Just Something about You

Part 26 - A different side

New York was way colder than Millie had imagined. It was only September but the wind was already icy, cutting through her thin denim jacket, her body ached with rigidity. She wrapped it tightly around her, it made no difference, her teeth involuntarily chattering as she stepped outside of the airport onto the busy pavement.

It was approaching 6pm the streets were alive with people, some heading home after work, some on their way out for the evening, there were people of every walk of life, dressed for every occasion. Millie watched an old couple crossing the street, she wondered how they had managed to stay alive so long as they dodged in and out of cars, the drivers were were crazier than back home.
Worries for their safety she had to look away, glancing down the street to the taxi rank the queue for cabs was huge.

"Ohhh I'm going to freeze to death before we get a cab" she complained

"Don't you have a chauffeur here or something?" Millie asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet impatiently, attempting to stop the frost bite from setting in that she was fairly sure would be consuming her any minute.

"Nope, sorry doll, only in England and Italy. We'll find lover boy soon don't worry!" Ricco laughed. Millie shot him a look for mocking her.

"It's not that! I'm just freezing! I won't survive to see him if we have to wait here too long!" She groaned

Ricco laughed,
"That's ok, if you die I'll keep Dex company" Ricco winked at her, quickly cuddling her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her like a parent would a child before she had the chance to roll her eyes at him.

"If I drop you off with Dex do you mind if i shoot off to see Luca?" Asked Ricco, knowing that her reply was going to be sarcastic in some way.
"I'll come pick you up around 11pm and we'll go to the hotel together" is that ok?" He asked
"What?! You're dropping me for a guy" she joked, her smile hidden, face still buried in his chest.
"Yes like you've done to me 4000 times before!" He replied raising his eyebrows Millie giggled.
"Yeah that's fine, I'll see where he is" said Millie. Pretending to call Dex, she called Jesse.

"Hey, I'm in New York, where do you want me to meet you to?" she asked. Feeling awkward that she hadn't told Ricco what was going on.

"Yeah ok. See you soon" she hung up. Hoping Ricco wouldn't think anything out of the ordinary. She hated lying to him, but it was too complicated to explain, she didn't even really know what she was doing herself.

Millie followed Ricco into the cab,
"Where to Mils?" He asked
"West 46th street please" she replied
The cab dropped her off outside Jesse's apartment block.
"You sure you'll be ok on your own?" asked Ricco,
"Yeah, fine bab, I'll see you later" said Millie.

The cab sped away.
She called Jesse again, not sure where to go
"Hi, I'm outside, I think" she said
"Ok, I'll come down and let you in" he replied
"Is this yours and Cat's apartment?" She asked, nervously
"Not anymore" he replied
She walked towards the door
Jesse opened it a few inches and waved her over.

Millie felt weird meeting Jesse, usually she avoided him at all costs. She felt like she was cheating on Dex and felt very vulnerable alone, knowing how volatile he could be. She hung up the phone and walked towards him wondering if this was a huge mistake! She was nervous, her palms sweaty, she worried she might be walking head first into some kind of trap.

"Hey" she said, approaching him, still weary of him. He was a mess, he had dried blood down his face and his eyes gave the game away, glazed and vacant Millie knew straight away that he was high, he'd also been crying, his eyes red and watery and the dried tear streams were still visible down his cheeks alongside the blood stains. As she got closer she could smell the alcohol on him, then she noticed the blood on his hands.