Chapter 4: The Ice Queen's Club

Alexa woke from a lovely nap with someone banging loudly on the door. It was Saturday, for God's sake. And really needed to cut Lin off from her life if I wanted peace. She lazily strode to the door. As soon as she opened it, a tornado busted into the apartment. Lin carried shopping bags more than her weight.

"Lin, what is it?" Alexa asked, rubbing her eyes.

"We are going dancing and drinking!" Lin grinned widely.

"Why? No. I want to sleep!"

"I'm your best friend, and it's my job to keep you from mopping about certain someone," Lin announced as a matter of fact.

"Wait. You are confusing me. One time you ship us, and the other time you try to get my mind off her. What do you want?" Alexa asked as she made coffee.

Lin plopped on the bean bag, "I don't know, dude. I'm so confused about what I should feel. I see you two, and I can't help but ship." She dramatically paused for 30 seconds and continued, "But then my head beats my heart, and I think logically." She sounded conflicted.

"God, you are the most confused person I have ever met!" Alexa rolled her eyes, and she just shrugged.

They reached "Starlight" after an hour. Alexa had heard about this one when she first moved. Lin dragged her inside. The security just let them in. Weird.

"Why did he just let us in?" Alexa was surprised.

"We all are VIPs here," Lin cleared the confusion, "Ms. Chan owns the place. Therefore, all of the employees are treated like royalties."

"And you call her The Ice Queen?" Alexa rolled her eyes. Lin snickered shamelessly.

"Look who's getting defensive!" She smacked Alexa's arms.

"I'm not getting defensive!" God, she sure sounded like one. "So if it was her club, there was a possibility of her being present" Her heart did a little victory dance at the thought.

"Hey, babe!" Jake came with the drinks. Lin and he had been together since freshman year. When she moved back to Taiwan, they were heartbroken. But, he managed to get a job there within the next six months. They were inseparable, except they had work. Alexa wondered what took them so long to seal the deal.

"What are you talking about?" He asked casually.

"Alexa has a crush on the boss!" Lin told as she took a sip.

"What, no? The Ice Queen?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, that one," she replied.

"Alexa, please don't tell me Lin confused you on that matter as well," he mocked his girlfriend, earning him a smack on the back of his head.

"She most certainly did!" Alexa grinned.

"Not fair, guys!" Lin whined.

Alexa was sitting alone with her drink, watching Lin and Jake lost in their own world on the dancing floor, and then the dance moves suddenly turned into NSFW.

She smiled at the couple, but she also felt envious.

She started to get dizzy. Suddenly a guy she didn't know approached her.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked politely. But she felt as if she was cheating on someone.

"No, I'm good," she tried to be polite, but she was getting anxious, as if someone was watching her. She looked around and saw no one. Lin and Jake were nowhere to be seen. She would probably find them on some corner making out or something. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

"Come on, it's just a drink. I'm a nice guy, I promise," the guy touched her shoulder. She flinched at the contact.

"The lady said no," a stern voice startled them both. The guy looked out of place, and he excused himself. She turned out to thank the stranger and saw a girl in her early twenties. She had a broad smile plastered on her face.

"I... Thank you."

"It's not a problem. I'm Lilly," she reached for a handshake.

"I'm Alexa," Alexa introduced herself.

"Having fun?" Lilly voluntarily took a seat beside Alexa. She was just a friendly person - Alexa thought.

"Yeah. The place is perfect," she grinned.

Lilly grinned as if she was proud of herself. Alexa didn't know why.

"Thank you. The credit goes to me. I mean, Maggie owns the club. But, I helped with the decoration," she beamed at her. What did she just say?

"Ms. Chan?" The older one choked on her drink.

"Yeah. She is my big sister. She is sitting over there," she pointed behind Alexa. The latter saw Maggie looking in their direction. She suddenly felt that the air was getting hotter. Lilly seemed oblivious. Well, she thanked God for that.

They chatted for a while. Lilly seemed like a very charming person. Not that Alexa was crushing on her. Her heart suddenly started beating at a familiar scent. And she immediately knew who was behind her, and Lilly also grinned widely at the person.

"Hey," the person said huskily, and Alexa had a goosebump at a simple hi. She really needed to watch her alcohol intake.

"I hope she isn't bothering you," Maggie smiled her charming smile, and her heart started jumping up and down like a teenager's. Lilly pouted at her sister.

"Oh no. Not at all," that's all Alexa could muster to say.

"You don't have to be polite about this monkey," Maggie gave Lilly a fake, annoying look, who only pouted again.

Alexa laughed at the scene, "Oh no, I'm glad to meet the funny one from you two."

They both seemed shocked at her comment. Did she just really say that? Lilly burst out in laughter. Maggie just gaped with an open mouth.

