Rejected: A love story-Chapter 44: You’re dressed way too cute for a latte
The car slowed down, but we weren’t in front of a quiet café like I expected. Instead, Julian pulled up to a curb lined with neon lights and a long queue of people waiting behind velvet ropes. The muffled thud of a heavy bassline vibrated through the car doors.
I looked out the window, my eyes widening. "Wait, Ella... I thought we were getting coffee or a quiet drink?"
"Coffee?" Ella laughed, grabbing her purse. "Fiona, look at you! You’re dressed way too cute for a latte. You need to dance that stress away. A little loud music is exactly what the doctor ordered."
Julian killed the engine and hopped out, coming around to open my door. He leaned against the frame, the flashing blue and purple lights of the club entrance reflecting in his eyes. "Trust me, Fiona. This place has the best ’drinks’ in the city. And if you really want coffee, they probably have an espresso martini with your name on it."
I hesitated, looking back toward the road that led to the mansion. I had told Anne it was just coffee, and I had told Nathan I’d be back by 9:00 PM. But standing here, away from the heavy silence of the Keith family and the haunting image of that little boy, the chaos of the club felt inviting.
"Fine," I said, a daring smile tugging at my lips as I stepped out onto the pavement. "But if I’m late, I’m blaming both of you."
"Accepted," Julian joked, gesturing for us to head toward the front of the line.
As we walked toward the entrance, the "thump-thump" of the music grew louder, shaking the very ground beneath my feets. I felt a surge of adrenaline. I expected to wait at the back of the long line, but Julian didn’t even pause. He walked straight to the front of the velvet ropes with a confident stride.
The large bodyguard at the door, who looked like he could stop a truck, saw Julian and immediately broke into a grin. "Julian! Good to see you again, man," he said, holding out a hand for a quick, familiar handshake.
"You too, Marcus," Julian replied easily. He gestured toward Ella and me. "They’re with me."
The bodyguard nodded and pulled the rope back instantly, gesturing for us to go ahead. "Enjoy yourselves, guys."
"See? Perks of knowing the right people," Julian whispered to me with a wink as he led us inside.
The moment we stepped through the double doors, a wall of heat and sound hit me. The club was packed, the air thick with expensive perfume and the smell of gin. Strobe lights cut through the darkness, flashing over a sea of people moving on the dance floor.
It was a world away from the quiet, stifling dinner I had just escaped. I followed Ella and Julian as they moved through the crowd toward a booth in the corner, feeling the rhythm of the music deep in my head. Julian led us to a leather booth overlooking the dance floor. He waved over a server and ordered a round of drinks before I could even decline.
"So," Julian said, leaning back and resting his arm along the top of the booth. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the beat. "How does it feel to be out of the ’castle’ for a night?"
"It’s... a lot louder than I expected," I admitted, looking at the flashing lights. "But I think I needed the noise."
"Everyone needs a break from the Keiths," Julian said with a knowing look. "I’ve heard they can be a bit... intense."
"That’s an understatement," Ella chimed in, leaning toward me. "Drink up, bestie! Forget your stress for the next two hours".
[Switch Pov--Narrator’s]
Back at the mansion, the atmosphere was the polar opposite. The dining room was silent except for the sound of Leo’s fork scraping against his plate.
Nathan sat perfectly still, his phone face-down on the table next to his hand. He hadn’t touched his steak in ten minutes. Every few seconds, his eyes flickered toward the grand clock in the hallway.
"She should have been back by now if it was just coffee," Natasha said casually, sipping her wine. She didn’t look at Nathan, but her voice was filled with a fake sort of concern. "The junction is only five minutes away. Maybe her ’friend’ decided to take her somewhere else."
Nathan’s jaw tightened. "She said she’d be back by nine."
"She’s a young girl, Nathan," Gabriel said, not looking up from his meal. "Young people get distracted. Though, I must say, the way she was dressed didn’t look like she was going for a quick caffeine fix."
Nathan didn’t answer. He picked up his phone and checked the GPS tracker he had for his cars, only to remember she hadn’t taken one. He tapped his fingers on the table, his impatience turning into a cold, simmering tension.
He looked at the empty seat across from him, then at the clock again. It was 8:45 PM.
The grand clock in the hall struck the quarter-hour with a heavy, ominous chime. Nathan was no longer sitting at the dinner table. He was pacing the length of the foyer, his phone clutched in his hand.
Gabriel and Anne had moved to the parlor to have tea with Leo, but Natasha remained in the doorway of the dining room, watching Nathan with a sharp, calculating gaze.
"She’s late, Nathan," Natasha pointed out softly. "Quite late for a ’coffee’ date."
