van retorted.
“I’m
here to make sure the distrusting children don’t misbehave!” Deaq yelled
back.
“I trust
Billie,” Ian finally spoke up. “I just want to make sure she’s
behaving.”
“Jeez,
Ian, you’re just as paranoid as Van! And I thought you’d be the sanest out
of all of us.”
Van
couldn’t take the tension in the car any long and just got out, making his way
through the parking lot as Ian and Deaq followed. “Oh, no! You’re NOT going
in there!” Deaq yelled as they crossed the street and headed into the
restaurant.
“And why
not?” Van retorted, turning around and startling Deaq into a complete stop
just a few inches form his face.
“Answer
me one thing, just one thing… Are you jealous that Sara’s spending time with
someone other than you?” Deaq questioned.
Van’s
eyes filled with rage as he wound his arm back and got ready to swing at his
partner. This was definitely a question too sensitive to be asking, especially
right now. Just as he was about to let go, he felt someone take hold of his arm
and pull it back, causing his shoulder an unbelievable amount of pain. As he
cried out, Ian’s strong and menacing voice filled his ears.
“Donovan,
this is not the time or the place to be fighting like children,” he
reprimanded.
“Let
go!” Van growled.
“Not
until you promise me you won’t do anything stupid,” Ian replied.
“Let
go!” Van retorted as he tried to wiggle his arm out of Ian’s grasp, but it
was nearly impossible.
“And
what if I don’t?” Ian taunted, tightening his grip on Van’s arm.
“I’ll
use the ring on you!” he shouted back, still unable to escape.
Ian began
to laugh. “You don’t even know how!” With that, he let Van go and shoved
him forward towards the door of the restaurant. “Please, Van, when you learn,
then challenge me. For now, keep your thoughts from attracting Sara’s
attention, because if you don’t we’ll all be… what’s the word you like
use… oh, yes, fucked.”
Both Van
and Deaq gave him an astonished look.
*~*~*
Sara
picked up her glass of wine and began to swirl the contents around, giving Vicky
the eye as she said, “You shouldn’t be looking around too much. You already
have a guy to ‘try out.’”
“A guy
to ‘try out?’” Billie asked, looking over at Vicky with curious eyes.
“Who?”
Vicky
turned bright red, her thoughts immediately turning to Deaq. “You don’t know
him,” she tried to cover up, yet her mind continued to scramble the more she
thought about him.
Seeing
that Vicky had buzzed out for the time being, Sara waved a hand in front of her
friend’s face trying to get her attention back to their conversation. Vicky
blinked several times before her mind could focus once more on where she was and
who she was with. Only having seen Sara, she turned in her direction and
absentmindedly asked, “Isn’t Deaq just dreamy?”
“WHAT?
Deaq?” Billie nearly spit out her wine all over the table.
Vicky’s
eyes popped open when she realized that Billie was still there beside her.
‘Shit!’ she thought, wondering how she’d cover this up now. She had just
been caught in the act, and there was no way of getting out of it. “Um…er…uh…”
were the only things that managed to come out of her mouth as she tried to find
an excuse.
“Oh, my
GOD! Deaq?” Billie continued, putting her wine glass down and gazing over at
Vicky as she turned an even deeper shade of red. “I’ve gotta remember to
give him the third degree tomorrow when I see him. Now I have to know if he
feels the same about you.”
“You
know he does!” Sara cut in. “Those two have been spending every waking
minute together. I don’t see how he could NOT like her!” Billie began to
laugh. This was the last thing she had expected to hear today.
Vicky
decided to turn the tables on both of them, starting with Billie. “So, what
about you and Ian? I know for a fact that you’re screwing him. Me and Deaq saw
you the other night. How’s he in bed?”
Sara
raised an eyebrow. She glanced over at her two girlfriends and tried to figure
out what the hell just happened and how the situation turned so hostile. Billie
couldn’t believe she was hearing this. Vicky had been bold to speak up like
she had, but hell, if both she and Deaq saw something, she had to defend herself
and say something. (Besides, the three glasses of wine were already going to her
head, and so was Sara’s description of Van’s proposal.)
“You
want the watered down version or the too hot for TV version?” Billie retorted,
taking Vicky up on her challenge.
Sara
nearly choked on her wine as she started to cough. This was definitely the last
thing she expected from Billie. Usually, she was the one to give the sketchiest
details. What was up with her tonight? ‘It’s the wine,’ Sara thought,
realizing it was still coming in by the glassful from the waiter and the
generous movie star at the bar who was still staring at the as he quietly
conversed with his friends, she noticed. They were on their fourth glass now,
with another one on the way by the looks of it.
“The too
hot for TV version,” Vicky answered, pulling Sara out of her thoughts, which
were slowly beginning to cloud over with the alcohol. She had a very bad feeling
that she’d have a repeat of her
“I
won’t lie, Ian’s a good fuck, as inexperienced as he may be,” Billie
started.
