Always next to you

Chapter One

NICOLE

"Do you want to sleep with me?"

I look up from the text message on my phone to glare at the source of the voice. The first thing I noticed was his hand as they adjusted the buttons of his sleeve. Then I slowly looked up to see dark hair, brown eyes with its gaze on me. He completely ignored the people moving around us because his eyes were focused on me.

I shook my head. After drinking a couple of shots, maybe I was hearing things. The man in front of me had the confidence of a gangster, the kind you don't want to mess with. He didn't say what I think I heard. I was probably hallucinating.

"You won't have to do it for free," he says. "Come on, sleep with me tonight."

He was serious?!

The audacity!

My mouth fell open and my vision faded to the danger zone. The rejection text message I just read replaying in my head. I was rejected from a job I was qualified for because the hiring manager made a pass at me while I was working on the test job.

I got drunk and I accidentally hacked his computer and shared his browsing history with the entire company. It was illegal but men like this man were the reason my life was so fucked up. So what if he was beautiful they were all the same.

They were all assholes!

I slowly got up from my seat. My body was unaware of my intention yet the man watched me with a stern look. He thought he could buy my time like a prostitute. How dare he interrupt my self-righteous brooding?! Before I could stop myself, my hands went flying till they landed hard on his face.

I slapped him.

The man took some steps back, refusing to touch his face. Perhaps I needed to land another hit for him to feel the impact. My hand stung from the hit so I controlled my urges. If I was a little drunk before the pain sobered me up a bit. He looked surprised.

What did he expect was going to happen? Not every girl at a bar was in need of a one-night stand. I was Having a bad day and he was very unlucky.

My stomach churned and I suddenly felt the urge to throw up.

"Nicole, are you ok?" The bartender asked.

She made a move to turn around and assist me but I stopped her. I force a smile on my face and nod telling her I was okay then I make my way to the bathroom. The bartender was a very nice woman. Her name is Mia and she is my only friend in this world. The only one I could trust.

Mia and I met at this bar about a year ago. That was the first day I drank till I passed out. Thanks to her, I was able to move on from my ex-boyfriend and graduate college.

Unfortunately, things were not going as planned. It has been six months since I graduated and with all my skills and qualifications no one wanted to hire me.

Every time I got rejected for a huge job offer I would spend the evening at this bar and drink till I was ready to leave. Some days I would stay at Mia's apartment and we'd dance together or say shitty things about the company that rejected me.

Mia was the friend I never knew I needed and she made me believe in myself again. Coming to this bar and drowning in alcohol was the only way I had to cope.

It was better than calling my ex-boyfriend because nights like these made me crave his embrace. He was the only boyfriend I ever had and we were together for four years before the breakup. I couldn't tell Mia that I wasn't completely over him because it had been up to a year. She would beat my ass up.