�Oh shit,� that I noticed a tall lean honey blonde woman casting not too subtle glances in our direction.
�What�s wrong? Who is she?� I asked.
�The girl that�s eyeballing us is Jessica�s best friend, Kim. She�s more trouble than Jessica and twice as slutty except she�s more clever. She hates me and I feel the same about her.�
I was just about to ask Nick if he had dated her but the look in his eyes told me that question wasn�t necessary.
�Got damn it,� he muttered. I looked up and Kim was walking a direct path toward us. She was wearing a light blue mini halter dress with silver strappy sandals. I could see diamonds ablaze at her ears and throat. She was carrying a drink in one hand.
�Hey Nicky, long time, no see,� she said gaily.
�Yeah, too bad it couldn�t have been longer,� he replied.
�Oh Nicky, is it necessary to be so hostile?�
�What do you want Kim?�
�I just came over to say, �Hi!� and meet your new friend,� she said looking at me and putting emphasis on �friend�.
�I�m Alexis Blair,� I said proudly sticking out my hand, �and you are?�
�Kim Moore,� she replied shaking my hand. Then, �Blair�.where have I heard that name? Oh, you�re not Dominique Blair�s daughter are you�.you know the model? Well I guess if you are her daughter of course you would know. Well are you?�
�No, I�m not.�
�Wow, really? Well how in the world did you two meet? Nick�s always dating heiresses. There was that hotel heiress and of course Jessica. Her father is a movie director, you may have heard of him, Zach Andrews. He can make or break a career. I swear, if I didn�t know you Nick I would think you didn�t have any money of your own. So where did he find you?�
�On tour, I�m one of their stylist,� I replied. Nick poked me but I ignored him.
�Oh well, how convenient. Puts a whole new spin on finding good help these days doesn�t it. Well, you get a girlfriend and a stylist all in one, Nicky,� she replied. �Well I hope Nick is showing you a good time�.. while you�re here,� she said.
�We�re having a great time, thanks,� I said dismissively.
�That�s good. Ciao you two,� she said before walking away.
�Why did you tell her all of that?� Nick asked as soon as she was out of earshot.
�I wasn�t about to hide who I am and what I do. I�m proud of that and I�ve worked hard for it. Plus I didn�t tell her anything she didn�t already know. I�d bet Jessica has already told her best friend everything that happened on the tour. You and I have appeared in the papers a couple times so she knows we�re dating or at the very least that I�m here in LA and we�re hanging out together. Ms. Moore was just feeling me out. Trying to gain information and allude to things that just aren�t true. Like that whole heiress crack. Please, I�m a fan so, I know every girl you dated was not an heiress. She was trying to ruin my night. . . . our night. She was trying to intimidate me but I�m from New York. We don�t get intimidated, we intimidate,� I said brushing a stray hair out of my face. I was feeling slightly agitated by that whole encounter. Nick stared at me open mouthed.
�What?� I asked.
�That was incredibly. . . hot,� he said.
�Was it?� I asked leaning closer to him.
�Yeah, I�m a little turned on.�
�Well, I can be a lot hotter,� I returned. He leaned over and nuzzled my neck which tickled and caused me to giggle. He pulled away slowly.
�As for Kim, that wasn�t as bad as I thought it would be but then again she was just being nosy and she was sober. She has more venom when she�s drunk,� he said.
�One more thing, then I don�t want to talk about that girl for the rest of the evening, I thought only I could call you �Nicky�?� I pouted.
�She does it to piss me off and that�s all she�ll call me. And actually no one is allowed to call me �Nicky� not even you, makeup girl,� he said drop a quick kiss on my lips. I stuck my tongue out at him when he pulled away but, he ignored it.
We danced a total of two times, preferring the semi-privacy of the booth. Mostly we sat in the booth canoodling, taking in the scene around us and sipping drinks. I mostly drank since Nick was driving. Eventually, I got up and excused myself to the ladies room.
I was at the mirror reapplying lip gloss when Kim stumbled out of a stall.
