The Lies you Tell

Fireworks

I didn’t see Ian or any of his friends during the week. I went to work at Jitters and to classes without any hiccup. At first, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ian but eventually, the infatuation melted into acceptance. He hated me and there were a lot of good reasons as to why. And so on Saturday when they weren’t at the club, I knew that it was over. Whatever hope I had for seeing him again was immediately squashed. But I still had hope. Until Sunday when it was squashed again. 

“What’s up, Esme?” Kyle asked as his hands came to rest on the bar counter. “You seem pretty bummed today.” 

“I just had a lousy week,” I shrugged while putting the cup I had just washed away. There was only one group of people and it was midnight. We were pretty dead in the VIP section. 

“Not enough d**k,” he smirked. I playfully punched him in the arm before starting on a margarita for booth one. 

“Here,” I grinned as I put the drink on his tray. 

“You should take it,” he grinned.

“I thought you said they were girls?” 

“Yeah but they’re all lesbians.” I rolled my eyes at his assumption and took them the drink anyway. When I got back he was playing candy crush on his phone per usual. I faced him with my back against the bar, hands on either side. “How’s Marcus’s sister doing?” I asked, fishing for a conversation. 

“She’s doing pretty okay. I really don’t know how he’s related to her. She’s such a babe.” I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone to see a message from Sophie. 

Give me ALLLLLL the juicy details after you guys do the deed lol

I rolled my eyes at the text and put my phone away. All I had said to Sophie about Ian was that the date didn’t go so well and I wasn’t sure if we’d be going on another. Though I didn’t really give her too many details, which she loathed, I could tell she was excited to be back on the bad boy ship that was Kyle. 

“Who were you texting?” Kyle asked and when I looked up at him I suddenly worried if he saw my screen and Sohpie’s text that I was reading. 

“Wrong number,” I shrugged though my voice lacked conviction. Kyle slipped his phone into his front pocket and crossed his arms before looking me up and down with his signature half-smirk. Unlike his usual quick glance, this one was slow and calculated. As if he was using those dark brown eyes to pierce through my veil and see everything I was hiding. My pulse quickening, my heated cheats, the butterflies swarming in my stomach, and the sudden lack of moisture in my mouth.

“Are you doing anything after work tonight?” He asked. I wanted to facepalm at where this was going again. 

“Like I’ve told you before, I’m going home and passing out as soon as my head hits the pillows. Why? Do you need a ride?” Kyle stepped forward and looked down at me with a look I had seen on him a thousand times before. 

“What kind of ride are we talking about?” I felt a blush creep up to my cheeks and felt my brain lack all grasp for how to form words. It didn’t help that Kyle was so close to me at the moment. “I mean… if your bed is big enough for two…” he grinned before looking up and giving his customer service smile, allowing me to catch my breath while turning around. Only to lose it again. 

Ian. He had come to the club again.

With a woman.

Ian and a very pretty woman. 

“Patrone and one martini,” Ian’s emotionless voice droned. I didn’t know why he didn’t just order in his booth. Stupid Ian and his stupid beautiful blonde companion hanging off his arm. 

“I’m going to go sit down,” the girl drawled out with a sexy voice angled towards Ian. With that said she started towards booth seven, leaving Ian waiting for Kyle and me to finish their drinks.

What the hell was up with this guy? He reveals he’s a kid I vaguely knew in high school and then he treats me like crap on our date? And after no texts or calls whatsoever for the week, he shows up at my job, one club out of hundreds in the city, with another girl? Was he trying to piss me off? And why did it aggravate me so much? Maybe it was because I knew who he really was now. Julian… sweet and timid Julian.

No-this guy wasn’t Julian. He may be him biologically but Julian would never be as petty as this guy-as Ian in front of me. And no matter what he had said, I wasn’t the same girl. I wasn’t a prudish little girl who kept her mouth shut and kept her opinions to herself. I was Esme and I did whatever the f**k I wanted. And I wanted what I had lustfully thought about since I had first met Kyle. 