Nathan ignored her, his thumb hovering over the screen. He couldn’t take it anymore. He hit the speed dial for Fiona.
He held the phone to his ear, his eyes fixed on the front door, expecting to hear the car pull up at any second. Instead, a muffled, melodic ringing began to echo from somewhere nearby.
Nathan followed the sound, his heart sinking with every step. He walked toward the stairs and stopped at Fiona’s door, the ringing tone was more louder. He opened the door and saw the phone vibrating on the table.
There, sitting right next to her abandoned textbook, was her phone. It lit up in the dim light, displaying "Nathan" across the screen in big, bold letters.
The ringing stopped, leaving the room in a suffocating silence.
Nathan picked up the device, his knuckles turning white. She was out there, somewhere in the city, with a "friend" and a brother he didn’t know, and she had no way for him to reach her.
"Oh dear," Natasha whispered from behind him, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "She left her phone? That’s... unusual. I wonder if she did that on purpose so she wouldn’t be disturbed."
Nathan turned on her, his eyes flashing with a terrifying coldness. "Enough, Natasha! And stop following me"
He looked back at the silent phone in his hand. The trust he had talked about earlier was still there, but it was being drowned out by a dark, possessive spark of jealousy he couldn’t control.
[Back to Fiona’s Pov]
Inside the club, the energy was infectious. Julian leaned closer to me, his voice cutting through the heavy bass. "This song is too good to sit through. Come on, Fiona. One dance."
I shook my head immediately, laughing as I pulled my cardigan tighter around my shoulders. "No, no way. I’m a terrible dancer, Julian. I’ll just stay here and watch you and Ella."
"Oh, stop it!" Ella cried, grabbing my wrist and tugging at me. "You are not sitting in this booth like a grandmother. You look stunning, the music is perfect, and you need to let go of all that tension. Just one song!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"I really shouldn’t," I protested, my eyes darting toward the crowded floor. "I’m not exactly in the right headspace."
"That’s exactly why you need to move," Julian insisted, standing up and offering his hand. He didn’t look demanding, just genuinely fun. "I promise I won’t let anyone step on your toes. Just follow Ella’s lead."
Ella didn’t give me a choice. She got behind me and literally pushed me out of the booth. "Go! Go! Go!" she cheered.
I finally gave in, a genuine laugh breaking through my hesitation. We pushed into the center of the crowd where the lights were a blur of violet and gold. At first, I was stiff, just swaying slightly, but Ella started doing a ridiculous dance move that made me double over with laughter. Soon, I was moving with them, the loud, pulsing rhythm drowning out every worry about my overthinking problem. For a few minutes, the world was just the beat of the music and the freedom of the dance. The lights in the club suddenly shifted to a deep, sultry red as the DJ transitioned into a slower, heavier groove. I was out of breath, my skin glowing under the strobe lights. The music was so loud I could feel it in my bones, and for once, the constant noise in my head had stopped.
Ella laughed, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. "Okay, okay! My legs are killing me," she shouted over the music, leaning toward my ear. "I’m going to go grab our booth before someone steals it. You two stay! Don’t let this song go to waste!"
"Ella, wait—" I started, but she was already weaving through the sweaty bodies toward the corner where our drinks were waiting.
I turned back to Julian. Without Ella there as a buffer, the space between us felt a little smaller. He didn’t seem to mind. He moved with an easy confidence, his eyes locked on mine. He wasn’t staring at me like he was nervous, because I was. He was just looking at a girl he thought was beautiful. So I thought.
"You’re actually a great dancer, Fiona," Julian said, stepping a bit closer so I could hear him. "You just had to stop overthinking it."
"I think I’ve spent the last twenty-four hours doing nothing but overthinking," I admitted, finally letting my shoulders relax. I moved with the beat, the hem of my mini skirt swaying with my hips.
Julian smiled, a genuine, warm expression. "Well, tonight is for ’under-thinking.’ Forget whatever you’re thinking, just be here."
He held out his hands, and I took them. His palms were warm, and he led me into a slow, rhythmic movement. It wasn’t the stiff, formal dancing that I knew of. It was loose and free. For a second, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirrored wall of the club—I looked young. I looked happy.
Julian leaned in closer, his chin hovering just above my hair. "You know, my sister didn’t mention how much you smile when you’re not worried about the world ending."
I laughed, looking up at him. "The world isn’t ending. It’s just getting... complicated."
"Complicated is boring," Julian murmured. He spun me around, and as I came back toward him, his hand rested briefly on the small of my back. It was a friendly gesture, but in the heat of the club, with the music pulsing and the rose lipstick on my lips, it felt like a bold reminder that there was a whole world outside of Nathan Keith’s shadow.
