Lydia
If Lydia needed proof that she
could do anything, she finally had it. She had managed to convince Danielle –
her best friend and complete opposite – to go to a club. In all their twenty
years of friendship, Lydia could count the number of times this had happened on
one hand. On top of that, she had also managed to squeeze her into a fierce
dress. Granted, it came from her own closet since Danielle owned nothing suitable
to go out in. But if she could get Danielle to go out and have fun, she could
certainly end the night with Cooper at her side.
And she needed Danielle to connect
her to Cooper. Danielle knew him, she had a class with him, and in some strange
twist that Lydia had not seen coming, Danielle had actually become friends with
him.
Lydia pulled a mirror out from her
clutch as the club pulled into view and double checked her make-up one last
time. She applied another coat of lip gloss just in case.
“Relax, Danielle. It’s just a club and it’s
just one night.” She closed the mirror, shoved it back into her clutch and
smiled at her friend. “Don’t be lame. Do this for me? Please?” She bat her
eyelashes, hoping for some magical power to make Danielle shut up and actually
enjoy herself for an evening. No miracles for that though.
As soon as they stepped out onto
the street, Lydia took Danielle’s hand, marking her as her prisoner. Danielle
sighed, but Lydia felt no resistance.
Once inside, Lydia did not let go
of Danielle’s hand. The dangers of losing her now, so close to finding Cooper,
would have been catastrophic.
“Where is he?” she whispered
quietly to herself.
Or so she thought.
The music drowned out any chance of
having a normal conversation, but somehow Danielle had heard her. “He?” she
demanded stopping them both. “Did you say ‘where is he’?”
Lydia did not respond. Instead, she
caught Danielle’s eyes and almost willed her to be reasonable.
Danielle pulled her hand out of
Lydia’s grasp. “I should have known we were here for Cooper. Why didn’t you
just tell me?”
Lydia shrugged. Because she
wouldn’t have come otherwise, but Lydia couldn’t say that. “You’re here to have
fun. I’m here to find Cooper.” Whether or not Danielle actually had fun would
be completely up to her. But Lydia did come to find Cooper. She had just failed
to mention that Danielle would be helping her.
The prospect of Danielle bailing
had never crossed her mind. A sudden flash of worry flooded through her as she
thought Danielle might turn around and leave. Then relief replaced worry when
Danielle muttered, “Fine.”
Grinning from ear to ear, Lydia wrapped
her arms around her friend who hugged back. Then Danielle laid out her
condition. “Let me do this solo, okay?”
Lydia sighed, but agreed. Danielle
hardly needed more alone time, but she turned around and began her own search
for Cooper. He would fall for her tonight. Nothing could have been more
certain.
After one sweep of the room, Lydia
still had not found her future boyfriend. Reaching the staircase which led to
the second level where the bar overlooked the dance floor, Lydia went up a step.
When she still couldn’t see over the crowd, she took another step and scanned
the room.
She found Danielle talking with a
guy. Her heart began to race, thinking she had finally found Cooper. But she
hadn’t actually found him and Lydia’s shoulders slumped as she recognized Sean.
Of course Sean had found Danielle.
He probably liked her. No guy ever wants to be platonic friends with a girl,
even with a girl like Danielle. And Lydia wanted Danielle to like Sean. They
would have the most adorable babies. Lydia knew this because she had done a
baby generator for both of them – after doing one for herself and Cooper first,
that is.
Lydia groaned. At this rate, Danielle
would never find Cooper. She continued to glance around the room, hoping that
somewhere among the bass that pounded in her feet, stood the man destined to
date her.
She did not leave that step until
she spotted him across the dance floor, huddled around his friends. Her only
mission now was to get to him. One
step after another, she inched closer and closer towards him. He stood along
the wall, seemingly out of her grasp. Instead of becoming discouraged, she
started to dance on the side of the dance floor, directly in front of him. Pretending
to not notice Cooper challenged her more than finding him had.
After a few songs and still no recognition
from Cooper, she allowed herself to look up to where he had been standing, but
the circle of boys had disappeared. Lydia froze, wondering if Cooper had even
seen her at all. She stepped out of the dance floor and that’s when she saw him
standing against the railing on the bar level, looking down. As Lydia caught
sight of him, he saw her and smiled. She attempted to give him her biggest and
most seductive smile, but then his eyes moved away from her.
