Love With No Filter - Book 1

16: NICK

I wake up to the unfamiliar scent of sickly sweet perfume and messy blonde hair fanned out across my pillow. A manicured hand is draped over my chest and I'm partly disappointed that it doesn't belong to Inez.

Peeling myself away from Tara's arm, I get out of bed and slip on some grey sweats. I look back at Tara who's sleeping soundly in my bed. Fuck, I need to get her out of here before she accidentally bumps into Inez cause that would be an awkward conversation to witness. Inez knew she was here, she saw it last night whilst Tara's tongue swept over my neck. But Tara was too distracted to notice the other girl in the apartment. I groan with regret and make my way to the kitchen.

Each step I take echos around the apartment. It's eerily quiet and I suddenly feel on edge. The clock above the doorway reads 9:13 am. It's not particularly unlike Inez to sleep in on the weekend, but she's usually awake by now. I've always been a morning person. My alarms set for 7:30 am every day and I start the weekends with a trip to the gym. Usually, I'd get back just as Inez rolls out of bed in her tank top and booty shorts.

We'd often exchange a few words, more often than not, throw teasing comments at each other, before continuing with our day without acknowledging one another. Today, there was no sign of the fiery brunette.

Not to mention, her bedroom door is fully open.

I peer into her room, being careful not to overstep into the lions den. It's spotless. The bed is made, a grey duvet spread over the white bedsheets hiding behind a mountain of pillows, perfectly smoothed out as no one had ever slept there. There are clothes are neatly folded on the wooden dresser next to the door, along with a pile of books that had just arrived in the mail yesterday.

The full body mirror is situated in the corner of the room. I've seen that mirror in multiple photos on Inez's Instagram. She takes mirror pics of her outfits and displays them on her page. Inez has never let me enter her room, says it's her private space, so I've never seen her bedroom in person, despite having lived her for nearly two months. It's warm and cozy however the lack of life creates an oddly unsettling atmosphere. I feel my palms get sweaty and I step away from the room.

Entering the kitchen, I'm met with the same uneasy quietness. There's no sign of Inez, just her now empty bottle of whiskey which sits on the kitchen island.

I approach the bottle, expecting to find some sort of explanation as to where my housemate is but to my dismay, there's nothing that indicates a whereabouts. I rush to the coat hanger in the hall.

Shit... her coats gone. She's gone.

"Nick come back to bed." A whiny voice says. My head swivels around and I'm met with Tara walking down the hall butt naked.

"The windows aren't tinted. You might want to put some clothes on." I say dryly.

"Oh, let them see." She says seductively, stopping directly in-front of me. "Round 2? Or is it round 3? We had a long night, I don't remember." She asks, a dainty finger tracing my collarbone lightly.

"Actually, I'm sorry Tara but I think it's best you leave soon. I have to... get to work." Small lie.

"Work? It's Sunday." She accuses me.

I step away from her, scratching my neck awkwardly, "do you want something to eat... or to shower before you go?"

"Shower... with you?" She says smirking, her fingers now tracing the curves of her breasts.

"No. Not with me. I just meant if you wanted to freshen up you can. I feel bad for... you know... kicking you out."

Her forehead wrinkles as she arches a brow. She's offended and I know I'm in for a hard time before she even opens her mouth, "You're a fucking asshole."

And with that, she's rushing back to my room and slipping on her dress. I feel bad but I at least tried to make the walk of shame less embarrassing by offering her breakfast and to use my shower but I guess small talk isn't her thing. It isn't mine either, the morning after is always awkward as fuck so in a way I'm thankful that's she's leaving.

Tara slams the front door behind her as she exits the apartment and I'm left alone.

***

I feel like a stalker, constantly checking Inez's instagram in the hopes that she'll update her whereabouts soon. But she doesn't. A whole day had passed with no sign of her. Now I'm on my way to work and she still hasn't returned home.

I was hoping maybe she'd spent the night at Jazzy's, but as the blue haired girl entered the conference room, no brunette followed.

"Jazzy!" I call out, chasing after her as we walk to the canteen. She turns around to face me, a bright smile on her face.

"Hey Nick! What's up?" She says cheerfully.

"Hey, uh, I was just wondering if you knew where Charleen was?" I cringe at the sound of my own voice. It's hoarse and desperate.

"She's in DC idiot. She left yesterday morning. I don't know she said something about having to visit a friend urgently. She'll be back in a few days."

Inez is in fucking DC! What the actual fuck? Are you shitting me? She's that embarrassed that she has to fly to another bloody state to get away from me? I drove her out of New York for heavens sake.

"Alright. Thanks." I say, nodding, before turning around and walking the other way. I got Inez's number before we started working but I've never used it. It was in case of emergencies in the apartment and we agreed not to text each other unless absolutely necessary. But I'm pretty fucking pissed that she didn't tell me she was leaving. She just left.

I search for Inez's phone number in my contacts and select messages.

Me: How's DC.

I'm assuming I won't get a response, but I hope she proves me wrong. She can't run away forever, eventually she'll have to face me again. Last night was a mistake, and I know that. But I know one thing for certain and that is that we are not done. That kiss has opened up a whole new side to this twisted relationship we've got going on and we're both as conflicted about it as each other. This is no love story, this is pure need and desire.

Whatever I have going on with Inez Charleen, one kiss will not satisfy the lust I feel for her. I want her. I need her so that I can move on. And one thing I've learnt from years of building up my career is that I get what I want when I work hard enough for it.

A/N
Word Count: 1183
Sorry for the shortish chapter!! Next chapter will be in Inez's point of view and damn does she have a lot to say about Nicks encounter with Tara 🤭
Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions please leave them in the comments! Love you all thanks for the support!!
- E <3