“Inexperienced?”
Vicky asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. “I thought that guy would
have plenty of experience considering how good he looks.”
“His so
called father kept him from ever experiencing the good love of a woman, so while
I’ve been with him, I’ve been teaching him a few skills that he might need
when he’s on his own, even though the longer I’m with him, the harder I’m
finding it to let him go,” Billie finally admitted.
“So what
have you been teaching him?” Vicky replied.
Billie
gave her a wicked smile as she answered, “The basics… fondling, probing,
sucking, licking, all the good stuff.”
“Whoa,
that’s not what I wanted to hear,” Sara said as she stood up. “I’ll be
right back. You two continue this conversation without me.” She grabbed her
wineglass and headed towards the ladies room, making a quick stop at the bar to
thank the man who had been paying for their drinks that night.
*~*~*
The three
men were standing at the door of the restaurant now, Van being the only one bold
enough to make a move to open the door, but was soon quickly stopped as Deaq
said, “What are you gonna do when you get in there?”
Van had no
idea what to say. His head dropped for a moment before he looked up again and
answered, “I don’t know! I was just gonna sit there and watch from the bar
or something. It’s not like I’ve got a perfectly formulated plan.”
“Let’s
say you get inside and she’s standing right there in the doorway with Billie
and Vicky and she sees you. How are you gonna explain yourself?” Deaq asked.
“What if
she’s not?” Van shot back. “What if she’s already in there sitting at
the table and just talking? What if she’s sitting at the bar getting a drink?
What if she’s sitting at the bar and drinking with someone other than Vicky or
Billie? What if that someone is another guy?” His anger level shot up again,
prompting Ian to give him a good smack in the face to hopefully calm him down
slightly and remind him they were there to just look and not touch. “What the
fuck was that for?” Van yelled, rubbing his sore face.
“You
need a lesson in patience and control,” Ian replied. “You must never let
your feelings get in the way of work, advice that you gave Sara, but are too
hesitant to follow yourself.”
Van was
ready to smack him back when he remembered what Ian had done to him when he
tried to hit Deaq. Slowly, he took in a deep breath and let it out.
Concentrating on his breathing, he continued to lower his heart rate and the
anger he had been feeling for no reason. He knew getting pissed off at nothing
was stupid, but he couldn’t help himself. “Alright, let’s go in,” Van
said when he had calmed down enough.
The three
men walked into the restaurant and immediately took a quick scan of their
immediate surroundings, find that neither Sara nor Billie nor Vicky were
anywhere near. They continued walking through the corridor until they reached
the host’s station. He asked them if they would like a seat, but all three
declined, instead opting for the bar as their eyes scanned each room of the
place looking for any signs of Sara and her friends. When they finally spotted
them at a table near the bar, all three realized they were in deep shit. They
knew if they stayed there for too long they’d get discovered, so now was a
good time to think of plan B.
Van headed
back to his car to grab the beanie he had stashed in the back seat in case he
ever needed a disguise while Deaq and Ian waited for his return. Ian took off
his black jacket to reveal the three piece gray Armani suit and light blue tie
he wore beneath it, something neither Deaq nor Van had managed to notice.
Van
returned a few minutes later, the beanie atop his head and another on in his
hand. He tossed the spare to Deaq and the three quickly turned towards the bar
once they saw Sara heading in their direction. She passed right by them and
headed for the ladies room. They sighed their relief, unable to believe that she
had just walked right by them without even giving them a second glance.
“That
was close,” Van whispered. “We’d better keep an eye out just in case she
comes back.”
*~*~*
Sara
walked out of the bathroom, her head still a little out there as she walked past
the three new guys that had settled at the bar. For some reason, she could feel
the warmth of the Witchblade swirl on her wrist as she made her way through the
crowded bar. She knew someone was there, maybe Ian since he usually spied on her
and her friends. She really didn’t care, though. Tonight was a night where she
didn’t care about what he or anyone else saw, because nothing was going to
happen! She would make sure of that.
As Sara
made her way through the swarm of people around her, she realized her target was
within range. Her eyes spied the wonderfully chiseled form of Vin Diesel sitting
on the barstool that overlooked her table. Their eyes met, prompting her to
smile warmly as she pushed her way through the crowd of admirers and sat down in
the empty seat next to him.
“Hi,”
Sara said, a slight rose color coming to her cheeks as she tried to conceal her
excitement about meeting a really hot movie star. “It’s a real honor to meet
you, Mr. Diesel.”
“Please,
call me Vin,” he replied in that deep sultry voice that almost every woman in
the world swooned over. Sara thought she’d melt in her seat if she didn’t
have a good hold on the bar in front of her. “And you are?”
