Shattered Identity: The Unknown Luna Princess

Chapter 5

"I'm sorry about all that, ladies. I should have done that a long time ago," I heard the bartender say, pulling me out of my dark thoughts and how bad this situation could have turned out. "Thank you," Candice said.

"Yes, thank you. He just couldn't seem to take the hit, could he?" I laughed, more of a nervous laugh than anything. "I've never seen anyone turn him down or stand up to him like you did," he said, extending his hand out to me. "That was quite impressive," he finished as I placed my hand in his. "I'm Cam."

"Lena," I told him. "This is my best friend Candice."

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, ladies. Again, I apologize for the harassment you endured tonight. The next time you come in, drinks are on me."

"Sweet," I heard Candice say at the same time I told him, "That's not necessary." I couldn't let him pay for a night of Candice's drinking. I know how much that girl can put down. But Cam kept insisting, so to finally put an end to it, I agreed, knowing I'd never take him up on it.

"Can I call you ladies a cab?" Cam asked. "Our friends are outside. They called us a ride already, but thank you, Cam," Candice told him when I didn't say anything. I smiled at him with a half smile when I walked past him towards the door. There was something about him that made me nervous.

He followed up to the door as we were the last people in there, other than people who worked at the bar. He opened the door for us, and we walked out. Before closing the door, I heard him say, "I hope to see you again." I didn't know who he was directing that towards, so I didn't even turn to look at him or acknowledge his comment. I just walked over to where BJ and Dom were standing by the curb.

Somehow, all four of us end up back at my house. Candice and Dom disappeared into the guest room, which I guess now is Candice's room. BJ went out to the living room and sat on the couch while I went to the kitchen to get us some bottled water. I sat down next to him, and we talked.

All night.

About anything and everything. He wanted to know about my ex and what caused the divorce. For some reason, I didn't hold anything back. I know I wasn't drunk, but something about BJ just had me spilling everything to him, all while having to listen to feral noises coming from the bedroom. Sometimes we'd laugh, others had us turn up the TV to drown out the noise.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep. But instead of waking up on the couch where I was last, I woke up in my room, under the covers, but fully dressed in what I was wearing last night. I got up, showered, and changed before walking out of my room. To my surprise, Candice and Dom were just coming out of her room, and BJ was sleeping on the couch.

Candice and Dom disappeared into the bathroom, and I heard the shower turn on. I guess this is more than just a one-night thing. Hopefully, it will only last today. I work with Dom, after all. This could get weird.

I decided to make some breakfast. Pancakes because that was all I had in the pantry, and they were good for soaking up the alcohol everyone had last night. I had just flipped the first one when BJ woke up and came to the kitchen, sitting on a bar stool watching me. "You don't need to make us breakfast, you know. I'll get Dom out of here as soon as I can," I heard him say from behind me.

"Oh, I don't know if you'll be able to do that. Candice doesn't seem to be done with him quite yet." We both laughed as we heard moans coming from the bathroom. I continued making pancakes and had a nice little stack on a plate when Candice and Dom finally emerged, both giggling like school girls.

Dom sat on the bar stool next to BJ, and surprisingly, Candice sat on his lap. I looked at her questioningly, and she just shrugged her shoulders, grabbing a pancake and folding it like a taco before taking a bite.

Everyone ate, and finally, BJ and Dom left in a ride they had called to go back downtown to pick up their cars. Candice and I will have to figure out our cars later. They were both at the restaurant we had dinner at last night, but that was a problem for another time. Right now, I just want to relax and do.....well, nothing.

We sat on the couch and turned on a chic flick before settling into a comfortable silence. After the movie that we had both just cried ugly tears over, I heard her say in a soft voice, "What's one thing you've always wanted to do but never got the chance to because of him?"

I didn't have to think long before I answered her. "Travel," I said simply. She looked at me quizzically, knowing Trevor had to travel for work. "I never got to go. But before he even took that job, traveling was the one thing I always wanted to do. Yes, we traveled for softball growing up, but that was to play ball. We never got to experience the state we were in. So that was something I always said I wanted to do. Go back to even the states I've been to and experience what that state truly has to offer. I wanted to travel to all fifty states and then make a bucket list of places I wanted to go to abroad. I've lived in Florida my entire life. I just want to experience the world."

"Then let's do it!" she replied, seeing the excitement in my eyes for the first time in a long time. I just shook my head. "With what money? The divorce left me broke. What I earn basically pays the bills, and that's it."

"Your parents would help, wouldn't they?" she asked. She's always been convinced my family has money they wont fess up to, with our last name being Moretti. But my reply was simple. "You know I don't like asking them for money."

"Well, I'm here now to pay half of everything. So, let's do it. In six months' time, sell the house. We'll both work as much as we can and save as much as we can. You speak spanish, I speak French, so let's do it! No better time than the present."

Sarcastically, I replied, "Yea, okay," just to make the conversation stop. We'd never come up with enough money to be able to travel to far-off places like I've always dreamed of, and if I sold the house, I'd have nothing to come back to. But maybe that was the point.

Maybe a fresh start is exactly what I need....