“There’s room,” I said low enough for Ian to know the words weren’t meant for him but loud enough that he could still hear. If Ian was going to be a jerk, I didn’t have time or the need for him. Kyle looked over at me and gave me a knowing grin. “After work,” I smiled back before placing the martini on the counter while looking at Ian. But Ian was looking at an unknowing Kyle with his jaw set in his natural resting b***h face.

“Here you go man,” Kyle said as he set the other drink on the counter. “Enjoy.” Ian took the two drinks without a word and left. I smiled and gained a smirk from Kyle before he returned to his candy crush game. 

“Are all the dishes up?” Kyle asked, glancing around the bar to make sure we had everything done. Since there were only two booths at the end of our shift, the closing was pretty easy. Luckily neither of us had to stay to do deep cleaning either. 

“Yeah,” I nodded. I was starting to get nervous at the thought of Kyle coming home with me. I mean, I had liked this guy since I had seen him and now this was actually happening. To say I was excited was an understatement. Kyle and I grabbed our stuff and clocked out before leaving The Tunnel through the back entrance. As we started to walk to my car, Kyle pulled me close to him. And though it made it harder to not run into him I relished in the warmth from the chilling weather. Though it was summer, it was always extra cold whenever we got off of work. 

“You know I’ve never been to your place, Esme.” Kyle drawled out with a seductive tone. 

“Yeah, I…” before I could finish underselling my apartment I noticed that my car was slightly lopsided. s**t, I’d have to get air in my tires on the way home. 

But a second later I noticed that my car was really lopsided. Like a whole ass flat tire. 

“What happened?” Kyle asked as we approached my 2009 piece of s**t princess. 

“I don’t know,” I groaned in dismay as I approached the driver-side front tire. I pulled out my phone for the flashlight and examined the tire, immediately noticing something sticking out of the tire. “It’s a nail?” Sure enough, there was a long-ass nail sticking out of my tire. I stood up and started to walk around to the other side of my car, noticing another flat tire. “There’s two!” 

“What’s the chance?” Kyle smirked while pulling out a pack of Marlboros cigarettes. 

“What happened to camels?” I asked, noticing the change in brands. 

“Ehh… it’s a taste thing.” I rolled my eyes at the habit but said nothing because to each their own. 

“I’m going to have to call a tow truck. I only have one spare and both tires are completely flat,” I explained while pulling out my phone. I called a nearby tow trucking service and gave them my information before turning towards Kyle. He was texting on his phone with a cigarette burning in his hand. “You can go, you know,” I smiled though I was secretly kicking myself at my bad luck. Kyle looked up at me, the phone screen in front of him partially reflecting in his glasses. 

“And leave you here in the dark? Alone?”

“It’s a private parking lot,” I rolled my eyes, referring to the fence around the lot for VIPs and employees. “I doubt anyone’s just going to wander back here. Plus I’ve got great vocals so if someone tries to grab me I’ll just shatter their eardrums.” Kyle gave me one hot-ass eye roll behind his glasses that I couldn’t help but clench my legs at. 

“All right, if you’re sure.” He started walking back towards the building without another word or even a glance. I watched as he met Marcus that just so happened to be coming out of the building. They loaded into Marcus’s car before pulling over next to my car where I was leaning against the driver’s door. 

“You sure you’re okay out here, Esme?” Marcus leaned over and asked. Kyle just continued to text on his phone without so much as a glance. So much for being interested in me. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. They said it’ll be ten or so,” I shrugged. 

“Are you sure? We can stay and wait if-”

“But we’re going to miss the free alcohol at Jason’s,” Kyle whined like a six-year-old. I resisted an eye roll and opted to give Marcus a sweet smile. 

“Thank you, Marcus, but I’m okay. I promise.” Marcus gave me a half smiled before nodding and driving off. I watched as the car paused by the parking lot’s exit and Marcus slid his parking pass into the meter, allowing the gate to open. 

I pulled out my phone, sighing at the thought of having to buy two new tires. Maybe I could find some cheap discount tire shop somewhere around here and get them for something cheaper than retail. I heard something to my right, over by the darker corner of the parking lot, and reflexively snapped my head that way. But as far as I could see, there was nothing there. I’d have to let Alexandar know that there must be a busted light in the parking lot because it was way too dark over there. After squinting into the dark for a few minutes more I turned back to my phone and began texting Sophie. 

