This wasn’t on purpose. So I don’t need to go on a naughty list for having one tiny little peek.
I slip over to the bed quickly and my fingers caress the box. Another gorgeous pair to add to my collection. I’m not going to complain at my old lady milestone if it means sexy heels are in my immediate future. Probably the last pair I’ll get for a while, considering my employment status.
I lift the lid with both hands and see a hint of scarlet sparkle under the gold tissue paper. I hold my breath as I put the lid to the side and peel back the paper. Oh dear Lord. They’re magnificent.
I pull one glittery red peep-toe heel out of the box and marvel at the gorgeousness up close.
“There’s no place like home,” I murmur. I won’t click these together though, they’re much too precious to ruin with scuffs. I hug the shoe to my chest, closing my eyes. “I love you already.”
“Seems kinda soon for those three little words,” The voice of my one night stand comes from behind. “But I think I can handle it.”
I jump and almost drop the heel. “Jesus! You scared the crap out of me.”
He grins, as if he’s cute. Okay, well, he kind of is, but I’m kind of a bitch.
“I need to get to work,” he tells me, coming in close and putting his hands on my hips.
“So go,” I tell him, realizing last night’s biggest mistake suddenly. I should have gone to his place. It would have been so much easier to escape the awkwardness of the morning after.
His lips brush my neck. It feels kinda nice, I guess, but honestly, I can’t deal with a potential love interest right now, and it really seems like this guy does not want to walk away.
“Seriously,” I say, using one hand to push him back. “I’ve got shit to do today.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Isn’t it your birthday?”
“That’s right. I’ve got birthday shit to do.” Now he’s making me frown. Take the hint, lover-boy. Don’t make me get nasty.
He sighs and moves back. “Can I call you later?”
“You know what a one night stand is, right?”
“Are you serious?” He raises one eyebrow at me, and his smile goes from warm to bemused.
“Completely.” I just want to be alone with my shoes. Why can’t he take a hint?
“Man, Adam was right about you.” He looks me over and shakes his head. “You’re a stone cold bitch.”
My blood runs cold at his casual mention of my ex. The guy thought he could put a ring on my finger and turn me into his perfect little wife. He was a patronizing mother-fucking asshole. This guy knows him?
“Get the fuck out.”
I stare at him until he goes. He starts to laugh on his way out. Anger makes my whole body tremble. I stroke the shoe to calm down. Don’t worry about it, Ruby. He’s no-one. He’s nothing to you.
I turn and put the shoe back before I do something I’ll regret. Like chasing an asshole janitor down the street to stab with the heel. Pricks are everywhere. There’s no avoiding them. No use ruining a perfectly incredible pair of shoes over a man. He’s not worth it. None of them are.
Chapter 3
I pick out a dress that will go with the shoes. Sparkly, red, and absolutely scandalous. Every man in the new night club Pearl is taking us to will be falling all over themselves to buy me drinks and sweet talk me into their beds. Maybe I’ll get my often fantasized over ménage tonight. Or maybe pigs might take to the skies. Seems more likely than two men being evolved enough to focus on a woman’s pleasure over their own.
Crystal is wearing a silky light blue dress that suits her coloring but isn’t totally on trend. She has that effortless girl-next-door kind of look going on most of the time, so a dress and a full face of make-up turns her into catwalk model gorgeous even if she’s always a few seasons behind with her clothes.
Her jaw drops when she looks up from her dressing table. “Oh my. Ruby, that dress...”
I do a twirl and glance around greedily for a shoe-box shaped gift. She hasn’t forked them over yet and my newly pedicured toes are getting itchy waiting. “I know, I know. I look like a goddess.”
“You’re going out in that thing?” She raises an eyebrow, gaze on my hemline.
“It’s not that short, Grandma.”
Her cheeks redden. “I didn’t... It’s not... Never mind.”
“So?”
“So what?” She looks confused.
