A Second Chance at Life - Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Sparks Fly

I could hear the music blocks away even before we had reached the club. We eventually got to it, and being reality TV stars we got the VIP nod from the bouncer who was standing at the front of a long line of people waiting to be let in. Inside we were led to a table on a level above the dancefloor where we took our seats at a circular table. It was so loud and dark. The only lighting in the whole place was a disco like ball hanging above the dancefloor, but I think it was supposed to give more of an effect than give light. Once seated a club waiter came up to the table,
"And what will we be drinking tonight ladies and gentlemen?" he asked.
"Rum and colas for the ladies, and label on the rocks for us guys thanks!" replied Dominic.

When the waiter had gone he turned to the rest of us, "Ok girls, Logan and I promise not to ditch you three tonight....I guess we could give the fishing game a rest for a least one night huh Logan?"
"Yeah but I cannot be held responsible if women just sort me out you know." Replied Logan with a grin.

We all burst out laughing and soon the waiter returned with our drinks.
"A toast then, to us, the reality TV stars!" exclaimed Honour.
We all toasted each other, and soon drink after drink followed. I looked at Dom out the corner of my eye and noticed he had rolled his sleeves up and unbuttoned a few top buttons on his shirt. His hair was slightly ruffled and he had a smile on his face.
"Ok after this round we go dance a bit, what do you all say?" exclaimed an overly excited perhaps drunk Honour.

"Great idea!" replied Logan and Ash in unison.
"Okay then bottoms up, let's go!"
"Uhh actually you guys go on ahead, I feel my head spinning a bit...I just need to clear it up then I'm with you k?" I piped in. The truth was, my head wasn't really spinning, I just wasn't a very good dancer. I didn't want to embarrass myself out there on the dancefloor.

"You sure honey?" inquired Honour, "I can stay here with you if you wanted..."
"No! You go ahead I'll be fine by myself" I replied hoping she got the message. The girl could barely keep her bottom on her seat, she was dying to go dance. "But..." she began.
"You know what, I'll stay with her, and you guys go ahead". I turned my head towards Dom, shocked at what I had just heard.
"You sure?" asked Honour.

"Yeah I don't feel like dancing much anyway, plus if I go down there I'm pretty sure I'll be flocked" he chuckled, much to my dismay.
"It's ok Dom" I replied, with a little sourness at what he had just said "You go ahead with them, I don't mind being on my own".
"Nonsense! I choose to stay on my own accord" Dom stated.

The others were gone within the next few minutes. Logan holding onto Honour to steady her and Ash holding onto Logan to steady him. It was quite a sight and I burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Dom had sat down and had an amused look on his face.
"Nothing...Just watching those three walking down to the dancefloor. One drunk holding onto another ha-ha".
"Yeah well I'm guessing Logan won't be holding onto them for long, trust me once he gets into the crowd he'll be gone baby gone" he laughed.
"Well I don't find it that funny Mr. Ortiz, if he leaves Honour stumbling around drunk down there I'll kill him." I chuckled.
"Don't worry I'll go down and check on them if you want me to" he replied.
"It's okay Dom, I'm sure they'll be fine," I exclaimed, not wanting him to leave me.
"Why aren't you down there Shane?" he was looking at me questioningly. "Let loose for once and find a guy to keep you company... that's definitely what Honour and Ash are doing"

"Tell you the truth Dom, it's not my thing...don't get me wrong, I'm not a snob who thinks shes better than everyone else...I just don't like putting myself out there that way... do you kinda understand where im coming from?" I looked to him hoping he didn't think I was a big time loser.
He sat there looking at me, scrutinizing me, I felt nervous under his watchful eye.
"You know what, I do" he replied, "I don't meet many girls like you, you're not like the other girls in the house... you're what my mother would call 'a real conservative girl with a good head on her shoulders'..." I burst out laughing at this and he caught on, laughing too.
"I guess you could say I'm like that ha-ha-ha" I said, "but around here, people don't really care for my kind, it looks like it's all about looks and well, charm"
"Well you definitely have looks Shane, I mean with your long dark hair and your warm brown eyes... and a sweet smile.." he suddenly stopped. For a moment he looked almost embarrassed. But I must've been mistaken. I'm sure it was because he had run out of nice things to say about me. it wasn't hard to guess, that he clearly didn't find me interesting at all. The mood for conversation suddenly left me, but I was determined to hide it.

