I know there's been stigma 'round me.
I know you heard things about me.

A L L I K N O W
-The Weekend ft. Future

saturday | september 20 | 12:01 am

VICTORIA held her breath and clamped her brown eyes shut, bracing herself for impact. She thought she would become quick acquaintances with the chewed-up-gum filled floor, but thick arms wrapped around her waist at the last moment and hauled her upright.

"Woah there, don't go falling for me just yet."

A deep gravely voice spoke into Victoria's ear. It was a man, she could tell, by his strong grip and delicious cologne. It smelled vaguely like blueberries, reminding her of her life back in California. She cringed at the overused and corny line that escaped his lips moments before, but still found herself grateful for this stranger. If it wasn't for him, she'd be a ugly pancake on the floor right now.

Her small purse was flung to the ground with the contents that once laid inside scattered around. Victoria mumbled a few curses under her breath at the sight. Before she could pick up the items, the urge to apologize rose on her red lips.

"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry. I thought th-"

The words got stuck in her throat once she gazed at his face. He was so close. Maybe a little too close for comfort.

Dark chocolate curls brushed above his trimmed brows in soft waves. His grey eyes, dressed with long thick lashes, peered back at her annoyed. Rosy lips pursed in irritation captivated Victoria. With sun-kissed skin and a strong jaw, he looked like he stepped out of a GQ magazine.

"Yummy," Victoria mumbled out loud unconsciously. Her eyes frosted over as she continued to gaze at the man. She probably had a creepy little smile on her face too. Amelia would love him!

"Hello?"

"Uh yeah, sorry. I blanked out for a second," Victoria spoke softly, noticing he still had his grip around her waist. She pushed at his forearms in discomfort, wanting to keep as much distance between them.

Taking the hint, he unraveled himself from around her and took a step back. He scratched at the nape of his neck and said in a sharp tone, "So, you were saying..."

"Thank you...?"

"Jesse," He cleared his throat and diverted his eyes slightly, "and what was I supposed to do when I see a random girl about to fall on me? I get enough of that as is. You could have thrown up on my new shoes, too. I can't deal with anymore drunk chicks today."

An awkward silence fell over them both, and Victoria felt her face slowly heat up. He was blunt to the extent that it was almost rude. She wasn't one to judge a person, but it was a shame that his beauty didn't match his character. That would've been too good to be true, especially in a place like New York City.

Thankfully her caramel skin disguised her blush and her embarrassment wasn't too apparent. She was a huge failure when it came to flirting, let alone flirting with a man that looked like him. She resisted the urge to bolt, not liking the fact that this conversation wasn't going the way she wanted it to and because she was alone with him in an empty hallway.

His eyes found her face again and he continued to stare at her as if waiting for something to happen. Refusing to make the situation worse by staring back at him, Victoria looked at the vibrant pink roses that sat on the end table next to her. She coughed lightly and picked at the hangnail that was irritating her, silence falling over them both once again.

'Where's that drink when you need it.'

Not knowing what to say and feeling the need to pee reemerge gradually, she decided that the awkwardness was becoming unnerving. 'So much for trying to move on.'

"Well, it was nice meeting you James... sorry I meant Jesse! That's what you said right? Uh anyways, it would have been better under other circumstances, you know meeting. Oh, I'm so impolite! I'm Victoria. You would have probably known that earlier if I wasn't in your arms. But, why would you need my name now anyways?! Haha sorry again for being clumsy old me; bumping into opening doors and what not..." Victoria laughed uncomfortably and bit into her cheek. She was becoming flustered from his penetrating gaze. Why did she turn into a puddle of word vomit when she was around handsome men? This wasn't a first time occurrence for her.

"I'll uh see you around then!" Victoria bowed her head and scurried into the men's restroom before he could get two words out. She slammed the bathroom door behind her and breathed out deeply, leaning on it for stability. "Stupid, stupid, you stupid girl! Really? Bumping into opening doors?"

Victoria began to pace around the small room in frustration, occasionally face palming herself in disbelief.

'You just had to make a fool of yourself like you always do, Victoria!'