“Sara,
Sara Pezzini,” she answered, holding out her hand. He took it, but instead of
shaking it, he placed a soft kiss on top. Sara nearly passed out right there if
she didn’t remember she had a reason to be talking to him.
“A very
beautiful name to go with a very beautiful body,” Vin said as he gave her that
smile to die for.
Sara
turned bright red at that exact moment. When he finally let go of her hand, she
replied. “Thank you. Um… My friends and I would like to thank you for the
drinks. It’s very generous of you.”
“You’re
welcome,” he answered. “How are your friends, by the way?”
“A
little too intoxicated for their own good,” Sara replied. Then she leaned in
and whispered, “I think it’s time you stopped feeding them the wine.
They’re drunk enough already.” They both laughed at her comment as she
easily became much more comfortable with being around a guy so famous yet so
down to earth.
“So, how
come a pretty girl like you is out with two drunken friends tonight? Designated
driver or something?” he asked.
“Well,
tonight was supposed to be girls night out, where none of us thought about our
men, but that’s not the case,” she answered, a little broken heartedly.
“Considering
you’re wearing the hottest outfit of the bunch, I’d tend to think you were
the only single one, but you’re tied down?”
“Yeah.”
Sara held up her hand to show him the ring. Vin took it and glanced at the two
karat jewel.
“Wow,
that thing is a monster. Who’s the lucky guy? A producer or something,
director maybe?”
“Actually,
he’s just an average guy making an average living, although his job is far
from average, and so is mine,” Sara said.
“What do
you do?” Vin continued his questioning.
“I’m a
homicide detective from
“Alright,
no problem. Care to join me for dinner?”
“Um…”
Sara didn’t know how to respond, especially if Ian was around and saw her.
“I don’t think my fiancé would like that.”
“He’ll
never know,” Vin tried to convince her.
“Believe
me, he’ll find out,” she replied. “Besides, I’d better get back to my
friends.” Sara glanced over at their table to see Billie and Vicky playing a
little game of I Never. “I think they’ve gotten a little too intoxicated.”
“Oh,
come on, Sara. Please?” he was nearly begging now. Vin took her hand and held
her back.
The
Witchblade began to warm on her wrist, indicating that it didn’t like this
situation. Sara hid it behind her back and pulled away from him. “I’m
flattered that you’d ask me to dinner, but I love my fiancé and he loves me,
and I don’t wanna feel like I’m cheating on him. Thanks again for the
drinks,” she said.
“Hold
on,” Vin replied as she turned to leave. Sara gazed at him with puzzled eyes,
wondering why he wasn’t taking the hint that she just wanted to go back to her
table. “Kiss me.”
“What?”
Sara nearly shouted in shock, catching the wandering ears of those around her.
She didn’t know how to respond, but quickly thought if this was going to get
her back to her friends sooner, then she’d better do it. “Alright,” she
hesitantly replied. “BUT, it can’t be any longer than two seconds.
Understood?”
“Understood,”
he answered.
*~*~*
Van was
nearly leaning over the bar to see what was going on between Sara and Vin
Diesel, and now he knew with explicit detail. She was cheating on him with a
movie star! His anger had slowly risen to the boiling point, and watching her
now lean in towards him for a kiss had just made it red hot. Pushing past Ian
and Deaq, he made his way towards them.
“Shit,
VAN! Come back here!” Deaq tried to get him to stop, but it was no use.
Van was
seeing red, the anger obvious in his darkened blue eyes as he made his way
closer to the couple. Once he had reached Sara, he grabbed her arm and pulled
her back, yelling, “What the fuck are you doing!”
Startled
and in utter shock and disbelief, Sara stood there in front of him with that
deer caught in headlights look. She should have guessed that the presence she
had felt earlier that evening was his, and now all she could do was stand there,
unable to speak, fear encompassing her entire being. Van’s eyes were telling
her everything she needed to know, and right now, it was too much information to
take in. Amid the bitter rage were the broken bits and pieces of his heart which
she knew she could fix by just explaining to him what happened. But would he
believe her? Sara could only hope.
“I
can’t believe you,” Van seethed as he continued to grip her arm in his
powerful grasp, cutting off the circulation from her elbow on down.
“Hey,
leave her alone,” Vin interjected, taking Van’s attention off her.
“And
what the fuck are you doing with my fiancé?” Van yelled. He shoved Sara away
from him. She landed on a pair of strong arms and looked up to find Ian bracing
her fall.
“Donovan,
calm down,” Ian said in that stern tone he had been using with him the entire
night.
Van glared
at him manically and replied, “Oh, and you’re on her side? You’re on her
fucking side!” He tried to hit Ian, but Ian quickly moved back and he hit the
wall instead. Van yelped in pain as he furiously massaged his sore knuckles.
