Free Perfect Opposite by Zoya Tessi

lingering eventually on the hem of my outrageously short dress.
    “Princess ... I think you forgot the bottom half of your outfit.”
    “Don’t bother me. ” I said, in what I intended as the verbal equivalent of swatting away a fly.
When I got outside, I rushed to meet Bethany and Paolo, who were standing by the car looking annoyed at being kept waiting.
    “It's about time!” Beth pointed a threatening finger at me. “We’ll enter a new geological era waiting for you.”
    “It looks like it was worth it. Sasha, my dear, that's a dangerous combination...” Paolo hugged me so that I left the ground just a little.
    “Thanks, sugar .” I laughed and gave him a wet kiss on the cheek.
    “Hey, I don’t want to panic anybody...” he whi spered in my ear, “but there’s some big strange guy standing over behind you. He’s looking in our direction and seems kinda mad. Friend of yours, maybe?”
    I glanced over my shoulder and saw Alex standing not far from us, his hands in his jeans’ pockets.
    “Ah, that’s my socially inept cousin. Ignore him.”
    “ I don’t think he likes me. Should I be concerned?”
    “ Oh, don’t worry, Alex is harmless. He just looks weird.” I whispered, then called out, ”Alex, this is Paolo!”
    He just nodded and went on glaring at Paolo, who’d started to bicker about something with Bethany. Since they weren’t paying close attention to me, I took the opportunity to walk over to Alex and take him by the arm.
    “ Behave. Paolo’s my old friend. Not an assassin or anything like that, so stop looking at him like you’re going to slaughter him and eat his insides.”
    “Your wish is my command... Princess.” he smiled sarcastically.
    “Stop calling me that.” I hissed, “Y ou’re doing it on purpose to annoy me, right?”
    “W hy would I do that?”
    “Oh, I wonder...” I turned and approached the passenger door of Paolo's car. “Let’s get going or we’ll be the last ones there.”
    “Sasha ...” a deep, commanding voice came from behind me.
    I glanced in Alex's direction and saw him turn his eyes from me to the bike, then back again. I imagined telling him to fuck off, but I knew very well that it would only be a losing battle and a waste of time. Forcing a fixed smile, I went over to Paolo who’d already sat down in the driver’s seat.
    “I’ll go with Alex, if you don’t mind...”
    “Well... no, it’s fine. See you in front of the club then.” he replied, obviously a little confused.
    I flashed a wide smile at him and, feeling annoyed, walked over to Alex, who was sitting astride his bike, carefully following my every step.
    “Get dressed .” he gestured towards the coat over my arm and handed me a shiny new pink helmet.
    ”Yes, daddy .”
     
    ***
     
    Beams of colored lights danced chaotically against the stucco relief on the walls to the beat of music so loud it drowned out the noise from several hundred people inside the club. From my spot on a high stool at the bar, I observed them mingling or making their way around the tall round tables that lined the edges of the room as an old rock ballad blasted out from the huge speakers high up in the rafters. My eyes lingered on a small group nestled in one of the booths set back from the room, close the stage. They were laughing freely and clinking glasses, and I suddenly recognized Tyler among them, sandwiched between two platinum blondes. I took a firm hold of the shot glass in front of me and knocked back my tequila. As I slammed the glass down on the bar, a warm and pleasant feeling started in my tummy and I gestured for the bartended to hit me again.
    “P lanning to get wasted in the first half hour?” Alex's voice came from somewhere to my right.
    One elbow supporting my weight against the bar, I turned, expecting to meet his disapproving face . The absence of any real light in the club meant his features were mostly lost to the shadows, except that two fires burned in the darkness, a pair of