Chapter 4.1 - Matteo
1617 Words
The party ends up being twenty hours long, and I spend it mostly walking around with Luca and doing lines with Valentina’s uncle.
***
New York, USA – October 31st, 2020
I attend all online courses even if it means sleeping through them. Isabella reminded me two days ago to help her have her birthday at RedLight, so I call one of the bartenders. He used to be my dealer before Aleksi was around, and he agreed to do it for $150 an hour.
Ariana lands at JFK four hours before we’re supposed to be at the club, so I pick her up from the airport.
When she had asked me whether she could stay over while in New York, I couldn’t think of a reason why not.
We have s*x as soon as we get to the apartment, and it’s more underwhelming than usual. Maybe it’s because we haven’t seen each other in so long.
Or maybe it’s because I’m not attracted to her anymore.
We take turns showering and she starts doing her makeup while I mix us some pre-drinks. I’ve slept better in the last two days than the last two weeks, so at least I’m not too exhausted to drink.
I go through my closet while she’s still on her makeup. The devil is always my go to for Halloween, because it’s a no-brainer. Halloween has never been a thing for me when I was younger, but I can understand why so many people like to use it as an excuse to party. The scary part is fun.
Ariana is dressed up as Harley Quinn when I return to my room. Her hair is up hair up in pigtails, and she looks younger, maybe even prettier.
She gives me a onceover. “Who are you supposed to be?”
“Lucifer.”
“From the TV Show?”
“Yes.”
She doesn’t comment on the fact that I basically just threw a suit on, so maybe Isabella will let it pass as being on theme.
Luca comes over ten minutes before we’re supposed to leave. He’s dressed as Hawkeye from the Avengers.
“Are you wearing your work clothes?” he jokingly asks.
He’s in a good mood; unlike his usual bored self.
“It’s a suit.”
“He’s Lucifer.” Ariana explains.
Luca outright laughs then. “Smart.”
***
The club looks weird with only 5% of its capacity filled, but Isabella looks happy and everybody’s having fun.
Ariana is clingier than usual, coming to me every chance she gets to kiss me or to get me to dance. I play along, because why not, but I can’t help but look in Luca’s direction every now and then.
He is eyeing Valentina to the point where it creeps me out. Their conversation in the staff room gave me a bad feeling, and now they’re talking once again.
When I finally get her alone, I don’t even know what I want to tell her. All I know is that I want her to be careful with what she tells him about herself.
I pull her into an unoccupied booth.
“What did you say to him?”
She doesn’t understand what I tell her.
She looks hot when she’s confused
We can’t talk here.
Once we’re outside, she crosses her arms and looks around. “Well? I’m cold, be quick.”
“What did Luca say to you?”
“He asked me when I moved here. I don’t know. We talked about our costumes.”
I give her a onceover. She’s wearing a dress and she calls it a costume?
Then again, I’m also just wearing a suit.
“Costumes?”
“Are you dissing my outfit? While wearing your work clothes as a costume?”
I want to laugh, but that won’t help me in the argument.
“Are you seriously saying Goddess Luna is more on theme than Lucifer? You have a dress and some glitter on, you’re not fooling anyone.”
“I’m on theme because I’m a Goddess and Lucifer is not a Monster.”
“The theme was Superheroes and Villains, not your Lana del Rey whatever.”
“Everything is more on theme than a suit, that’s for sure.”
“I’m the literal devil. That works for both.”
“The devil does not look like Lucifer.”
“How do you know what the devil looks like?”
“How do you?”
“I think the devil looks human.”
“Why?”
“Because we can’t recognize him if he looks like us.”
“Why do you even want to know about Luca?”
She changes the subject, and it satisfies me to know that I’ve won this round.
I can’t explain it to her, because that would mean having to explain everything. But I also don’t want Luca to purposely get close to her so he can find out dirt about her family.
“I don’t know. I was just curious.”
It’s not a lie.
“I don’t buy it, tell me the truth.”
Fuck, I forgot she’s smart.
“The truth is that you’re my friend and I don’t trust him.”
She looks surprised. “Don’t trust him to what?”
“I just don’t trust him. As a person.”
“Why did you ask Isabella if he could come then?”
I also forgot that Isabella and her are best friends.
“His uncle died and my dad asked me to keep an eye on him for a while, make sure he’s okay.”
I know she’s thinking about Romeo, but I’m not going to be the first one to bring him up. She looks skeptical, so I take a step forwards. We’re so close now I can smell her perfume, which makes it a little harder to concentrate.
“Can you trust me on this?”
We’ve been friends for a year now, but I’ve never thought about this question until this moment.
I see two police cars pulling up on the street by the entrance of the club.
Shit.
“Let’s go.”
She starts running in the opposite direction, and my first instinct is to stop her. I’m not worried about the police in the slightest, and I know that if we stay together, she’ll be okay.
We’re outside after government-imposed curfew and having a party in a club on top of that. Worst case scenario is a fine, which is okay.
I grab her arm. “No. If you run, you look guilty.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
Her eyes are filled with worry, and I know now that there’s no way she’s involved in her father and uncle’s business. She wouldn’t be panicking like this if she knew how powerful her family really is.
“Own up to it.”
I can feel her relaxing, so I let go of her arm and we turn around to walk towards the police.
The way the police grope her as they body search us makes me angry.
“She clearly doesn’t have pockets.”
The female officer bends down and picks up a small baggie from the ground. I don’t even have to wait for them to test it to know that it’s probably cocaine.
“What do we have here?”
I look at Valentina’s face, hoping for her sake that it isn’t hers.
***
They take us in separate cars to the station, but we find each other again in the reception of the police station. We’re both handcuffed and sobered up.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.
“No talking.” One of the police guys snarls at me.
“Says who?”
He puffs his chest and walks over to me, hands on his belt to accentuate the fact that he has a gun.
“Says me.”
The female officer comes over then, grabbing Valentina by the arm and guiding her to the desk of the custody sergeant.
“Name?”
“Valentina Emma Levin.”
“Have you consumed drugs or alcohol in the past twenty-four hours?”
I see her pulling her head back. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“Don’t be a smartass.” The woman says to her, tightening her grip on Valentina’s arm. “Do you want to be taken to the hospital and tested?”
“You can take me wherever you want, but it would be a waste of time and resources.”
I smirk at myself.
We reunite in the small cell in the basement of the police station.
“What’s going to happen now?”
She still looks worried, and I feel sorry that she has to go through this.
“Why are you asking me?”
“You’ve been taken into custody before, right?”
“Usually, you post bail and then you’re out.”
“Why didn’t we get a phone call?”
“I don’t know, I think it has something to do with the drugs-“
“Valentina Levin, get up. Who put these two together? They’re not supposed to be talking to each other.”
The female police officer comes into the room and opens the cell. Valentina looks at me for help as her hands are cuffed again.
“I won’t leave without you.” I tell her, trying to reassure her that it’s going to be okay.
She doesn’t look convinced as she’s being pulled away.
--
Finally, I finished chapter 4 completely! The next part will be up on Sunday! :)
- Writer