Had the cat in the bag but two flat tires and he bailed fml

Ughhhh he wouldn’t be attractive if he was nice though

True ig

I snapped my head to the side as I heard the sound of something resembling glass breaking. I was about to get into my car and lock the doors but just then I saw the orange lights from the tow truck bouncing off of my car. I turned and jogged over to the gate, swiping my employee parking pass to let the tow truck in. 

He pulled in and quickly made work of parking in front of my trash princess before talking to me about what happened. 

“Bad luck, that’s what it is,” he shook his head with a smile that said he was trying to flirt. He was a taller dude and though he had the body of a fifty-year-old man who drank beer instead of water every day, he had the face of a high school boy experiencing the worst case of acne. I really didn’t know what to make of his character except it creeped me out the way he looked at me. Maybe I was just a b***h though. I mean I was judging him before he even said much. 

“Yeah, I just came out and it was like this,” I shrugged. I really just wanted him to start hooking the car up so I could get home and maybe cry for the first time in a while. Maybe I’d even throw on my ‘Cry Time’ playlist to get in the mood. 

“You know what happened?” He asked, pulling a red bull out from somewhere on his outfit and popping it open. 

“Nails I guess?” I answered though it sounded more like a question. 

“Nails?” He asked incredulously as though the thought was ridiculous. Sure enough, he turned on a mini flashlight and started to move over to my driver-side tire and bent down to examine it, allowing for me and the entire world to see his ass c***k sticking straight out to the moon. “Usually when people roll over nails they get stuck in the hole you know so they don’t usually let the air out. It’s like a plugging method and that keeps the tire from going flat. Sometimes people use a tire filler to do the same thing for a quick fix.” I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me. “This actually looks like it was cut. There’s a nail alright but it’s not really in a hole. It’s kind of just sticking out of a larger hole. Like you ran over something and then a nail,” he suggested, drawing out the possibility. 

“Or maybe the tire was cut?” I suggested. It was a creepy thought but with the noises, I was hearing earlier I couldn’t help but let my mind go crazy. 

“Yeah, I think that’s unlikely,” the guy chuckled to himself and he struggled to get back to his feet before wobbling over to stand beside me a look back at the car as if visually inspecting it. “But I’m no mechanic. We’ll get your car towed over to one but most won’t be open until the morning you know because of business hours. But you can ask them about the holes and getting new tires.” He placed a large hand on my left shoulder and gently squeezed it. 

“I can actually change the tires myself,” I said before shrugging away from him and going to my car to retrieve my purse. “I’d just like it towed home if that’s okay.” 

“Sure thing. Oh let me grab my tablet,” he said before disappearing into the side of his tow truck. He wobbled back over to me while struggling to pull his pants up, his red bull now gone. “What’s your address?” He asked. I repeated the information to him as he typed it excruciatingly slowly into the tablet in front of him. “Now I just need your signature. We’ll send the bill to the address you gave on the phone,” he prompted before handing me the tablet. I started to sign my signature but the tablet lagged. 

“It froze,” I said just as the guy who was standing next to me started to reach over and fiddle with the tablet in my hands. I felt his warm, red bull smelling breath fan around my face and I nervously shifted. I did not want to be smelling this guy’s nasty breath. 

“Sometimes it’s finicky. Gotta take it slow like you would with a lady,” he chuckled. 

What the f**k? Was this guy actually serious? Was he making a s*x joke or a sexist joke? Either way, no thank you. I quickly signed my name, not mentioning when the tablet froze again and gave him the tablet back. 

“Is that everything?” I asked with a hardened tone.

“Yup. I’ll hook your car up and then we’re all set to go,” he waved his hand as if motioning for me to follow him. 

“I actually have a ride,” I lied. The guy looked over at me after he put the tablet in his tow truck. 

“Are you sure? You didn’t Uber or Lyft a ride did you? It’s just a waste of money. I can take you home for no extra charge,” he smiled before beginning to hook up my car to the tow truck. 

