Page 75 of David

It’s only a matter of finding out what exactly is on the line.

“Do you?” he asks softly, staring at my lips with a longing look on his face that is fleeting and possibly irrelevant in the long run.

“I better go,” I say, ending this moment, my heart full of regret.

He doesn’t move, his eyes connected to mine.

“You know what? I’ll drive you home,” he says.

With that, he pivots away to collect his suit jacket.

LIZ

Torn doesn’t even describe how I feel.

For one, I’m in a trance. Floating, a bit dizzy, still very much disinhibited, and wrestling with the kind of tension I shouldn’t be wrestling in the first place.

He seems cool about my back and forth, but his hand is tense when it takes mine.

“We’ll exit the hotel through the back door,” he announces. “No one will see us.”

I’m too imbued with alcohol to care about the practical aspects of our adventure, but I like that he respects my wishes.

He signed off on them as well.

We move down the corridor, but instead of heading back to the club, he pushes a door open and takes me down a flight of stairs.

He wasn’t joking when he said no one would see us.

There’s no one here; the silence is only pierced by my heels clicking against the floor.

Raindrops dot my skin when we exit the building and walk into a private parking lot. Luxury cars line the sides as he leads me to a red sports car in the corner.

Swiftly, an idea pops into my head.

There must be cameras down here, but I doubt their purpose is to capture people like us running away from the crowds inside.

He opens the door for me, and I slide in, invigorated––more awake, I think––very much fooling myself.

I’m still drowsy, untroubled, and incited by this new adventure.

David rounds the car and claims the driver’s seat.

Moments later, we roll through an electronic gate under the eyes of the security guards.

David signals left and veers away from the mayhem and the hypnotic lights sweeping the front of the club.

This isn’t my first time here, but it’s my first time experiencing something so exciting.

Sagging back in my seat, I tilt my head to the side and soak in the nocturnal view.

“How long have you lived here?” he asks.

“All my life.”

“Seriously?”

I move my eyes to him.

---