The Rise of Phoenix

Readers, this story comes after Angela, My Angel Pt 4. It takes a look at Phoenix post Angela, so for the story to make more sense I would suggest you read Angela, My Angel all the way to Pt 4. Thank you in advance for reading this, and for voting at the end of the story ;). Enjoy.

*****

'Bad attitude, telling who to calm down?

Tryna' cool it all down

Who's calling my name? Who's involved no?

Tell me who I gotta down

I do a song now, man even though there's way less to prove to y'all now

Man, everything that went around is comin' back around

Y'all better hit the ground, god damn

Be forever unfinished

Yeah, it's all open ended

Had me all for a minute

Had you all since beginning

Damn, I must be coaching 'cause I'm not playin' with them

Can you not see the difference?

I mean, I keep the fucking lights on in the building

Man, my record deal should be 500 million, god damn

Can't have everything, can't have everything

Want a lot, can't have everything but I want everything.'

Phoenix sang over Drake's voice to one of the songs she'd lately come to play on repeat, 'Can't Have Everything'. It was her attempt at trying to convince herself that she was over Angela now, that she wasn't heartbroken over their break-up. Whether she really did have herself convinced or not was a different story, one she didn't want to know the truth to - she was happy telling herself that she was over it.

"Fuck, I'm so high right," Angela told Garfield as she exhaled smoke-filled breathe through her nose and mouth. She was sitting with Garfield on the patio, smoking her joint in the darkness of the night, playing music softly over her stereo inside. It was a past-time she'd indulged in these last few weeks. She hadn't stopped when she was with Angela, she'd just cut down on her smoking.

"Why did I even cut down on this? It's not like Angela told me to. Is it cause I didn't have as much free time as I have now? Thinking about free time, the time seems to be crawling at a snails pace. And when time seems so slow, that's how I know I'm very high. And rambling. I know I'm high when I ramble on and on. I don't do it when I'm nervous, only when I'm high."

"Do you get nervous Garfield? What do you do when you're nervous? Other than strangers, what makes dogs nervous? Do female dogs make you nervous, or do you only recognize female dogs when it's mating season?" Angela shook her head and laughed at this conversational tangent she was going on with her dog.

"Let me just finish this joint then I'll be headed out. I'll see you when I get back. Just promise me that you'll be good while I'm out." Angela smoked the blunt down to her thumb and forefinger, discarded the stompie and went inside the house, followed by Garfield. She picked up her phone, which seemed glaringly bright after sitting in the dark for an hour, and had a look at the time.

It was 9:30 and she knew her friends would already be in the club. She was looking forward to going out and getting buzzed on alcohol. She never drank to get wasted drunk, she only drank to get tipsy. The one time she did get drunk she hated everything about it - the disorientation, the nausea, the smell of alcohol and vomit, the vomiting, the hangover, the imbalance and just feeling out of control over her own body, and being helpless about it. So whenever she planned on having more than the usual one or two drinks she normally has, it was to get just tipsy enough to let loose but still have her tact.

She requested herself an Uber and locked up, leaving water and food out for Garfield but after kissing him on the top of his head. Just as she locked up her front gate the Uber pulled up. Quickly shooting a text to the group chat she was in with her friends, she got in and asked the driver to connect to the music on her phone. She was in a party mood and she didn't need any other type of music than party music.

Cardi B's Bartier Bardi started over the radio, which Phoenix thought could do with a whole lot of improvement. She was so used to listening to her music in her car, which she had fitted to her liking, as well as in her house which had surround sound and speakers in almost every room in her house. She decided that this should suffice until she got to the club which was only a 10 minute drive from her place. It was a Friday night and there would be minimal to no cars on the road at this time, so moving from one place to another would be in record time.

'This is one of my favorite times for driving around. It's so quiet on the roads and the lights just captivate me,' Angela thought to herself. Her Uber pulled up sooner than she realized and she thanked her driver as she got out. Texting her friends that she'd arrived, Angela went to the entrance and considered smoking another joint before going in.

