We reached a tall guard by the entrance. He was standing behind a platinum podium, wearing a black, fitted t-shirt, and his arms and chest were extremely huge. You could see every fat vein popping out of his biceps. I swear if he flexed an inch his shirt would have ripped. He looked up at Jeremy and smiled. “Mr. McCullen, you should have called. I’m afraid we don’t have any VIP sections available, but I’m sure I can reserve a table for you near a bar.” Mr. Husky seemed polite and professional with his strong Boston accent.
Jeremy smiled in response. “Not to worry, Tony. A table for four will be fine; I have two other guests who will join us, David and Michelle. Can you make sure they’re on the list?”
David was a childhood friend of Jeremy’s. I only saw him and his new wife Michelle when we got together at Club21. They were more his good friends than mine. Tony jotted down the names, and let us in; the place was throbbing with a loud hip-hop beat.
Mr. McCullen had done such an amazing job with this place. It had a luxurious, modern design. The dance floor was large enough to accommodate roughly one hundred people comfortably. There were six glass bars surrounding the club. Each bar had a different color fluorescent light gleaming through. The high ceilings were covered in white silk drapes, and the VIP rooms were on the second level overlooking the dance floor. Each of the rooms had a glass wall, so VIP guests could look down to view the entire first floor. Some of the curtains were closed for privacy, and others were open.
I’d previously seen that the rooms were large enough to fit twenty people in each one. They were equipped with an oversized white sectional and a black ottoman. I had the pleasure of visiting a few of them, and they were all decorated the same way. Each room also was completed with a beautiful chandelier and dim blue lights. On warmer nights, guests were allowed to enjoy the oversized L-shaped underground swimming pool and deck out back.
Jeremy grabbed my wrist and led me to the back near the blue bar. Beside it was a U-shaped sofa with a table in the middle. We slid along the seat until we met in the middle. Before getting comfortable, we were greeted by a tall brunette. She wore a black, fitted dress and black pumps. Her hair was slicked back into a low ponytail. “Hello Mr. McCullen, what can I get for you and your guest?” she asked.
Jeremy glanced at me and I nodded. He knew what I wanted; he just wanted to double-check. “A Cosmo for her and a Grey Goose and tonic for me, thank you.” The waitress smiled and headed to the bar.
We didn’t have a VIP room, but the table was private enough and tucked in the corner near the bar. We were also able to view the stage and dance floor. It felt good to finally be free from reading case after case, studying, and dealing with the grief I suffered the past seven months. I just wanted a drink! Although I didn’t go out a lot, I made sure every Friday, either on my own or with Jeremy, to have a few glasses of wine to mellow out after a long week. This time I wanted liquor, not wine; I wanted to feel free, good, and relaxed.
The waitress returned with our drinks and three shot glasses.
I look at Jeremy confused; I didn’t hear him order shots. “Mr. DeLuca sent these over; he said he’ll be by once he greets a few people,” the waitress blurted and then left.
Raising an eyebrow at Jeremy, I freaked the hell out. “Mr. DeLuca who?”
He smiled. “Okay, so I kind of never told you that I know Marcus. He owns this club, and my father designed a few things for him.” He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his drink.
My eyes grew narrow. “You kind of never told me? And what about the externship? I knew you met him before and your father designed his office building, but I didn’t know he owned this club and that you guys were close.”
“Mia, we’re not best friends. We’ve had a few drinks before … mostly here when you were hibernating for the past seven months.”
“And the externship position?”
He bit down on his bottom lip nervously. “Well, Marc told me I have it. They just have to do the interview; it’s mandatory.” I rolled my eyes. I can’t believe this! Now I’m going to sit here all goo-goo gaga over this dude because my best friend failed to mention that the guy we are interviewing with on Friday not only owns this place but he fucking knows him personally! Great! I grabbed my drink and chugged it down. “Whoa, calm down, Mia! He’s cool; trust me. He’s not like these stuck-up snobby, rich kids you see at school.”
He had to be kidding me. “No he’s instead the richest and top lawyer of Boston! Jeremy, I’m not ready for this. This is my career we’re talking about. Yours is obviously set! The last thing I want is for my possible future to meet me in a club over drinks. I wanted to get drunk tonight and make a fool out of myself. Now I have to behave!” He didn’t move or say anything just looked at me with those blue eyes and a sympathetic smile. God! There’s no point; he would never understand. His entire life was rolled out in front of him like a red carpet. I spotted the waitress and lifted my glass. She nodded in response and worked her way back to the bar again.
I was so nervous. Just be yourself, Mia, everything is going to be okay. I took a few deep breaths. My empty glass was replaced with another Cosmo, I thanked the waitress and she left. I took small sips this time. Jeremy grabbed my hand, “Mia I’m sorry, okay. Trust me he’s cool.” His touch quickly calmed my nerves. He was right; I’d be fine. I was overreacting as I usually did when it involved my future. I took a few more sips and calmed.
After what seemed like forever, I was on my fourth Cosmo and third shot. I was extremely relaxed. Still no DeLuca, but we finally met up with David and Michelle. Michelle is from England, and her accent is pretty cool, though a little hard to adjust too. She met David in her hometown when he traveled there for business. David does some work for an advertising firm and travels a lot. They fell in love, and she followed him here. Three years later they were married and had a four-month-old baby boy.
The boredom that overtook me when Michelle spoke of diaper changes and different formulas that their son couldn’t keep down was beginning to kill my buzz. I finished my fourth Cosmo and waved my hand at the waitress for another drink.
“So yeah, other than that, our little one is an angel.” Michelle giggled while reaching for her cell phone. She began to search for something. God, she was going to show me pictures, please no! Sure enough her screen was in front of me with the image of a big green-eyed baby. If it weren’t for the blue shirt and hat, I would’ve mistaken him for a girl. He was cute but nothing to go all aw about.