That was definitely something he should have expected.
“Why
don’t you take your friend’s advice and calm down,” Vin sided with Ian.
“It’s not like anything happened. She’s the one who continued to block my
advances.”
“Calm
down?” Van nearly laughed as he glared at him. “You want me to calm down
after seeing you try to steal my girl? Oh, I don’t think so!” And just as
expected, he lunged for his opponent. Vin shook his head and immediately stuck
out his muscled arm, hitting Van square in the left eye and nearly rendering him
unconscious. He crumpled to the floor like an accordion, dazed and confused,
pain coursing through every part of his body.
Sara
kneeled down beside him and gave him one good slap across the face. “You
fucking bastard! How dare you follow me on my night out with my friends?” she
growled. “Now get you ass up and let’s go. We’ve already made enough
trouble tonight.”
By now,
Vicky and Billie were already standing beside them trying to figure out what had
happened. Seeing Ian and Deaq standing while Van lay on the floor, his eye
slowly swelling shut, quickly gave them the impression that they had been
followed.
“I’m
so sorry about that,” Sara apologized as she turned to Vin. “He can be such
an ass sometimes.” She grabbed Van’s arm and pulled him up as his head fell
onto her shoulder. “It was nice meeting you.”
“You
too,” Vin replied as she, Van, and the others made their way out of the
restaurant.
Once they
were out of anyone’s eye line, Sara pushed Van away from her and let him fall
to the sidewalk, all while she yelled, “You are such an ASS! You son of a
BITCH! How could you do this to me? Don’t you trust me at all?”
“I’m
sorry,” he groaned, gently feeling his face to make sure there was no other
damage besides his eye, which was really beginning to hurt like hell.
“God,
Van! Sometimes you can be… UH!” Sara raged. “I’ve been nothing but loyal
to you, and this is how you treat me? I can’t believe you! And besides,
NOTHING HAPPENED! Most of the time I spent with him was talking about you and
how great of a guy you were and how much I loved you and would never cheat on
you!” Her eyes began to tear up as she turned away from him and started to
make her way back towards the street with Billie and Vicky in tow.
“Sara,
I’m sorry,” Van called to her. “Sara, please. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
for this to happen. It just did.”
“I
don’t wanna talk to you!” she screamed. Vicky wrapped a comforting arm
around her as she led her back towards Billie. The valet had pulled up with her
car a few moments earlier.
“Come
on, honey, let’s go home,” Billie said, gently patting her back as she held
the door open to the car. Just as Sara got into her car, her pager went off. She
pulled it out of her purse and took a look at the number. It was one that she
didn’t recognize, so she didn’t pay much attention to it.
A few feet
away, Van’s pager also managed to go off at the same time, as did Deaq’s.
“You think…?” Deaq asked his partner as he gave him a hand up.
“I
know,” Van answered.
“Sara!”
Deaq called just as Billie was about to slam her door shut.
“What?”
she yelled back, still a bit teary.
“Did
somebody just page you?”
“Yeah,
why?”
“Because
we got the same page.”
Sara
looked over at Billie as she stepped out of the car and walked back to the curb
where Van was now standing, poking at the enormous bruise on his face. His eye
had completely swollen shut, which gave the situation an heir of urgency.
“It’s our guy, isn’t it?” Sara asked, no bothering to look at him.
“Yeah,
we’d better get going,” Deaq replied, making his way to the other side of
the street towards his car as Sara followed in pursuit.
“Hey,
what about me?” Van meekly hollered as he tried to catch up to his partners.
“We’ll
get to you later,” Sara growled as she hopped into the front seat.
“I’m
sorry, alright? I couldn’t stop myself. And I wasn’t the only one who wanted
to go!” Van protested. “Deaq and Ian came too! Why don’t you go yell at
them?”
“Because
you’re always the instigator!” she yelled back.
“Hey,
can we all shut up now and just think about how we’re gonna go about this
case?” Deaq cut in before a heated fight broke out between the two. “Check
in your personal baggage at the door and get your head in the game. This is not
the time or the place for a bitch fest.”
“Sorry,”
Sara grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest to show just how annoyed she was
having been told what to do. Usually she was the one barking orders. Then again,
this wasn’t really her case, so she could understand if only everything Van
had just done wasn’t floating around in her head.
“First
off, what are we gonna do about Van?” Deaq asked. “He looks like…” he
trailed off after glancing back to his partner to find that the bruise was
already half the size it had been only minutes before, “…hell. What the
fuck…?”
Sara
glanced over her shoulder to see why Deaq was acting so strange and found that
the bruise over Van’s eye had gone down significantly. “How did…?” she
began to question when she realized he was wearing the ring, as usual. “Well,
at least we know it works,” Sara said.
“What
works?” both Van and Deaq questions.
“The ring,” she simply answered.