Carmen

Chapter 4

Days later, I was still thinking about what had happened at the range. He was like a disease and the cure all at once. I couldn't get him out of my head, and every time I saw him, I seemed to want him more.

The next Friday had rolled around, and I had yet to see him again. I took a half day at work, simply not feeling up to being in the office, plus I had worked overtime that week to complete a last-minute report. Like clockwork, I called Maira on my way out of the office—yes, we were talking once again after several more apologies on her part—and braced myself for the heat.

"You on lunch break too?" she asked, food obviously in her mouth. "Nope, I ditched early. Gave those fuckers plenty of my time this week." Keys and purse got thrown in the car, followed by my water bottle. For someone who got bored so incredibly easy, I wasalso somehow one for routines.

"Wow, look at you, so rebellious," she said with a laugh as my car roared to life. "You know what we should do to celebrate the end of the week?" Part of me felt like I knew what she was going to say already.

"What?" I asked anyway. "We should totally give Innamorata a second go. No guys involved; I promise."

"Ugh," I groaned. "You know for once in my life, I was planning on having an actual night in and watching movies or some other bullshit."

"Please," Maira begged, elongating her vowels. "Let me voice out the night for you, okay?" Despite my smile, I rolled my eyes and agreed. "Fine, tell me what we'll do tonight if I agree to go back to Innamorata."

"Okay, okay, so first I'm going to bring tacos and we're going to do mojitos instead of margaritas, and then I'll get there at six so we have time to go all-out with the makeup, and we can wear cute little dresses and heels, no pants or skirts, and then we'll Uber to the club, get wasted, dance on each other—no guys, Uber back to your place, wear cute pjs and watch Mean Girls until we pass out."

"You drive a hard bargain."

"Just say yes already!"

"Fine, you bitch. I will actually have your head if you break your promise this time," I threatened. "I swear I'll be good."

She hung up first. I tossed my phone into the car, the same routine ensuing. My phone connects to Bluetooth, loud music plays, I look around the parking lot. Some parking spaces away, as it had been all week except Monday, was the electric blue car. I'll find out who you belong to.

Five tacos and three mojitos later, I sat on my bedroom floor coating my eyelids in black glitter. Did we seriously do this every weekend? Yes, yes, we did. And we loved it. My eyeliner was sharp, and finally I was able to put on false lashes. I had decent lashes, but mascara could only take them so far. My lips were painted red to match my dress, a deep red velvet with a cowl neck, paired with the same silver heels that killed me last Friday.

Maira had her braids pulled up into a bun, wearing a pair of large gold hoops and an off-the-shoulder white dress complimented with white wedges. Her "heavier" makeup consisted of bigger lashes, more gold highlighter, and a pinker shade on her lips. She really didn't need much to look perfect.

"Uber will be here in five!" she called out to me from the bathroom. "Sounds like the perfect time for one more mojito!" I yelled back. So maybe we were pre-gaming a little harder than usual. I went out to the deck for the good lighting just before the sun disappeared and took a few photos. From up here, you could see down into the courtyard and the road in front of my gate. Maybe it was the alcohol, but I swear I saw that blue car drive by. It wasn't a common color, definitely custom.

Innamorata was more crowded than last week, but the music was even better. More bodies meant more free drinks. Was I an alcoholic? "So I'm thinking for rounds, one, two and three, we take on the frat-looking boys over there," she said with her usual sly point, feigning scratching her ear. A wicked smile curled over my lips as I nodded.