Manhattan, New York, 11:23 PM 

The woman before me, June, was undeniably beautiful. Her dark-brown curls were neatly tied behind her back in a half-up half-down, making her truly resemble the mid-summer heat of June. Her warm cheeks were tinted the color of peaches, and she slowly lifted her hands up, as she swayed to the tunes of Tems. June let out her hand towards me, signaling for me to come and dance with her.

She looked at me earnestly, not once breaking eye contact, as she laid her hand out to me. Despite the other people chatting, swaying to the music beside her, and even eating from the corner of my eye, I couldn't rip my eyes away from her.

And so, I had two options: I could either leave her hanging and return to a hellish night, or I could take her hand and forget about everything, despite knowing that she would never remember me after tonight. Well, I chose the latter.

After another minute or two, I slid my hand into hers and she smiled.

"It took you long enough," she said.

"Only because I was questioning my own dancing abilities," I responded.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I can't believe you almost denied my offer to dance. You should have been the one to ask me."

I twirled her around and then slid my hand around her waist. "Well, I didn't know that you liked to dance."

She smirked. "Liar. I'm a performer, why wouldn't I know how to dance?"

My body moved in sync with hers, as she swayed her hips to the beat. Her confident gaze was truly mesmerizing.

I shrugged. "Not every performer is as good of a dancer as you."

"Including you?"

Now this time, an amused smirk played across my lips. "Even me, which is why you'd be the perfect person to teach me."

"Well, that depends on what moves you would like me to teach you."

"Teach me anything. You could teach me a few steps and I could teach you a thing or two about acting; we could call it a win-win situation."

June closed her eyes and slid her hands onto my shoulders. "You're such a typical American guy, flirting with the first girl you see," she said.

"Then, is this what typical beautiful women do? Dance with strangers?"

She bit back a smile. "Mhm . . . I thought we established ourselves as friends. Do you want to go back to being strangers?" she asked.

"Which one would your ex prefer?"

June slowly lifted to her lashes to reveal her dark brown eyes, and moved her hands to touch the hem of my shirt.

"Neither."

I slipped her hands on my collar into mine and then spun her around. "Don't you consider yourself cruel, using me as a rebound?"

She tilted her head, clearly amused. "Rebound? How can a stranger be a rebound?"

"A stranger can't, but a friend can," I said, boldly.

"Then, what would you like to be, a friend or a stranger?"

She closed the distance between us — our faces were so close that I could almost taste the Vodka that still lingered on her lower lip.

Right. We were both intoxicated.

"We'd ought to cut this short, June," I whispered.

She looked me in the eyes. "Cut what short?"

I dared not to look away from her. "Whatever this little friendship is."

I could faintly hear the music ending, but all I could see was the twisted-smile that she could offer me. "Funny, because you suggested it."

"I did."

"And now, I assume that you suddenly remembered that your girlfriend wouldn't like that," she said.

"Ex," I said sharply.

"Ex," she corrected.

The song ended, but the only thing I could focus on was her. "Let me take you home, it's past midnight," I whispered.

She slid her hands around my waist and her eyelashes fluttered shut. "I'm sure your ex wouldn't like that either," she whispered, before laying her head on my chest. She matched her heartbeat to the rhythm of mine and I could feel her slowly drifting off to sleep.

I let out a shaky breath, and tried to lightly shake her awake.

"June, I need you to wake up and tell me where you live so that I can send you back home." She wouldn't answer.

"Juniper, please wake up. I can't leave you here alone." I tried to lightly rub her cheek, in an attempt of waking her up, but she wouldn't budge.

Dammit. She must've passed out from the alcohol.

I sighed, carried her bridal style, and sat her down to the counter-table. She laid her head on my shoulder.

"Excuse me, do you know where the owner of the bar went?" I asked the bartender.

The Asian man with a septum ring piercing, and sleeve tattoos turned towards me. "The owners left around twenty minutes earlier, saying that they had some sort of emergency to handle. I'm in charge of closing up," he said.

"Thank you." I sighed.

"You need help with the little lady?" he asked.

I glanced at June, sleeping peacefully, and then shook my head. "No, we'll be fine."

The man nodded and then went to serve the last few customers at the bar.

Shit. I couldn't leave her here, but it wasn't like I could drive her to my place at this hour; it was past midnight and I was also intoxicated.

I ordered a taxi from an online taxi-service in New York. The station wasn't far from Essence. So, June would have to wait until then.

~

The taxi arrived around twenty minutes after the bar closed. The bartender had been kind enough to wait until the taxi came for us, before he closed up.

With so few options, the only convenient option was the nearest hotel; my place was around thirty-minutes from Essence and I didn't want to be on the road with some unknown driver for that long — she also didn't make it any easier for me, falling asleep before I could ask her where I could take her home.

Needless to say, the closest hotel was on the more extravagant side, Sapphire Hotel, they called it. From the description on the website, it was a 5-star hotel with a 24/7 room service, concierge, gym, and pool facility. In simpler words, it was the easiest place for me to get spotted. Although, I would never dare to bring a lady to some shabby hotel.

I'd been staying out of the spotlight for the past year and a half, but if anyone spotted me with June, we'd be the public's hot topic for the next month. And if Emama  {other word for mom} found out that I took a woman to a hotel in the middle of the night, she would kill me, regardless of the reason. I sighed and then took out two pairs of shades out of my bag — one Prada and the other Chanel.

Which one would cover June's face better? The Prada, most definitely the Prada.

I slid the Prada shades onto Juniper's face, and put on the Chanel glasses.

"Ready?" the driver said.

I nodded and paid him $150 in cash, including an extra tip. The driver opened the door for us, and I carried June bridal style, letting her head rest on my chest. Inside the hotel was a concierge waiting for us. A definite perk of being rich and famous was all the privileges I received, like getting a 5-star hotel room without a reservation weeks prior.

As soon as I arrived, I gave the front desk my black card, checked in, and the concierge led June and I to our room. Given the untimeliness of our arrival, I could only secure us a one-bedroom room, but it would have to do for the night.

My arms gently laid June on the King-sized bed and I slid off her sparkly brown stilettos. Afterwards, I swiftly tucked her in the white bedsheets and shifted her head on the fluffy pillow so that she could rest comfortably. I ended the night at around 2 A.M., sleeping on the champagne couch adjacent to where June was sleeping. 

~

I hope you all enjoyed this week's chapter. Be sure to comment your thoughts on the chapter and vote! See y'all next week!

- Celeste ;)