She fumed.
Unconsciously she moved towards
him. She would show him what an idiot he’d been to ignore her. Then she saw what
grabbed his attention – Danielle. Her friend had climbed the stairs and stood
next to him along the railing. Unable to stop herself, Lydia took another step
towards them, but Danielle saw her and held up two fingers - either the peace
symbol or a request for two minutes.
Lydia growled to herself, but this was the reason she had brought Danielle
in the first place. So Lydia danced and let them have one song. After that,
nothing would stop her from joining them on the railing. All Danielle needed to
do was bring her up in the
conversation and then leave them alone. That simple.
When the song ended and she looked
back up to her friend and soon-to-be boyfriend, they were gone. She cursed herself for not keeping her eye on them.
Now nothing held her back from
running up to the bar. She even ran into some girl on the steps and knocked her
drink to the ground. Lydia never even paused to apologize.
Up the stairs, she searched around
the bar, checking the booths, tables and crowds of people for any sight of
them. Then she took the spot they had vacated and searched the dance floor for
them, even though she couldn’t believe Danielle would actually dance with him. Or
anyone for that matter.
As she verged on giving up, she
finally saw Danielle coming out of the hall that led to the bathrooms and
emergency exit. Lydia ran up to her and yelled – mostly to be heard over the
music, but also out of irritation. “What happened? Where’s Cooper?”
Danielle glared at her, but Lydia
did not care. She wanted answers and she wanted to know about Cooper. Danielle
glanced back into the hall and mouthed, “Bathroom.” Then she moved away from
Lydia towards the exit.
Lydia grabbed her arm, but Danielle
continued walking, pulling her along. “Where are you going?”
For a moment Lydia believed Danielle
would ignore her and pull her across the bar. Instead, she turned around and confirmed
the very thing Lydia had been hoping for. “I did what you wanted me to do. Now
I’m going home.” Without another word, Danielle turned around and marched out
of the club.
Lydia smiled, let her friend leave,
stationed herself near the bathroom, and waited for Cooper.
###
Danielle
Going out to a club that catered to
the just-barely-legal college drop-outs equated to Danielle’s definition of
torture. Especially after she found out why Lydia had dragged her along. She
should have suspected something when Lydia forced her into the most
uncomfortable dress she had ever worn and covered her in more makeup than she
had ever seen in her life.
All because of Cooper.
Danielle’s mission for the past few
months had been to convince Lydia’s crush – who just so happened to be in her
psych class – that he needed to date her. And now, that was her mission for the night. But once she succeeded, she could
reward herself by going home and cleansing her body of the germs that covered
this place.
Her mission hit a slight detour
when a familiar face found her.
“Sean!” she cried out over the bass
of the techno music the DJ had started blasting. Sean had been her friend since
they met in high school at the local grocery store. They both had been standing
in the candy aisle for twenty minutes, unable to choose which treat they wanted
to buy. After those twenty minutes, Sean came up to her, held out his hand and
said, “Hello. I’m Sean and I’m indecisive. I haven’t made a decision in over
half an hour.” Danielle had laughed and shook his hand. “Hello, I’m Danielle
and I haven’t made a decision in over two hours.” Cement to their inevitable
friendship.
Sean hugged her and Danielle tried
to not push him away the second she felt his sweaty arms touch her bare skin.
He tried to scream something at her over the music, but she couldn’t hear him.
“What?”
He repeated, but still she heard
nothing. Danielle cupped her hand to her ear, hoping that would help. Instead,
Sean pulled her away from the dance floor and towards an empty table. Away from
the speakers, she could finally hear him. “What are you doing here?”
“Lydia is trying to find Cooper.”
He wrinkled his eyebrows. “So why
are you here?” Danielle appreciated the fact that Sean had been shocked to even
find her here. Her reputation had to be maintained as the girl who hated clubs.
“I’m supposed to be helping her find
him. I have a class with him and I’m her wingman.”
Sean rolled his eyes. “That’s
insane.” Impossible, maybe. Insane? Hardly. Unless he referred to Lydia’s
mental health, in which case, Danielle would have a hard time arguing with him.
They continued talking, but Sean hardly paid
her any attention and instead he scanned the room. Danielle assumed he was looking for his next hook up. Then
he pointed at something behind her. “Now’s your chance, wingwoman.”