She sighed and stopped pacing, realizing there was no chance in hell he'd go for her anyways. She just made a complete fool of herself. She was sure he'd go back laughing to his friends about the clusterfuck of a girl he met who gets sad all the time and can barely form two proper words. Victoria trudged her way to the toilet in dismay, hiked up her dress, and released what she planned on releasing what seemed like hours ago.

Someone began knocking on the door while Victoria was peeing. She quickly did her business, fixed her undergarments and shouted with a presumably deep voice, "It's occupied!"

The person outside waited a few beats before beginning to pound on the door again with greater force. She could sense their urgency through the brown door filled with carvings and random quotes. She began to move faster, displeased at their lack of patience even though she, herself, was a very impatient woman. Victoria flushed and washed her hands quickly, then walked to the door.

She swung it open, "I obviously heard you the tenth time you knocked-"

"Your bag was left out here. I could've left it and I thought about it but seeing that you were in a jumble, you probably would've forgotten you dropped it."

Jesse held out her black handbag and Victoria was momentarily stunned. She reached for it and thanked him without making eye contact, mumbling the words under her breath. Victoria felt horrible for being so impolite towards the man. Even if he wasn't the sweetest person in the world, she had a 'love all until they want you to fall' policy that she lived by. This man literally caught her mid fall and helped her from a possible concussion for goodness sake!

She looked inside her purse and saw her things were rearranged from their original position. Her eyes expanded to the size of saucers.

'He saw my tampons! He touched my tampons! I carried so many tonight! Wait, did he see my... no no no!'

"And yes, I'll see you around. Try not to run into anymore doors while I'm gone."

Victoria watched his figure walk away slowly, resisting the urge to lift her jaw from off the floor. He was something else, that's for sure. She wasn't drunk enough to deal with all of this. Vic clutched her purse to her chest and exhaled deeply.

She needed another drink, pronto.

"So he...he...I'm sorry I just can't! He told you to not bump into anymore doors! My goodness Vic, you sure know your way around men," Talia laughed hysterically.

"Haha now shut it, would you," Victoria grumbled, sipping on her new cocktail.

Talia and Genesis arrived a few minutes ago, and Amelia couldn't help but spill the beans on Victoria's encounter with Jesse. Victoria regretted telling Amelia about her adventure with the man near the bathroom as the girls would now use this evenings event against her for all of time.

"How gorgeous was he? Stephen Amell, Michael Ealy, or Henry Cavill gorgeous?" Genesis wondered, peering at Victoria with bright blue eyes.

"His own kind of gorgeous," Victoria mumbled around her straw, swirling the liquid with it in a continuous circle.

"I don't believe you. No one can be hotter than Henry Cavil. Have you seen the man?!He's like a walking toaster oven," Talia fanned herself with her hand in mock fluster.

"If she said he's handsome, he probably is. But you know, it's alright girl! You'll find your own Noah Calhoun someday," Amelia exclaimed and rubbed her hand on Victoria's back.

Victoria breathed deeply, her eyes trained on the pink liquid in her tall glass. "I know, I know. It's not like I want him or anything. It's just that I wish the day would come when I'd have someone for me. Where they won't leave me high and dry."

The girls fell quiet at her revelation. Genesis discreetly looked for Matthew in the crowd and saw him near the DJ. She tapped Talia and pointed in his direction. Talia's eyes grew in excitement.

Talia broke the silence and sassily spoke, "Enough with this depressing nonsense and talk about men. Let's enjoy tonight and get drunk as hell!"

"You know what? Talia's right. We don't need a man to have a good time! What we need is to get Vic feeling better by the end of the night! Let's do some shots. I'll pay for them," Amelia cheered and the atmosphere that once surrounded the girls diminished from tense to lively simply by the talk of getting hammered.

•••••

Hey guys!

You've met Jesse! He's... a bit of a grumpy character. But that's alright! We love toxic men who keep us up at night and have us crying ourselves to sleep while we read about them in fiction books wishing we were their love interest. No? Just me?

Q: What do you think about Jesse?

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