Chapter Thirty: Ezra

“Hi, this is Lacey. Leave me a message, and I’ll—” With a grunt of frustration, I pressed the end button on the phone and tossed it aside, fuming. It had been three days since Lacey had stormed out of the club. Three days and I hadn’t heard from her or spoken to her even once. My multiple efforts to stop by her apartment and confront her face-to-face had proved unsuccessful, as her door was always locked, and she refused to open up.

“Hey, boss,” Tilly said gently, staring at me over the bar counter. “Have you gotten much sleep?”

I didn’t answer because it didn’t matter. Sleep didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except for Lacey, and until I could fix that, rest was put on the backburner.

“Should I go over there again?” I asked instead, twirling the whiskey around in my glass. I didn’t even know what time it was, and I didn’t care. Booze was the only thing keeping me sane at this point. “I can wait outside her door. She has to leave at some point, right?”

Tilly said nothing for a long moment as she dusted the glasses under the counter, but I could see the concern in her eyes. “I think she just needs some time alone,” she said softly. “This has been difficult for her, Ezra. Maybe a break is what the two of you need to sort out your own shit, you know?”

“No, I don’t know.” The words came out harsher than intended, but Tilly didn’t flinch, so I continued. “She’s my best friend, Til, and I need her. I need her here, with me. We’ve never—” I hesitated, swallowing. “We’ve never really been apart.”

“I know,” she said. “I know, Ezra. But the harder you go after her, the more likely she will pull away, you know?”

I did know. I just didn’t want to accept it.

“I can’t stop trying,” I said finally. “Not until she talks to me. Forgives me. I need to see her.”

Before Tilly could answer, a patron pulled her away to make a drink, and I resumed working on my whiskey. As I was about to ask Tilly for another, a beautiful woman approached me from the side, flashing a dazzling smile at me.

“Hi,” she said, and I smiled politely.

“Hi.”

“You’re Ezra, right? The owner of this place?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Cassie.”

“Hi, Cassie.” I nodded once in her direction, but that’s all I could muster. Since Lacey’s running out, the last thing I felt like I wanted to do was to hook up with some random girl. I just didn’t have it in me, not anymore. But the woman in front of me was relentless, clearly not reading the mood.

“My friends have told me wonderful things about you,” she said, pushing her chest out to make her breasts more prominent. Her v-cut was so low that she might as well have not been wearing a shirt at all.

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” I said, focusing on the bar counter. “I’m not the same person I once was.”

“How so?” she purred, coming closer. “You look like you know how to show a lonely lady a really good time.”

I chuckled humorlessly and shook my head, wishing the girl would do us a favor and just leave. “Maybe once upon a time,” I said quietly. “But not now.”

Probably sensing that she wasn’t going to get what she wanted from me, Cassie pretended to be distracted by someone across the dance floor, flashing me a weak smile before she turned and walked away, looking disappointed.

“I’m worried, Ezra,” Tilly said, watching the woman depart. “You need to get yourself together.”

“Don’t worry about me,” I said, waving my hand for a drink refill. I checked my cell phone. Nothing. “I’ll survive. I always do.”

As Tilly walked away, however, I couldn’t help but wonder to myself if that would be just as true this time.

Because I didn’t feel like I would survive. Not this time. Not without my best friend.

And I was determined to change that. Whatever I needed to do, I would do it.