At that she was about to turn around when Charlotte called her name. Signaling to Charlotte about her intention, Phoenix turned around, Charlotte following closely on her heel. Charlotte never turned down a chance to smoke. Actually, none of them ever turned down a chance to smoke some herb, and so they found a dark area a few meters from the entrance and lit up the bud.

They smoked over small-talk, passing the joint back and forth to each other. "It's actually packed in there. Don't let the lack of a queue fool you, the people are already inside. And Lady J is the DJ tonight, so you know the dance floor is on fire."

As much as Phoenix was shy, after smoking weed she always felt at ease interacting with new people. Even after having a few drinks, she would easily get along with most people, and tonight she was going to have both substances in her system. The joint was finished and they headed back to the entrance of the club, "I got a feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good, good night. Feeling!" Phoenix sang out one of her favourite old Black-eyed Peas.

She called over to Charlotte who was zoned out but still listening, "I know she never agrees, but I'm gonna ask Lady J to play that song. She has to, you'll see how all the little kids won't know the song. It should do for a great throwback song. I bet you all us adults will be on the dance floor the second she drops it. You'll see, it's gonna be magical."

Phoenix has a passion for music, but unfortunately for her that passion didn't manifest itself as a talent in any shape, form or manner. She is a terrible at singing, she sounds tone-deaf at times and she can't write songs nor can she compose music. But Phoenix had a revelation at that moment, thanks to the J she'd just smoked, "I actually have a good ear for music."

"Yea babe, you do. Are you only realizing that now?" Charlotte asked as she looked up at the sky, noticing the stars she hadn't noticed before.

Phoenix admitted to herself more than Charlotte, who was half a pace behind her, "Well, I just always thought I wasn't any good at anything related to music, only listening to it seemed to be the thing I do best."

At that point they were just getting to the bouncers, who let them through. The second she stepped through the doors, Phoenix was transported to a different world - the dimmed lightning, changing now and again between different shades of red and blue, sometimes a combination of the colours making purple - the people seated at the tables - the figures dancing on the dance floor, those at the bar ordering their drinks or having a drink at the bar, and finally, the music. It was loud and the bass-line Lady J was dropping was just what she needed to get her body moving, but she had one thing on her mind.

She trekked through the crowd on her way over to the elevated DJ booth. Once she reached her destination they shared their greetings and Phoenix told her she had a request. She and Lady J knew each other. Although they weren't close friends, they were friends enough that Phoenix could approach her. "The Black-Eyed Peas, I've got a feeling," Phoenix looked at her confidently, but looking funny to Lady J as her eyes were looking smaller due to the smoking a few minutes ago.

Lady J considered her for a long second, and agreed, "If you promise to hook me up with some of what you had." She made quick work of finding the song and replacing it with the one she had already cued on her system. She transitioned the requested song slowly over the one that was coming to an end. A few people identified this new song coming on, but because Lady J wasn't playing it yet, only transitioning it, some people hadn't realized.

After about 30 seconds she let the song play while fading out the other one, and the crowd went wild. They were whistling, jumping up and down, some of those who were seated were dancing over to the dance floor and what's more, even the younger crowd seemed to be taken by the song.

Phoenix could feel the goosebumps forming on her skin as she saw it all unfold. She stayed by the booth because this was exactly what she wanted to see, and the feeling it gave her, along with the goosebumps, made her night. "Meet me outside after your set so we can get our smoke on," Phoenix shouted over to the DJ, and Lady J held a thumb up as she bopped her head to the song.

While she was standing in the elevated DJ booth Phoenix had spotted the table in the VIP section that her friends were occupying, but decided to first hit the dance floor. She didn't quite feel like dancing with anyone at the moment, she just wanted to move her body along to the music. When the song ended she made her way to the table and ordered a bottle of vodka, cranberry juice and lemonade juice as mixers, and a bottle whiskey and ginger ale to go with the whiskey. Phoenix generally likes her whiskey straight, but when she's planning on having a long night out, she has it with a mixer, and whiskey ginger is her favourite.

