Not Enough

16

Evander

Sam came very quickly, meaning he probably sped all the way here. He texted me asking where I was, and I told him I was at the bar. He came and sat next to me for a minute, asking the server—who's name I found out was Jay—for a beer.

Then, right when I was about to start explaining to him what went down with me and Saniya, he told me to "Hold that thought" and walked over to a guy with bright red hair and dark skin.

The guy was wearing a black t-shirt and some white jeans, a contrasting combination that actually looks fairly nice. They've been talking for over five minutes now, and I'm getting ancy. That's when Sam puts his arm around the other guy, guiding them over to me.

Once they get here, Sam sits down on the stool next to me, gesturing for the other man to sit on the other side of him.

"Jacob, this is Evander. Evan, this is Jacob." Sam takes another sip of his beer, leaning foward against the bar-top so Jacob and I can see each other. Once I finally see him, Jacob's face has a shocked expression, his eyes wide and his lips parted open. Maybe he knows me?

I reach my hand out over Sam's back, Jacob taking it and holding on for a moment too long, before he pulls away as if I've shocked him. He definitely knows me, but from what?

"Call me Evan." His face goes back to a neutral expression, as if nothing happened.

"Nice to meet you . . . Evan." He hesitates to say my name.

"I'm sorry, do I know you from somewhere?" I decide to break the ice. Sam starts to notice Jacob's odd behavior too.

"No, probably not, but I know who you are." Jacob stares at me, as if examining an alien from space.

"Jay." Jacob taps his hand on the wooden bar top. "Get me a glass of the same wine you gave Nya." Nya? That's not a familiar name to me.

"On it." Jay gets to work pouring red wine into a glass, handing it to Jacob. He picks up the glass and brings it to his lips, finishing the glass in 6 big gulps before turning back to me.

"You're Evander Hart, Ashford's man." Oh. So that's what he knows me from.

Sam sits up straight again, finally saying something for the first time in this conversation.

"How do you know that?" Sam slightly towers Jacob.

"Oh please, I'm not a threat. Not anymore at least, not since Laurence declared that he would be working with your boss." Wait, does Jacob work for Laurence Caddel? Sam seems to read my mind.

"You work for Caddel?" I can tell Sam is getting uneasy.

"Yeah, I do."

I hear Sam swear under his breath. Jacob stands up, looking at us.

"Evan, Sam, could you guys follow me? There's someone I'd like you two to meet." A grimly smirk creeps onto his face.

At this point, there isn't any reason for me to be intimidated by him. If he does something to screw me over, it will ruin my upcoming assignment and he'll for sure get his ass fired. I stand up and put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"C'mon Sam, what's the worst that could happen?" Sam stands up, taking a sip of his beer and follows Jacob across the dance floor, me behind them.

Jacob stops in front of an indigo curtain that has a small crack in it. Jacob slips his hand in and opens the curtain, revealing the person that he wanted us to meet.

Saniya

I put the wine bottle to my lips, taking a sip of the sweet liquid, when Jacob opens the curtains of the private booth, Evander and a man I'm not familiar with behind him. I put the wine down, aggressively.

"Jacob. What the hell?" I say through gritted teeth. He doesn't respond, only smirking at me before turning around to face the other two men.

"Evan, Sam, take a seat wherever you feel like it." Jacob goes to the other side of the curved booth, scooting so that he's sitting next to me. This "Sam" goes in after him, and then finally Evander. We're seated so that I'm on one edge of the table, then Jacob is to my right, then Sam is next to him, and Evander is at the other edge.

"Evan, Nya, can you guys close the curtains?"

Damnit Jacob, what're you trying to do?

I reach at the same time Evander does, us closing the curtains, concealing us four in this private booth.

I grab my wine bottle and handbag from off the table, and put them next to my feet.

"Jacob," I turn to him, talking quiet enough so that they can't hear my voice over the muffled music in the background, "What are you trying to do here?" I give him a glare, letting him know I'm not happy.

"I'm trying to loosen you up to your new partner-in-crime." He leans into me, cupping his hand around his mouth, "Plus, his friend over here is pretty cute."

I can't deal with this shit right now. I begin to stand up to get away from whatever-the-hell is happening, but Jacob grabs my wrist, pulling me back into my seat.

"Guys, how do you feel about playing a game?" Jacob still has that damn smirk on his face.

"A game? What are we, five?" Sam leans back on the booth cushion.

"I don't mean it like that," Jacob reaches behind him, opens a small compartment and pulls out some sort of card game. "I mean something like Truth or Dare."

"That isn't any less childish, Jacob." I say, annoyed.

"I'm up for it." Evander says with no emotion. Great, so I'm going to have to work with someone who likes kids' games, too?

"Alright, fuck it, if Evan does it then I guess I will too." Sam actually seems interested in this childrens' game. They all look at me. Fuckers.

"Fine fine, I'll play the fucking game." I flick my wrist at them.

Jacob smiles. He begins unboxing the stack of cards, shuffling them in his hands.

"Alright then, let's play."