“But why wash out the hair color to come here?” I asked, knowing she’s not the type of person to care what people think of her.

“Because, Vick, what you don’t know about me is that this is home…” she said softly and her face paled as if the words were painful for her.

“What do you mean? You’re from New York City?” I asked with a surprised tone. I knew she wasn’t from Thunder Bay because it was a small enough town to know who’s who, but I figured she came from one of the bigger cities in Canada since she didn’t like to talk about her past.

“Yeah, Vick, I’m from here, my family lived not too far away from this building,” she admitted. “I know what you are thinking. Why have I lived this poor life on the streets and just barely getting by when I was born rich, right?” She wrapped her arms around her waist and gave her arm a small rub almost as if she was consoling herself.

“Nessa, you know I’m not judging you, if you want to share with me I’m listening. I was just surprised to see you….so …..uh….blonde…” I repeated the word blonde because it still hadn’t settled with me. I leaned forward and gave her a small hug. She rubbed my back.

“Sorry, Vick, you were talking about this long lost father in New York, and well, I thought it was pretty ironic. I mean what are the chances of meeting some drunk girl in a bar in Thunder Bay, Ontario and our stories are so similar, right?” she laughed to herself. Her voice was shrill and her hand landed on her chest almost as if she was controlling her laughter, or maybe she was trying to steady herself. She was speaking so fast that I could tell she was nervous. She was making me nervous.

“I don’t understand what you are saying…” I trailed off. I was suddenly panicked that Bryce had another long lost daughter and the color must have drained from my face.

“Oh no, honey,” Nessa responded quickly. I think reading into my assumption. “We don’t share the same daddy. My daddy is in politics, not business, even though those two things are closely knit together here in America,” she explained and I exhaled a long breath. I don’t know why the thought just didn’t sit well with me.

“Are you okay to be back here?” I asked, worried. She must have left this place at such a young age because something wasn’t good for her here.

“Yeah, I wanted to be close to you, maybe it was a sign that I should come home. I had dyed my hair black because I was a missing child, Vicky, and I didn’t want to be found, but now I am grown up, no one can force me back anywhere. I just need to find a way to stand on my own two feet. Maybe I can find a job tending bar or waitressing like I did back in Thunder Bay.”

I didn’t want to press Nessa knowing that family trouble could be hard to discuss. Clearly there was a reason she left this lavish style of living after her mom died. Her father must be a real jerk.

“Yeah, so I was kind of telling you on the phone the other night….I met a man,” I paused, as if I told her I was growing a third boob and her eyes widened as if I did say I was. After explaining the situation with Luc, she plastered on a happy face, probably because she didn’t believe in happily ever after’s and she didn’t want to rain on my parade. I’m not sure I believed in them either. The only thing I did know was that Luc was one of the good guys and thinking of him caused my lips to curve up.

“I told Luc I would text him, we made plans to grab dinner. You should join us,” I knocked her shoulder.

“No way, Vick. I don’t want to be a third wheel,” she said shaking her head continuously.

“Don’t be ridiculous, besides I have an idea,” I drawled.

“Oh yeah, what?” She looked at me intrigued and I could only imagine she had a party on her mind. “How are the parties here? Are they as good as back home?” she asked with excitement in her tone. Yup, I knew it!

“Ness, I’m not doing parties anymore, I told Luc that I would try the relationship thing with him,” I explained hesitantly. I knew she would feel like she was losing her party mate but there was more to our friendship than parties anyway. As I predicted she pouted.

“I told you I have an idea, we are going on a double date,” I giggled like a schoolgirl. I, Vicky Molino, am giddy.

“Excuse me, Vick, did I hear you right?” she asked, widening her bright blue eyes. Without the heavy black makeup around her eyes and the jet-black hair she actually looked like a southern belle. I was still trying to get used to this new look, she was beautiful and sexy either way, this was just different.

“I have a cousin I met today, he seemed nice. I am going to ask Luc to see if Brad wants to join us for dinner. He knows I’m Bryce’s daughter. Bryce sent him to me because he ditched me for lunch today.”

“I’m sorry, Vick,” Nessa said, placing an arm on my shoulder trying to gauge my emotions.

“No worries, Bryce is a busy man, I am trying to understand,” I said, while I typed a text to Luc on my phone. His response was just as funny as Nessa’s. Brad was a womanizer and he asked if I was sure I wanted to expose Nessa to him. To me, Brad seemed kind and friendly and we shared a similar past. The four of us had been orphaned even though for Luc and I, we were grown up when it happened.

Me: Luc please just set this up. It will be fun!

Luc: Anything for you pretty girl.

I stood up from the couch and rolled my eyes at his text, even though it caused a warm delicious feeling to circulate through my body.

“Okay, I am going to take a shower, Ness, did you settle into the empty room?”

“Yeah, I didn’t bring much with me but it’s all in bedroom one, I’ve showered already. Do I need to change into a dress or something?” she said, looking down to her ripped jeans and t-shirt.

“Uh maybe, yeah… but nothing too slutty, Ness, you know how it is on this end of town,” I said referring to the richer end of town. Even the sex parties had been classy.

“You got it, babe, I will go change,” she huffed. “Who would have thought I would be blonde and double dating,” she called out as she left the main room. I threw my head back laughing because if anyone would have bet me that this is where I would be a month ago, I would have told them they were batshit crazy.

***

Not even an hour later, Luc was knocking on the door dressed in the black leather jacket that he wore the first night we met. As I leaned in to kiss him the smell of the leather wafted up my nose, boosting my libido into overdrive. How was I going to get through an evening on a double date without having to jump his bones?

A moment later Nessa came out to the main room, her blonde hair blown out and wearing a purple slinky dress.

“Luc, this is my friend Nessa from back home,” I said introducing the two of them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Luc,” Nessa said, extending her hand. Luc shook her hand in return.

“Nice to meet you,” he replied with his raspy accent. Nessa looked over to me approvingly, and I couldn’t help the giggle that erupted in my chest. A moment later we had grabbed our jackets and went down to the black SUV that was parked in its usual spot in front of the building. The drive to the restaurant was quiet and I could feel Luc’s heated gaze on me the whole time. When he took my hand in his, I gave it to him willingly. The SUV stopped in front of a posh bar and Luc continued to hold my hand as we made our way to the front door. It was a cool night with a brisk wind and as usual the streets of Manhattan were bustling. A moment later another black SUV pulled up to the curb and Brad stepped out. He looked like he was ready for a night on the town in a white button down shirt that was fitted to his muscular body. The first couple buttons had been purposefully left open revealing a sculpted chest. He looked smart with a pair of slim black dress pants. His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness as he saw Luc, Nessa, and I standing out front waiting for him.