“Thanks A” I said, taking a sip of the drink she offered me. I watched wide-eyed as she downed her entire glass.
“I love this song!” She exclaimed happily rising to her feet. She took my glass from my hand, placing it on the table beside my flowers and pulled me to my feet. “Dance with me!”
I couldn’t deny her seeing her this happy was contagious and I smiled at her, letting her drag me towards the dance floor. Rico stopped us as we were about to pass him and kissed my forehead.
“I’m going to go upstairs and get ready for my set.” He said, shouting over the loud music.
“Okay!” I said as she tugged me away from him.
“C’mon Nikki!” Adrianna shouted plucking Rico’s drink from his hand to claim it as her own. Rico laughed at her before treating me with a wink.
“Save a dance for me.” He said.
I smiled at him before she pulled me into the sea of people. I don’t know if people knew we were Victor’s daughters, or if they even cared as they circle around us encouraging the two of us as we shook our asses to the beat of the music one song bled into another and we kept at it thoroughly enjoying ourselves. I couldn’t help my wandering eyes that searched the span of the club in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mikey. I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t disappointed that he hadn’t come to our table once in the time we had been there or that he didn’t have the decency to answer the one text I had sent him before the club even opened. I suppose he had his hands full, still it hurt me that he could just write me off as if I didn’t exist. I told myself that he wasn’t purposely staying away from me or ignoring me that he was just busy was all. However, I knew that even if that wasn’t the case I only had myself to blame as he was only doing what I had asked by steering clear of me.
My sister froze in front of me as her eyes drifted behind me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to face the person that my sister was staring at intently. Anthony tore his eyes from my sister and met my wide-eyed gaze.
“Happy Birthday kid.” He said leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“Thank you.” I said, smiling before I glanced back and forth between him and my sister. They stared at each other silently. It was enthralling to watch them focus in on one another and I felt as if I was a spectator watching them.
“A.” He said with a nod. He did a quick perusal of her body licking his lips before he lifted his gaze to hers again. “You look beautiful.”
I turned to her waiting for her to respond to him, but she never did. I wanted to pinch her or kick her something to let her know she should throw the guy a bone. The air was suddenly thick and I felt as if I was invading a private moment between them.
I was about to excuse myself when he reached out and took her hand in his. There were no words spoken between them as he pulled her towards him as he wrapped his free hand around her placing it on the small of her back. I was a forgotten thought as he pressed her against him and led her away from the crowded dance floor.
Thankful for the reprieve I made my way to the other end of the dance floor, deciding to take a break and freshen up in the ladies room. I passed the main bar on my way and caught a glimpse of my parents sitting at the bar. They were smiling happily surrounded by friends and some of my dad’s associates. I paused for a moment, watching as my mother placed her hand on my dad’s shoulder. He was laughing at something Jimmy was saying, but absent-mindedly he took my mother’s hand and brought it to his mouth kissing it softly. Say what you may about my father most if it will probably be true, but you couldn’t tarnish the way I saw him. In my eyes, he was a great man who loved his family. You know that saying behind every great man is a woman who made him that way. That was the perfect way to describe my parents. I gave them one more glance before turning the corner to make my way towards the ladies room.