"It's ok" I said, "I know I'm not much to look at, I get that a lot, especially in a place like this where you get a lot of beautiful girls passing through by the hour". I was trying to save him the embarrassment by admitting what he was already thinking.
"Shane... It's not at all..." he began, but suddenly I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found myself face to face with Taylor!! He was standing there with a big grin on his face, his long hair hanging down around his face.

"Hey Shane!" he smiled, "Fancy seeing you again huh". He was wearing a black shirt and tight jeans. his shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his front and I found myself staring at his muscular chest.
"Oh hey Taylor... wow, never thought I'd run into you again" I was smiling like a goof ball at him oblivious to the fact that Dom was looking at me with an amused look on his face.
"Yeah I saw you earlier on when you came in with your friends but I wasn't too sure until now, just thought I'd come over and say hello... I'm here with my sister, she ran off somewhere with her friends now I'm standing around looking like a bum by myself." He laughed.

"Oh well why don't you join us?" I exclaimed, not quite sure what I was doing. I turned to Dom who had been quietly surveying Taylor this whole time and said, "Oh I'm so sorry where are my manners, Dom this is Taylor, he's a regular customer at the boutique I work at in town.. Taylor this is Dom, he's a friend of mine". Taylor immediately stuck his hand out to Dom who I could swear looked a little annoyed, and seated themselves, Taylor next to me and Dom across from me.
I gotta admit although it was nerve wrecking sitting there with two overly-hot guys, I felt almost excited. I felt butterflies in my stomach but knew I couldn't make a fool of myself in front of them and had to hold my own.
"So Taylor you from around here?" Dom asked.
"Yeah my father owns this club actually" He replied.

"Really?" I exclaimed, "I guess Dom should watch out, you might just be more popular in this crowd than his is" I was joking of course, but out the corner of my eye I saw Dom's face become expressionless. He didn't seem all too flattered.
"Actually my sister is more popular than me around here" he laughed, " I don't come down here much I'm usually upstairs making sure everything's okay". Business boy huh, Taylor didn't seem older than 25.

"Sounds intriguing" I replied, "Well were just visitors in your part of town... We're reality TV stars and we're filming here". I guess he didn't need to know that, everyone would've seen the film crew following us around all night. Luckily though, right now they were with the others on the dance floor. My father would have a heart attack if he saw me right now in the middle of two guys.
"My sister would love you then" he chuckled, "She's always doing something to get herself in the limelight, and I have to be the one who runs around keeping her out of trouble". The protective big brother, I liked it I thought.
"Well that's real admirable" I gushed, "I'm glad I met you" I beamed and he smiled back at me, with a look of honest admiration in his eyes.
"I'm glad I met you too Shane... Not often you find a girl with beauty beyond her looks in this place." He was flirting and I was floored. I felt my cheeks grow warm and I couldn't wipe the silly smile off my face. I was looking into his eyes mesmerized when sudden movement made me look up. I was looking at Dom's retreating back, and all of a sudden all my feelings of excitement flooded me. Oh God what was I doing! He must think I'm such an idiot. Here I was flirting with another guy in front of the guy I liked! I wanted to get up and go after him but thought better of it and stayed put in my seat. Of course he didn't know I liked him, and going after him would only make it obvious. I felt so stupid.

"Poor guy must've gotten bored with us huh" Taylor interrupted my thoughts, I turned back to him.
"Probably gone to find the others or get another drink" I forced a smile.
"Tell you the truth Shane, I've seen him around here... the guy draws quite a crowd... funny how tonight he chose to be away from his usual spotlight here at Que... he's quite popular and I was shocked to see you with him."

