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Subject: ALPHA SERIES
Thank you!! XOXO E.L. Todd
Here is the first chapter.
1
I pulled my dress down as far as it
would stretch but it snapped right back to my thighs. It was so short I was
worried that I wouldn’t be able to sit down. When I looked at myself in the
mirror, I cringed. I looked awkward and uncomfortable. I wasn’t the kind of
girl that went to the bar—dressed like a whore.
Natascia rolled her eyes. “Oh my
god, Sadie. You look fine.”
I pulled down my dress again but it
was useless. It bounced back to my upper thighs. The black dress fit my curves
tightly and made my ass and chest extremely prominent. I was feeling more
uncomfortable by the second. The last thing I wanted was for people to look at
me. “This doesn’t even fit.”
“Yes, it does,” she snapped.
I pulled it down again. “Uh—no.”
Stephanie fixed her hair in the
mirror. It was silky and brown and reached far down her back. She dyed her hair
so often that I wasn’t sure what her real hair color was. But it always looked
beautiful. “Leave her alone. She’s nervous.”
Natascia placed the hair band in her
hair. “She needs to grow a backbone.”
I tucked my brown hair behind my ear
then smoothed my dress out again. I sighed as I stared at myself. I didn’t look
horrible, but I definitely felt out of my element. I glanced at Natascia. “Why
are you so mean to me?”
“I’m not,” she said with a laugh.
“Well, you’re making me go out to a
bar—something I have no interest in doing—and you’re making dress like a slut.”
Natascia crossed her arms over her
chest. “You never do anything, Sadie. You never go out and you just stay home
every weekend. The only time you actually want to do anything is under the
light of day when we are eating lunch or lounging at one of our apartments. You
need to go out!”
I sighed. “See, you’re being mean
again, making me do something I don’t want to do.”
“I’m just calling you out on your
shit. Come on. It will be fun,” Natascia said.
I sighed. “I guess I don’t have a
choice.”
Stephanie nodded. “You really
don’t.”
We grabbed our bags and left the
apartment, heading down to the street. When we got inside the cab, I thought my
dress was going to slide up and give the driver a treat. Luckily, I held it
down and kept my goodies hidden. Natascia, always the leader of our group, gave
the driver the address.
I tried to get my mind off of what
we were doing. “How was work?”
Natascia sighed. “I forgot to pull out
my samples after the twenty four hour incubation period so I had to start
over.”
“That sucks,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “You have no
idea.”
Stephanie checked the time on her
phone then returned it to her purse. “Well, at least it was only one day you
lost.”
Natascia sighed. “I guess so.”
Natascia was a researcher at a
microbiology lab in the city. When she got the position she was really excited
about it, but now she hated doing research every day.
I looked at her. “Just be a high
school teacher. Isn’t that what you want to do?”
Natascia fixed her head band again,
pulling the brown hair back. “Yes, but my parents would never accept my
decision. They didn’t pay for my education so I could just teach at the high
school level.”
“Well, it’s your life,” Stephanie
said. “It shouldn’t matter what they think.”
“I know.” Natascia sighed. “I’ll
think about it.”
Stephanie looked at me. “How’s the
store?”
I smiled when I thought about work.
My father owned an antique book store in the city, and together, we ran it. The
smell of fresh print books always made my hands shake. And sometimes if we were
lucky, we could get the authors to sign a few of the books. I had the coolest
job ever. “It’s doing well. I wish I was there right now.”
Natascia rolled her eyes. “We’re
going to have fun tonight. Just relax.”
I cringed.
The cab pulled over and we climbed
out. Natascia threw some cash at the driver then followed us to the sidewalk.
The sidewalk was saturated with people as they walked through Manhattan. I
could tell the bar was busy just by looking through the window. I held my
breath as we walked inside. Music was playing over the sound system but it
wasn’t too loud, thankfully. We took our seats at a table in the middle of the
room. I held my dress as we sat down.
When I peered around the room, I
immediately saw some of the men staring at us. I avoided their gaze as much as
possible.
“I’m getting a pina colada,”
Natascia said. “I love those things.”
“Too sweet,” Stephanie said. “I
prefer wine.”
“Well, that’s because you’re picky,”
I teased her.
“I am not,” Stephanie said,
affronted.
“Yeah okay,” Natascia said
sarcastically.
Stephanie rolled her eyes.
“Whatever.”
“I’m going to have a long island
iced tea,” I said.
“That’s some serious alcohol,”
Natascia said with a smile.
I looked at the menu again. “It is?
I thought it was just tea.”
Natascia sighed. “I should have
known.”
A man came over and approached our
table. He held a tray with three drinks. They were cosmopolitans—I think. I
wasn’t very knowledgeable about alcohol. “This is from the gentleman at the
bar.”
Natascia looked over her shoulder.
There were men everywhere. They all seemed to be looking at us. “Uh—which one?”
“The one in the black suit.” He
turned around and walked away.
Stephanie stared at the front of the
room. “Uh—almost all of them are wearing black suits.”
I shrugged. “Well, at least it’s
free.”
Natascia nodded. “Exactly.”
“So how’s school?” I asked
Stephanie.
“This year has been the best. I’ve
actually had time to have a life.” Stephanie drank from her glass and put it
down. “I actually went to the gym the other day. My pants were getting tight.”
I laughed. “You’re the skinniest
person I know.”
“Yeah,” Stephanie agreed. “But my
pants were still getting tight.”
