Page 1 of First Comes Love… Then Denial

Chapter One

CANDICE

Two more hours. Two more hours.I chanted to myself and continued making my rounds throughout the New Year’s Eve party.

“Good evening,” I said sweetly, walking by a group of guests, who barely acknowledged my existence.

Assholes, I thought to myself with the biggest fake smile plastered on my face.

“Excuse me… um...waitress,” a young bimbo called out to me as I stepped out onto the yacht’s deck.

She was dressed in a skimpy red latex dress. It left very little to the imagination. I’m sure her mother would be proud.

“Yes?” I asked her politely.

“I need a blanket.” Her words had me staring at her in utter disbelief.

“A blanket?” It was hard to contain my irritation from her request. Clearly, she mistook me for a golden retriever or some other breed of dog that fetched things.

“Yes,” she slurred then looked up at the man, who had his gaze locked on mine.

He looked like your stereotypical trust fund baby. He wore khaki shorts, a navy-blue polo shirt, tan loafers, and a fancy gold watch on his wrist. His dark hair was medium length and slicked back to perfection.

“Donald, I’m cold,” the woman pouted, running her hand along the length of his chest.

“You should go inside then,” the man replied to her. His eyes were still on me. Usually, when a tall, dark, and handsome man stared at me, it made my knees weak. However, this guy was different. Nothing about his good looks made me swoon.

“Make her get me a blanket.” The bimbo stomped her foot and tugged at his arm. The man finally stopped looking at me. He glared down at the woman.

“Get off me,” he growled.

“Are you treating me like this because of this bitch!” the woman screamed, causing many heads to turn in our direction.

“I’m here to serve the guests drinks and–” My calm words were cut off when cold liquid hit my face. The smell of champagne filled the air. The bitch had thrown champagne on me.

“Flo!” the man shouted. The woman– Flo– stood with a smug grin on her face, looking at me.

“Oops,” she smirked.

“Oops?” I asked, setting down the tray of drinks I had in my hand. With a handful of cocktail napkins, I wiped my face. “Oops? Oops is something you say when you accidentally step on someone’s food.” Setting the napkins down next to the tray, I took a step towards her.

“Oops is when you call the wrong number,” I continued as I took several more steps towards her. She countered my steps and soon found herself pressed against the railing.

“Get away from me!” she demanded.

“No,” I shook my head. “I am so tired of being treated like some third-class citizen just because I don’t have a fancy yacht or mommy and daddy’s silver spoon rammed down my damn throat!”

Flo’s eyes widened and her mouth gaped open. I heard several gasps all around me, but I didn’t care. Flo’s stunt with the champagne was the icing on the cake for the already crappy evening.

“Oops would be me shoving you over the railing.” Flo paled at my words. “Treat others with kindness. You never know who they are or what they are capable of. Understood?”

She didn’t answer me right away.

“Understood?” I prompted and she nodded. “Good. Now, I wish you a happy new year’s and hope you are able to find that blanket that you need.”

With that, I smiled sweetly and turned to walk away. Should have been a simple end to the altercation; however, like everything else I had a feeling it wasn’t going to go that easy.

Out of nowhere, the bun that my hair was pulled up in was yanked back. I screamed and grasped for the hand. The person had a death grip on me.

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