The Cost Of Love And Sanity Read Free Page A

company event. Have any ideas?” Alex asked.
    â€œI hear Club Aqua is supposed to be lit up.”
    â€œAww. I’m not in the mood to dodge some guy with bad skin and stanky breath. Any other ideas?” she asked, with a pleading look in her eyes.
    â€œNot really. I mean, a club is about the only route right now. What do you have against clubs?”
    â€œThey’re boring.” Alex shot her friend a frustrated look.
    â€œNo. What’s boring is going home, changing into your pajamas and climbing into bed with your laptop and work scattered all over your comforter.”
    Alex raised her eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied.
    â€œOr maybe you’ll mope around the house, feeling lousy about the way things ended with Phillip.”
    A wave of shame threatened to overtake Alex. Fifteen minutes into the New Year, and she already had plans to slide back into her old routine. She needed to move forward, not backward.
    Suddenly remembering that her best friend sat right next to her, Alex snapped out of her thoughts with the shake of her head. “I’m tired of the same ole, same ole.”
    â€œHow do you know a club is the same ole, same ole? Doing what you’ve been doing is the same ole, same ole,” Izzy said.
    Alex’s brow furrowed. “I don’t sit in bed and work all the time. Look, if I want to do something different, I can.” She straightened her posture. “And I will.”
    Izzy smiled. “I know you will, Alex.”
    She threw Izzy a weak smile back. “Thanks.” She sighed. “Okay, I guess you win. We’ll go to Club Aqua.”
    â€œYay!” Izzy shot her hands up. “I promise you won’t be sorry.”
    â€œWe’ll see.” Alex waited to pull into the sea of cars, hoping she would at least be able to avoid the stanky breath guy.

CHAPTER 4
    C lub Aqua had all the components of a New Year’s Eve party. Drinks. Party favors. Lights. A ton of people. There were so many people that it was difficult to walk from one end of the room to another. On top of that, Alex could barely see anything in the smoke-filled space. Slight pathways through the dance floor made it a little easier to maneuver. She concentrated on finding those pathways so she could find a place to sit down. It looked like the only place to sit was up on the second floor. Alex longed to make her way to a comfortable chair up there. Izzy, on the other hand, was ready to get on the dance floor. The only thing that kept her from joining the other dancers was the drink in her hand.
    â€œIsn’t this great?” Izzy said.
    Alex shook her head. “Not really.”
    Izzy tooted her lips up. “You need a drink.” She proceeded to suck on the straw protruding from her glass.
    Alex leaned closer to her ear. “I need a seat.”
    â€œYou can’t meet anyone sitting down,” Izzy said.
    â€œI don’t care.”
    As they continued to wade through the bodies on the floor, Alex turned to her right. She saw a girl dancing with two guys. One in the front of her, the other in the back of her. While they danced, the guy in the front attempted to move his hand up the woman’s shirt. He had almost accomplished his goal before the girl finallymoved his hand. Alex rolled her eyes in disgust. Why did I let Izzy talk me into coming here?
    Alex and Izzy made it to the stairs to go up to the second floor. The stairs were the clearest thing in the building. They quickly made their way up the stairs and found a high table with a couple of chairs. Alex plopped down in a seat. Izzy sat across from her still engrossed in her drink.
    A scantily clad waitress with long brown hair and exposed cleavage approached their table.
    â€œCan I get you anything to drink?”
    Alex turned to her to respond but Izzy spoke first. “She’ll have a cosmopolitan and I’ll have an Apple Martini,” Izzy