The Final Note (DJ Series Book 1) (6 page)

I arrange to meet Corrine, Dina and Macy in a wine bar at 8pm then we are hitting Lexis later. When I arrive I see Ross, Luke and a guy in his early twenties sat at the table with the girls. I greet Ross and the girls first before taking a seat next to Corrine.

“Hey, Alannah, I’m Luke. I hear you and Dayton got a
thang
going on?” He sticks his hand out to me and I recognise him as the lad with spikey hair who was leering at me on the threshold of the front door at the house party last weekend.

I offer him a weak smile and shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Luke.”

“You’ll have to excuse Luke’s lack of tact, he has no brain to mouth filter.” The young blond with green eyes smiles offering me his hand. “I’m Brent. I’ve got an audition at Lexis tonight, thanks to Dayton.”

I nod. “Do you mix hard trance, too?”

“I will be tonight but I much prefer hard house, unfortunately Barros Escarra doesn’t appreciate the genre.”

I nod, the name Escarra ringing a bell somewhere in the pit of my memory but I can’t place it. Ross gets everyone a round of drinks and we sit having a lively debate about the difference between men watching porn and women reading erotica.

“As far as I’m concerned women reading sex and imagining it is the same as a guy watching sex,” Luke declares.

“Hardly.” Dina rolls her eyes at him. “Who was degraded and paid to act out the fantasies in books?”

Brent shrugs. “It’s still sexual exploitation of the opposite sex, the men in your books are made out to be gods and make us normal men look bad. It raises expectations for all men to be like the fantasy blokes in your mucky books.”

“Scared you can’t live up to Christian Grey, Brent?” Dina giggles.

“Pfft, please. I could show that guy a trick or two,” Luke sniggers.

The jibes are playful though, and we are all laughing when I excuse myself to go to the ladies’ room. Macy follows me.  “Corrine tells me you’re meeting Dayton later? Sounds like you’ve been getting really close, dinner at his place.” She wriggles her eyebrows teasingly.

“I’m really enjoying getting to know him, he’s amazing. I can’t believe he’s been single for so long.”

“Totally out of choice. He just turns them all down. The ones totally obsessed with him hang around trying to get into his inner circle of friends. Either that or Regina scares them off.”

“What do you mean?” Just the mention of her name grabs my attention.

“Oh, you haven’t met Regina yet?” Macy flicks the water off her hands into the basin.

“I did, briefly, today when I was shopping with Dayton.”

“And did you get the feeling she didn’t like you or the fact you were within a five mile radius of Dayton?” she sniggers and I nod that I did. “Welcome to the club, sweetie. Regina has it so bad for Dayton that she feels she has to warn off all admirers. She’s scared one of them will get under his skin before she can. I’m sure you’ve got her head spinning a 360. You’ve been her biggest threat so far.”

“Really?” I’m trying to take all this in and process it.

“Don’t you worry your pretty brown locks, sweetie, we’ve got your back and there is no love lost between Corrine and Regina. I thought she would have already warned you after their spat.”

I frown, wondering what she means. Corrine never mentioned a spat with Regina. In fact, she never mentioned Regina at all.

“Why would Regina and Cor have an argument? Corrine said she’s never been involved with Dayton.” I know Corrine would never lie to me, we’ve never kept secrets, she is like a sister to me.

“Oh, no, they haven’t, but he did walk her home one night. Seems that’s all the evidence Regina needs to start a hate campaign. She called Dayton and started on about how Corrine is a tart and he deserves better. Regina claims she is just trying to be a good friend looking out for him. She didn’t realise Dayton was still with Corrine and she could hear every slanderous word Regina had said.” Macy finishes reapplying her eyeliner and looks at me through the mirror.

“The cheeky cow! Corrine is not a tart.” I fume on my best friend’s behalf just as she enters the room.

“No, I’m flaming not. Who said that?” Corrine asks with her hand on her hip.

“I was just filling Alannah in on the shit between you and Regina,” Macy explains and I see Corrine visibly relax in front of me.