The order was brought to their table and the first drink Phoenix had was a whiskey on the rocks, she couldn't not have it that way. Ben came up to the table and Phoenix stood up, greeting him with the handshake their crew used whenever they got together. While they were still at that, Charlotte made her way to them with Taydo. Once greetings were over, Phoenix sat back down and didn't have to tell her friends to help themselves as they were already pouring their drinks. Phoenix took her time with her drink, surveying the crowd, checking the people out, or more so, the girls. After that first drink, she poured more whiskey into her glass and then topped it with the mixer. She sat back and had her drink, spotting a few people she would like to dance with during the night.

The music sounded so much better to Phoenix tonight and all she wanted to do was dance, so when her drink was finished she made her way to the dance floor. She'd already picked out her target, a girl who seemed younger than her. She danced her way to the dance floor and made her way to the woman. She smiled at the woman in front of her with a slight bow of her head and tried to match the vigour with which she danced.

Her attention was focused on this woman in front of her, who seemed to accept Phoenix's advances of dancing together that she hadn't noticed a man come up to join them. At first he seemed to be dancing with both of them but he eventually pushed the pretty woman away, quite skillfully, as it wasn't noticeable until he was face to face with Phoenix. When Phoenix tried to look for her over his shoulder she spotted her dancing with another guy too and just shrugged her shoulders in her mind.

She entertained this man but only for the rest of the song that was currently playing, and she made her way back to the table, wanting to find her next target.

Now, Phoenix is beautiful but she doesn't play it up. She likes to keep herself as natural as she can, except for her hair - she goes crazy with hair-colour. But occasionally she will put some light make-up on and stuff. Tonight however was one of those nights where she'd opted to leave any make-up, using her non-coloured lip balm to moisturize her lips.

Even on days where she looked like that, she'd find that some men seemed to take an interest in her. Not that she had anything against men, she found some of them appealing to the eye, but she just didn't feel attracted to any. That was the case with this man - he was good looking but she wasn't attracted to him, and she certainly wasn't looking to be some random guy's hit-it-and-quit-it chick. She was hoping that he'd get the message when she left him on the dance floor, but she saw him - Mr Looker, shall we call him - checking her out a few times when she was back at her table.

She fixed herself another drink, only so she'd have something to keep her hands occupied and holding something. Sitting back on the sofa, she spotted the next person she wanted to dance with, only to see her dancing with a guy. "It would be so much easier at a gay club," she spoke to no one, "but I'll go have a dance, just an innocent dance with her if he goes away."

By the time she finished her drink the girl had left the dance floor with the guy she had been dancing with. However, Phoenix spotted someone else and she made her way there. She accepted that things aren't going to go her way, so she's going to dance with any available woman and whatever happens, happens.

True to her thoughts it didn't go as planned. She danced with the girl for a bit, but the Mr Looker, who had approached and danced with Phoenix earlier, came back and danced with her again. This time she didn't wait for the song to end, nor did she dance with him, she just danced around him and faced her back to him. She carried on dancing and spotted her friend Taydo and made her way to Taydo. Next to Taydo, she danced alone, not really dancing with Taydo but being close to her, and not really dancing with anyone else either.

She closed her eyes and let the music take her away, forgetting about trying to get a dance. After a while she felt a hand on her arm and when she opened her eyes it was Lady J. Lady J smiled at her, Phoenix smiled back and she spoke in Taydo's ear that they were going outside for a smoke. Taydo joined along and the three of them were hit with a wave of cool, fresh, air that was scented with moon flowers blossoming as they walked through the doors of the club.

Reaching their smoking spot, Phoenix pulled out another joint and a lighter and lit up. She took two puffs and passed it to Lady J, exhaling the smoke with an unwelcome name on her mind - Angela. She didn't have any particular thought about Angela, the name just popped up into her head and she missed Angela at that moment but got upset that she had thought of that name.

She took the joint from Lady J as Lady J was passing it to Taydo, making both the girls wonder about what was up. Neither of them asked, correctly assuming that it has something to do with Angela, and they knew better than to bring Angela up. Taydo knew better than Lady J why she shouldn't, and to Lady J it was simply because no one likes to think or talk about the exes who had broken their hearts.