"Did you just call me boring?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I mean... No. But your sister is funny."

"We'll see about that," Alexa thought she heard something different in the tone. Was that jealousy? She started imagining things again.

Maggie offered her hand to dance, and Alexa took it without thinking. She saw Lilly grinning ear to ear from the peripheral.

Maggie dragged them to a secluded area where not many people were there. Funny, she didn't notice it before. "Perks of owning the place" - she thought. The light was deemed all of a sudden. Elvis Presley's Can't help falling in Love started playing in the background. "Just great" - she rolled her eyes. Maggie gently pulled her to herself by the waist. Her eyes are fixed on hers. For the following minutes, Alexa forgot who or whom she was with. She leaned in, which Maggie reciprocated. Alexa could feel her breath. The song ended, breaking their trance, and she pulled away instantly. There was nothing she regretted more at the moment.

"Excuse me." she rushed to the washroom.

Maggie saw Alexa escaping to the washroom. Did she cross a line? Was sending Lilly to rescue her from that man too much? Was the song choice too much? She was going crazy in her head.

"Chill, sis." Lilly's voice brought her back to the room.

"I should go check on her," Maggie said, and Lilly nodded.

She found Alexa leaning on the basin. She didn't look sick, but her breathing was heavy.

"Are you ok?" Maggie gently touched her shoulder. She jumped.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry. You scared me there," Alexa said, touching her chest.

"Come on, let's get out of here. You will feel better," Maggie offered her a hand, and she took it with a gulp. Was she nervous? Of course, she was. Maggie was the boss, and it pained her heart.

They came to the manager's room which was vacant at the moment. She offered her some water. Maggie thought Alexa was a cute drunk with a pink hue on her cheeks. She wondered where Dr. Wu was and how they would get home.

"Thank you. You didn't have to come after me," she said, siping the water.

"Of course, you are my responsibility," Maggie bit her tongue to avoid making a fool of herself more.

"I'm your responsibility?" Alexa raised an eyebrow.

"You know you work at the company and all," Maggie waved her hand to make sense.

"Right," she muttered quietly.

They stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Let me show you something," Maggie went to the balcony, and Alexa followed.

The view from there was beautiful. One could see the ocean from there; there weren't many street lights on this side. You could see the stars and the moon had delighted them with her presence. Maggie looked beside her and saw the goddess herself. The moonlight reflecting on Alexa was nothing less than heavenly. She wished she could take a picture to capture that moment forever. The scene itself was an art; all the poets made sense then.

Alexa might have felt that someone was staring at her. But then looked at Maggie, and their faces were inches apart.

"You're beautiful," Maggie blurted out. She couldn't see it for the lack of light, but she thought Alexa blushed. She looked down, fidgeting her fingers. Maggie took her hand to raise her face so they were looking at each other's eyes again. She leaned in and closed her eyes, hoping for the best. Her heart stopped at that moment, and felt like she would faint. But, not after long, she felt soft lips on hers. She felt electricity going through her lips from all over her body. Or was that the alcohol? She didn't know! She felt Alexa's hands on the back of her neck as she rested hers on Alexa's waist. It wasn't passionate or desperate; instead, it was calm and heavenly. She felt fluttering in her stomach, which made her forget about their surroundings.

"Maggie?" They jumped apart from each other at the sound. They saw Lilly standing there smirking. Dr. Wu was with her. She wondered what they were doing together.

"Lin was looking for Alexa. And I was looking for you," Lilly explained, not brushing off the smirk from her face. That little devil. Dr. Wu looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Ah, I have to go," Alexa mumbled. Maggie nodded, a little embarrassed. But what a first kiss it was!

"So?" Lilly started wiggling her eyebrows as soon as they were alone.

"So what?" Maggie asked, annoyed. She instantly missed Alexa.

"You and Alexa?" She kept wiggling her eyebrows. It was annoying.

"Stop calling everyone by their first name because they work for us!"

"I call them by their first names because we are friends. Besides, don't change the subject!" She grinned.

"You just met her!"

"And you kissed her after a few days!"

"Your point is?" She looked at her sister.

"You like her, don't you? So she's not just a one-time thing?" Her sister asked.

"Of course, she is not a one-time thing!" Her voice was higher than she imagined.

"Jeez, calm down. So how was it?" She asked with a wink.

"What are you five? But if you wanna know, it was the best first kiss in my life. I felt fireworks going over my head," she smiled fondly. God, she missed her already. She didn't know how to approach this matter any further. It was highly inappropriate. What if she complains? But, she kissed her back - she reminded herself.

"Sis, you stop with that thing in your head. Yeah, you are her boss. But that's your professional life. Don't mix your personal life with it," she advised like an older sister. Maggie only hoped she was right. She closed her eyes, leaning on the couch, and she could see Alexa's face in the moonlight again.