“That cow, don’t get me started. I know I should have warned you, Lana. She is one spiteful cow. Don’t let her get to you, babe. What you and Dayton have going is none of her business so don’t let her get involved, avoid her.”

I’m quite taken aback by the whole thing. Sure, I didn’t think Regina and I were going to become firm friends but she sounds borderline psycho to me. One question screams at me though.

“Why does she feel she can lay claim to him though? Have they got a history?”

Both girls shake their heads vehemently. “No, nothing like that. She just thinks because he works for her daddy and they have a working relationship she has some sort of say about what happens in that club.”

The penny drops, the light pings on in my brain. Of course! Escarra. Regina and Barros Escarra. Lexis is her dad’s club. I don’t just add over pampered princess and a judgemental bitch to her list of dislikeable attributes. I add spoilt brat and power crazed cow, too. I curl my lip at the thought of having to meet her again, suddenly Lexis loses some of its appeal. The fact that they don’t have a history is a huge relief though.

“Don’t let her worry you, babe,” Macy says, giving me a pretty masculine thump on the arm.

“I’m not worried about her. I just don’t think I’m going to like her.” The smallest part of me is a little intimidated by her. Not the disapproving looks or judgement. It’s the fact that she is Miss Perfection that bothers me. I feel kind of inferior in the looks department.

“Not many people do like her, sweetie. Well, not women anyway. She’s great with men, the lads seem to love her but she only has eyes for Dayton,” Macy informs me and I see Corrine give her a warning look that tells her to stop already. Corrine must know I’ve never had to fight for a guy before and the idea of having to isn’t appealing. That’s not to say I’m not ready for a battle. Especially if it’s for a guy like Dayton.

We all bond further over drinks in a couple more bars. Luke surprises me with how popular he seems with the ladies, being stopped almost as often as Dayton was today. I figure he’s a social climber and Dayton seems to be the person they all want him to introduce them to. Brent is a really likeable person and is almost as chivalrous as Dayton, holding the door open for us girls and carrying the trays of drinks. I find him easy to talk to. Dina seems to as well because they are flirting, dancing together and he never lets her vodka and coke glass empty.

Around midnight we head up to Lexis and I join the back of the lengthy queue, hoping we aren’t going to be waiting a long time because I’m eager to see Dayton and feeling pretty brave with a few drinks in my system. Although I’m not drunk, I’ve just got that happy buzz and the urge to dance.

“Alannah, come on,” Luke calls and I turn to see the group has headed straight for the front of the queue. I’m quickly hustled past a mountain of muscles with an ear piece in. He’s all dressed in black and Luke thanks him. I note we aren’t searched and pay no door fee. I stand in the club foyer and wait for Corrine while she checks a jacket into the cloakroom.

“Can we start downstairs, please? I wanna see what kind of crowd I’m playing to tonight,” Brent asks and we make our way up a small flight of wide stairs to huge double doors. As Luke pushes the door open the music and heat hits me like a tidal wave. I can see nothing for the flashing laser lights and sea of dancing bodies. I stand taking in the room which is almost full to bursting and I can barely make out the clubbers at the back of the room for plumes of strawberry scented smoke that billows out over the crowd. That’s when I see the DJ box above the bar on the right-hand side of the room. I see Corrine wave at me from the bar and I push through the clubbers to join her and order a drink.

Brent and Luke are deep in conversation and Brent suddenly looks a little apprehensive and nervous, knocking back a double shot of vodka. I order a bottle of VK blue and feel Ross tap me on the shoulder and point to the ceiling indicating they’re going upstairs. I follow them to a narrow enclosed staircase on the opposite side of the room to the bar and DJ box. I’m last to start up the stairs with Dina behind the rest of my friends when I look up and see Regina coming down the stairs. She has stopped halfway and is handing out hugs to the guys. She looks stunning even in skin-tight jeans and a black Lexis t-shirt with knee-high boots. Her hair hangs in glossy loose blond waves over her shoulders and down to her breasts, her eyes seem to shine with smoky make up and lashing of kohl eyeliner.

