Sick Like Me (Sick Like #1)

Chapter 43

FORTY-THREE

Guillaume pulled up to the front doors of the restaurant, the space a ‘pull in and drive out’ one way system with no parking in sight. I looked out the window with apprehension at how everyone else was dressed and hep themselves.

I felt out of place, as if I didn’t belong. But then again, we didn’t—not there. Stefan and I were more of a McDonalds and a drive around town kind of duo. We didn’t need anything fancy. We just basked in the company of one another.

But Carol King was clearly used to glitz and glamour, and assumed we appreciated the same.

“Get out then, dickhead,” Stefan threw open my door and held his hand out to me. He rolled his eyes, but smiled to show he was being light hearted. “Were you waiting just for me to open the door for you?”

I rolled my eyes but rested my hand in his, then I stepped out of the car. He closed the door behind me with a soft thud, then he kept his hand in mine as he led me to the front doors of Lunaire.

As we entered the open glass doors, we were greeted by a small line of well dressed people stood either in pairs, or small groups. I looked around, noting from behind a small host station there wound a set of dark stairs to the bottom floor. From the ceiling dangling down in the middle of where the stairs curved sat a long and very large crystal chandelier.

I let out a small gasp, the space looked beautiful and very much out of my usual price range.

But the Kings were paying for it, so I kept all concerns and complaint to minimal as I stepped in line with the moving queue.

We finally got to the front of the line, and Stefan took control of the situation as I must have seemed in a daze as my eyes dared to wander over the stairs.

The bottom floor consisted of dark brown wooden tables, and dark grey chairs were pushed to sit under each one. Some tables were set up for a couple, and others looked to hold up to as many as 12 people.

“A table for two, booked under the name of King,” He replied, to which the host from behind the small stand stabbed their finger at a screen before they nodded their head and led us down the winding stairs.

The place felt cosy yet huge all rolled into one, which confused me as usually the two never meshed together.

The host led us to a table in one of the far corners, then pulled my chair out for me. I smiled at her and sat down, then she raised the jug of water from the middle of the table and poured both Stefan and I a drink each.

“A waiter will be with you in a few moments to take your orders. Please take your time to read over the menu,” The woman waved her hand to the centre of the table where tucked between a box of knives and forks sat tall black pieces of card.

Stefan smiled and nodded in response, then grabbed the card. He handed one to me, and kept one for himself.

The menu was small, the appetisers consisting of crab rangoon, or baked spicy salmon sushi cups. The mains offered were curry coconut shrimp and rice, salmon couscous salad, and teriyaki shrimp noodle stir fry. The bottom half of the menu was much larger, showcasing an array of alcoholic beverages to keep even the pickiest of drinker content.

We placed our orders. The drinks turned up first, and I raised the glass of champagne to gently clink the glass against Stefan’s.

But something caught my eye.

He was fucking stalking me, I was convinced of it.

Walking down the stairs dressed in all black so he almost blended into the scenery behind him, I found Dakota Vernon with his arm around the waist of a blonde I was growing very quickly to hate, despite it not being her fault.

Gwen stood out beside his darkness in a golden glittery dress, with Olivia following behind close by in a vivid green dress similar to the colour of the ocean.

I wanted to throw my water at Gwen to snuff out her shine, but I remained frozen in place.

Stefan finally turned his neck to check out what I was watching, and his lips parted in surprise as. He looked back at me, shaking his head. “I swear I haven’t blagged about us being here to anyone—” Stefan began to defend himself.

I waved my hand dismissively, then I sipped my drink. I wanted to act carefree, but I knew Stefan would see around it. I also knew he wouldn’t push the matter.

I could feel eyes on me as I smiled at Stefan, and I tried my best to not look in the direction of where I knew the feeling was coming from.

In perfect timing, a waiter waltzed their way over to us and stood beside the table with a bright smile. They held a pen tight in their one hand and a notebook in the other. “What can I get you both today?”

Stefan looked at me, and I sucked in a breath before I pointed at the items on the menu I wanted as I spoke. “Can I have baked spicy salmon cups, and the teriyaki shrimp stir fry please? ”

“And would you like any drinks with that?” She asked after a beat of silence.

I nodded my head. “Yes please, more champagne please,” I held my glass up.

The waiter nodded, then turned to Stefan and took his order which was the almost replica of mine, except he ordered a shandy made with the house lager.

I did my very best at keeping my eyes on Stefan the whole time, not wanting to risk seeing Dakota and the bitch of a woman who I had grown to hate—despite the fact she was innocent in the case.

I hated when women hated the other women in a case when a man played them both, but I was thinking irrationally at seeing her with him, his hand glued to her side as if she belonged there.

Once I had calmed down and collected my thoughts, my dislike of her would be snuffed out with no doubt, leaving only anger for the man behind.

Our drinks arrived first, and I dared to grab my second glass of champagne and down it before the waiter could even leave. I then requested two glasses of champagne, and an expresso martini. All for me.

