To Mai Surprise
Disclaimer: I do not own The Nine Lives of Chloe King, nor do I profit from any of my stories.
Chapter 8
She shook her head, regaining her composure. "No! It's Brian! The guy I told you guys about last night! It's Brian. He's my ex!"
"Why didn't you say something?" I asked. "He didn't even look at you!"
Mimi sighed, saying, "My father doesn't know. Brian is three years older than me, so Dad doesn't even approve of him being my friend!"
I handed her a tissue. "How long were you two together?"
"Um, about two years," Mimi sobbed. "He lived with his mom for forever, and then he went to stay with his dad in Vegas. We tried to keep in touch, but a month later I moved to Denmark."
Giving her a hug, I told her not to worry. "You two can talk plenty once we get to the club. From what I've heard, Brian is here to stay." Mimi smiled up at me. "Do you have his cell number?" I asked, wondering how to fix things.
Mimi's smile fell. "No, and I doubt he has mine either…" she trailed off.
"Don't worry, I have a plan." I took her hand and lead her back out to join our friends.
After overindulging in sashimi and teppanyaki, our waiter brought out the ice cream cake. To fully embarrass Mimi, all the waiters sang 'Happy Birthday' in Japanese. Sixteen candles were lit as we set our gifts on the table. Once the candles were out and the cake was served, Mimi carefully unwrapped our gifts.
Mr. Vacinni gave his daughter a gold necklace, the symbol of Bastet glistening in the lamplight. Aunt Valentina had mailed a card, upon opening it revealed a $400 gift card to Victoria's Secret. With an embarrassed laugh, Mimi reached for the next gift.
Amy, Jasmine, and I had pooled our money together to get a giant makeup kit. With thousands of shades of eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick, and nail polish, it was a dream come true. Mimi laughed when she opened it, knowing full well that we planned to take advantage of it just as much as she did.
Alek, being the player he is, brought her a bouquet of flowers. I was a bit jealous, but they were just carnations.
The last gift was an ugly hat with cat ears, from Brian. Mimi smiled and laughed, as if sharing an inside joke with her ex. Mr. Vacinni offered to take all of Mimi's gifts to the car while we drove off to the club. On the way out, I invited Brian to come with us. After asking him for his cell number, we decided to meet up at Ground Zero.
In the car, I discreetly send a text to Mimi, giving her Brian's number. She started texting him, and then poked my shoulder. Alek looked really irritated, but I simply looked down at Mimi's phone.
Motioning to the picture of a kitten, Mimi said, "my real gift!"
"What? Is your dad going to let you keep it?" I asked, worried that Mimi would get her hopes up.
"Of course not! But, he knows that," she explained. "He said I can keep it at his apartment and that I'm welcome anytime!" she practically squealed. "And, he says I get to name it!"
She looked thoughtful for a second, and then typed on her phone. "Charlie! I want to name it Charlie."
Her phone buzzed and I looked at her reply. Apparently the kitten was a girl. Mimi pouted, saying, "still Charlie. I always wanted a cat named Charlie." Which, of course, settled the matter entirely.
Mimi reached over me to show the picture to Alek. He muttered something rude, turning away. Giving up, Mimi offered to show Jasmine when she wasn't driving.
I looked at Alek. He looked angry, and I didn't know why. "Alek?" I asked, resting a hand on his arm.
He looked at me, and then asked, "why? Why did you ask for Brian's number? You never wanted my number, and I don't have yours either…"
I laughed. Alek? Jealous? I decided to cut him some slack. Grabbing his phone, I quickly punched my number in and texted myself. Upon receiving the text, I saved the number as a contact on my phone. "Happy?" I pout at him.
He nods, bringing me into his arms for a kiss as the car slows to a stop.
The club was pretty good; there was live music, a punchbowl, even a bouncer. I danced with Chloe, and she was a surprisingly good dancer. The bass was insanely loud, and I'm sure my enhanced hearing wasn't helping. After a few songs, Chloe pauses in her grinding against my hips to pull my head down into a kiss. She was wild, definitely more god then human.
Breaking away from the kiss, I grabbed her hand and lead her over to the table and chairs. She giggled when I pulled out a chair for her to sit down. I brought over another glass of punch for her. She had been dancing much more enthusiastic than me, and I didn't want her getting dehydrated.
Chuckling quietly, played with Chloe's hair. She had worn it down tonight; her ringlets rivaled those of an 18th century gentlewoman. She finished her punch and looked up at the dance floor. Spotting, Jasmine dancing alone, I urged Chloe to join her. Watching Chloe dance was almost as fun as dancing with her. Almost.
"Hey, Alek!" said a voice behind me. I turned around, sighting Tyler behind me. With him were three other guys from the team, each baring the same mischievous grin. "Tonight's going to be the shittt!"
"What are you guys planning?" I said, suspiciously. Tyler pulled out a flask, but it seemed to already be too late. Tyler and the rest of the guys were already buzzed.
"Vodka, man!" one of the guys yelled. He looked full-out drunk. I turned around to look for Chloe. She was no longer dancing, but sitting next to Jasmine at a table.
"Don't do it, come on guys!" I tried to convince them, but they just laughed.
"Too late!" Ty was doubled over, laughing. "We spiked it like an hour ago! There are so many tipsy girls!"
