The Vampire Playboy - Blood and Lust

Chapter 9

Olivia's POV

"Asshole" I muttered under my breath as I got to the bar.

"Yeah he can be," an English voice said, laughing.

I jumped and turned to find Noah beside me. I hadn't noticed him getting up, let alone follow me.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I just thought you might have a minute or two to talk to me while you're getting the drinks and I might save you a job if I take them back over."

"Erm sure"

"You'll have to excuse Charlie and his manners, he forgets them sometimes and can be, as you said, an asshole."

I felt my face flush.

"I'm less of an asshole"

"Is that so? Pretty sure of yourself." I laughed, raising my eyebrows.

Carmella appeared behind me and I handed her the white order slip.

"I hope you're not harassing my staff, Noah." She said with a tone of amusement.

"Staff? Does that mean I got the job?" I asked excitedly.

"You should totally give her the job Carm, she's good at it, the customers like her and she's easy on the eye", Noah interjected. Was he flirting with me?

"Jobs yours, you've done great tonight, especially with how busy it is. Get you back in for a shift tomorrow night?"

"That would be amazing," I cried.

Carmella handed Noah his drinks and winked at me, she turned to serve another customer.

"Will you think about letting me take you out sometime? Like on a date?"

"What? You don't even know me!" I spluttered, stunned he had asked that.

"Well, I'd like to get to know you" he protested.

"I don't know you either."

"Well how about, I'm Noah, I'm from London. I have been living here for a few years. I'm 22, my best friend is Charlie the sometimes asshole, my family are still in London. I work in the family business which I run the Ireland division from here. I like vodka and coke, hate pineapple on pizza, I drive, I live on the outskirts of town, and I think you're really hot."

"Ermm". I was stunned. He thought I was hot? Seriously! I scalded myself, the fact he thought I was hot is the only thing I've taken from that speech.

I studied his face for any hint that he might be messing with me, but he looked sincere. Then I noticed how similar his skin tone was to Charlie's, his skin was also flawless. His face shape was more rounded but he had strong cheekbones too. There was no doubt he was hot. But he wasn't Charlie hot.

"Are you and Charlie related?"

Noah threw his head back and almost cackled and that weird sensation of being watched washed over me again.

"I can see why you would think that, but no, we've been friends since we were....much younger, so will you at least think about letting me take you out?"

I smiled. "I'll think about it."

And I actually meant that. I will have to think about it. Noah was hot, I did find him attractive and he was certainly putting in the graft, but I was wary after what had happened with Charlie. Did I even like Noah in that way?

The rest of the shift passed in a blur until finally the bar was closed and we had cleared the tables ready for the cleaning staff in the morning. I was exhausted. The shift had been busy, but it had been a long night and I don't think I'd ever worked so hard before.

I emptied my tips into my purse and resolved to count them in the morning. It was after 1 am when I finally took a breath of fresh air. It was cold and dark, all I'd grabbed was my denim jacket for the 20-minute walk home. The customers from the bar were long gone and the streets were deserted, except for the odd cry of laughter that ricocheted across town as people stumbled home from the club.

My feet ached from being on them all night and I wished Sophie or David were here so I didn't have to do this walk alone, it was yet another reason why I needed to prioritise a car. I hugged my arms around me and began walking in the direction of the house. Everything looked different in the dark and I felt a bit disoriented. After walking for 5 minutes, I conceded that I was going to need some help to get home and began to put the address into my phone to get directions. Every shadow that was cast near me I eyed with suspicion and I was starting to creep myself out.

I really hated the dark, with a passion. It made me uncomfortable in a way I couldn't describe, it has always done since I was a child and my mother had said I was too old for a nightlight. I didn't trust the darkness or the shadows or the way it manipulated everything and made it seem malevolent.

My mind went into overdrive. I was alone in a strange place, it was dark and I was a female. For the first time, I really acknowledged how scary I found the situation I was in. Every sense was heightened and I was on high alert. I was convinced that I'd have a nervous breakdown from anxiety by the time I reached home.

I fumbled in my bag for my keys to put between my fingers as I approached the only hotel that was in town. I heard muffled giggles from the darkened doorway and picked up my pace, the pathway in front of me was dark and I cursed myself for not turning on the torch on my phone, but I didn't want to stop, so like the stubborn i***t, I carried on.

"Argh crap," I cried out while clasping a hand to my mouth trying to muffle how loud it was as I tripped over an uneven part of the path and knocked my knee into the wall, dropping my bag in the process.

I heard more giggling followed by footsteps. Bile began to rise in my throat as I leaned down feeling with my hands, trying to make sure nothing had fallen out of my bag whilst looking nervously over my shoulder. Panic was setting in and I realised just how much of an i***t I'd been. My heart felt like if it beat any harder it would crack my chest in two.

A figure emerged from the darkness of the hotel and I began to fumble on the ground, my inner self wrestling between just leaving my things and running and making sure I had everything before running, not that I even knew where I'd be running to and I knew the house was empty.

"Olivia?" An Irish accent called.

I jumped up and back, hitting the wall again.

"Crap" I cried out again.

Charlie emerged into the light, his hair dishevelled and his shirt was completely unbuttoned. I raised an eyebrow and rolled my eyes. Seconds later, I could hear more footsteps. They sounded like someone tottering on heels.

"Charlie?" The voice called just moments before Sara came into view. Her already short lilac dress was almost around her waist and she held what looked like her thong in her left hand.

I let out a maniac laugh and then caught myself.

"Are you hurt?" Charlie asked.

"No, just my pride" I answered sarcastically with a bitter undertone. "Anyway, I'm fine, I'll let you get back to whatever or whoever you were doing" I spat.

The look on his face said that my comment had hit him and he looked slightly embarrassed, but I reasoned that I must be imagining that. He did not attempt to hide their hands all over each other earlier in the evening, so why would he be embarrassed now?

"Are you walking home alone?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm not far now."

"You shouldn't be out here alone, especially not in the dark."

"Oh wow, you sounded like you might be concerned about me there. Good job I know better asshole," I said with more venom than I should have. I was angry at how he treated me and I was jealous, I can admit it, I was jealous of Sara and s**t. He would sure as hell know I was jealous just by how I'm acting.

"She's fine Charlie, let's go upstairs to your room."

That was my prompt to leave. I turned on the torch on my phone and checked that there was nothing that had fallen from my bag. There wasn't, so I clasped that in one hand and my keys in the other with my phone and continued walking.

A few minutes later, I heard my name being called again. I turned to see Charlie behind me. I was too tired for round 2 of this.

"I'm fine, I can walk home alone, I don't need an escort and certainly not from you."

"Olivia, could you just wait?"

I stopped dead and turned to face him.

"You know what, Charlie, no I can't wait, I don't want to hear it. I believed your nice guy bullshit last week and you humiliated me and to make it worse, you acted like I was trash on your shoes tonight. So you can save it. I don't need or want you to walk me home. In fact, I don't need or want anything from you. You're a player, a man w***e and I don't want any part in whatever game you're playing. Just stay away from me. Go back to Sara or whatever her name was."

"I know, I'm sorry, I deserved every word of that, but I'm not going to let you walk home alone, so I'm going to walk behind you. And if you need me, I'm here. If not, well, I'm just walking in the same direction as you but not with you. OK?"

I was too angry and too tired to answer him back, so I continued on my way until I reached the door. I was too stubborn to look back but I could hear his steps a few paces behind me until I closed the door and locked it.