Salaisuus
Finnish for Secret
The following Friday night, she made plans to go to Gypsys with her friends. She texted Justin to tell him this.
Justin: I’ll see you there.
Her: What?!
Justin: Relax! I’ll be with my friends. But look my way sometimes, okay?
Her: :-)
Justin: When you’re there, remember that there’s one SMOKING HOT guy in the bar who couldn’t take his eyes off you!
Her: Smoking hot? Who? Oh, did you mean you?
She smiled when she sent him that message.
Justin: The one and only! ;-)
Her: Let me get a needle. Your head needs deflating!
Justin: You’re unbelievable! LOL! See you later!
When she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she couldn’t help feeling proud. She curled her hair with an iron. It looked more reddish brown. She applied light pink blush and silver and gray eye makeup to emphasize her startling long-lashed green eyes. She wore a glittery white dress that ended a few inches above her knees and showed her perfect curves. The high-heeled sandals gave her extra height and extra allure.
Yuan gave her a missed call, which meant that they’re already in front of her building.
When they arrived at Gypsys, they immediately found themselves a spot in the center of the bar.
“It had to be in the middle of the floor, huh?” Adrienne rolled her eyes at Jill and Yuan.
“Of course. This is where the action is!” Jill replied, laughing.
A group of guys entered and walked to the bar in front of the bartender as if that spot was reserved for them.
“Manhattan rakes!” Jill swooned.
“It’s good to see Justin Adams back!” Yuan said.
Adrienne raised a brow. “What do you mean it’s good to see him back?”
Yuan shrugged. “Lately, he’s been out of circulation. No one saw him partying at all. His love… excuse me! Sex life seems pretty quiet.”
“Yeah. I have friends who blogs gossip here and there. And apparently, they don’t see him much these days. Before, he went to bars almost every night. Then it’s like he disappeared! How lucky could we be that he’s here tonight?”
Adrienne didn’t say anything. But she couldn’t help smiling, because she knows exactly where and how Justin had spent his nights lately. In his apartment or hers, watching movies, drinking on either of their balconies and only twice, poker nights with his friends.
Adrienne stared at the bar where Justin stood. He sported those light-tinted Cartier glasses again to shield his eyes. He leaned on the bar, holding a bottle of beer in his hand. He looked in their direction. Adrienne knew that Justin was watching her. And because she knew her friends weren’t looking, she smiled and winked at him. She noted the upward curl of his lips before she turned back to her friends.
After a couple of seconds, her phone beeped.
Justin: Stop flirting with me!
She bit back her lip to prevent herself from grinning widely in front of her friends. If they got too curious, they just might snatch the phone from her to look at what she was smiling about.
She sent him a response: Then stop staring at me!
Justin: Impossible. I couldn’t stop looking at you since the day I laid eyes on you. ;-) You’re a fox!
She grinned at her phone, then she straightened her face when she remembered she was with Jill and Yuan.
She sent another message to Justin: Now it’s your turn to stop flirting with me!
She looked over to his location. She found him staring at his phone and then he grinned widely at it. He looked at her for a while, the smile still pasted on his face, and then he typed something on his phone. Then she saw him bring it to his lips and kissed the screen. Then he looked at her again, smiling crookedly.
Her phone beeped again.
Justin: Justin Adams just gave Adrienne Miller a thorough kiss on the lips!
She couldn’t help giggling this time and she knew she began blushing all over. When she looked up, she found two pairs of curious eyes staring at her.
She cleared her throat. “Nothing. Kimberly sent a broadcast on chat. Medical joke. Wanna hear?”
Please say no!She silently prayed.
Jill wrinkled her nose and Yuan rolled his eyes. “No, thanks!” they said in unison, much to Adrienne’s relief.
After a bottle of Breezer, Adrienne excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. She went through the first door and found two other doors in front of her. The door on the left led to the men’s room and the other to the ladies’. She took the door to her right.
As she retouched her lip gloss, she noticed the women around her. Some of their outfits seemed too skimpy for her taste. She thought one or two girls had started hurling in one of the cubicles. Most of them still spoke about how many cute and available guys came that night and how each hoped to score one of them.
She couldn’t help wondering where she’d been all her life and what made her oblivious at how liberated the world had become. Was she really too prudish and too sheltered?
She went out the first door. As she reached for the handle of the second one that will lead her to the bar, it opened and two girls rushed inside. One had her hand to her mouth, obviously trying to make it to the ladies’ room to throw up but it didn’t look like she was going to make it. Unfortunately, this girl had come directly in front of Adrienne. She feared she was too shocked to react or stay out of the way. She watched in horror as the girl lunged forward and made a puking sound.
