Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) (27 page)

     
It was no more
than a ten minute ride to the club. Since there would be alcohol involved, we
took a cab instead of Dale's car.

     
"Looks
like you'll be getting your groove on tonight, Babydoll," he said as we
exited the vehicle, referring to the music that could be heard from outside of
the building.

     
"We'll
see. Oh, hey!" I waved when I caught sight of Samantha. It wasn't too hard
to find her. She stood out, after all, with all her tall, model-like figure.
She wore an emerald silk camisole top and curve hugging skinny jeans. For the
first time since I'd met her, her hair was down. It fell perfectly straight
just a few inches past her shoulders.

     
"You must
be Daphne," said the girl next to her. "I'm Connie," she
grinned. She was much shorter than her roommate, probably only a couple inches
taller than myself. But while in her heels, she stood much closer to Samantha's
height. Dressed in a tight-fitted purple dress, she left her curly, bright
copper-colored hair to run wild. Yes, she would definitely be on the prowl
tonight.
Actually, she reminds me of someone...
"And you must be
Dale." She spoke to him with a knowing smile. I guess Samantha had filled
her in.

     
"Hey." Dale greeted them with a charming smile. "Hope I'm
not intruding or anything."

     
"Not at
all," Samantha answered, her returning smile a bit shy. Connie just
laughed.

     
The place was
actually really nice. It was clean and didn't smell at all, which is a lot more
than I can say for my first - and last - club experience. The color scheme was
mostly black with hints of silver. The deep blue and purple lights made for a
very cool 'chill out' vibe. They were pretty and reminded me a bit of one of
the rides at Disneyland. I sighed inwardly, wishing I were there, instead.

     
As we entered
the heart of the club, the music grew louder until my heart began beating in
time to its loud thumping. I felt my blood pulsing sharply from within. The
sudden need to dance was both surprising and instantaneous. But that need
dispersed as soon as we started walking through the crowds of people, anxiety
coming to take its place. Dale kept right behind me, bless him, keeping one
hand on the small of my back, gently pushing me forward.

 
    
When I'd first left home, I had been forced
to deal with my social anxiety head-on. It was easier since I had no choice but
to put up with it, but Dale and Jillian had also made it their mission to help
me overcome certain instances. My first job helped me get over my fear of
standing in line to pay for things and also forced human interaction, which,
although extremely uncomfortable, was essential when it came to getting
acquainted with various art communities. I was able to get through most of life
without having to worry about panic suddenly taking over. But there where still
some instances, like now, where the energy was just a bit too much for me to
handle. But as long as I focused on the music and the pretty lights, I'd make
it through the night with no problem.

     
We took our
seats and ordered some drinks. Having skipped out on my morning smoothie this
morning, I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, hoping that it would taste just as
fruity. The next half-hour was spent with lots of chatter. We went around,
giving everyone a chance to talk about themselves. Connie was about two years
older than Dale and I. She had attended college here in Seattle with Samantha
and, like her roommate, was also a receptionist - only she worked at a dental
office. She shared a few workplace horror stories that put me off ever wanting
to take a trip to the dentist ever again. When it came to my turn, I tried to
keep it as vague as possible.

     
"You two
aren't related, right? What made you wanna room together?" Connie asked.
On the surface, her expression was mostly of polite interest. But I knew that
she was just fishing for information that might affect her roommate.

     
"We're
childhood buddies, so we might as well be family. I was already living here in
Washington when he got his job offer. It was just a matter of
convenience." I turned to Dale and smiled. "Right?"

     
He smirked back
at me. "Pretty much."

     
"So you
guys have never, like, hooked up or anything?"

     
"Connie!" Samantha nearly spat out her drink, her face turning
red.

     
"I'm just
saying," her roommate laughed. "When a girl and a guy live together,
stuff happens sometimes. It's human nature, right? I've seen it happen plenty
of times before."

 
    
"Nope." I paused to take a sip
of my drink. "I've never even walked in on him accidentally. Besides, we
aren't each other's types at all."

     
"And how
exactly do you know what my type is?" Dale questioned with a raised brow.

     
"Because
we're buddies. I'm sure you're well aware of my type."

     
"Mr. Big,
yes."

     
"Mr.
Big?" This time it was Connie who was spitting out her drink.

     
I shook my
head. "No."

     
"Yes. Come
on, now. Dark-haired CEOs with big buildings and an insane amount of wealth, or
dark-haired owners of Pemberley who earn ten thousand pounds a year….It's all
the same, and you know it."

     
"Shut
up." I half-playfully shoved Dale's shoulder. "You know I don't care
about that stuff."

     
"Yeah,
yeah. Keep telling yourself that," he chuckled.

     
"Stop
telling lies, dude."

     
"You mean
Mr. Desmond?" Samantha asked. "Um, I've been meaning to ask - not
that it's any of my business. But…
is
there something going on between
you two? There's been lots of speculation and rumors flying around."

     
I blinked,
unsure of how to answer. Ethan and I hadn't talked about whether we were going
to keep things private or not.
Does it even matter, though? It's better that
people think there's nothing going on.
When I finally opened my mouth to
talk, nothing came out.

     
"Desmond…You mean Ethan Desmond, Sammie?" Connie looked
shocked.

     
"They seem
pretty serious." Dale winked at me.