Following Sean’s finger, she saw
Cooper standing alone on the second level, gazing out on the dance floor. She
turned back to Sean, not ready to move back to Lydia’s mission so quickly, but
he had already disappeared. She sighed and reminded herself that the sooner she
convinced Cooper to go on a date with Lydia, the sooner she could shower.
Cooper watched her as she approached
the stairs. “Well if it isn’t Danielle. I didn’t think you existed outside of
class.” His joke might have been funny if Danielle didn’t have to strain to
hear it.
Cooper patted the railing, inviting
her to take a spot next to him. As she did so, she saw Lydia staring at her
from across the room. Not that you could have missed her. Her
barely-covers-the-butt dress essentially glowed from all the glitter and
sequins that covered it. With her two fingers, she begged Lydia for two minutes
alone with Cooper before Lydia threw herself at him.
For the next minute they talked
about their last exam. Probably the longest minute of Danielle’s life. She
glanced at Lydia dancing below them and knew her time had run out. Interrupting
him, she changed the subject. “Cooper, you know that Lydia really likes you
right?”
He sighed and turned his head away
from Danielle. “Yes, I am aware of that.”
“Why don’t you go out with her?”
“It’s complicated and I don’t really want to
talk about it.” He nodded his head towards someone in the crowd. “How do you
know Sean?”
Danielle followed his gaze. “I’ve
known him since high school.” That sufficed as an explanation – she had run out
of time for stories. Lydia would be upon them at any moment. “Lydia and Sean
would be a disaster couple. But you and Lydia, I can see that happening.” Danielle
didn’t know how he could believe her when she didn’t even believe herself.
Lydia and Cooper would make an absolutely terrible couple.
“Not right now.” His voice lowered
so much that she barely heard him.
“Why not?” Danielle felt her time
slipping away.
Cooper turned and looked directly
in her eyes as he responded. “I’m sort of, in love with someone else.”
“Oh,” Surprise and curiosity piqued
within her. “Who?” She hoped it would be someone Lydia didn’t know. Danielle
had no time to handle a jealous and spiteful Lydia.
He paused and she immediately regretted
asking. After all, she had no right to ask. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. You
don’t have to tell me.”
He shook his head. “No, I’ll tell
you.” He reached for her hand as he said, “Actually, I’ll show you. She’s
here.”
She looked around for Lydia to
ensure she hadn’t seen Cooper take her hand and then she let him pull her down
the hall towards this mystery girl. They turned the corner past the bathrooms,
but nothing waited for them except an empty hall and an emergency exit. “Who is
it? Where is she?”
His hand cupped her cheek and she
became instantly aware of how close he stood to her. “She’s right here.”
Then he leaned towards her and
kissed her. At first, Danielle froze. A wave of consequences ran through her
mind. Lydia would find out about this. Lydia would never trust her again. Lydia
would hate her forever. Then the hormones kicked in and she let him kiss her.
She let him wrap his arm around her waist. She let him pull her closer to him.
And finally, she kissed him back.
Caught up in the moment, she
wrapped her arms around his neck and combed through his hair. The kiss
continued for only a few more moments before sanity returned to her brain.
Lydia. Lydia would kill her. Lydia
might be here any moment looking for her. Lydia would not forgive her. Ever.
Gasping, she pulled away from him.
Without taking a breath or letting him speak, she muttered, “I can’t do this,”
and pushed his arms off her waist. She walked out of the hall and instantly saw
Lydia coming towards her.
###
Cooper
Cooper wanted to spend as little
time at the club as socially acceptable, especially after spotting his stalker
who had come dressed as a giant disco ball.
Wanting to pull himself and his
friends away from Lydia who had begun dancing near them, he suggested, “Hey
let’s go grab another round.” They followed the appeal of another beer.
Cooper only glanced back once to
make sure Lydia didn’t chase after him, but for once, she paid no attention to
him.
Instead of reaching the bar, his
buddy stopped him at the top of the stairs. “Well, well, well,” Wes started
hitting Cooper on the arm and pointed towards the dance floor. “If it isn’t
your little girlfriend!”
Great, they saw her too. Now they’d
never stop making fun of him for the rest of the night. He let out a sigh and
followed Wes’ point, ready to feel the full torture of their mocks and insults.
