Fourteen
Astra couldn’t believe herself as badly as she wanted to. She couldn’t. She dropped her bag on the coffee-coloured table and ordered an Americano espresso and a croissant with it. As the waitress took her leave after scribbling her order down, she began to wonder what really happened during the weekends. She knew she was completely out of it when she came to. The beautiful Versace still hung on her wall, adorned with all the sexiness that came with Versace, and her purse still had wads of new notes. What was even funnier was that Nicholas didn’t call her or anything. If for nothing else, she would have said he had grown somewhat more mature. I felt more like a man and less like a baby. He didn’t call , didn’t check up on her, didn’t bother her.
Or maybe you disgusted him so much that he didn’t see the need to ‘ Her mind was playing death tricks on her, playing on her insecurities and the broken pieces of that night. Her coffee came right on time; she sipped it while it was hot as hell, and it soothed her nerves as she sipped it down ferociously, nearly forgetting she had the croissant on her table. The whole point of leaving her without an explanation or a call was thrilling, but now her mind couldn’t stop picking up bits and pieces, pulling at her subconsciousness so much that she thought she would develop headaches after she finished up here. She badly wanted to dial up Stephanie and give her the scoop about what happened last weekend. She would freak out terribly, but it was better to talk to someone than have to listen to the minute version of herself in her head, tell her or tell her dark things that she badly didn’t even want to hear or listen to.
She dialed up Stephanie. Immediately, she was done eating and paying for her meal. The thing about this cafe was that it had a patio right out front. You only came in to eat but stayed outside if you felt you needed the vitamins from the sun. Not a lot of people like the sun. She was realizing that despite today’s being a viciously beautiful day, the sun warmed her skin up so much that it sent beautiful thrills down her spine. She sat on one of the open seats, her bag tossed towards the table gently, and picked up her phone to call her number one friend.
She picked up the first ring.
“Hey!” “Girlfriend, what’s happening?” She sounded so cheerful and free of stress, her voice made Astra so jealous; she could have cried if she wasn’t out in the open, already looking boogie and classy.
Stephanie laughed as Astra responded cheerfully as well.
“You know the fucking vibe! Anyway, you call me, what’s going on? You don’t ever call me. ” “Are you good?” It was the switch in her tone, from so friendly to so caring in a minute. That was something she liked about Stephanie; it was so easy to know what she was feeling from her voice alone, and right now she was an angel.
I wanted to talk to you. I’ve been a mess since, and I needed someone to yap to. Is it OK if we have breakfast together? I’m already here though… Astra would have put her fingers in her mouth for the anxiety that came with the pause from the other end.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
My hunny bunny came home yesterday, but I can promise you an early lunch. Can we do that? I’m so sorry I can’t come for breakfast, but lunch would be on me. Can you hold on for me? Just a bit? ” Stephanie pleaded from the other end of the line. Astra was a bit disappointed, but she couldn’t say no. She needed him and not the other way around. As they say, beggars do not have a choice. She didn’t.
Yeah, of course it’s good. I can wait; it’s not that far. How about Lois’ spot? ” Astra asked God that somehow she wasn’t going to get disappointed again. She’d hate that.
“Definitely good. I was even going to tell you that I craved their pot of potatoes so badly that I dreamt about it yesterday. ” How Stephanie managed to get Astra to laugh out loud was a miracle.
” Noooo, I’m a serious homie! I fucking dreamt of their pot. I was seated so happily. You know how I sat happily? Stephanie unbuttoned her trousers if she was about to sit happily. It was a bizarre thing to do, especially when she was about to really eat some good food. She always did that, and in a quick motion too, so no one would notice her buttons undone or her fly a bit below normal. No one ever noticed except Astra, and whenever she did, she made this funny crazed expression that meant either “here? Come-on” or “are you serious?” or simply “what the fuck?”It always ended with just the stares, nothing else. It’s not like she had anything else to say.
I can’t believe you even dreamt about that. Has anybody ever told you that you are in love with food? ” Stephanie finished with Astra. Astra screamed into the phone amidst laughter from both ends. “Yeah yeah, but hey! I’ll meet you there. I may even be there before you are already sitting happily waiting for my pot. 12pm? “Yes?” She joked and asked at the same time. Astra nodded and caught herself. There was no way that Stephanie could have seen her movements, so she chuckled into the phone a bit, “Yeah by 12 and you better be here before then, homie,” she said into the phone. Stephanie would have winked at her at this moment, but instead she blew air kisses at her and bid her goodbye, which Astra replied to, and they both hung up. Astra still sat on the patio, recognizing that the time was eight-thirty. She looked at her fingernails and then it occurred to her.
