SOULMATE

NAYA Naya sat in her car contemplating her life choices. Why am I even doing this? She thought to herself. If it wasn’t for the fact that her friend basically begged her to come out for her birthday, she definitely would've been at home instead of convincing herself to go in. So, she grudgingly drives to the club where Tess was waiting for her. This was the last place she would ever celebrate her birthday, but the need to please people was still very obvious and high up on her list of red flags about herself. A stupid habit she needs to get rid of. The line was surprisingly not too long, but that doesn't mean she wasn't willing to just turn around and leave. "I.D?" The bouncer asks. She forgot that even though she works in a bar herself, she is still required to show some sort of identification. He handed her back her license. "Happy Birthday" he said. She was shocked at the little gesture. "Thanks" she smiled up at him while heading inside. Tall, broad and handsome. Seems to be your typical security guard. "Don't party too hard in there" he calls out. "I don't plan on it" she laughs in response. When she looked back at the entrance, he was still looking at her. Naya brushes it off and heads inside to the sounds of bass and thumps. The music is pumping and there are bodies everywhere! Naya stands still for a moment to soak in the atmosphere. She couldn't lie to herself though; she might hate being in the club, but there's always a good vibe when she is actually there. People were dancing, flirting and drinking, a usual thing to do and all Naya could think about was heading through a drive-thru and getting fried chicken. Her stomach rumbles in response. Not the best feeling on a night out. Especially when she would rather be anywhere else. "Naya! Over here," she managed to faintly hear Tess. She's in a booth with a group of girls. Naya heads over and prepares for whatever could happen next. "You came!!!" Tess exclaims. "I told you I would, plus you would never let me live it down if I didn't," Naya explains. "Happiest of birthdays my girl", Tess tackles Naya with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I promise tonight will be fun" she winks. "Thank you" Naya was greeted with glares and suspicious looks. She can usually catch on when she's not welcome and this was definitely one of those moments. "THIS IS NAYA!" Tess calls out over the music to her friends. "WE GO WAY BACK!" Her friends seem nice. Naya just smiled and waved. No point trying to call out over the music. "SO YOU'RE FROM TESS' OLD TOWN?" A red head broke the silence. "YEAH, HIGH SCHOOL" Naya hated small talk, but she hated awkward silence more. "YOU'RE FROM WORK?" "KIND OF. WE DID WORK TOGETHER UNTIL SHE GOT LET GO" Red-head put a finger to her lips basically saying it was a secret. Naya just nodded in agreement. She hadn't heard that Tess lost her job. "SORRY I DIDN'T CATCH YOUR NAME?" Naya called out again. "LIV, WELL OLIVIA BUT YOU CAN CALL ME LIV," She extended a hand out to Naya to shake. "I NEED A DRINK, WANT ANYTHING?" Liv offered. "I'M DRIVING" Naya gave Liv a sheepish look. "BOO" Liv shrugged and then headed towards the bar. Naya used that opportunity to dip into the toilet. She needed a break from the noise. After what seemed like forever in that line, Naya finally made it in. Quickly hid and sat on the toilet to catch her breath when she heard a group of girls fumbling into the bathroom. She recognized one of the voices to be Liv. "I thought Tess didn't have friends from her old town?" one girl said. "I mean, it's cool, but she made it sound like she was some lone wolf or something." This girl sounded genuinely confused. Naya sat in the cubicle, quietly. "Yeah I don't know? This new chick seems ok. This isn't her scene though, so I don't think we'll be seeing much of her anyway", Liv explained. "I think she seems cool, why she's friends with someone like Tess is beyond me". This is not what Naya wanted to hear. "From what Genie said. Tess just uses her for when she needs something", Naya was silently fuming. "When Tess wants something, she does whatever to get it." Liv said. Naya had enough and pulled open the door, letting it bang up against the wall. All the girls in the bathroom turned towards Naya, including Liv and the other girl. "Oh hey girl, I didn't realise you were in here?" Liv tried to backtrack. "I'm sure," Naya washed her hands and walked out. She was really trying to turn the other cheek but the second she saw Tess laughing and giggling, she saw red. Naya grabbed her belongings and walked out. She could hear Tess in the background calling after her, but the further she walked, the more Tess became