But Wes hadn’t been pointing at Lydia. His finger pointed to the opposite side
of the room.
If Wes hadn’t seen Lydia, Cooper
searched for the only other person it could be. He found her quickly enough, even
though he did not immediately recognize her. She didn’t look like herself. No,
she looked like Lydia 2.0. He would never understand how such an intelligent
and beautiful woman stayed friends with someone so vain and self-centered. Although
she did not dress like her authentic self, Cooper knew she existed beneath it.
His heart sank when he saw her
talking with another guy. A guy he recognized from his swim team. He leaned
against the railing and half-listened to Wes’ jokes. “Whoa dude, it’s just a
girl,” “Why don’t you just marry her already?” and “A bit obsessed, are we?”
flew through the air before Wes ditched him for the bar. But Cooper didn’t mind
these jokes. After all, they had truth to them.
He remembered Sean’s name as soon
as Sean saw him and pointed at him. He looked away, pretending to be fascinated
by something else in the club. Like that could be possible with her standing in
it.
When he dared look back towards
her, they had moved. For the briefest moment, he worried she had left with Sean
and that his chances had disappeared. But then he found her watching him and
walking towards him.
He had very little time to compose
himself before she reached him. Worse he didn’t have anything to say. So he
said the first thing he could think of. “Well if it isn’t Danielle. I didn’t
think you existed outside of class.”
Well that was stupid.
He patted the spot next to him,
hoping, praying that she would take it. When she did, he felt a rush of anxiety
as she stood close to him, their arms almost touching.
They talked about class. A boring
subject, but a safe one. Safer than talking about Lydia which he knew was coming.
And it came sooner than he
expected. “Cooper, you know that Lydia really likes you right?”
Of course he knew she liked him. Everyone
did. Plus, she had been stalking him.
“Yes, I am aware of that.”
“Why don’t you go out with
her?”
A follow up question to the topic
he hated. “It’s complicated and I don’t really want to talk about it.” Cooper
hoped she would drop it now. But if she had the balls to bring up Lydia, he
would bring up the only topic he cared about. He found his target below them
and asked, “How do you know Sean?”
“I’ve known him since high school. Lydia
and Sean would be a disaster couple. But you and Lydia, I can see that
happening.”
So she thought he wanted to hook
Lydia up with Sean? Well, at least it relieved his fears that Danielle and Sean
had come together. “Not right now.”
She reacted immediately. “Why not?”
He let out a sigh. She would get it
out of him eventually, so why not just say it? He let his eyes tear into hers.
Maybe then, she would finally shut up about Lydia. “I’m sort of, in love with
someone else.”
He let out a long breath, impressed
with himself that he had finally said it out loud.
“Oh.” He had expected that. But then,
without missing a beat, she demanded, “Who?”
Should he take it one step further?
Should he tell her the full truth? He considered this for one second too long.
As he opened his mouth to say whatever would come out, she spoke first. “Sorry,
I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to tell me.”
With those words, he had officially
made up his mind. “No, I’ll tell you.” Then, on impulse, he grabbed her hand –
something he had been aching to do since she had taken her place next to him. “Actually,
I’ll show you. She’s here.”
Now he had officially dug himself
into a hole that he couldn’t pull himself out of. Needing to show her something
– anything – he pulled her hand and led her towards the bathrooms. But what
would he do here? Take her into the bathroom and point at her in the mirror? Yeah,
like that would work well.
Then he saw the bend in the hall
and continued around it, hoping that no one would be standing there. He would
lose his nerve if anybody caught him. Or worse, she might think he loved
whoever stood there.
As they rounded the corner, Cooper
let out the breath he had been holding in. Empty. Not the most romantic
location, but it would do. It had to.
Before he could even stop her once
they completely rounded the corner, she demanded, “Who is it? Where is she?”
Cooper raised his hand to her face
and rested it softly on her cheek. He paused to give her a moment to retreat,
but she never did. “She’s right here.”
Slowly he leaned down to kiss her.
He tasted her lips on his and didn’t even care that she didn’t kiss him back.
After all, she was letting him kiss
her. And she continued to let him kiss her.
