Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Seven
“Nalani, are you sure about this?” Lamont gently asks, his eyes filled with sadness as he holds my letter of resignation in his hands.

“I’m sorry, Monty. I’ve thought long and hard about this and as much as I liked working here and the people I’ve gotten to know, I just don’t think it’s in my best interest to stay. Recent events have caused me to have painful memories here and with what’s going on in my personal life, I think changing jobs would be good for my safety,” I delicately explain.

Finding work isn’t easy in this economy but for my wellbeing, I need to put myself on lockdown. I’m looking for new work and I’ll be sure to let my employers know not to hand my information out to anyone who asks no matter what. I’m also looking for a new place to live so I can start fresh. Making sure this guy couldn’t call me is one thing, but he knows where I live and he knows where I work, so the next best thing I can do is change that. Is there a chance he is watching my every move and will still figure out where I’m working and living? Yes, and that’s a fact that terrifies me, but I have to do something and sitting on my ass isn’t an option. I don’t have Julian or his ivory tower to keep me safe anymore. I have to be as proactive as I can, starting with quitting my job at the Starlight Lounge.

“You know we would do anything to help keep you safe, and if you need a raise, I can give you that. You’re my most valued worker here and if I’m honest, I’d miss the hell out of you if you left,” he says sadly.

“I’ll miss you guys too, I really will. But my mind is made up. This is what I have to do. It sucks, but it has to be done,” I respond with a kind smile.

Lamont gets up from behind his desk and walks over with his arms outstretched. I step into his arms as we embrace in a tight hug. A sense of grief washes over me, and I have to fight back the tears. A couple months ago my life was good. I was exhausted, but I was happy. Now everything seems to be falling apart. My work life, home life and my love life. Even my life-life. I hate that it has come to this.

“Your last paycheck will be in your account by the end of the week, I promise. But I want you to remember our doors are always open to you. If you ever need anything, anything at all, you know how to reach me,”  he swears.

I smile up at him and place a tender kiss on his cheek. “You were one of the highlights of working here. You take care of yourself, alright? And don’t let Karen walk all over you. You gotta remind her who is boss,” I preach, gently prodding his chest.

He chuckles, giving my arms a squeeze, “Things just won’t be the same here without you.”

“That means a lot,” I smile, touched by his words. “I better go clean out my locker.”

“Just remember what I said,” he presses.

“Got it locked in here,” I assure him, tapping my temple.

I make my way to my locker, putting everything in my bag and heading out saying a quick goodbye to everyone. As soon as I get in the car I feel a weight lifted off me. I feel like I’ve closed an ugly chapter in my life and am ready to turn the page. I still plan to quit my job at the diner as well, but for the time being, I need at least one source of income. So I’m going to keep looking for work and as soon as I’ve secured a new job, I’ll quit the diner.  Áine was pretty bummed when I told her my plans, but she understood, and she knows that this doesn’t mean we’ll stop seeing each other. Same goes for Irina. In fact, I’m about to go meet them for drinks.

I start up the car and drive off, heading to a cute little restaurant in WeHo we like to hang out at sometimes. With the craziness of everything, we haven’t been there together in ages, so this felt like the right time. I manage to find a park, get out and rush inside, immediately spotting Áine and Irina nursing a couple drinks in a corner booth. I smile and let the tension leave my body as I walk over and slide into the booth next to them.

“What are we drinking?” I ask brightly.

“Irina is having a vodka martini and I’m having a Bailey’s chocolate martini,” Áine announces.

“Not stereotypical at all,” I chuckle.

“So you’re saying there’s not a liquor or cocktail that people like to drink in the Dominican?” Irina challenges.

“There is, it’s called Mamajuana,” I proudly inform them.

“Did you say marijuana?” Áine double-checks with a look of surprise on her face, much to Irina’s and my amusement.

“No, I said Ma-ma-jua-na,” I sound out. “It’s a spiced drink made with rum, red wine, honey, tree bark and herbs. Kind of tastes like port.”

Irina makes a grossed-out face. “Sorry, Lani but that sounds vile. Rum and red wine? Seriously?”

“Don’t knock it till you try it. The one my mamá makes is ¡qué rico!” I exclaim smugly.

“Your mum makes alcohol?” Áine quizzes, her surprise only growing.

I smile nodding, “It’s kind of a homemade thing, so I guess it’s different in different households so naturally I have a bias towards my mamá’s.”