She knew it was a stupid idea, but it felt so right, so she jumped out of her chair with a screech from how hard she shifted the chair backwards, grabbed her bag from the table, and unlocked her parked Range Rover with its automatic key. She knew it was a bad idea, but “fuck it,” she said.
***
She was nearly made to change her mind about what it was that she intended to do, but she didn’t. She was going to find out what exactly happened during the club and the aftermath and maybe apologize for whatever she might have done, because seeing herself in a nightgown only spoke of one thing: she threw up and badly too. When she was about to leave, she didn’t see a single piece of evidence of her previous clothes or her shoes anywhere in sight. She just assumed she must have thrown up badly. She cringed at the thoughts just as the view of Nicholas’s castle came into sight in full view. She was granted access from the gate without even saying her name or anything, which was seriously odd. Nicholas was really adamant about security. The man had guards stationed everywhere and yet his front gate was wide open. Not literally, but wide open. It called for some serious raised eyebrows. She passed through the now wide gates, driving the short distance it took to get to the entrance of the castle. It occurred to her that there was an addition to the number of cars that was supposed to be present in his garage. She peered through her windshield and noticed how familiar the new car was, like she had seen it before or she knew the owner of the car. She didn’t want to bother her head about it at all, so she put it to bed and came out of the car, locking it with her automatic key. The guards were in place as usual at their normal spots, with James on patrol duty. He glanced at her as a way of greeting. She understood and nodded at him curtly. She walked to the steps of the door, stretching her hands to reach for the doorbell. The door twisted and out came a very familiar stranger. There was some shouting going on inside immediately after he opened the door. She caught her breath in her throat. “What the…”
***
Thompson wasn’t expecting to see the audacious Astra walking up the steps with her fingers stretched toward the doorbell. “What was she even doing here?” he thought to himself, stretching a thin smile as he walked past her to his red-cherry Ferrari. He wasn’t about to find out why she was here in the first place; he was out of here in a zing second, not looking back and swinging his Gucci staff as he walked, making a ‘thump, thump, thump’ noise as he walked.
***
Astra was almost afraid to ask what the heck was going on; the guards still stood erect and nonchalant. They held a serious expression on their faces. It was impossible for her to ask anything because it was not their job to know or to tell, and plus she was a stranger… of some sort.
She opened the doors and walked towards where she heard a familiar voice shout “Fuck!”. She wondered what must have probably crawled into his ass and died. She didn’t want to know. She wanted to apologise and get the fuck out of here. She didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to care and, well, she didn’t want any answers to whatever questions she had in mind. She started to regret why she even came here in the first place. She knew he was in the music room, and that’s where her guys led her to. Immediately she opened the door to the room, flashbacks of why she left this house in the first place rushed back to her, and the reason why she went to the club as well came rushing back to her, and in that moment she scowled so badly. The air present in this room had no freshness in it. The room stank of gin, vodka, and beer, and nothing about the mixture was nauseating at all. Nothing at all.
“What the hell?” “Astra,” Astra said in a tone that showed her disgust. Nicholas had a bottle in his hands; his back was turned to Astra, and he was paying no mind to her.
“Nicholas, what the hell happened here?” She asked, not like he owed her any explanation. He didn’t .
“You shouldn’t be here, Astra. You should leave. Right fucking now, “he boomed, back still turned. Astra was irritated at how little he regarded her, but more offended at his choice of tone.
“What do you mean by that?” Astra asked, a scowl forming on her face. That got Nicholas to turn around, his eyes meeting hers in a deadlock.
He sneered at her, bloodshot eyes from his drinking and fists balled up. Something about the way he was, his condition, infuriated Astra, and she didn’t even know why.
“What the hell are you even doing here, huh?” He asked, advancing towards her, but Astra kept her ground, taking a hand and placing it on her slender waist in a way that told Nicholas that what he was doing wasn’t affecting her. She was daring him without uttering a word.
“Get out, Astra. Get out! ” Astra further frowned, “You should get out of that bottle while you can.” You seem to make more progress with the bottle than any other thing that you have ever decided to do. ” ouch. That touched a nerve because Nicholas threw the bottle he held against the wall.