“So it’s my birthday. Usually that means presents.” Take a hint, bestie. I’m not known for my patience. I don’t know how I waited eight years to throw that chair. Seriously.
“Oh,” she says, nodding. “I thought we could do that once Pearl got here. It’s from us both, so...”
So I guess these little piggies are going to have to wait a tiny wee bit longer. “What time is she supposed to be getting here?”
“Um, about nine, so any minute now I guess.” She laughs as she gets up and picks up a pair of silvery heels that are almost as nice as my new red ones, just not quite. They’re not from the same store. Crystal is way too conservative with her money to spend that much on shoes she might only wear a dozen times.
It’s eight thirty, so I head to the fridge and bring out a bottle of champagne. I have a bunch of birthday traditions and a fancy bottle of champagne is always one of them. Bought this bottle a month ago in anticipation. Last year, I drank it at the office. That sucked. This is much better.
Crystal comes out of her room and puts her silver shoes down by the side of the couch. She won’t put them on until we’re leaving. And she kind of sucks at walking in them until she’s at least tipsy.
I pour three glasses of champagne, just putting the bottle down when the doorbell rings.
“The girl is like clock-work.” She’s a half-hour early to everything. Usually that means waiting so it would drive me insane. I prefer to be a few minutes late.
Crystal opens the door and lets our meek friend inside. I turn at Pearl’s muttered greeting and my jaw just about hits the floor. The forest green dress has no sleeves and accents her flawless dark-skinned complexion perfectly. Her coat is in her hands, which she’s kind of twisting around the fabric. She clears her throat as she puts the coat down over the back of the couch and crosses her arms while coming toward us. Wow. I had no idea she was this busty.
“You look amazing,” Crystal blurts, clapping her hand over her mouth right after.
Pearl shrugs, gazing down and pulling a face. “I didn’t pick it. I lost a dare.”
“A dare?” Damn. When did Pearl become so interesting?
“Long story,” she says, shaking her head. “Maybe later.”
That means she won’t talk about it. Crystal and I exchange a glance before I pass out the glasses.
“To the birthday girl,” Crystal makes the toast, before we clink glasses. “May she ever remain twenty-one.”
“Cheers,” Pearl murmurs, before taking a sip and glancing around.
“Oh, let me go get Ruby’s present,” Crystal says, putting down the glass and heading into her room.
About time. I glance down at my dress, wondering how closely the color will match. I don’t want to have to change. The dress is perfect. The shoes will match. Birthday girl magic. Or booze goggles. Whatever.
“Here it is,” Crystal says, proffering a jewelry box as she comes back into the room.
What the fuck? I raise an eyebrow at it as she places it in my hand.
Was I out of my mind this morning? Did I imagine those perfect heels?
“This is it?” I pull the red ribbon and open the box.
It’s a red crystal high-heel keychain. “Uh, thanks...” I guess?
Pearl snorts and I glance at her as she shakes her head at Crystal. “The look on her face is too funny. Go get the real present.”
Crystal goes back into her room and comes out with the shoe box. I blow out a relieved sigh.
“I knew the second I saw that dress that you’d already found these,” Crystal tells
me, shaking her head as she passes me the shoes. “I boxed up the keychain when I realized, to mess with you for ruining the surprise. It’s mine, but I think you should have it anyway. It suits you better than it does me.”
“I love you guys,” I tell them, feeling almost a little teary.
“Just put the damned shoes on. You’ve been so antsy to get them.” Crystal picks her glass back up as I take them out and admire them once more.
“They’re gorgeous. I love them.”
Pearl giggles. “It sounded more serious that time. The love part, I mean. You love that shoe shop more than anything on this earth.”
“You know what, you might be right.” I slip them on, one by one, and I know tonight is going to be amazing. It always is when you’re wearing just the right shoes.
