Chloe’s eyes instantly flicked between Nate and me. She looked perplexed.

“Vera? Mr. Donovan? Am I interrupting something?”

“No.” I almost whispered because of a lump in my throat.

“Well, thanks for your presentation again, Miss Davis. I really shouldn’t bother you longer than I’ve already done.” Nate said, saving me from explanation. “Have fun tonight; you deserve it!”

“Thank you very much, Mister Donovan. We will!” Chloe said to him with a flirtation look on her face.

He only nodded to her, leaving us alone in the room. Silence. She slowly returned her eyes on me, pouting her lips. Panic started forming inside me. Did she notice something? Did she feel this strange energy between Nate and me? But just then, her expression changed into sadness.

“As always, not even acknowledge me. Am I invisible to him?”

“Girl, stop it! You’re an irresistible young woman with look-to-die-for!” I objected to her. I reached her arm, and as we walked out of the room, I said: “We need to get drunk tonight! Loose a little! Don’t you agree with me?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely!” Chloe said, a smile forming on her lips. “But I am glad that Dean is coming with us. Who will bring our drunk asses home if both of us will be wasted?”

“Amen to that!”

What did I think suggesting to get drunk to Chloe? Fuck! We were at the bar for about 2 hours, and I was already on edge with anger. At first, everything was perfect. We talked, laughed while doing shot after shot. Dean was a real charmer to Chloe and me.

He’s our colleague and also an excellent friend. Dean’s very good-looking with brown eyes and blond hair. His smile is boyish and makes him even more beautiful than he already was. He’s 28 now, and god knows why, but he was friends with Chloe and me. In his presence, I felt myself a little silly, because he’s freaking genius, especially with numbers as he worked with finances at our corporation.

He liked me. I’ve had this feeling from the first time when we saw each other. Chloe introduced us as I started to hang out with her. And most importantly, his feelings were mutual. We kissed at one of our outings to the club two months ago and even went for a couple of dates. I’ll be lying if I say that I wasn’t enjoying our time together. But I’ve had to stop it.

I am damaged for dating life. Because of my past, all of my relationships with men didn’t last longer than four weeks. My romances have some vicious circle. I met a guy, went for a few dates, had sex with him, and the next thing he knew – we broke up. That’s the reason I couldn’t let things with Dean go further than a few dates. Because when you have sex with the person who you like, with who you feel comfortable, eventually there will be feelings and everything will be too complicated. I said to him that we didn’t work out as a couple and it will be best for both of us if we’ll stay friends. Chloe told me that I was a liar, and she was right, but it is like it is, and that’s all. Dean was upset with my words, but he accepted it.

“Vera, are you still with us?” Dean called my name, and I blinked twice, trying to focus.

“Sure,” I answered, glancing at Chloe. She sat staring at the screen of her iPhone, scrolling through Instagram photos. She had a goal, and I knew precisely whose photos she’s searching for.

“That bitch! He’s again with this stupid Barbie!”

“Chloe, could you be more specific? About which Barbie are you talking about? Kim or Penelope? Or, oh, I know, is it Camilla Diaz?” I said with obvious sarcasm in my voice.

Dean was looking at me with a warning. I knew this look, but honestly, I didn’t give a fuck. Chloe was acting normal for about 30 minutes as we entered the bar. After it, she’s gone insane with her complaints about her invisibility to Nate Donovan. She even exclaimed to us that his perfect smile was haunting her in dreams. And now she started crying after my words about Camilla, who was on again and off again girlfriend of Nate! Seriously? If it wasn’t for Dean, I wanted to slap her only to bring her to reality.

I tried to “zone out” and I was successful at first. But as my train of thoughts returned to today’s events with Nate, I started to feel anxiety. I didn’t understand what had changed today? Well, I saw Nate’s eyes on me several times before today, he was always smiling at me and even seemed to be interested in our casual conversations. But come on! In comparison to Chloe, I was pretty, yes, but nothing special. She was more like his usual type of girl.

And me? Why did I act like that? Why I smiled at him? Why was I thinking about him in one sentence with the word “kiss”? Now I found the answer to it. I love sex, really do. And I guess I miss it like hell. It had to be the reason. But what were his intentions? God, I didn’t understand this man.