“Yeah, one of my friends is taking me home,” I lied again. 

“Really?” The guy asked before glancing back at the building behind me. “Because the lights there have been off since I got here?” His tone held a challenging tone in it that made the red alarms go off in my head. Why would he be caring if the closest building was occupied or not? And why the hell was this past Sunday so dead?

“Yeah, they’re locking up now,” I lied, “but he’ll be out soon,” I added at the last moment. Maybe if he thought a guy was giving me a ride home he’d back off. The guy gave me one last squinted look for a moment before going back to hooking my car up. 

“You know I think I should wait here just in case.” My heart started to beat faster and not in a good way at all. “I don’t wanna leave you here all alone-”

“She’s not alone.” Both myself and the greasy tow man turned to see a tall figure walking towards us. I almost sighed aloud in the sudden relief that came with seeing the stern-looking man. “And trust me, she’s in more than capable hands,” Ian drawled out before smirking with a squint at the guy. I didn’t miss the innuendo that he hinted at but I let it pass. 

“Of course,” the guy said before standing up. As if something had flipped a switch in his head, he worked on hooking my car up quietly without another word to me. Ian came to stand next to me yet far enough that it really did seem like I was only a colleague. 

“Thanks,” I muttered to the tow guy as he started back towards his truck. I watched as he left the parking lot, the gate opening automatically.

Wait what? Is the gate broken? Before I make a note, Ian spoke, drawing my attention to his bored but handsome expression. 

“Let’s go,” he muttered. 

“You’re giving me a ride home?” I was on his heels which wasn’t an easy task with his long strides. We moved towards the other side of the lot where a black SUV sat almost out of view. I glanced back at the other side of the parking lot, wondering again about the noises I had heard earlier. 

“Seems like it.” I turned back around and continued to follow Ian until we were at his SUV. 

Guess he’s done being a gentleman, I thought as I bit my tongue, opening the car door for myself. 

“My address is-”

“I know where you live, Esme,” he interrupted. Though he used my name in such a cruel and toneless way I couldn’t help but love the way it danced against his tongue. He was singing my sins whether he knew it or not. 

“Well that’s not creepy,” I muttered. 

“I have a great memory.” After we left the parking lot it was red light after red light. The worst-case scenario when you were alone in a car with a guy who hated you. 

“Hey, where’s that girl?” I ventured into the cold silence. 

“She went home.” I nodded, not sure if I wanted to ask more about her.

“Why didn’t you text or call?” I asked again in a softer voice than before. There was a short moment of silence before Ian spoke with the usual hardness to his voice. 

“I didn’t feel like it,” he shrugged as though I was asking him why he didn’t order dessert. Wow. That hurt. What happened to the guy I used to know? 

I looked out of my window and thought back to before Ian was Ian when he used to be Julian. There weren’t always good times, especially during lunch or homeroom, but when there was a good time it was because of Julian. He always made me laugh and smile when I thought I couldn’t and it felt good to get to know someone so different and yet so similar to me. Sitting next to him now made me feel awkward and unconnected because so far I hadn’t seen even a glimpse of the same boy I once knew. Even at the Stobelight when Ian didn’t seem to hate me at the moment it still seemed like they were never the same person, to begin with. I couldn’t imagine Julian dancing as proactively as Ian did at the club. It made me wonder if he was actually telling the truth about who he was… 

I thought back to my car and wondered just how much two new tires were going to cost me. I hoped they’d have some at a discount tire shop because the last thing I needed was to buy brand new tires for my piece of s**t car. And the tow guy had said that the tires looked like they were punctured with something else. Could someone else have cut my tires and just shoved nails in them to cover it up? Wait… could it have been-no. No way. 

Would Ian cut my tires just to get me to not go home with Kyle? I didn't doubt he had heard Kyle and me talking. Was he jealous? Of course, he was, I could tell from the moment I served him his drink at the bar. Just as I was about to ask him about the tires I noticed that Ian took an illegal left turn. 