As she relaxed under his touch, he
wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
Then the most remarkable thing
happened. She kissed him back. She circled her arms around his neck and pushed
back into him. Adrenaline pumped through his body. She ran her fingers through
his hair and he knew there was no
going back from this kiss. Not for either of them.
Then she ruined what may have
otherwise been a perfect moment. Her lips left his and she pushed away from him,
whispering, “I can’t do this.” And she walked away before Cooper could react.
He followed her down the hall, but then he saw Lydia and he had to retreat back
around the corner.
He had completely forgotten about
Lydia.
###
Sean
The only thing running through
Sean’s mind was how much of an idiot
Danielle had turned into. For being such a smart girl, she sure couldn’t pick
up on the clues around her. He concluded that she must be blind and naïve to
not see it happening before her.
And then to find out that she’s been trying to
help Lydia hook up with him. Apparently, neither of them knew how much Cooper
had fallen for Danielle over the past few months. Everyone wanted them
together. Especially Sean. But that idiot hadn’t made his move yet. Well that
would change.
As they stood and talked along the
side of the club, he searched for Cooper. Sean found him already watching them.
Or, more likely, watching her. How Danielle couldn’t see how much Cooper liked
her baffled him. They just needed a little push in the right direction.
As Sean pointed towards Danielle’s
soul mate, Cooper averted his gaze proving that he had been spying on them. “Now’s
your chance, wingwoman.”
As Danielle turned her head to
glance at him, Sean slipped between some couples on the dance floor and blended
in before she could turn back. She would have no choice but to go up to him
now.
And she did.
Sean continued to watch them from a
distance without actually watching them. Everyone, except maybe Lydia, could
see the chemistry between them as they talked together. Cooper just needed to
make his move already.
Then he did.
Cooper grabbed her hand – always a
good start – and pulled her away from the railing. Following them at a
distance, Sean watched Cooper take Danielle down a hall and out of sight from
anyone else. About time.
Time passed and Sean kept his eyes
locked on the hallway entrance. He should have been watching Lydia, because
suddenly she appeared, barreling towards the bathroom as though she had some
sort of radar and knew they had both been down there together. He jumped up
from the bar where he had been sitting and took a step towards the vile woman,
but somehow, Danielle caught her first.
Both sadness and anger radiated
from her as she came into view. She did not attempt to mask it as Lydia
approached her. Sean stared at her, surprised at the complete transformation
she had endured in such a short time period. This had not been the response he had
expected. People usually didn’t look this upset after someone tells you how
they feel. Unless, of course, you turned them down.
Which must have been what Danielle
had done. And probably because of Lydia. If the situations had been reversed,
Lydia would not have done this for Danielle.
Danielle’s conversation with Lydia
lasted no more than a few seconds before she turned and left as quickly as
possible. But Lydia stayed, guarding the hall. Now Cooper’s only escape from
Lydia was the emergency exit which
he might be desperate enough to use.
For Danielle’s sake, he needed to
save Cooper. So he pretended to accidently run into Lydia. “Lydia, darling, I
didn’t see you here.” He yelled loudly so Cooper could hear him around the
corner. Then he grabbed her bare shoulder and pulled her away from the hallway.
“How ‘bout I get you a drink and we have a little dance, hmm?”
Lydia resisted his pull, but the
offer of a free drink from a member of the opposite gender held too much appeal
for her to turn down. He tried to keep her back to the hall, but Lydia kept
turning her head. So he did the only thing he could think of to truly distract
her. He kissed her.
Cooper sprinted out
of his prison, but did make eye contact with Sean before barreling down to the
dance floor. Only when Cooper became lost in the crowd of dancers, did Sean
stop kissing Lydia.
Based on her reaction, Sean might
have thought her mutual friends kissed her all the time. She straightened her
back and lifted her boobs as though Sean had actually been interested in her.
“You’re drunk.” But she smiled and grabbed her drink. “I’m going to find
Cooper.” Taking a sip of her vodka tonic, she returned to her post at the hall.
Sean sighed, relieved Cooper had successfully left without Lydia noticing. His
eyes glanced down towards the exit and he watched Cooper slip through the door.
Then he disappeared out of sight in search of Danielle.
At least he hoped Cooper had run
after Danielle. Sean didn’t want to have suffered through kissing Lydia for
nothing.
 |
| Original photo credit: Seeman via Morguefile |
Really great writing!
ReplyDelete