Suddenly, she felt somebody pull her waist and yank her out of the way. The girl vomited a meter away from her, much to her relief.
It took her a moment to realize that whoever pulled her still held her. She looked up and saw a pair of gorgeous aquamarine eyes. His hair was brown with a little tint of red. He was looking back at her in surprise as well. A sense of familiarity shot toward her, which made her aware that he was still holding her.
She took a step back from him. His eyes were narrowed, as if he was trying to place her. His face looked familiar too, which she found quite odd.
“Have…we met before?” he asked.
Standing half a meter away from him, she got the chance to look at him further. He was taller than her, probably as tall as Justin. He appeared lean, and the white long-sleeved shirt he wore outlined a bit of his well-toned physique.
She would have remembered meeting him. He was very—and she meant very—good-looking. Like he stepped out of the covers of a magazine. But she was positive she hasn’t seen him around yet. But something about him seemed oddly familiar.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Sorry. I thought I’ve seen you before.” He smiled, flashing her his perfect set of teeth and deep, adorable dimples on either side of his cheeks, just beside his lips. Then he reached forward and extended his hand to her. “I’m Jin. Jin Starck.”
She stared at his hand for a moment and decided to shake it. “Adrienne. Adrienne Miller.”
Adrienne heard a cough behind her. She turned around and found Justin, a grave look was plastered on his face. Immediately, she pulled her hand away from the guy.
The guy looked from her to Justin, and Adrienne saw the realization crossing his face. He took in the look on Justin’s face and immediately concluded that Adrienne was with him.
“Well, you’re welcome,” he said to Justin, his eyes glittering.
Justin shot an eyebrow up. “For what?”
“I just saved your girlfriend’s dress from going in the trash bin,” he said cheerfully. Then he stared at Adrienne and smiled. “See you around, Adrienne Miller.” He winked at her before he exited the room.
Adrienne turned to Justin who didn’t look too happy. “Yeah, a girl almost puked on me,” she said, pointing at the nasty vomit on the floor that was now being cleaned up by a female maintenance worker.
He glared at her for a long moment and then he shook his head.
“What?” she asked.
“You have ten seconds to get back to your table. Or I’m taking you there and you will have a lot of explaining to do to your friends,” he said in an arctic-clad voice.
“Justin…” she started.
“Ten… nine…” He started counting which made her panic. She quickly turned on her heels and she took a run for the exit.
Adrienne was panting when she got back to her table.
“What happened to you?” Jill asked.
It took a moment for Adrienne to compose herself. “Some girl almost puked on me.”
“And it’s only eleven, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the twenty-first century!” Yuan chuckled.
When she peered at the bar, she found that Justin had already gotten back to his seat. He had his back to her.
An ugly, guilty feeling gnawed her and she couldn’t understand it. Was she wrong to shake that guy’s hand? He introduced himself to her politely, and he saved her from a disastrous wardrobe emergency. It seemed only right to shake his hand, no?
Then why did she feel like she was cheating? Why did she feel like Justin had every right to be pissed off?
She took out her phone and started typing: Are you okay?
She didn’t receive a response. She kept looking at her phone and at the bar where Justin sat. He still had his back to her and it looked like he was drinking quietly.
She tried again. Hey, handsome! Smile, okay?
She saw Justin looking down, probably reading her message.
Finally, her phone beeped. Her heart skipped a beat as she read his message.
Justin: Can’t smile. Some guy ogled my girl.
She smiled at those last two words. My girl.
She replied: He was not ogling! And besides did you see her ogle back?
Justin: No. But I still feel bad. So, she has to make up for it!
Her: How?
She waited for like forever for his response. Then finally, her phone beeped again.
Justin: She has to go on a date with me. This time, I name the place and the terms.
She bit her lip. She had to keep herself from screaming her heart out.
Her: She says okay. But you have to remember the rules. Nothing public.
Justin: Nope. I said I will be the one to name the terms.
Adrienne sighed. She knew in her heart that she loved this guy. And he’d done so much for her. He knew what he’s doing. He promised not to pressure her. So she typed her answer and hit send: All right Mr. Adams! You got yourself a date!
After a minute he responded: Now, Miss Miller… I’m smiling all the way! :-)
She looked at him. True enough, he started looking in her direction, his lips curved in a smile that she knew was meant only for her.