Maybe this confusion about mine and Nate’s actions was the reason why I started to feel more and more frustrated with Chloe’s behavior. So when Dean called out to me again, I said to no one in particular but both of them.

“I think I need to find a guy for hook up. It’ll be better if I’ll do it today. So Chloe, honey, could you please not to spoil the mood?”

The atmosphere at the table instantly changed. Chloe with mouth agape, Dean with clenched teeth. Why were they staring at me?

“I’ll order us another round of shots,” Dean said and went straight to the bar.

“Vera, don’t you see that you’re hurting him? He likes you.” Chloe said to me with an accusing tone.

I shut my mouth, trying to calm myself. Please, don’t say a word, Chloe, please.

But we drunk a little bit too much already—both of us. The atmosphere between us was heavy and almost palpable.

“Vera, are you really such a heartless bitch? I don’t know what happened to you in the past. Because you never said a word why you didn’t want to try a relationship with such a good guy like Dean. But are you that blind?” Chloe continued with raising a voice.

Just then, Dean came back with shots in his hands as I finally lashed at her. Anger radiated through my body and voice.

“Me? Blind? Are you fucking kidding me? It’s not me who’s crazy about a guy, who even don’t bother to remember my name! It’s you! You’re ridiculous with your obsession with our CEO! Men like him will never be in a serious relationship with ordinary girls like you and me!”

“Vera, please.” I heard Dean’s voice, but I only made another breath and continued looking straight into Chloe’s eyes, which now were filled with tears.

“How do I know it? Well, my past taught me that! My asshole taught me. He made it clear to me! Sex always was great. I’ve never felt such a connection with any of my boyfriends either. But sex was the only thing which he wanted from me! And Nate is just the same; they only would be dating models, actresses, or daughters of some moneybags! And it hurts! It hurts when your heart is broken. And it even worse when you let this man broke you not once but multiple times because you have dreams of you together.”

I was on the edge of tears. Chloe was already crying wordlessly. Dean just stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

“So, I’m going to make a proposition for you. It will help you. Or he’ll notice you, or you’ll forget about your dreams of being Nate’s girlfriend.”

“What are you talking about, Vera? You’re both drunk as hell! Let’s call it a night, and I’ll get a taxi for us.” Dean said to me, calmly taking me by my hand.

I pulled out my hand from his grip and said to Chloe, who was looking at me with terror in her eyes.

“As you know, there will be a Christmas party in December at Donovan Corporation. And I’ll be in charge of decorations, so I’ll make sure to add mistletoes in the list of decoration items.”

“How does it make any sense, Davis?” Dean was now visibly angry with me as he used my surname.

“Oh, just let me finish, Dean. You’ll understand. So here is a thing, my sweet Chloe. Or you’ll kiss him under the mistletoe at this party, or I’ll do it. I’ll give you time till midnight, and if not – I’ll kiss Nate Donovan, and as a result, you’ll need to forget about your addiction to this man.”

Silence. A total and overwhelming silence. I didn’t even hear music at the bar.

“You’re wasted, Davis, and we’re going home! Both of you, actually!” Dean was trying to ease the atmosphere between us, but also he was angry with my words.

“And what will you do? If I’ll do it? If I’ll kiss Nate?” Chloe finally started speaking.

“Well, how about I’ll kiss somebody from our corporation or one of the party’s guests? You’ll choose this person, of course.”

“I don’t believe it! You’re acting like two children, like two mean girls from high school!” Dean was furious, and he even wasn’t trying to hide it.

“Well... I agree. Let’s make a bet!” Chloe said to me with a huge smile.

“I can’t be here anymore! I’ll wait for you outside the bar because I need fresh air! Fuck!” Dean stormed out of the bar.

I looked at Chloe, and she was still smiling at me. Next moment she hugged me and then said:

“Thank you! I think this is a good idea! Or he’ll be with me, or I’ll finally be over him if he’ll reject me. We still have shots to do, are you with me?”

I hugged her back, saying:

“I thought you’d never ask!”