Chapter 4
The cab lets us out and I look around but there’s no sign of any night club. Hell, there doesn’t even seem to be any bars on this street. No nightlife at all. It’s eerily quiet, and we’re surrounded by empty looking apartment buildings and old store fronts for abandoned shops. Nothing’s run down into the ground, exactly, but it’s almost as if we just stepped out of the cab into ground zero for the apocalypse. I wouldn’t be surprised if a cluster of zombies came shambling into sight. Any minute now...
“Where exactly are we, Pearl?” Crystal asks Pearl as she hugs her coat closed. Her eyes narrow as she takes in our creepy surroundings. I don’t think Crystal would deal too well with a zombie invasion. She’s a hysterical cryer. Probably get herself killed in the first five seconds of meeting one.
Pearl silently checks her phone. She’s frowning and I can tell she’s as uncertain as we are.
“Yeah, Pearl. This feels incredibly shady. Where the hell are we?” It’s dark out, spookily quiet, the cab scrammed the second the door was closed and I can’t see any signs of life around us. I’m starting to get a very bad feeling about tonight.
“Um, the night club is right here,” Pearl says, glancing at her cell phone and then pointing straight ahead.
“That’s just a creepy-ass abandoned furniture store,” I tell her, getting ready to order an Uber. Anything to get the hell back to civilization before we’re all assaulted and murdered in this ass-end of nowhere street.
“It should be right down those stairs,” Pearl says, moving ahead.
Crystal locks gazes with me. Even if there is a night club here, neither of us are especially keen to go inside now. I reach out and grab Pearl’s arm. “This feels off, Pearl. We need to get the hell out of here before we end up in a bad situation.”
She turns and looks me right in the eye. Determination is etched into her face, and there’s fire in her stare. This is so far removed from our shy friend that I’m not sure how to take it. What the hell’s gotten into her?
“Look, I know this is all kind of weird, but honestly, this place is super exclusive and you guys are going to love it.” She brings a blue slip of card out of her purse and hands it to me.
It’s an invitation. “Wonderland After Dark,” I murmur as I open it.
The words seem to sparkle in a multi-colored rainbow against the midnight color of the card.
You’ve been chosen to experience everything our new night club has to offer before it opens to the general public. Come join the party this Saturday night, eight until late. Bring your closest friends.
I pass the card to Crystal and she reads it, her lips moving as her gaze skims over the words.
“Who gave you this?” I’m starting to wonder if someone could have a grudge against Pearl. Someone who wanted to bring her out to this ass-end of nowhere spot to do something fucked up to her. To us. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. It’s shady as fuck and we need to get out of here.”
She puts her head down and shrugs. “Look, if you guys want to go home, go. I need to go inside.”
She moves down the steps towards the dark area below. I glance at Crystal and see the horror in her eyes. Our usually shy and retiring friend isn’t letting us boss her around tonight. And it feels like she’s running head-first into trouble right now. I move after her before she can get out of my sight. I hear Crystal sigh deeply before she follows me.
I catch up to Pearl at the bottom, where there’s a hint of light along the side of the building.
“This could be dangerous,” I say with a lowered voice as I grab her arm again.
She stares me down again. “It’s not.”
She pulls away and moves towards the light quickly. I rush after her, my heart starting to pound hard enough to deafen me to the sounds of our heels and the quickening of my breathing. I stifle a shriek as Crystal bumps into me, and I turn, shaking my head at her. Scare the ever-loving shit out of me why don’t you?
I turn back just as Pearl disappears through a tunnel-like entrance point. There’s a neon sign above the strange doorway, declaring this to be Wonderland After Dark. My guts start to churn. I really hope this isn’t some kind of meeting place for psychos and killers. Shaking the bad feeling off, I rush down the dimly lit hallway, taking Crystal’s shaking hand in mine when she catches up. If nothing else, we need to make sure Pearl doesn’t get herself killed tonight.
The hall seems to twist a few times and by the time we’re at the end, looking back doesn’t show us the entrance. Shit. Should have left a trail of breadcrumbs. I look ahead as Pearl approaches a set of doors. When she pushes one open, I see the flashing lights and hear the music and my panic starts to settle. Huh. This is just a normal night club after all?