"Yeah we all know Dom's rep around here," I replied, and it doesn't flatter me at all, I wanted to mention, but thought better of it.
"When I saw you with him I thought he was your boyfriend... I gotta say I'm not disappointed," he smiled.
"Oh no Dom's just a friend" I added with a little resentment, "I don't have a boyfriend at the moment".
"Oh wow, that's a little hard to believe" he said, I felt myself start to blush again...
"Hey Shane, do you maybe wanna get together again, just me and you, and not in this place?"

Wow was this guy really asking me out on a date? This is a first! I laughed to myself. But my eyes wondered back into the crowd looking for Dom. I felt bad about dissing him in front of Taylor... maybe I should go find him... but then I saw him. He was talking to a leggy blonde by the bar downstairs, he was touching her hair and smiling at her, I felt sick.
"You know what Taylor, that would be great!" I replied
"Really, cool lets exchange numbers and I'll give you a buzz when I'm not busy k..."
"Sure!" I had just given him my number when one of the bouncers came up to our table.
"Sir" he was addressing Taylor, "we need you upstairs, your father's on the phone from Vegas". Taylor nodded and turned to me then, "Sorry Shane, I guess its back to business... I'll give you a call soon ok, but it was sure nice seeing you tonight" he smiled at me and then was gone. I was still reminiscing about our little conversation when the others got back. I looked at my watch and it was 3am already.

"Guys, I hope you've had all your fun" I began, "Cos I really think it's time to go home". I looked at Honour and she was already falling asleep on the table, "Ok missy" I grabbed her arm, "Time for me and you to go home" I turned to the others, "You guys coming?"
Ash looked like she was going to be sick, "Yeah I am, I think I had too much to drink uuughh".

Logan who was rubbing Ash's back looked up, "You guys go on ahead, I gotta go find Dom" and with that he disappeared back into the crowd. I really didn't wanna think about what Dom was getting up to right then. I scanned the crowd hoping to catch sight of him but he seemed to have upped and gone. Feeling defeated, I turned to the girls who were probably in more need of my attention than Dom,
"Ok guys let's get a cab and go".

I couldn't get to sleep. Thoughts of Dom and Taylor kept me up. What was I doing? Did I have feelings for Taylor as well? And what of Dom? Was I jeopardizing my chances with Dom by agreeing to see Taylor again? Question after question kept popping up in my head. I'd never been in this situation before, and I was completely lost about what to do next. But one question kept nagging at me above all the others... was this charade of being in love with Dom completely useless... was the guy ever going to notice me?

Feeling gutted, I checked my bedside clock and it was 5am. Not long till sunrise I thought, might as well give up trying to get some sleep and go watch some telly downstairs. Honour and Ash were already fast asleep in their room. So were Donna and Randy. I wondered if Dom and Logan were home yet, probably not. My mood dropped even further. This whole plot was useless.

I made my way down the stairs quietly in my pajamas and felt my way along the walls to the light switch. Finding it I flick it on and nearly jumped with surprise at what I saw. There was Dom, sleeping like a baby on the couch. He was shivering so I grabbed a blanket from the cupboard in the hall and placed it over him. Next to him he had his phone and what I saw gave me the surprise of my life. He had taken a photo of Taylor and I chatting, from a distance. He had zoomed in on my face, I was laughing at something Taylor was saying. Dom had been watching me. Suddenly he stirred next to me, and I quickly put the phone down and backed away.

He moved around in his sleep, he was probably dreaming... of what I thought? And what did this picture of me mean? Suddenly he spoke out in his sleep, "Shane!" I don't know what came over me at that moment. But I quickly ran back upstairs to my room and hopped into bed before anyone else woke up. He had a picture of me in his phone. And he had said my name. Did this mean something? Did he feel the same?