“Hey, that light was red.” Silence. “Red means stop, you know? It’s driving legally 101.” I watched as his eyebrows scrunched and he looked into his rearview mirror. “And it’s been like fifteen minutes, we should be at my apartment by now. I thought you said you knew the way,” I continued while looking out of the window again. We were on a less crowded street, maybe one of the back ones. 

“Sorry… I’ll turn around,” Ian sighed before making a right turn. He seemed to relax as his fists unclenched on the steering wheel. 

“It’s okay. You know I can pull up the address if you want,” I suggested, noticing the increased amount of abandoned and boarded-up houses. The streets were darker and that was probably because most of the street lights looked to be busted out. “Oh my god, Ian, if you’re going to kill me for being a b***h-”

“Esme,” he ground out with a stern voice that just confirmed I was going to die in my f*****g work clothes. “Please be quiet for a moment.” I nodded with a scowl and looked back out the window. If he was lost he'd have to beg for my help now. 

Suddenly the car took a sharp left and sped up before taking a sharp right, lurching me in my seat against the door. 

“Ian, what the hell?” I demanded, looking over at his white knuckles on the steering wheel. As he was grabbing his phone from his suit pocket we hit a large pothole, sending his phone into the floorboards. He took a sharp left, his foot seeming to press harder on the gas. 

“Esme, grab my phone,” he demanded with a hard tone that didn’t hold the calmness it had only two minutes ago. 

“What?” I asked. Did he really expect me to reach between his legs-

“Esme, just do it,” he demanded again. I let out a huff at the frantic way he was driving and yelling at me but I unbuckled my seatbelt anyways. Just before I could lean forward or give him a snarky reply I heard a bottle rocket go off close by. “Get down,” Ian yelled before he pulled me down against the console. 

“Ian-” I felt the car lurch to the side as he took a sharp turn after sharp turn as the sounds of fireworks continued trailing behind us. “Is someone shooting at us?!” 

“Esme, grab the phone,” Ian commanded instead of answering. I reached across his lap trying to not focus on the fact that I was gripping Ian’s inner thigh to keep from falling onto his floorboard. I fumbled around his legs for the phone but came up empty. “Hurry up,” Ian ground out. 

“I’m trying,” I frantically yelled. The popping sound continued as I felt something trickly over my back and realized glass had just shattered. I fumbled faster, reaching into every nook and cranny even as Ian turned the vehicle on a dime. Finally after what seemed like an eternity my hand felt something cold and I grasped onto it as I sat up. “I got it!” I smiled.

“Esme!” Ian ground out before roughly pushing me back down to his lap. If it wasn’t for the gunfire that continued behind us and the glass shards all over me I would have blushed from the provocative position. Okay… I was blushing anyway. But more than likely from being in the face of death. 

I felt Ian snatch the phone from me before he began making a phone call all while driving down the streets like a maniac. Where the hell was the police at? 

“Stay down, Esme,” Ian directed. “Michael- get the gates open now and get ready. There’s some f*****g jackass blowing my f*****g windows out as we speak,” he growled before a short pause. “You don’t think that’s what I’m trying to f*****g do? They’re on my ass like glue- f**k!” he yelled as the car swerved and began driving weirdly. “They just blew a f*****g tire, I gotta go. Just be ready,” he hung up and threw the phone down. 

“Ian, what’s-”

“Shh, it’s okay, Esme,” he said in almost a soft tone but that did nothing to help the situation. We were getting f*****g shot at and one tire was gone. That was not the definition of okay. I let out a squeal as the passenger side window collapsed and fell over the lower half of my body, causing Ian to cover my head with his arm. I felt the car speed up even though from the way it was driving I knew it wasn’t good. Ian kept turning as if his life depended on it and eventually the bullets seemed to stop hitting the car, causing an almost eerie silence to take it’s place. Ian kept driving fast and I worried that if he didn’t slow down then we weren’t going to make it to wherever Michael was. 

“Ian, what the hell was that?” I asked while slowly sitting up and looking around for any cars. We were on a long road that seemed to be lined with tall trees. 

“I… I don’t know,” he answered and for once he actually seemed flustered. I watched as he kept glancing into the rearview mirror, watching for any activity behind us. 

“I… you’re hurt,” I gasped while suddenly noticing the blood.