“Well, maybe that was a good thing.”
I stared at my friends and ignored everyone else in the room. I was thankful
that no one came over to talk to us. Perhaps I was overreacting about going out
to a bar. I did feel the stares fall on us, but I wasn’t sure who they were
looking at, me or my friends. If they were staring at me, they probably knew
how awkward I looked. My thin arms and white skin didn’t look appealing in
contrast to the dark color of my dress. I went to the gym but I never did
weights. I had no muscle tone. I was just thin. I liked my hair. It was thick
and wavy. But that was the only thing I liked about myself. I was pretty ordinary.
The bartender returned to our table
and I felt my palms sweat. I barely started my first drink. I couldn’t possibly
drink a second one. “This is from the gentleman at the bar.” He placed a red
rose on the table right in front of me, making it clear who it was for, then
turned around.
“Wait,” Natascia said. “Which one?”
“This one,” a man said from behind
me.
I tried not to flinch but I did. I
hadn’t noticed a man standing so close to us. The bar was packed, so it wasn’t
odd to have someone nearby. When he stood next to the table and looked at me, I
felt my heart fall. He was over six feet tall, brown hair, blue eyes, he wore a
beautiful suit, and I could tell that he was toned and firm under his clothes.
I immediately felt the panic descend. He was staring right at me. There was no
confusion who he was interested in.
“Hello. I’m Ethan,” he said with a
smile.
I said nothing. My voice was caught
in my throat. I knew I looked idiotic but I still couldn’t speak.
“She says hi back,” Natascia said
awkwardly.
Ethan nodded at Natascia then
returned his gaze to me. He was beautiful—very beautiful. There were gorgeous
women all over the bar, so why was he talking to me? And giving me a rose?
“I wanted to buy you a drink but
some guy beat me to the punch, but since you’re hardly touching it, I suspect the
flower is a better gift anyway.”
I blushed at his words. I was
holding the stem in my fingers and I quickly released it.
He tilted his head to the side as he
watched me. He was waiting for me to speak, but I still didn’t say anything. “And
what’s your name?”
“Uh—Sadie.”
He nodded. “Are you named after the
Beatles song?”
“Yes,” I said as I tucked a strand
of hair behind my ear. I was impressed that he knew that.
His eyes glanced to my exposed
thighs and the cleavage of my dress. A second later, he looked back at me. His
look made me uncomfortable. While I was flattered that he was attracted to me,
I was also nervous. He obviously assumed what kind of girl I was, judging by my
slutty attire.
“Thank you for the flower but I’m
not interested.”
His eyes widened. He clearly had
never been rejected before. That wasn’t a surprise. I mean, the man was
gorgeous. “Did I offend you in some way?”
“No. I’m just not interested.”
Stephanie kicked me under the table.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
Ethan smiled. I assumed he caught
the exchange. “Tell me why you aren’t interested and I’ll walk away.”
I was irritated that this guy wasn’t
backing down. I made it clear that I wanted him to leave. “I’m not the kind of
girl you think I am. I’m sorry if I mislead you. I just don’t want to waste
your time.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And what kind
of girl do I think you are?”
Even when he looked perplexed, he
still looked sexy. Damn. “I’m not having sex with you tonight,” I said bluntly.
Natascia tried not to laugh but her
chuckles came out.
Ethan laughed. “So you think the
only reason why I came over her was because I wanted to take you back to my
place?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I
didn’t mean to come off conceited. I just knew how guys behaved in bars. It was
a place where they hooked up with chicks, not searched for relationships.
“Yes.”
He smiled. “Well, I think you’re a
very beautiful woman, but that wasn’t my intent.”
I started to laugh. I couldn’t help
it. “You’re such a liar.”
Instead of being offended like I
thought he would be, he chuckled. “You caught me.”
“So my answer is no. I’m sorry that
you wasted your time.”
Ethan nodded. “I don’t think I did.”
He stared at me with his heated gaze. I felt unnerved by the look. The man was
handsome, one of the best looking guys I’ve ever seen, but I didn’t want to
sleep with him then never hear from him again. That wasn’t something I was
interested in.
“Have a good night,” I said politely.
“Let’s get some coffee.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know—espressos, cappuccinos,
stuff like that.”
“Don’t be an asshole.”
He smiled. “Sorry.”
“And you buying me a cup of coffee
isn’t going to get me to sleep with you.”
“That’s fine with me.”
I stared at him suspiciously. “I
mean it. You may as well work your magic on some other girl.”
“But I’m only interested in you.”
I felt my spine shiver. As much as I
hated to admit it, this guy had game. “No thank you.”
Stephanie kicked me under the table.
“She would love to.”
Natascia nodded. “Take her. We’ll
help you.”
I turned and glared at him, giving
them a look of hate.
Ethan placed his hand on the table,
placing it dangerously close to mine. “Well, your friends seem eager to get rid
of you.”
“Please,” Stephanie said,
practically pushing me out of the chair.
I leaned toward her ear. “I’m going
to kill you.”
“Okay,” she said. “But wait until
after your date.” She nudged me again.
Ethan grabbed my chair and pulled it
out, helping me stand. I pulled my dress down again, not wanting him to see too
much. He grabbed my clutch and handed it to me. “Shall we?”
“Uh.”
“Great,” he said before I could
finish. “Let’s go.”
I looked back at my friends one more
time, glaring at them before I walked with Ethan out of the bar.
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