Shoving him out of the way, I ran to Chloe's table. She was asleep on Jasmine's shoulder.
"They spiked the punch?" Jasmine was furious. "Did you have any?" When I shook my head, she motioned to the sleeping girl. "Take her home. Call a cab, carry her, take her to your place, I don't care."
Shaking Chloe awake, I told her that we were leaving. Across the room I saw Jasmine talking to Brian and Mimi, and decided to leave. I walked with Chloe for a few blocks before hailing a taxi. Getting in the cab, I told the driver Chloe's address.
"Hey! Hey! I don't want to go home! If you take me back home, I will just sneak to your house anyway." I nodded with a sigh, and then told the driver where to go. Before we were even halfway home, Chloe was asleep again.
I woke up, startled to realize I was not at home. I wasn't in Alek's bed; I was in Alek's arms. Pulling back the comforter, I was relieved to see we still had most of our clothes on. With my booty shorts and tanktop still on, I wasn't wearing my socks or shoes. Below me, and touching the right side of my body, was Alek's bare chest.
Slowly, the night's activities came back into memory. Though muddled, I remember being really sleepy, and Alek telling me that someone had spiked the punch. I hadn't wanted to go home; Jasmine would give me hell, so I made him bring me back to his place.
Speaking about Alek, he was currently still asleep and, thankfully, still wearing his dark-wash jeans from last night. With a slight whimper, Alek pulled me closer to him. He was warm, wrapping me protectively in his arms. It was so comfortable that I wondered what woke me up in the first place.
About to go back to sleep, I was interrupted when my phone buzzed from the nightstand. Picking it up, I read my texts.
Two messages from Amy, one said: "Paul is acting weird. I think someone spiked the punch." The other said: "I can't find you, but I just wanted you to know that I'm driving Paul home."
Jasmine sent me: "I'm home, text me if you need anything."
Finally, there were three texts from Mimi. "Chloe, something happened last night, I need some help." I quickly scrolled to the next one. "Okay, so I'm at Brians, I'm safe, don't worry. I just need someone to talk to…" The last text said: "I talked things over with Brian, but please give me a call when you get this."
I rolled out of Alek's bed, covering him up with the blankets. Dialing Mimi's number, I didn't know what to expect.
She answered the phone on the first ring, saying, "Chloe? Okay, so Jasmine said someone spiked the punch." She seemed flustered as she continued on. "Brian took me back to his place last night to see Charlie, and one thing lead to another, and I slept with him!"
"Mimi, what happened? What can I do to help?" I pleaded, worried about the consequences of her actions.
"I don't think we used… protection…"
I stopped her. "Mimi, you think you didn't use protection? You either did or you didn't!"
"Well," she whined, "I only remember bits and pieces. Don't blame Brian; I worked it out with him. We got back together before we even got to the club."
"Okay, well let's go get Jasmine and Amy, and we can figure all of this out." I sighed, and then went to wake Alek.
After a long lecture from Jasmine and an eye-roll from Amy, the four of us set off for the Planned Parenthood. Since we were all teenagers, and since Amy, Mimi, and I all had boyfriends, we decided to stock up on supplies. We bought a ton of condoms, a few emergency 'Plan-B' packages, a handful of pregnancy tests, and a year's worth of oral contraceptives each. It was better to be prepared for anything than risk another panic attack.
After much convincing, Mimi agreed to tell her dad about her and Brian's relationship. He didn't need to know the grotesque details, but it wasn't good to keep him completely in the dark.
Mimi and Alek tagged along with us for sparing. After training, we asked Brian and Mr. Vacinni to meet us in the park. A tense moment passed before Mimi started talking.
"Daddy, I know you don't like Brian. But there's something I have to tell you." She sounded nervous so Brian put his arm around her for comfort. "Daddy, Brian and I are dating. We have been dating for over two years."
"No. No you are not." Mr. Vacinni was furious. "You are not dating, and you are definitely not going to see him ever again!"
Mimi grabbed her father's arm. "Daddy! But—" He suddenly pushed her off, sending her tumbling to the ground. Brian ran over to her, lifting her up.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Mr. Vacinni's eyes shifted, his claws came out.
"No! Dad, I can do whatever I like!" Mimi was sobbing. "Don't do this! Please!" Her father pulled a .38 Smith & Wesson from the waistband of his pants.
"Get away from her!" He pointed the revolver threaten at the frantic couple.
Brian swiftly moved Mimi behind him and tried to knock the gun from the man's hands. The gun went off, the bullet flying not towards Brian, but towards the three onlookers.
Before I could even react, I was on the concrete. Alek was pinning me down to the ground, covered in blood. "NO! Alek!" I scrambled over to try to stop the bleeding. The gunshot wound was too close to his heart, he wouldn't last long.
His eyes fluttered open. "Chlo…Chloe?" he whispered.
I leaned down, close to his face. "Alek! Shhh, don't talk. Please, be okay. I love you! Don't leave me…" I broke down in sobs.
"No….." I whimpered, as Alek's eyes closed one final time.
"No, please….." I whispered, one final breath left his body.
Wow. That was stressful. I would have this posted hours ago but I was distracted. My boyfriend wants to be 'just friends' and we all know how that goes. Yay, drama! NOT. Anyway…
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