“I would love to try it sometime. Unless that’s culturally inappropriate,” Áine quickly adds.

Irina rolls her eyes, “Honey, there is such a thing as being too PC.”

“I just don’t want to disrespect her culture, that’s all,” Áine mutters sheepishly.

I smile and nudge her shoulder, “I would love to share some with you one day. I wonder if I can get my mamá to ship me a bottle for Christmas. You can get alcohol shipped over, can’t you?” I ask curiously.

“Who knows with the TSA these days,” Irina scoffs.

I quickly grab the attention of a passing waiter. “Hi, sorry, but could I get a Blue Hawaiian please?”

“Coming right up,” he says with a kind smile before scampering off to get my drink.

“So, how did Monty handle your resignation? Did he cry?” Irina teases.

“It was emotional. It’s nice to know I’ll be missed. I do have some really nice memories there, recent events notwithstanding.”

“The best memory of all being meeting me, of course,” Irina boasts, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

I playfully glance at Áine before smiling and nodding at Irina. “Sure, we can put that on the list.”

“Suka,” she gasps in faux dismay, throwing her napkin at me as Áine and I fall into a fit of giggles.

Áine sighs, “I’m going to miss you at the diner. Work just isn’t as tolerable when your best friend isn’t there.”

“I know,” I console her sympathetically. “But this isn’t goodbye. You two are my bestest friends in the whole entire world. If we don’t at least get together once a week then I will go crazy. And since a certain someone is living it up pursuing her music career, that once a week might have to turn into a group video chat,” I smirk playfully at Irina.

“Hey, I don’t care if I’m rich, famous and dripping in Grammy’s. No one is getting between me and my girls,” Irina swears.

“Then it’s a promise,” Áine beams. “We make time for each other no matter what.”

“No matter what. But don’t toast to that until I have a drink in my hand.”

“You’re definitely going to need it after I say what I have to say,” Irina tentatively announces.

Immediately I feel dread wash over me and those unpleasant gut bubbles rising in my stomach. The urge to check behind me starts to creep in and quickly my head begins to spin.

“You couldn’t have phrased that another way?” Áine chastises Irina.

“Nothing terrible has happened,” Irina quickly assures me, only easing my dread by a fraction.

“Then why did you sound all foreboding like that?” I prod, breathing through my anxiety as Áine rubs soothing circles on my back.

“Okay, so that’s on me. I was just going to say…Julian’s been calling me. He’s shown up to my place and left voicemails and text messages, all of him looking for you. I haven’t told him where you are because it’s none of his fucking business. I just thought you should know he’s clearly desperate to talk to you,” she informs me.

Just hearing his name causes a pang in my chest. Since I left the penthouse I blocked and deleted his number. He came to the diner a couple times but each time someone covered for me and told him I wasn’t there. Another reason I hope I find a new job soon. A stupid part of me still misses him and feels empty without him, and I hate myself for it. I thought despite of all the shit between us we’d gotten to a good place. I’d never admit this to Áine or Irina, but I was actually considering giving him a second chance, but after that night…all second chances were thrown down the garbage disposal.

The root of why things didn’t work between us wasn’t just in the fact he cheated, it was the why he cheated, and he’s proved to me that problem hasn’t gone away. Being kind and caring is all good and well, but when you don’t make an effort to fix your flaws knowing full well it was those flaws that ruined everything, then there is no hope for us. I feel empty without him, but I’d rather feel empty without him than miserable with someone who treats me poorly. All I can hope is that my leaving finally encourages him to get the help he needs. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you’re ready to make the necessary changes in your life. I just wish it didn’t take him repeatedly hurting me for him to realise that – if he even has.

“I guess he thinks I’m staying at your place,” I say sombrely.

“I doubt he’d think you’ve gone back to your place. I’m still shocked you went back there,” utters Irina flabbergasted.

“It’s only a temporary situation until I can save up enough money to get a new place.”

“You know you could stay with me,” Áine sweetly offers.

“I know,” I smile graciously, squeezing her hand as the waiter drops off my drink. I take a sip letting the cool, sweet liquid hit my system and wash the nerves away. “But I refuse to put either of you in danger when there’s still some creep after me.”