�Well look who it is,� she said. I didn�t answer. �Aren�t you a cute one? I never thought Nick would be into your type.�
�And what exactly is my type?�
�Oh you know. . . black girls. In fact, I think of all his girls you�re the first one. Did the B. Boys play in South Central?�
�Ok, first I�m not from South Central or California for that matter. Second, I think you need to shut up, now.�
�You can�t tell me what to do! I hope you know you�re only temporary. Nick just needed a little change.�
�No, what Nick needed was a girlfriend that has less baggage than LAX.�
�Whatever. He�ll be back with Jessica in no time.�
�Yeah, I wouldn�t hold my breath if I were you.�
�Who do you think you are? I�m getting tired of you talking down to me.�
�Well I�m getting tired of you talking at all, goodnight,� I said turning to leave. Once my back was turned she grabbed a hank of my hair and pulled saying,
�It�s not weave, I�m shocked.�
I saw red. You do not touch my hair, especially after it took me close to two hours to straighten it. I turned and shoved her. She stumbled backwards and fell right on her butt.
�If I were you, I�d stay down there. The next time you touch me or try to touch me you�re going to find out where I�m from the hard way,� I said and then left the ladies room. I went back to where Nick sat in our booth.
�I�m ready to go,� I said.
�What? Sit down. What�s going on?� he said. I slid into the booth next to him.
�I�m ready to go,� I said again.
�Why? What happened?� he asked.
�That little bitch, Kim practically waylaid me in the ladies room. I don�t want to give her another chance to try and attack me because then I�m going to have to fuck her up.�
�Wait she attacked you?�
�Hello? Have you been listening? She waylaid me in the ladies room. She pulled my hair so, I shoved her and she fell on her ass. When I left her she was still sitting on the floor.�
�You sure you want to leave? She might not bother you, anymore.�
�Oh I�m sure. She�s drunk and she looks like an angry, violent drunk to me. I don�t need that. I�m ready to go.�
�Ok, let�s go.�
We went down to the first floor and headed for the front door. Once we made it outside we headed for the parking lot.
�Are you running away, stupid bitch?� Kim yelled from the entrance of the club. Don�t answer her, I thought.
�That�s ok! He�ll drop you soon! Nick doesn�t like dark meat!
Something inside me snapped. I stopped and turned. I saw the crowd of people standing around waiting to get in and watching the scene as it unfolded. I saw the paparazzi barely concealing themselves. One of them even snapped a picture. But I didn�t care.
�How in the hell would you know what Nick likes? I know he doesn�t like you or your whoring knocked up friend. What�s the matter? Are you jealous that I got him before you?� I said. She was caught momentarily off guard by my question.
�Whatever bitch, I don�t want him.�
�Good then, mind you business and leave us the hell alone,� I said. �Or do you need me to teach you another lesson like the one I taught you in the ladies room?� She lunged for me but whoever was with her caught her and held her back.
�Let me go!�
�Oh I wish you would hit me. It would give me a great pleasure to fuck you up,� I said vaguely noticing a few cameras flashing and some people in the crowd yelling, �Let her go!� and �Chick fight!�
�Come on Alexis,� Nick said into my ear and taking hold of my arm. �Let�s go.� I turned and followed him to the car.
�Stupid black bitch!� Kim yelled.
�Dirty white whore!� I threw over my shoulder. Nick practically dragged me back to the truck. It wasn�t until I got out of earshot of Kim�s slurs that I calmed down.
�You ok?�
�Yeah I�m fine.�
�I am so sorry. I had no idea she would be there otherwise we could have gone somewhere else.�
�It�s not your fault,� I said. �I�m ok, I could have taken her if I needed to. I can fight without my Vaseline and braiding down my hair.�
He started laughing then, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me soundly. When we broke apart, we smiled at each other.
�Come on, let�s get out of here before one of those cameramen decide to come over here.�
We didn�t talk much on the way back to my hotel. We had the radio on and sat in a comfortable silence until we got back to the hotel.
�I feel bad,� Nick said suddenly as we pulled up in front of my hotel.
�What do you feel bad about?� I asked.
�Your night was ruined,� he said simply.
�Yeah but that wasn�t your fault. I was having a great time up until I met Kim.�
�I still feel like I had something to do with it,� he said. Then, �Hold on. I have an idea that�ll make this night better.�
�Where are we going?� I asked as he made a sharp U-turn.
�You�ll see,� was all he would say. We drove for a while. We got on the freeway and I was really beginning to get curious. Eventually I began to see the coastline and the ocean come into view. I hoped we were going to the beach.