drowned out by the music. Naya was so in her head that she didn't notice anyone standing at the door. "Whoa!" he says, steadying both of them. "Oh, birthday girl?" he laughs until he sees her face. "Are you alright? Did something happen in there?" he was beginning to look mad. "If you mean bitchy teenage girls, then yes." She blurts out, rummaging through her bag. "Don't worry about me, nothing I can't handle." She manages to find her keys. "If you're sure?" he was standing very close to her. She nods to reassure him and maybe herself as well. "Charlie" he extends a hand out to shake. "Naya", she took his hand. Firm. "Thank you, I had better go. I need food" she laughs at herself. "Food will definitely help. I'd take you myself, but my emergency guard called out at the last minute and-" was this guy trying to ask her out? "Maybe another time then" she winks and starts walking away. "Hey, wait up!" he calls. "Look, you seem really nice and all, but I don't go out with security guards". With that, she walks away and when she looks back at him for the second time tonight, he's still staring after her. "Damn, happy birthday to me," she huffs out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, Naya wakes up groggy. She doesn't drink alcohol and didn’t the night before, but the way she was feeling, definitely felt like she had. Her phone said 11:38am and she couldn't believe how late she'd slept in. She checked her phone to see missed calls from her Mum and Tess. She chucked a quick text to her Mum saying she'd call her later and then chose to ignore Tess altogether. She wasn't dealing with this now. "Ugh! If I leave now, hopefully the morning rush has died down," fingers crossed. Naya jumped out of bed, got changed, skipped eating and headed to the gym, basically sped the whole way there. "This is a little late for you, isn't it?" Amanda, the Receptionist, says with a smirk. "Can you believe I slept in?" she tells her. Naya doesn't make friends easily, but Amanda was just one of those girls that was easily approachable. Amanda shakes her head and laughs. "Oh and before I forget, happy birthday!" and pulls out a little gift box with Naya's name on it. "Just don't tell the other members that you get special treatment, OK?" She winks. "You didn't have to!" Naya wasn't used to kind gestures from people. "I appreciate it, thank you," she needed to walk away before she started tearing up. "Clear your schedule tomorrow morning, we'll go out for breakfast!" "Deal!" She really needed to get into the zone or else there was no point being there! Naya found a way to relieve stress through her workouts; she was emotionally drained and this was her only outlet. This or fighting, and she chose the latter. She was so focussed, she didn't even notice a familiar face approaching her. "Are you stalking me?" Naya looked a little worried as she took her headphones off. The bouncer from lastnight. "I come in peace, I promise," he had his hands surrendered. "But I could ask you the same thing," "This is my gym and I have never seen you here before," Naya blurted out. "It's everyone's gym, and I've never seen you here before too and I come at this time every day," just to prove his point he turned to another member. "Hey Joe, how long have we been gyming together?" "Too long to count brother," he chuckles. "So its safe to say, this is my gym" he smirks. "Funny," she gave him a sarcastic look. "I'm just late today, okay?" she laughed sheepishly. "Mhmm, sure birthday girl," he crossed his arms and Naya couldn't help but stare at them. She has seen some big arms in her time but these were basically begging her to touch them. She shook her head and looked up at him and instantly regretted it when she realized he noticed her ogling eyes. "You're more than welcome to touch them if you like?" he joked. "I should get back," she attempted to put her headphones back on. "Good seeing you again, birthday girl," he chuckled deeply. Naya really needed to get a hold of herself. This man was doing the bare minimum in terms of conversation and here she was, mesmerized by his voice. "You too," she sat back down at the machine and watched him walk towards the free weights with a group of guys. One she recognized as the other bouncer from the night before. Don't even think about it! He's bad news girl - Amanda Naya looked up towards Amanda at the front desk to find Amanda shaking her head at Naya. Just don't do it. I'll explain tomorrow - Amanda Kk - Naya Naya spent the next half hour deep into her workout. She fought the urge to look over at Charlie and his boys and when she was done, she basically ran out of the gym. This is not what she needed!