“So you didn’t mind putting Julian in danger,” Irina smirks. “How devious.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “It wasn’t like that,” I sigh glumly. “The worst my stalker was able to do while I was at Julian’s was send me photos. There was no way he was getting past the doorman or getting into Julian’s without a code. His place was just a safer option.”

“Have you found any good places yet?” Áine quizzes, sipping her drink.

I smile, grateful for the subject change. “Not yet. Prices in the area have gone up since I moved into my place, so the search is proving harder than I anticipated.”

“Hey, I would happily murder my neighbours so you can have their place,” Irina chirps. “And the fact it would be a death apartment would surely lower the price.”

“Neighbours still driving you crazy with their sexcapades huh?” I muse.

“It’s every fucking night. Sometimes twice a day!” Irina exclaims in exasperation. “And it’s not about jealousy or anything like that.”

“You sure about that?” Áine teases.

“Ha ha,” Irina sneers sarcastically. “There was a little jealousy at first, but now I can’t focus on writing music when all I can hear is those three screaming out each other’s names. I think they even installed a sex swing or something.”

“How could you possibly know that?” I inquire dubiously.

“Because I can hear this squeaky sound over and over again while they’re going at it, and it’s not like the squeak of a bed. Either way, they have some kind of apparatus in that place that is driving me nuts.”

“Have they responded to any of your letters?” Áine asks.

“They shoved back one of the letters I sent them with a sticker of a laughing emoji slapped over the front of it,” she grits with disdain.

“You didn’t insult them in the letter did you?” I accuse.

“Believe me, I wanted to, but no. I tried to think about how you two would write the letter. I told them I respected their lifestyle, but the constant noise was keeping me awake and stopping me from getting work done and that’s the response I got.”

“Can’t you go to the Super or whoever owns the building?” Áine asks with a frown.

Irina snorts, “I could, but he would give even less of a shit. I think it’s time to fight fire with fire.”

“That never ends well for anyone,” I warn her.

“Well, they shouldn’t have pissed me off or deprived me of sleep, especially when I tried to be nice. I think a few rancid stink bombs under their door might do the trick,” she says with a mischievous grin.

Áine puts her fingers in her ears, “La la la la la. I can’t hear this. I don’t want to be an accessory.”

I wrap my arm around Áine, giving her a hug as Irina and I chuckle. These two always manage to put a smile on my face. I don’t know what I’d do without them.

“Hurry up and finish your drink,” Irina orders me. “We’ve got more rounds to go, and you need to catch up.”

“You are so bossy,” I grumble.

“Yes, I am. Now drink up,” she grins unapologetically.

I slurp up my cocktail and try to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable hangover that awaits me tomorrow.


As I step out of the Uber, Irina quickly grabs me by the wrist yanking me back. I look down at her squinty eyes and rosy cheeks and hold back my laughter.

“What about your car?” Irina frets, her words coming out slowly as she strokes my hand like a dog.

“It’s okay. I’m going to walk to the restaurant tomorrow to pick it up,” I assure her.

Áine takes a hold of Irina and pulls her back into the Uber towards her, “Let Lani go aside,” she scolds her.

“You two get home safely,” I smile at them.

Irina waves and blows me kisses while Áine tries to keep Irina’s hands in her lap. “We’ll speak to you tomorrow,” Áine assures me.

I shut the door to the Uber, give my friends a final wave and make my way to the gate of my complex, retrieving my key and entering. It’s so funny how when Irina’s drunk she becomes this overly sweet, affectionate person, while Áine becomes more assertive and in control. Alcohol is a funny thing.

As I walk through the courtyard I hear the sound of rustling that makes me freeze in my tracks. My adrenaline spikes, my heart pounds and I immediately slip my keys between my fingers. I cautiously look around, my fear choking me. Suddenly I see something jump out of a nearby shrub and I let out a shriek of fright, clutching my chest only to see one of my neighbour’s cats staring at me like I’m crazy.

I slowly catch my breath and let out a relieved chuckle. “You scared the hell out of me Thackery.”

The cat merely meows and walks off, completely ambivalent to the fact it almost gave me a coronary. I take in another deep breath, brush my hair out of my face and make my way into my apartment building. As I stick my key in the door and unlock it I suddenly hear the fast steps of someone running. I look down the corridor, my eyes blowing wide in fear when I see a masked man rushing at me. Before I even have the chance to move I feel a sharp pain across my head and watch as everything suddenly goes dark.