Eclat

“Why are we here again?” Ellie grimaced, as if she’d stepped on dog shit. She was in a foul mood, which I didn’t expect at all. How could someone be so hot & cold without warning? I fought back the urge to say something sarcastic and took a deep breath. I wasn’t the type of person to be angry or annoyed quickly, but sometimes I just lost it. Lost control of what I was feeling and how I reacted.

Dahlia, oblivious to Ellie’s jeering, came up from behind me. Her hand was on my back, gently ushering me forward to the stage. I craned my neck to look at her. She shook her head. “We can talk backstage,” she whispered in a low voice so Ellie wouldn’t hear, “and don’t think that I’m letting you off the hook that easily.” A shiver ran up my spine as she pulled back the curtain, a wink sent in my direction.

“What are you talking about?” I murmured, bending down to busy myself with tuning my guitar.
Don’t focus on her face. You might just grab her and take her to the closet or something. Damn, why does she have to be all flirty and girly right now? Bad timing. Insanely bad timing.

Dahlia shrugged in nonchalance. “I think you know, Christofer. But if it makes you feel any better, just know that I’m not going to forget about it. That’s not how I roll, kiddo.” There was a slight crease in between her eyebrows as she blew out an exasperated breath. She looked as if she wanted to say something else. There was a flicker of some unknown emotion lit up in her hollow eyes. But before she could open her mouth, the flame was extinguished and her eyes were dull again. Gone with the wind, it seemed.

“I didn’t think you would show your face, you little slut!”

A girl’s voice put a full stop to my fleeting thoughts, bringing me back to the task at hand. Winning open mic night because it was good practice and to gain experience; that was my goal tonight. My eyes darted back and forth before they focused on a girl with short hair and a natural tan, her lips pursed in a satisfactory smirk. Her arm was draped around Dahlia’s shoulders and she made it an obvious point to once over Ellie. Ellie looked positively livid because of the tanned chick. I thought she looked carefree and like a down to earth type of girl.

“Of course I would come here for the free drinks and cheap entertainment,” Dahlia said dryly before she let out a short laugh. “Well, not so cheap since my buddy, Chris, is gonna sing onstage in a few minutes.”

“This is Chris? Well, nice to meet ya,” she whistled appreciatively, her head bobbing along to the last notes of an instrumental version of a song I’d forgotten the name of. She grabbed my hand and shook it. “Hey-oh, my name-o is Reese. Like the artificial peanut butter cup. Or Witherspoon, who is a total babe, right? I know.”

“Uhm, sure,” I replied, grabbing the guitar off the floor and adjusting the strap so it was snug on my frame. “Well, I’ll see you guys out there.” I did a quick nod towards the stage. “Cya.”

It was now or never and life was too short for regrets and broken promises.