The VIP lounge felt like heaven with its temperature control and spaciousness. Nikki was already up here, having claimed one of the lounge chairs with the one opposite open. At first glance I would've missed her, had it not been for her memorable tattoo on her shoulder facing me, the delicate dandelion we both got when my mom passed in memory of her. Nikki's lips were glued to the man in front of her; his hand moved up to cup her face gently, and the other held her waist firmly.
I wasn't sure if Nikki was all there at present, having celebrated a little too much without me around, or if she really just hit it off with the guy; this was not typical Nikki behavior. I cleared my throat rather loudly as they slowly pulled away. "Nikki, do you guys want anything to drink, or are you all set?" I calmly asked as Nikki turned every shade of red imaginable, her eyes staring into the guy in front of hers.
"Just water for me," she replied.
"And your, um, friend?" I asked, smiling. This was really unusual for Nikki; she looked struck by lightning, caught in a whirlwind of lust.
His eyes never left Nikki as he asked for the same. I watched the tractor beam in their eyes re-engage and pull them together like magnets drawn together with no say in what direction they went.
I left for the bar and ordered my three waters. My eyes drifted across the room, and I noticed 'Mr. tall, dark, and handsome' making his way into the room. My heart raced as I watched him scan the room; I felt the butterflies turn to clumsy flamingos doing the tango in my chest. I turned back to the bartender, trying to avoid his gaze, and got our waters.
His accessory had vanished from what I could see out of the corner of my eye as he was busy talking to the security at the entrance. I sat down in front of the lovebirds, and Nikki took the opportunity to introduce us. "Nate, I would like to introduce you to my best friend Kenna. Kenna, this is Nate. We briefly shook hands, and he turned his body slightly so as not to appear rude and thanked me for the bottle of water I handed him.
Tall, dark, and handsome took that moment to flop down next to me. He looked directly at Nate and began talking, not even noticing the company beside him. "You won't believe the crap Chelsea tried to pull! I'm beyond pissed at this moment."
Nate looked at us uncomfortably, and the guy finally took stock of his surroundings. "Matt, I'd like you to meet Nikki and Kenna." He motioned to each of us as he introduced us. I gave him a small wave, and Nikki gave him a small "hi," and I just responded with, "We have met." Nate still had his arms securely around Nikki, and it looked like he wasn't letting go any time soon. She looked comfortable with Nate, almost smitten and on the verge of falling for this complete stranger.
"I owe you; thank you for what you did down there." Matt thanked me and filled in Nate on what happened, adding a little of the parts I could only have assumed. Chelsea, the Cruella Klingon, had eventually admitted to spiking Matt's drink when he told her to drink it and she refused. Matt had blown up at her and told her to head back home, to leave and lose his number and never contact him again. He was fed up with her schemes and wanted nothing to do with her and her scheming family.
"You know her and her family are not going to drop it, right?" Nate asked Matt sincerely. It was like the conversation had sobered Nate up, and I could see the almost frustrated look on his own face.
"Yeah, but I am done with the family-arranged marriage bull; I control my life, not them! Not my dad, who hardly gives a fuck about me; not Claire and her incessant nagging and whining; and sure as hell not Chelsea and her family. It's about time they understood that! It's MY life, not their stupid power plays to be the strongest family." He spoke out angrily. Nate clearly related to the frustration his friend felt, almost as if it was a burden he too had to carry. Words from downstairs drifted to my mind and got stuck on the name Cathryn. Maybe he was in the same position after all?
Nikki decided that Matt and Nate needed to lighten up; she ordered a round of shots and a few more after that. Nate saw I was lagging behind in the drinking game and took them for me before Nikki could notice. I know she was all for embracing the night, but a hangover was not in my future. She and Nate got wrapped up in their own little bubble, laughing and chatting away; they forgot Matt and I were even here. Matt was still fuming. There was definitely something there between Nikkie and Nate. With the short time we were here, not knowing who Nate really was and not particularly wanting to get too involved in their family drama, I didn't see this lasting all that long. It was doomed before it would even get a chance to take off.
I found Matt, and I began talking more as the room got busier. He wasn't the worst of company; it was actually easy listening to him. I had learned a bit about him during this time. He loved his grandfather, didn't have time for his father, and strongly disliked his stepmother. He had two older brothers, and he was 5 years older than me. His family was very traditional and old-school. He had studied after high school, although he didn't go into details on that, and had recently finished his final year. Lots of surface-level things, nothing skin deep. I listened intently and hung on every word; I felt entranced with his voice and caught the hint of a slight accent here and there and every now and then caught a hint of silver glittering between his lips.