The waiter left the table, leaving Stefan staring at me in stunned silence. “Woah Ash, I know we’re not the ones paying the bill butty, but there’s no need to rack it up so high.”

He sounded like he was trying to have a tone of humour to his concern, but as I rested my elbow on the table and then my chin on my hand to show I meant business, I saw all hints of humour drip from his face.

I used my hair as a curtain to try and keep my focus on my best friend, using every piece of strength I contained to keep me from looking around the room in search of him.

“We’re on holiday, may as well as abuse the good will of our bosses. God knows when we’ll be able to treat ourselves like this again,” I shrugged my resting shoulder, to which Stefan nodded his head slowly.

He seemed in search of the right words, but everything seemed to be failing him. So he picked up his drink and took a gulp of it before placing it back down. In that time, my new drinks has arrived and our appetisers joined on a separate tray.

The food was delicious, but a part of me couldn’t enjoy a single bite. I felt on edge, my hairs all over my body stood to anxious attention while my eyes kept trying to drift in search of him. But my personal discipline was stricter than I first thought it to be.

We finished our appetisers rather slowly, wanting to savour the experience. We had heard from a nearby table that we were in a Michelin restaurant, and Stefan had warned me we had best enjoy every single bite.

After the appetisers, the drinks I had drank way too fast had begun to creep up on me and my bladder was screaming at me for relief.

I looked around the room in search for where the bathrooms would be, only for my eyes to land on the one person I had been trying to avoid looking at.

Almost on the other side of the restaurant, I saw Dakota Vernon with Gwen by his side. The pair looked close, and I could see under the table to reveal his hand was on her thigh. She seemed so carefree about his touch as she spoke to Olivia and a man opposite her, while Kota’s eyes were locked in on me.

Our eyes met, and I felt like time paused. I felt as if all oxygen had been ripped from the room, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. He looked at me with such anger, such disgust… And I had no clue why he was looking at me in such a way.

I tore my eyes away and found the bathroom sign behind him. I cursed my bad luck.

“I’m off to the bathroom, don’t eat my food when it comes, got it?” I asked, daring to jokingly point my finger at him .

Stefan held his hands up. “I’m a good boy officer, I swear,” He replied, to which I rolled my eyes and laughed. I walked past him, giving his shoulder and obligatory squeeze before I kept my head down and made my way past nearby tables.

I felt even more on edge as I walked past his table. I kept my head down, using my hair as a wall of protection. Thankfully Olivia, the hyperactive form of a human, seemed not to notice me. But his scent was intoxicating and filed my senses as I rushed past him in a breeze to the hallway where the doors to the bathroom sat.

I let out a sigh of relief and placed my hand over my chest to try and calm my beating heart as I pushed the bathroom door open. I slipped inside and found all cubicles empty, so I entered the nearest one.

I sat down and went about my business, daring to lean my head against the wall beside me as I closed my eyes for a second. My luck was fucking rotten, I believed. What was the chances he wound up at the same nightclub as me one night, and the following night, the same restaurant.

Once I was done with my business, I left the cubical and looked in the mirror as I washed my hands. I let out a huff of air, my eyes wandering over my clothes. We wore similar dresses, but hers was much more elegant and eye catching. My hair was styled down in loose waves, while hers was tied up in an elegant do. She looked similar to me, yet at the same time, we couldn’t have been more different.

I wondered if that was why I would never be good enough for him, Dakota. Because he had her, keeping her on the sidelines ready for when he could be with her. He would ditch me in a second, I had no doubt.

And the way he acted the night prior added to that feeling of anxiety.

I dried off my hands then left the bathroom, pausing when I turned the corner into the hallway to find black shoes in my view. I looked up, and I felt like all the air was sucked from my lungs once again.

His brown hair, which he had been growing out a for a while, was gelled up out of his face. His forrest eyes looked at me without much feeling, and I had the sense that the man wanted to be as far away from me as possible.

“Dakota,” I said his name in an almost-whisper.

“Ashton,” He replied, looking away from me with a bored expression on his face. My stomach dropped, but my eyes still couldn’t help wander over his outfit in appreciation while my nose tried to remember the way his perfume smelt.

“You look good,” I replied, unsure how else to respond.

He gave a single nod of his head, his eyes going down to assess his own outfit. He then looked back at me, his eyes almost icy cold. “Gwen picked it out for me.”

I felt like I was standing on a sheet of ice, cracking with each cold stare and each harsh word he spoke. I closed my eyes, wondering what had changed from the day before. He had switched moods like a light, and somehow, I couldn’t seem to turn his feelings for me back on.

But then again, maybe he never had any feelings for me. Maybe I misunderstood our whole dynamic. I had liked him, I knew that much. I wanted to get to know him, I wanted to crawl under his skin and be his everything.

“Is she your new little girlfriend for the night?” I asked, trying to have some banter between us to relive whatever tension he had. But it didn’t work. I had fucked up again, I noted as he stared down at me with pure venom in his eyes, as if I was nothing more than a piece of dog shit that he had stepped on while wearing his nicest shoes.