We follow Pearl into the other room. It looks like a night club. Kind of funky interior with black and white tiles on the floor and some of the walls and furry looking chairs and benches scattered around, with tables that look like mushrooms. There’s some sort of smoke machine in a corner, blowing blue-tinted smoke around. And there are people. Normal-looking, well dressed clubbers who don’t look like they might be concealing weapons in their clothes.
I relax a little, but Crystal looks sick to her stomach. It’s still pretty weird. I mean, the location is remote and there was no sign of life at the entrance. We just walked straight inside, no ticket or coat checks and no burly bouncers to keep out the rowdy drunks. I’m still trying to settle the unease over this when a short blonde woman in a short black dress with a tuxedo choker and black bunny ears ambles toward us.
“Hi, I’m Ally. Welcome to Wonderland After Dark. Can I take your coats?”
“This is for real?” Crystal blurts.
The blonde bunny-girl smiles. “It’s completely real. But you seem to have found your way inside through the back entrance. That’s for staff. The main entrance is way less sketchy.”
I’m relieved to hear it. This place seems kind of cool now that we’re inside. The impulse to leave abandons me. I want to see what their cocktail list looks like.
We remove our jackets and Pearl hesitates before approaching Ally. “Is Simon working tonight?”
Finally, the penny drops. She met a guy? This is a first.
“He’s around,” Ally tells her, shooting her a wink. “I’ll see if I can find him for you.”
“Simon?” Crystal sounds shocked. “The guy you lost the dare to?”
“Um, what?” I run back through the conversations we had at the apartment and I only remember Pearl being very tight-lipped about the dare that ended with her wearing a dress for the first time since I’d known her. How the hell does Crystal know it has something to do with a guy called Simon?
“Long story,” Pearl says, frowning at Crystal.
Ally has our coats in her arms now. She smiles again. “Go find a table and I’ll bring you some complimentary drinks.”
I open my mouth to ask for a cocktail, but she’s gone before I can get the words out. If they’re complimentary they probably suck ass but at this point I’m willing to risk the after-taste. I’m a little more pissed that my best friends are keeping a secret from me, than I am worried about what will quench my thirst.
“Looks like there’s a table over there,” Crystal points out.
It seems awfully close to the DJ booth, but I’m guessing that’s the reason she’s picking it. So they won’t have to hear how irate I am that Pearl asked Crystal to keep a secret about a guy. I frown at them both and storm ahead to get the best seat. They follow me over and I feel my head swirl as I turn to look out over the dance floor below. There’s glass paneling and a railing separating this upper level from the area below that contains the black and white tiled dance floor. The panels must have a special effect to them because the dance floor seems far away and everyone on it looks kind of weird and swirly. Watching them is starting to make the room feel like it’s spinning.
“Huh,” I say before I back away to sit down. Crystal has to pull Pearl to her seat because she’s obsessively scanning the room. This Simon guy must really be something.
“So, are you going to tell me what the hell’s going on?” I glance at Crystal first, because honestly, we live together and how the hell could she not tell me? Then I realize my voice was clear as a bell and that’s super weird because the music still seems loud. This booth must have some kind of sound proofing or something.
“It’s not really my story to tell,” Crystal yells, then winces when she realizes she doesn’t need to be loud. We both turn our gazes on our quiet friend.
Pearl picks imaginary lint off her dress, not raising her eyes. “He’s new in my building. He told me about this place and he gave me the invitation. I thought it would be nice for your birthday. It’s supposed to be super exclusive.”
“Not much of a long story,” I murmur, knowing there’s more to it and wondering why she isn’t telling us. I mean, me. Damn, it hurts knowing she told Crystal and not me.
“You pick apart any guy we start dating. It’s why she didn’t want to tell you.” Crystal shrugs.
Ruby’s Pride Page 2
