Clementine had become a wild child. Born in America but raised abroad, she now had little regard for the expectations of high society. But her reckless ways eventually catch up with her when she is kicked out of college in New York City and forced t...
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14
It suddenly occurred to Clementine that Zico, was hard man to get a hold of alone.
When he came back, unfortunately with that girl tagging along behind him, he simply smiled at Clementine and said that everyone should now go and 'dance'.
But this wasn't dance music. It was more like...a sound to fall into.
But when they were all on the dance-floor, it seemed that he was being approached by all these people he and his friends seemingly knew, and he was ever so cool and dancing and moving and smiling and waving them off. He would occasionally check on Clementine to see how she as doing or if she was still beside him. But she wanted desperately, to get him alone and back to the side that he revealed to her on that street.
"I need water," she told him above the music.
"Ok, let's go," he replied, holding her by the small of her back.
She did need water, but this was also a way to get him to move towards her. She wanted to get to know him better, or at least understand him. It was like a puzzle, that every time she thought she was about to get right, would rearrange itself.
He was difficult for her to pin down. Partly because of the haze of her own feelings, but also because of how he presented himself and was able to shift and change like a salamander.
She had to buy an overpriced water bottle at the bar which seemed to not sell much of anything else, and that's when it hit her.
Everyone here was probably on drugs.
Was he on drugs?
Yes she partied at school, but she too had boundaries, and this was a slight overstep.
Clementine looked around the place, and saw an odd little table, like it belonged at a terrace in a European cafe. But it was empty, out of the way, and she wanted to sit. She needed to press pause on this night and process a little bit of what she has taken in.
"Let's go sit there," she directed both of them there.
They sat at the table, and he looked at her with a lazy smile, and for a moment she didn't mind that the music was too loud and her legs ached.
"Can I have some?" Zico asked about the water.
Clementine nodded and handed him the bottle.
As much as she liked him, she was still deciding whether to trust him or not, and she kept a close eye on whether he would try and slip anything inside the water. She really wanted to believe he was not that kind of guy, but she heard a lot of stories, even from her own girlfriends, of this things happening at local bars.
But he just took a sip and handed it back to her. He looked around too, and she watched him watching the room.
She watched his expression change, and finally setting on a gentle one when he looked at her.
They sat there for a few moments.
She licked her lips, trying to get the sweat away from chest, the humidity in the air was appalling. But since they were in a literal cave, it was much cooler inside. It's just that when you put a lot of bodies in one room, things tend to heat up.
"Should we get some air?" He asked her, and she was glad he did because she nodded and they got up to find the backdoor.
Stepping outside, it wasn't as crowded, and there was a few people smoking outside.
Zico lit up another cigarette and offered one to Clementine, but instead she just took a drag of his. Letting the nicotine hit her head, reminding her of the rush she was so used to in New York.
She peered at Zico in between the smoke. She couldn't believe how charismatic he was. She felt it, but it became so obvious when they were around other people.
"So, what is this place?" Clementine asked, wanting to keep things casual but letting her curiosity take the best of her.
Zico chuckled, "just a place me and my fiends go to, from time to time," he took another drag of his cigarette. "Are you having fun?" He asked her. Now it was him looking at her thorough the smoke, trying to read her expression.
"Its different," Clementine said, trying to find the right words.
"Different can be good," he said. "You're different."
"So are you," she said, smiling at him.
He looked at her lips first, leaned in and kissed her again, and she felt at peace again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw somebody approaching them, two guys.
"Come on, dude. Agora. We need some, we're going away on a trip." The other guy said.
Zico sighed a little bit annoyed, "yes, but you guys still aren't good for the last time. So until you are, no more right now."
"Idiota," the first guy muttered as they walked away.
Clementine raised her eyebrows, "what was that about?"
"It doesn't matter," he put out his cigarette. "Look, you wanna get out of here?"
Thought you'd never ask, she thought. But instead she nodded yes.
"Wait here," he said, "I'm gonna say goodbye."
He ran back inside, and for a moment Clementine thought that he was leaving her. But she also knew that it was her insecurity speaking, because soon enough he was back and it was like he never end left.
