Never Give Up

After her talk with Alec, Nadine had gone up to her room to take a nap while she waited for the rest of the Defray family to pile in through the door. Unfortunately the days events had made it harder for sleep to come but easier to thoroughly analyze her situation on romance.



Nadine smiled faintly as she remembered the first time that all the Defray men had a woman pressed to his hip, save her dad, who strongly believed that there’s only one woman for him, and she’s watching over his every move.



The first to bring in a woman who had soon became family was Tony, the referee of family fights and third in line at the age twenty-six. He brought home a brown eyed blonde woman named Tina. At first Nadine’s first initial thought was that Tina was a dumb blonde, for Nadine’s positive encounters with blondes were slim to none. Though soon enough she had gotten to know Tina and realized that she was indeed very intelligent. She even had a collection of books that was equally as large if not larger than Tony’s own collection. Soon enough Tina had become a regular at family gatherings.



Next was Jason’s girlfriend, one of many, but this one truly had gotten to know Jason better than any of them imagined. Jason was the second oldest at twenty-seven and kept to himself when it came to the opposite sex because he too was burned by love long before he met Brenda. Brenda was a grey eyed brunette with a personality that matched Nadine’s, so immediately they had butted heads. Shortly after Jason had seen this he had taken Nadine aside and explained to her that he indeed felt the connection that she kept going on and on about. Clearly understanding her older brother she had backed off her normal behavior and tried to get along with Brenda. Initially it seemed to be a bad idea, but when the guards were broken it was quickly replaced with a sisterly bond.



Then Ali was introduced to the Defrays by Vince at the age twenty-six and shared third place in line with Tony, his fraternal twin. Since Vince was the clown of the family it was surprising he found romance so soon. He had introduced Ali shortly after Brenda had settled in amongst the family. Ali was a partying hazel eyed red head who knew how to keep the family clown in line. Though she too knew how to joke around but she also knew when a joke went too far. Nadine had no problem with Ali, just as long as she didn’t keep trying to meddle in her personal life.



That had been it for a while though, three new woman, and three new blossoming relationships were brought into the family. So every time that the whole family got together the couples would disappear then reappear at different times of the day, leaving Alec and Nadine to strengthen their bond. And for that time Nadine had no objections and still had none when Alec had finally brought home a girl of his own.



Nadine smiled brightly as she remembered when she was first introduced to Sarah, three years ago. They were going to meet for dinner at a formal restaurant that evening, and of course Nadine was the first one there, alone. So, not in the mood to wait alone at a table that seated ten she went to the bathroom to ‘freshen up’. On her way in she was nearly knocked over by a woman who was obviously having personal problems, for there were black rivers trailing down her face. Nadine who figured she should be nice to the woman, decided to apologize, but was cut off before she got the chance.



“Watch where you’re fucking going you whore!”



At first Nadine was shocked by the outburst, but she replaced her shock with a grin, and side-stepped the woman, to stand in front of the mirror.



“What the hell do you think is so funny? The fact that you nearly trampled over a heart broken stranger?”



Nadine only sighed as she began to apply her eyeliner, she really wanted to give the woman a break but she was just asking for it. “I was going to apologize but you rudely interrupted me by calling me a whore. Although I suggest that you come over here and take a good look in the mirror to see who the real whore is.”



The woman huffed and went to stand beside Nadine, faking to look in the mirror she went to hit Nadine in the back of the head with her purse, but the attack had come to an abrupt stop when Nadine had reached back and grabbed hold of the woman’s outstretched arm, twisted underneath it and held it behind the her back, causing her to scream in pain and surprise. Nadine didn’t seem to care and pushed the palm of her free hand into the back of the woman’s head while she began to calmly speak to her.



“You are absolutely lucky that I didn’t use another self-defense technique on you. I only came here to fix my appearance not beat up a woman who was throwing herself a pity party in the bathroom. Your first two attempts I let slide but the third time is where your luck stops. Got it?”



The woman sniffled and slightly nodded her head. “I can’t hear you.”



But before she could answer the door opened to a brown haired woman with blond streaks wearing a black dress, when she saw the sight before her she just stood there in shock, letting the door close behind her. Nadine payed no attention while the woman began to cry again.



The woman near the door cleared her throat catching Nadine’s attention. “I’m guessing that you’re Nadine?”



Nadine just smiled. “And you must be Sarah. What gave it away to who I was?”



Sarah chuckled. “The fact that you made a woman scream, while your brother was just explaining to me how you usually let violence solve your problems.”



Nadine raised an eyebrow. “No, not always, just when I’m not in the mood to talk it over.” She then turned her attention back to the woman trapped between her and the counter.



“And you, better quit taking your anger out on people you don’t know.” Nadine then pushed her head harder against the counter to emphasize her point. She then let her go, and grabbed her things. As she was about to walk out the door with Sarah, the woman began to speak softly.



“I-I was dumped tonight.” She began to sniffle.



Nadine just shook her head and turned to the woman. “That means shit all to me considering how you acted toward me. Here.” Nadine began to dig around in her coat pockets. “Here’s a quarter, call someone who cares.” With that she flicked the quarter with her thumb toward the woman and walked out with Sarah close behind her.



“Remind me to carry around more quarters, cause I really liked that line.”



“Don’t tell that that’s the first time you ever heard that line. It’s a complete classic.” Sarah smirked as she shook her head.



Nadine was then taken from her memory as her phone had began to ring, a ring tone that signaled that she had received a text message, looking at the screen she saw it was from David but she just ignored it. She sighed as she turned to lay on her back and just stare up at the ceiling.



Why was it so hard for her to find herself a boyfriend? Hell she’d even settle for any guy who didn’t want her for her body. Those were the only type of the guys she ever found, either one who wanted sex or one who wanted to just have her around as an accessory to show off on his arm. She grabbed a pillow beside her head and hugged it to her chest as she rolled onto her side.



All she ever imagined for herself was a good career a good life and someone to share it with. Someone who made her smile when she was sad, to make her feel wanted when she was alone, to be held when she was scared, just to be held period. Someone who could make her stomach become a gymnast by just entering the room. To make her smile at the mere thought of him, to feel the electricity course through her body from one kiss. To feel that special connection when bringing their bodies together to make one. And a good looking man would just be a welcomed bonus.



At one point in her life she had believed it was all going to come true, that she would find everything she ever wanted in a man and she had believed it for a very long time. After her many, many experiences with relationships that each had something missing, from the lack of connection to the lack of commitment, Nadine was just tired of being let down in the end. Saying she was going to give up on men was an outrageous statement, for she knew too many good men to claim they were all bastards, it just seem that all the good ones were taken or gay. Nadine had asked herself many times before if she was indeed worthy of a romantic relationship, and she was soon answered when her next relationship would fall through.



She sat up and held her knees to her chest. This was it, she was finally convinced that romance was no longer for her. The more she looked back at the past she knew that indeed there was nothing for her to look for anymore. Sure there were the relationships that were well kept but no matter what, in the end it would fall apart. Nadine groaned as she ran her hands through her layered black hair. A sure sign that she indeed was convinced to give up on romance.



Though for Nadine, giving up on something she strongly believed in was hard but she would make sure it wouldn’t impact those around her. She would definitely continue to go out on dates and keep her promise to her older brother Alec to not become depressed over something she had constantly dwelled over. Now she would begin a new chapter and continue to have fun in her life. But it would all have to start after she woke up.



A/n thanks to Empress, Tenshistar, Simone, Lazymonkey, Stina, Arainaina and Crimson Velvet for reviewing!! it encouraged me to write the second chapter

Crimson Velvet, not to worry the way i have the story planned out, it wont be that predictable