We stand behind the guys waiting for them to move up the stairs but after a minute or so when it becomes apparent they aren’t ready to end their impromptu staircase meeting just yet Dina takes my elbow and pulls me past them, that’s when Regina spots me. I get a cold glare and I don’t even attempt to smile in acknowledgement. It’s obvious she isn’t pleased to see me, but to be fair, I’m not pleased to see her either. She turns her attention back to Brent, a reassuring hand on his arm as she offers him sickly sweet smiles. Corrine and Macy are standing at the top of the stairs waiting for us outside of the double doors, Macy looks a little put out and when I look back I see Miss Perfection is laughing at something Ross has said, her hand on his shoulder, fiddling with his shirt collar.

“Let’s go, ladies,” Corrine instructs before opening the door. The bass line of the music hits you like a sledgehammer, I can feel it in my chest and the atmosphere in the club is electrifying. Again, the lights and lasers disorientate me a little and all I can see is a swarm of clubbers dancing to the fast tempo of the trance track that’s being played. A fresh plumb of smoke is blasted out onto the sea of hundreds of clubbers who all have their hands in the air reaching up as if to try and touch the DJ.

My eyes follow up to an elevated DJ box, high above the crowd like a god. I move further into the room trying to see if it’s Dayton who is playing and Corrine pulls me to the left side of the room to a bar three people deep. The dance floor is elevated by a few steps and blocked off from the tables on the outer edge of the room by hot pink metal railings. The bar is lit up with pink and purple lights and the club logo is on the back wall. I turn back to the dance floor and see the DJ box on the opposite side of the room. It is Dayton playing and he looks fabulous in a red t-shirt, a look of concentration across his handsome face. He has the headphones around his neck and one of the ear pieces held to his ear with his shoulder.

The beat drops out of the track as a really uplifting melody kicks in and the whole room seems to stop and put their hands in the air, whistling and cheering. Dayton looks up from the decks and smiles, obviously on a huge high and he interacts with the crowd below. I see Luke join him in the DJ box and he greets him with a slap on the back before turning back to the crowd. As a drum roll of thumps kick in Dayton fist pumps the air before a loud crash booms out around the club. The music builds to a pinnacle high before it explodes.

The crowd erupt, cheering and dancing. I’m swept up in the music and am enjoying being faceless in a sea of people to observe Dayton with anonymity. Macy taps me on the shoulder and tips her head to the back of the room. I see she is indicating an area with thick pink rope blocking it off from the rest of the club. It must be a VIP area because a member of security stands at the entrance. We make our way over and the bouncer instantly steps aside, offering Corrine a broad smile before he playfully smacks her bottom as she passes.

The area is plush with huge leather booths, separate rest rooms and a private bar that offers snacks and refreshments. I’m quite taken aback by how luxurious it is. I never imagined I’d be welcomed in a place like this.

Ross and Brent set up camp in one of the private booths whilst we ladies go to the restroom. It’s pretty busy and the queue is pretty long so Corrine drags me in the cubicle with her.

“How hot did Dayton look on those decks? My god, I was ready to swoon like a fan girl.” I giggle and Corrine nods but before she can reply someone from the next cubicle drops in on our
not so private
conversation.

“Tell me about it, honey. What I wouldn’t do to that man, I get moist just watching him work.”

She sounds horribly drunk and I bite my lip to contain my laughter but just the look on Corrine’s shocked face breaks me and I snort.

“Did you hear about last weekend? Someone actually threw her knickers into the DJ box with her phone number written on the tag,” someone else pipes up out in the queue.

“How desperate? Dayton would
never
go with anyone so low as to throw her underwear at him,” a third person chimes in.

“He gave them to Luke!” Voice number two giggles as Corrine and I exit the cubicle and wash our hands. Macy gives me a wink before clearing her throat.

“Well, I’m sorry, ladies, but I have it on very good authority from one of his closest friends that he is off the market,” Macy pipes up and all heads turn to her, the hand drier stops blowing and silence descends.