That made me realise maybe I was the only one who had developed feelings between us. Maybe I was some dumb bitch. I mean, I was since I was technically cheating on a man who would give me the world without hesitation. But then wasn’t the time to be considerate of Owen and his existence.

“Don’t talk about her like that. You are nothing more than a pathetic whore, don’t you get that?” He finally spat after several tense seconds of staring, and his words felt like daggers in my back once my mind managed to register what he had said. “You have no right to talk about Gwen. Ever.”

He had once told me that it was okay to feel the things I did, to want the things I did. I sometimes hyper sexualised myself to him over texts and I was more than keen to hook up every time he asked.

But he was using it against me. One of my biggest fears was coming true. Owen had never had sex with me, or been sexual to me. Kota knew that, and he knew I was a naturally horny person who needed a release. And that was why he was just a text away most nights.

He continued speaking, shooting a machine gun right into my chest to destroy me once and for all.

“Compared to her, you’re nothing more than just some horny bitch who opens her legs the second I give her attention,” He then laughed, but the sound wasn’t humorous. It sounded piercing and angry.

If I had doubts about his feelings for me before, he was sure fucking damn making them clear in that moment.

I blinked, and then I felt a line of wetness flow down my cheek. I raised a hand and wiped my face, only to find his words had stung enough to make me cry without my knowing so.

“What have I done to upset you so much?” I asked, my voice eerily calm and steady, if not a little quiet.

“You existed in my fucking life. Just piss off and leave me alone, okay? I thought I ditched your needy arse all those years ago. I regret ever messaging you back now,” He sounded childish in his words, unlike the usually calm and collected Dakota Vernon .

But that didn’t stop the pain in my chest, the ache I felt.

“But at least you were a decent fuck. Not quite as good as Gwen though,” His eyes wavered for a second, looking away with slight guilt. But the expression was gone as if it had never been there, and I assumed I had imagined it.

It hurt. But that was what he wanted. He wanted to hurt me for some reason unknown to me.

“I hate you,” I finally replied, giving him the words I hoped would at least ease whatever the fuck it was he was feeling. He was acting like he wanted me to hate him, and so I would give him that clarity if he wanted it.

Even if it was a lie.

His shoulders tensed and he clenched his jaw, then he finally looked from the wall behind me into to my eyes. “Good.”

“No,” I began, moving my arms to wrap them around my body, as if it would comfort me and make me feel ease. “You’re not listening to me. I hate you,” I emphasised the word, but said it with no malice or spite. My voice broke at the word, as if my own mouth hated me for saying such vicious lies.

I wanted him to realise the real word I was trying to say. The word he had made me say some nights ago.

I was starting to have feelings for him. I was starting to care for him. But I couldn’t say that so easily to him, not when he apparently saw me as nothing more than a whore. I guess I was grateful he had let his feelings loose at long last.

But then I remembered how he took care of me when I was sick, and how he had held my hand when I got scared while flying. He could be sweet and caring sometimes. But I guess he did it to fuck with my head. To keep me on edge so I would keep my legs parted for his free use.

“I don’t feel anything for you,” He finally replied, his voice low and almost sounding like a threat before he walked around me and left me in the hallway alone. I stared blankly at the space he stood, wondering what the fuck I had done to piss him off so much.

I guess… The end of us had come again.

I should have known better.

I felt cold on my cheeks as I made my way to the table where Stefan sat. I pulled my chair out and threw my body into it, Stefan looking up from his bowl of piping hot food with wide eyes.

His eyes turned from surprise to concern as he reached a hand out to me, his skin brushing my lower arm. I let out a strangled sob and shook my head, standing as I grabbed my clutch bag.

“Please,” I choked on my own voice. “Please, let’s go back to the hotel.”

Stefan nodded slowly and stood. He looked down at his food with slight pain that he couldn’t enjoy the delicious looking dish, but then the look was gone as quick as it had come as he walked around the table to me.

Stefan wrapped his arm around my waist and held me close as we walked away from the table. We had to walk past Kota’s table, but he had remained missing from his seat. So I dared to shoot a look at the woman who seemed to replace me.

Gwen shone bright in the light, her smile beautiful and her poise elegant and everything I felt like I would never be.

Stefan asked no questions as he pulled me along up the stairs to the host station. He spoke to the person behind the small area, arranging and confirming that Mrs King had left her card details for our food and drinks to be charged at free will.

The man who had crushed my fucking night walked over to his table below with such confidence, acting so care free. I wanted to spit down on him.

But as if he could feel my stare on him, Kota turned and looked up. I stood with my hands on the banister, and we locked eyes .

I swore there was something hidden deep in his features that wanted to reach out to me, beg me to stay and to forgive him for the rash harsh words.

I felt a hand wrap around my arm and tug me to the front door. I kept eye contact with Kota until finally he was out of eyesight, and then I looked down at the floor as I allowed Stefan to lead me to the freedom of the outdoors.