I don't know how or when it happened; it had to be when Matt had really started talking to me, but one minute Nikki and Nate were there, and the next they vanished into thin air, leaving Matt and me alone. "Matt, I think they ditched us," I confidently told him after about an hour had passed with no sign of Nikki and Nate. I felt slightly buzzy at this point, not only from what I had drunk but also from Matt sitting so close to me.
Nikki and Matt were two sheets to the wind before they ditched us. The lust burned deep in their eyes as they shared secret looks and smiles before abandoning us. I did not need an imagination when it came to thinking about what they were up to. I was still sober for the most part, just mellow. I just hoped it was in his room they went to instead of ours. My bed was calling me, and I felt drained after today.
Matt, however, was a different story altogether. His eyes sparkled and were unfocused with the copious amounts of tequila he had ingested. I didn't want to leave the guy alone; all I could see in my mind's eye was Chelsea waiting to take advantage. I couldn't shake the feeling that if he headed back to his suite alone, there would be trouble. I eventually decided he could bunk on the couch. The suite Mom had booked was big enough and had two separate rooms with a foldout and extra blankets in the cupboard in my room for the couch.
He half stumbled and half fell on his way out of the club. I took his arm and put it around my shoulders and made my way, stumbling every few steps, to the elevators. He propped himself up in the corner as we headed up to my floor and stared at me through bleary, unfocused eyes. "We could get married, you know," he mumbled more to himself than to me, or at least I thought he did. "They wouldn't be able to do anything about it then; Gramps is completely against divorce and would be happy for us. I could make it work with you." He carried on just louder than a whisper, laughing to himself as he pictured whatever it was in his mind. "What do you think?" He stared at me intently, waiting for my answer. I stared at him blankly, hoping he was not asking what I thought he was.
"I think nine is the lucky number for you to stop on shots. I think 10 through 15 scrambled your brain cells, made you incoherent and possibly gave you alcohol poisoning."I shake my head at him. I'm starting to really wonder about this decision to help him with a place to crash for the night. This has trouble written all over it.
"Hear me out, I really think we could make it work." He tried to pitch the idea again; he really must have been out of it.
"You already said that. I think you're really drunk right now, and what seems like a fantastic idea now won't be so fantastic once you sober up. You just broke up with your crazy ex, and I am really not rebound material. You don't know me from Adam, and lastly, I don't know you." I fired off one reason after the next, avoiding any feelings of attraction I felt towards him. He threw around something that was important to me, something I took seriously. I wanted to marry someone I was head over heels in love with, someone that took the time to know me, all the good and the bad, too. I wanted to know what it felt like to mean something to someone, not just be the convenient choice. Sure, he was the first guy I had honestly felt attracted to in my life, but he made me feel like a solution to a problem instead of someone who rocked his world and whom he honestly cared about, not my circus, mister, and sure as heck not my monkeys.
I may not have grown up with both parents, but I saw what love was every time I went with Nikkie to her grandparents'. Even at 70, the love they shared could be seen in everything they did. He would hold the door for her wherever they went. He picked flowers on his walks in the retirement village they lived in. She would make sure there was always a fresh apple pie in the fridge whenever he wanted, so they did everything together. She would make him coffee, and he would make the popcorn, buttered and salted just the way she liked it, and they would cuddle next to each other when we used to have movie nights there. I wanted that! I wanted to feel what growing old with someone I loved felt like.
"Well, I will be sober in the morning. Second point, nothing about our relationship was an actual relationship. It was all arranged by our parents when we were still in diapers, and I never had a say in it. I didn't even ask her out or propose to her, so there was no relationship to get over. I would also never touch Chelsea if the survival of man depended on it; people talk, and not only does she have a crappy personality, but she really gets around. I'm not slut-shaming her or anything like that; I appreciate that she may have a healthy sexual appetite. It's just she collects them like a frat house at the end of the year. We would have a lifetime to get to know each other, so not knowing each other now is not really a problem. Plus, we would have beautiful smart kids; with your looks and my brains, I could definitely see that.”
He made sense in his reasoning and was logical and methodical in answering; he attacked each obstacle I put in his way with precision. When guys started talking about having kids, though, you knew they were possessed or drunk off their ass.
He stumbled along with me, half carrying him towards the room; some of it felt a little excessive, like he really was trying to get close to me. Why did this corridor look a lot longer than what it initially did this afternoon? We made it to the suite, and I put Matt down on the couch, closing the door afterward. I brought him a bottle of water and a few anti-hangover pills; he looked like he would need them in the morning. He gulped them down along with the bottle of water, thanked me, climbed under the blanket I had brought for him, put his head down, and was out like a light.