chapter 1
Working in one of the city’s most famous nightclubs, Olivia had what she called a boring life – a life without a boyfriend, which at times frustrated her because all the men who approached her kept telling her “I can’t stay with a woman who’s never going to be there at night”. Thanks to a friend, after graduating with a degree in accountancy, she couldn’t get a job that would enable her to pay the rent and support herself. She had been working as a waitress in Le Bourget for almost five months. That evening, she really had nothing to do, as she had taken her five days’ leave, of which she had already used up three. During those three days, she was always in her apartments, never going out. She was about to put on a chick flick, which she’d been doing since her first day off, when she got a message from Maggie.
“We’re going out tonight with the girls and you’re not allowed to say no”.
She smiled at the message, and even if she wanted to decline, she knew it wouldn’t happen with Maggie, who would be able to pick her up from home. She just had to accept.
“What time?”.
Waiting for the answer, she went and made herself some popcorn and came back to choose the new movie she was going to watch. Just in three days, she’d already watched nearly fifteen films like this, it made her dream, a real dream but unattainable because she couldn’t see what man could really love unconditionally. At the same moment, her phone screen lit up with a message from Maggie.
“Seven hours no more no less, we’ll meet directly in front of Le Bourget”.
She fell over as she read her last message. She couldn’t understand why she’d chosen Le Bourget to go out when she knew full well she was working there. She already understood that it would be impossible for her to have the time of her life because her colleagues would be there, and if her boss, whom she’d never met, arrived and saw her having a good time, it was certainly her day off, but given the description the others were making of this cold, distant boss, she didn’t want to face his wrath under any circumstances.
So she said, “choose another nightclub, but not Le Bourget”.
She’d been sitting in front of her screen for an hour already, watching the love that only existed in fairy tales while eating her pop-con, she’d waited so long for her phone to at least vibrate but it was a wasted effort, a sign that she hadn’t changed her mind. Besides, Betty loved this nightclub so much that all the hottest guys went there.
Her movie was over at five o’clock and without wasting any time, she dashed off to her room, pulled out a tight beige dress that stopped above her knees, a pair of black pumps and a black clutch. Without wasting any time, she got into the shower and ran the water over her skin. When she had finished bathing, she hastily toweled herself off and did what had to be done. She applied light make-up, since it wasn’t in the light of Le Bourget that her face would be visible. She put on her dress, then her shoes and picked up her clutch, put her phone in it and looked at the time; it was half past six then, so she still had thirty minutes to join the girls at the entrance. She left her apartment and locked the door. She left the building and walked for a few minutes, until she reached the sidewalk where she could stop a cab. The taxi was driving at a normal speed, which made her worry about being late, but asking it to speed up was out of the question.
After what seemed like endless minutes, the cab finally pulled up in front of the nightclub, and as soon as she got out, her friends pounced on her.
-Let me at least pay my bill, girls.
-Of course,” replied Maggie, falsely sorry.
She rolled her eyes and pulled out a few bills which she handed to the cab driver. He thanked her and left. Her friends were looking at her with big smiles, which didn’t reassure her at all.
-What should I expect tonight?
-I can’t wait to rub shoulders with one of these hot men and, above all, to get my groove on,” announced an impatient Betty.
-I know that, but don’t take the piss, you and I both know that every time we go out, there’s always a game, so what’s tonight’s game, especially as we’re going to the club where I work? last time, you made me swallow a bottle of whisky, so what’s tonight’s challenge? asked Olivia.
-I called to reserve the VIP room for us, but you can’t imagine what the receptionist said.
-What’s that?” asked Betty, getting into Maggie’s game, which Olivia already knew was fake.
-Will you be accompanied by men or just women?” she said, trying to imitate the voice of the girl Olivia found rather teasing.
-What did you answer?
-no. What did you want me to say? yes, but it’s not true? unless you wanted to wear pants and a tie to go with us,” she said to Betty.
-And what did she say?
-our company’s vip lounge isn’t reserved for uptight girls, so no, you won’t be able to access it.
Olivia rolled her eyes. These girls were really crazy and she was happy to have them as friends, especially their hilarity which made her de-stress a little. She started to walk towards the front door when the two girls ran into her like two little girls.
-Can I ask what you girls are up to?
-The game tonight will be a bet, sweetheart.
She opened her mouth with an “o”, not feeling the bet thing, because every time it happened, everything turned sour and she always came away with a bad memory. She felt like turning back, but as the girls had already organized, it was impossible for her to refuse.
Once seated around a three-seater table, they placed their orders and waited patiently to be served. Olivia kept casting furtive glances around the room for fear of being recognized, as this was her place of service and it felt a little strange to be there not to work but to relax.
-Are you okay, Oli? It’s your day off and here you are. Betty shouted as she saw a waitress arrive with a bottle of whisky, but what caught her attention was the fact that it was her colleague Lola coming towards them.
-Hello girls, your order. Oh, but Olivia, hello, I know it’s your day off but you could have helped me out by coming to collect your order, couldn’t you?
-Sorry Lola, maybe another time.
-That said, you owe me a favor. Have a good evening and have fun.
She left, and at the same time Maggie took charge of filling their glasses, and as is tradition for them, they had to drink the first glass straight down, which they did, all the while bursting out laughing like mad.
-Before this bottle is finished and we can go dancing, Oli has to pass his bet first.
She sensed that this was going to be the most unsettling moment of her life, given the mischievous smile that graced Maggie’s lips.
-Well, it’s a bit like truth or dare then, you’re going to make a choice and there’s no turning back.
Truth? her life was so messed up she couldn’t really see what could be said about it, so maybe to forget her worries for a night, she’d choose action, just trying to do something crazy for a change.
-action.
After uttering this word, she saw the girls’ smiles get even bigger and shit! she felt like changing, but the rule was established from the start, no turning back.
-Can you still fall in love after all this time without a man, Oli?
-No, I don’t think so. My heart has hardened so much that I couldn’t, so what’s this bet?
-to loosen you up a bit, as we know you’ve long since signed an abstinence pact, you’re going to sleep with a random guy tonight, but the bet is on feelings. You mustn’t fall in love with him.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.
She thought she was dreaming after that sentence, but looking more closely at her friends, she realized that the two girls were just serious, so to pass the bet, she first had to be able to find herself a guy.