For Taydo, it was because she knew the denial Phoenix was in about being over Angela, and she hated witnessing it. 'Phoenix is just better off not being reminded by us about Angela. She's trying hard to convince herself that she's over Angela, she believes it, let's leave her be. One day she'll be truly over Angela, and only then can we pester her about it. For now, she told us that things didn't work out, let's accept that explanation as good enough,' Taydo had told her friends when they wanted to plan an intervention for Phoenix.

All of them could tell that Phoenix wasn't 100%, but it's expected after a break-up, especially after their break-up. Since then they've all let Phoenix be, just promising themselves to be there for Phoenix when she would need them because they knew that they day would come. But so far, she hadn't shown any sign that she was going to tell any of them about what happened.

They smoked the rest of the joint over small talk, each person now taking her correct turn.

Phoenix was determined that she wasn't going to allow her thought of Angela's name ruin her night, so when the headed back into the club she hit the dance floor, and she hit it hard.

She danced for about 25, 30 minutes straight when she decided to go get herself another drink. The thing she appreciated about partying with her friends is that they drank like whales, but they also bought drinks - they didn't leave it to her. She was the first to open the new bottle of whiskey, fixed herself another whiskey and ginger ale drink and savoured it. A look at the screen of her phone told her that it was now 30 minutes after midnight and the party could still go on for much longer.

Ben was sitting on the couch, intimate with a girl Phoenix didn't know. She didn't even care to know her. Phoenix knew Ben all too well - he is a smooth talker, very charming and has the looks most ladies fell over themselves for. What's more is he's doing very well for himself financially, and he didn't have any reservations about flaunting his wealth via his appearance. He wore only what he considered the best, and the best to him was determined by the price tag. As much as he is wealthy, he doesn't just throw his money away on girls. No, that's not Ben's style, he only spends on a woman when he's taken by her on a deeper level.

Phoenix was impressed with how Ben could switch his game up. She wanted him to share his tips so she went over and disturbed the moment he was engrossed in with the stranger. "Yo Ben, man, you have to teach me some time how you do it. You can break even the tough cookies, although I wonder why you don't just go for the ones with the tough exterior. If I were you, I wouldn't look twice at the girls who don't make me chase them," Phoenix shared her thoughts with Ben.

Ben laughed heartily, quite flattered by the compliment he'd received, "Well, we're gonna have to work on your game so you can chase after them. And you need to do some chasing after the past few weeks, we need you to get back into the game." The girl sitting with Ben felt left out and didn't try to hide how irritable she was getting now but Ben paid her no mind.

That is what makes Phoenix's group even more valuable to her; they don't let anyone or anything come between them, especially people who are nobodies to the group. "Well, let's start tomorrow, it's a Saturday. We can go to the beach, I haven't been there in a long time. Not after the break-up with Angela. We'll find some girls I can practice on." Phoenix's suggestion was appealing to Ben and she added, "We can go with the whole crew. We'll take my SUV so we can all travel in one car. I don't like traveling in different cars when we're all going to the same place. Besides, we're gonna need a designated driver, and that's not gonna be me."

Ben laughed again, knowing that that was the end of that conversation. He turned to his companion for the night, putting on his charm for her making her feel special again. Phoenix shot a text to the group, telling them that they're all going to the beach tomorrow and need a designated driver. If anyone wanted to volunteer they were welcome to, otherwise Charlotte would have to drive seeing as it's her turn.

Knowing Charlotte, and the fact that they would be at the beach tomorrow, everyone knew that someone would have to volunteer to drive everyone back home - she wouldn't stay sober. Taydo sent a private text to Phoenix letting her know that she'd drive everyone back home.

With everyone agreeing that they'd be fine to go to the beach, Phoenix put her phone back in her pocket, retreated to her seat and fixed herself another drink. Now that her high was coming down, time seemed to be going a lot faster. It was already 1:15 in the morning and gave herself another 45 minutes of partying before going home. She loved her sleep and figured she needed some rest. Besides, she wasn't as much of a party animal as her friends were, thinking to herself 'They'll be here til the sun comes out.'