     
"
You
and Ethan Desmond," she scoffed, eyeing me up and down.
"Bullshit."

     
Unlike Karina,
Connie's frankness didn't bother me. To me, it just seemed as though she spoke
her mind without any filters. Perhaps she could have been more tactful, but I
admired that kind of honesty, as well as the ability to not give a shit. It
didn't seem to come from a bad place, and it was infinitely preferable to
cattiness.

     
"Right?" I agreed with her take on the matter and took another
sip of my drink.
No one will believe it unless they see it, anyway. No use
in denying it.
"I mean, I still wonder myself.
Like, what the hell?
How even?
But different strokes for different folks, you know? Maybe he's
just going through a short girl phase."

     
Connie
practically rolled off her seat in a fit of laughter. "You're such a
fucking riot!" I hadn't meant to be funny, but I was glad to have amused
her. When she finally calmed down, she wiped at her eyes with a set of
perfectly manicured nails. "Alright, enough of this chit-chat. Time to
dance."

     
I looked at
Samantha, who was looking back at me. It was hard to read her expression in the
dim lighting, but it appeared to be a mix of both awe and apology.

     
"I'll
watch our drinks," Dale offered. "You girls have fun."

     
I turned to
scowl at him. "I don't really dance."

     
"Everybody
dances," Connie countered, standing up.

     
Samantha stood
up, too. "I'm not much of a dancer, either."

     
"She's
just picky about music," Dale tried to explain.

     
Connie looked
over the crowd towards the DJ. "Pretty sure they take song requests.
Common, let's go!"

     
Dale gave my
hand a small squeeze of reassurance as I headed off. In return, I gave him a
smile and mouthed a quick thank you. He knew how difficult it was for me. It
would've been much easier if Jillian was here with me, but I was grateful for
Dale's support. I'd just have to enter my own private place. Taking the first
step was always the hardest, but once I started, I knew it would be hard to
stop.

     
When we reached
the dance floor, I took a deep breath and focused on the colors above me,
ignoring the individual bodies moving all around me. Eventually, it was no
longer like standing in the midst of dozens upon dozens of people, all dancing
to their own beat. It was an ocean now, and I was part of it, swaying back and
forth in the waves that were really just music in physical form.

     
I tapped my
foot and slowly raised my hands over my head, still swaying, eagerly waiting
for the drop that would push me into free fall. It was unfortunate that I only
had a small amount of room to move, but it couldn't be helped. I counted down
the seconds until finally - it came. The beat began to bounce back and forth,
my body bouncing with it.

     
As much as I
loved dancing alone, I had to admit that there was a special energy here that
you couldn't find anywhere else. The kind that you would expect from hundreds
of strangers, all with different energies of their own, all merging together to
let loose. It was almost poetic, even. For just a few moments within the entire
span of time, we were one. Perhaps it was just me who felt that way, though.

     
Looking around,
I was finally able to acknowledge that I wasn't alone. I was here on a crowded
floor and I wasn't panicking. Mission accomplished. I smiled and allowed myself
to become lost in the music.

     
As the song
came to a finish, I was finally able to take in my surroundings more carefully.
Connie's hair was flying all over the place, the lights making it look as
though she were a life-size, never-ending firecracker going off in the night.
Samantha was enjoying herself, too. Maybe not as exuberantly as her friend, but
then few were.

     
"And she
called me a riot!" I laughed.

     
Samantha shook
her head, laughing as well, before raising her arms and bouncing up and down as
another beat dropped. When a large smile overtook her face, I almost did a
double-take. I had never seen her looking so free before. Of course, I had also
never seen her outside of the Luxadigm. I looked back towards our table and,
sure enough, Coops was all eyes for her.

     
"I think
I'm gonna take a breather and grab a quick drink," she said after the
third song had ended.

     
I nodded and
kept dancing, enjoying myself far too much to want to stop. Plus, I had to make
sure that she and Dale had some time to talk on their own.

     
As soon as she
was off, Connie moved in.

     
"So what's
the deal with you two?" she asked, motioning her head towards Dale and
then to myself. "You're really only friends?"

     
"Best
friends," I corrected. "He really is like my brother. Trust me, it's
been over ten years. If it hasn't happened yet, it's not gonna happen at all. I
brought him with me because he was asking about her." I gestured towards
where he was sitting with Samantha.

     
Connie eyed me
speculatively for a moment. "Look," she began, "Sammie doesn't
really go out with guys that much. In case you haven't noticed, she's the kind
of girl who keeps to herself. In fact, this is the first time I've seen her so
openly interested in someone. If there's anything at all that we should know,
any reason to nip it in the bud…"

     
"I get it,
but Dale really is a great guy. And as his friend, I also don't want him
getting hurt. I don't know Samantha that well, but I…I feel good about the two
of them together. Anyway, I won't be living with him forever. It's only
temporary."

     
She nodded,
seemingly appeased with my answer. "So…you and Ethan Desmond, huh?"
She spoke thickly with arched eyebrows before breaking out into laughter again.

     
I giggled and
was about to continue dancing on my own when I suddenly noticed some blonde guy
at the bar watching Connie. He wasn't leering, just gazing with humorous eyes
and a smile that looked pleasant enough. I decided to share. "That guy at
the bar is checking you out."