4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Erik

" H ey Erik, thank you for coming. This is sort of an intervention," My friend Annette says when she opens up the door to let me in.

"Oh, really? Then I'm sorry I brought wine."

"You'll need it." She says, taking it off my hands.

I sit on the comfy couch at my friend Max's house. It's really a McMansion that he had built once the club exploded into fame. I bought a lot near here, but my house is not nearly as fancy as Maxwell's.

"Are you in on this intervention as well, Max?"

He looks a tad pained.

"A bit. But I did have some reservations."

I sit back and accept the wine glass Anne hands me. I bought the good stuff so I take a sniff and then swish the beautiful amber liquid in my glass. When I take a sip, all the flavors open up in my mouth. I'm not too bothered by whatever my friends are planning.

"So why exactly am I here?"

"You haven't been yourself lately, and we've gotten worried."

"How so?" I frown.

"You're quick to anger, and you shut yourself in your office. I haven't heard one piece of gossip from you in the past month. That's how serious this is."

Annette is not wrong about my changes, but I'm not going to concede that I need help just yet.

"There's a lot of work with us trying to get another location open," I explain.

"You've never let something like that overshadow your personality," Max says.

Max has known me for twelve years, and I can't hide much from him. In truth, I've always kept my secrets close to the vest and have never allowed them to get me down. Recently, things have changed.

"When was the last time you went out on a date?" Annette asks.

"Six months, maybe more."

"Why have you stopped? What's going on?"

"I'm not really sure, Anne. My hunting ground has always been our club, but lately, the women feel so, I don't know, empty?"

"Sure, they come to the club to get it on with rich guys. You used to be okay with that."

"Not anymore."

I really didn't know what had changed inside me, but I felt it happening and couldn't stop it. Now, I feel lost in a sea of beautiful faces and bodies that I definitely don't want anywhere near me.

"Have you ever been in love, Erik?" Anne asks frankly.

This question sends a chill through me. Yes, I've been in love. No, I do not want to talk about it, not even with my best friends.

"Can we change the topic?"

"I know I'm being overly nosy, but this is important, Erik."

"Once. A long time ago."

"Why did it end?"

"I went away to college, and the long-distance thing didn't really work. After I broke things off, I never went back to my hometown."

"You haven't been back in twelve years? I didn't know that." Max retorts.

"I'm embarrassed to say that I used to be ashamed of coming from a small town like Woodland Falls. So when I had the chance, I put as much distance away from it as I could."

Not to mention that every year that I don't show up for Christmas, my mother's heart is broken a little bit more. I can't go back there. That life, those people. I'm afraid if I go back, I won't be able to leave again. I've made a life for myself with my partners at the nightclub here in Miami. That is all I need.

"Do you ever miss it?" Anne asks.

"No. Yes." I hesitate. "No."

"Okay, we need to go visit this place. When could we go, baby?" She turns to Max.

I jump up from my seat, fear flowing through me.

"No, I forbid it. My two worlds need to stay apart."

"No worlds colliding and all that shit?" Anne snorts. She knows me so well.

"No."

"So let me set you up with someone. I can screen them so that they're not vapid and superficial."

"I'm tired, Anne. I don't want to do that song-and-dance show. It drains me."

"What about a vacation? To any place in the Caribbean you want." Max offers.

His features are serious. Max is not a man who makes jokes, but I know how difficult things would be without me at the office. I'm not irreplaceable, but the marketing department is the heart of our business. It's how we get people in the club and how we will be able to open another location sometime soon.

"My work helps me get my mind off my troubles."

"It's not working anymore, Erik. Work is not the distraction it used to be for you. You need to do something else."

"We love you, man. We want the best for you." Max says.

We do a group hug, and then we start joking around like usual. It helps me relax, knowing that my friends have my back. I drink so much that I have to stay in their guest room even though my house is a couple of blocks away. Before falling asleep, I let my mind drift to the one person I don't want to remember—the one person who loved me and let me down.

I try to never think of her. She's my weakness. For the longest time, I thought what we had had to be something that happens once in a lifetime, but as the years went by, I became convinced that it was an illusion. Besides, she would never take me back. Not after I hurt her so much.

Sometimes, I want that dream back, and I would give anything to have it.