Spurned but not broken

chapter 8

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?! I was ready to report you missing!"

Holding the phone slightly away from her ear to reduce her friends' screaming in her ear, Amelie couldn't help but smile slightly to herself, one, because she had someone who genuinely cared for her, and two, remembering those mesmerizing blue eyes.

"Are you quite done shouting?" Amelie giggled. "If you are, I have some things to tell you that I'm sure you'll find interesting."

Hearing the happy and mischievous tone her friend spoke with Summers attention was soon snapped back to her friend's words as she realized her friend was finally going back to the person she had been before she met that jerk, plus she was really intrigued by whatever it was that had put her friend in this mood.

"Okay, okay, I'm all ears! Give me the dirt!"

Amused by her friend's sudden change in attitude, she knew Summer couldn't resist gossip, and what she had to share would undoubtedly have her friend floating with excitement in the next couple of minutes.

Amelie began to recount her story, from arriving at the club, her show behind the bar and then the foggy memories she had of the remainder of the night, all the way up to her leaving her mystery man's room.

"AHHH!! OH MY GOD!!!" That's definitely one way to get over an undeserving asshole!" Summer couldn't help but laugh out loud at her friend's story.

"Speaking of the asshole.... He was waiting for me outside my door when I got back..."

Silence fell on the line for a few seconds, the weight of those words sinking in to their conversation.

"Erg" What did it want?" Summer groaned, feeling her previous joy from moments ago, turn into apprehension on her friend's behalf, as well as the annoyance that he'd had the gaul to show up in front of her after the stunt he'd pulled.

"He said he'd take me as his mistress if I went back to him." Amelie sneered as the words left her mouth, as if just repeating them had tasted vile.

Silence... "HE SAID WHAT?!? I swear if I see him again I'm going to castrate him!"

"Don't worry, I told him that he wasn't mand enough for me anymore after last night. I will never lower myself to the likes of him again."

Summer let out a frustrated huff. "That's good to hear, I'd seriously worry about your sanity if you'd even considered it."

"It made me realize though... I need to leave, get out of this city, maybe even the country, start over, find myself again. After last night, I can't remember the last time I felt so free, so much like myself again. I need to get away and find myself. I lost so much of what made me, me, just to be with him, and I think I owe it to myself to live my life again, the way I want to." Amelie told her friend what she'd been thinking since she'd encountered Jason again not long ago, plus, getting away meant that he wouldn't be able to try anything again.

"I think that's a great idea! And I am obviously coming with you! This place would suck without you, and I'd risk being arrested if I happened to run into either of those two again."

Amelie couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face, knowing that her best friend was wholeheartedly supporting her idea, let alone her being willing to drop everything to go on this adventure of self-discovery with her.

"So, where are we thinking? Somewhere hot? Somewhere cold? City? Beach? Mountains?"

Thinking for a few seconds, Amelie replied. "Somewhere we've never been before, somewhere, where we're completely unknown."

Unable to hold back her excitement, Summer squealed in delight. She was already thinking of all the places they'd spoken about traveling to together when they were younger, before her friend had been swept away.

"When are we going?"

"When can you be packed?" Amelie was determined to remake herself, and she couldn't wait to get started on her journey.

Later that afternoon, sitting behind a large, dark wooden desk, Jaxon was reviewing the CCTV footage he'd been sent from the club of the previous night. His eyes turning cold as he watched the woman handling the drinks, as she inconspicuously dropped something into each of the glasses. This woman was the annoying nat that had seemed to latch onto him before his attention was drawn elsewhere. She'd clearly not been happy with the turn of events, and considering what had happened to him afterward, he could only assume she'd thought she'd end up being on the receiving end of his attention by the end of the night.

He smirked as he kept watching the footage. That woman had truly been amazing. Her skills behind the bar captured every single patron's attention, but her beauty had captured the eyes of every man the moment she entered the room. Jaxon couldn't pull his eyes from the screen. He needed to know who this woman was, needed to see her again. As he kept watching, flashes of the faint memories from his hotel room filled his mind, of the underwear he still had in his room. His c**k beginning to twitch with each hazy memory, each briefly recalled moan of ecstasy.

Jonathon entered the room, his attention captured by his phone as he continued to furiously type.

"Any news on the woman?" Jaxon slowly pulled his gaze away from the monitor to question his best friend.

"Well, the one responsible is some regular at the club, the owners already on dealing with her. As for the other girl..."

Jaxon looked at his friend, eyebrows creased as he waited for him to continue.

"Apparently she, and the girl she was with, used to be regulars. The owner said they were almost legendary in his club before they both seemed to disappear. Rumors were one of them got hitched. Said he'd not seen either of them for years before they turned up last night. But, apparently, while they were all talking, he'd been told that the engagement had been called off, said he wasn't told specifics but that the friend was seriously pissed and that's why they were there last night."

Jaxon didn't quite know how to feel about that revelation. Was it the friend? Or was it the girl he was becoming more and more curious about that had been engaged? What had happened?

Raising an eyebrow, he stated in a neutral tone, "names?"