You Broke Me First

After - Part 2

*Sofia's point of view*

Meanwhile...

Izabella has been at my house almost every day for a few weeks now. I'm not used to being alone all day and night; Luciano used to come over and spend the whole day with me, and sometimes the night. Or we would go back to his house and spend the night there. That's usually what we did when he, Ella, Elio and I used to hang out. I miss them. All of them. Ella texted me the night it happened, apologizing that Andrew broke his promise, and then again a few days ago, asking me how I'm doing. Elio on the other hand, I haven't heard from in weeks. I understand, of course, seeing as he found out at the same time as Luciano, and he and Luciano are basically best friends. I haven't even tried texting either of them since that day; it doesn't feel like my place right now. Though, I still check my phone sometimes hoping either he or Luc has texted me. My hopes of that happening fade with each day that passes.

I finally puttered out of bed after noon-ish and changed locations to the couch. I turned on the tv, as usual, and just lay there, watching the same programs cycle through, as they did each day. Izabella was going out with her family today, so I'll be home alone all day. Today I felt extra alone, and somehow that motivated me to do more with myself. I took a nice long, steaming hot shower and put on some clean clothes. I even made myself food for the first time in weeks. Recently I've been ordering out or letting Iz cook for us since I haven't felt up for cooking myself. I made a healthy salad with grilled chicken on top. I figured I would make something healthy since only God knows the next time I'll actually cook something again.

After I ate, I decided to scroll through my Instagram for a few minutes. I haven't been on social media much lately; It seemed sort of depressing. I sighed to myself as I scrolled past dozens of pictures of people out in the world, living their lives. I feel... stuck. Like I'm moving nowhere. Likely, rightfully so, but it still hurts of course. Checking my phone made me more upset than I expected, so I decided to dismiss that idea and just before I could throw my phone across the couch, I got a message from Izabella.

*text messages*

Izabella: hey! My night freed up. I'm taking you out Sof. You need to breathe air that isn't from within the four walls of your house. It'll help you clear your mind, please say yes.

Sofia: oh, so I have a choice?

Izabella: no. I'll see you in an hour. Dress for a fancy club ;)

I whispered 'oh no' to myself. When Izabella goes to a club, it never ends well. She gets so drunk that Luciano and I always end up carrying her to the car to take her home before someone else does. He never let me go to clubs alone. He always said he trusted me and my ability to take care of myself, but it was other people's intentions that he had little faith in. And in that case, he would accompany me no matter what else he had planned. If he knew I was going, he was there. He was protective that way. Some people would think it alarming, but I know Luciano and his intentions, and they were never anything but in my best interest. Thinking about it stirred up my emotions. I snapped out of it and shook it off, trying to stop my day from going downhill. The club huh. What's the worst that can happen?

I curled my hair, did my makeup then opened my closet and shuffled through my dresses, looking for the perfect one for the evening. I finally ended up choosing a simple red satin mini dress that I had bought but never worn. It slid on, fitting like a glove. I threw on some matching heels and started putting together a little bag of essentials when the doorbell rang. 

I opened the door for Izabella, and immediately noticed how amazing she looked. I looked at her in awe as she did a little spin for me. Izabella had on a simple black dress, but with sheer chiffon sleeves. With the light blonde hue of her hair, the black looked amazing on her.

"You look beautiful Iz," I said, shaking my head. "Me? Look at you, it looks like I'm going out with Megan Fox," she said, walking inside, closing the door behind her. I giggled a little at her comment then continued to get my stuff together.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Iz... We've never gone to the club by ourselves before," I said, as my heart started to race at the idea of going without having the protection of Luciano by my side.

"Oh come on, this is what you need, Sofia. You need to figure out how to be out in the world on your own. Well, kind of on your own because I'm still here," she said with a smile, putting her arms out for a hug.

I sighed and agreed with her, then went in for the hug, holding her tightly while trying not to cry and ruin my makeup. I finally finished, and Izabella was done touching up her makeup, so we called an Uber, reaching 'Avalon', the club, around 15 minutes later. Avalon was like a dream. We'd been here once before about 3 or 4 months ago with Elio and Luciano. Only the most important people were allowed inside, and I'm assuming the De Luca's are on the shortlist due to their Jewellery business. I'm not sure how they came to so much success with the business, but they make millions off it. Luciano never really enjoyed talking about the family business, so I kinda just knew not to ask. 

Since our last visit, our names were still on the list, so getting in was a breeze. We cut the whole line and were taken to a booth on the top floor of the club. Izabella ordered three drinks each. At first, I refused, telling her it was too much, but she insisted.

"Sofia, you look amazing, but you look like shit. Trust me, you need this."

"You know what, you're right," I said, furrowing my eyebrows, realizing that even though I'm here, all I can think about is him.

I looked down at the three shot glasses that were in front of me. Izabella and I cheers'd and took all three, one after another. We got up, she forced me to dance. For the rest of the night, we took more shots, dodged some thirsty men, took some more shots, danced some more, and ... and that's the last thing I remember...