by Raquel Belle
“I’ll just have a bottle of water to start,” I say with a smile. “I better wait until I’ve got some food in my stomach before I start drinking.”
“I’ll have water too,” Laura speaks up.
“What!? It’s your party!” Marissa protests, her brow furrowed.
“Yeah and I want to be able to remember it tomorrow.” Laura grins.
“Wise move, sis.” I nudge her gently.
“Fine, fine, you lame-o sisters.” Kirsten hands us each a small bottle of water from the fridge. “Cheers to an awesome night!” She raises her glass and we all toast.
“What’s the plan for the night anyway?” I ask. The bachelorette party planning was left to Laura’s other bridesmaids—her younger, cooler friends—instead of her big sister.
“We have a table booked at this supper club. Like, it’s a dinner spot but later it gets more of a dance club vibe. It’s called ‘Calea’, do you know it?” Marissa asks eagerly.
“No, I’m afraid I’m not up-to-date on the latest hotspots in Boston.”
“It’s great. Sort of Asian-fusion cuisine. They serve food until 10:00 p.m. and then it converts into a club atmosphere—like they bring out a DJ and open up the dance floor in the center of the room.”
“Cool. Sounds good to me.”
“And of course, we’ve arranged for a special treat for the bride,” Melissa gives me a huge wink—just as unsubtle as her red dress.
“You did not get a stripper!?” Laura squeals next to me. “Did you?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Melissa responds smugly while Kirsten and Marissa giggle next to her.
“Ugh, I absolutely refuse to get a lap dance! I’m just putting that out there right now. They’re always so awkward,” Laura protests, laughing.
“Oh, they’re ‘always’ so awkward? How many lap dances have you had, little sis?” I can’t help but tease her as her friends giggle hysterically.
Laura’s face colors slightly and a mischievous smile plays on her lips as she looks down and casually pats the gold sequins on her dress. “I’ll just plead the fifth on that.”
“Ladies, we’ve almost arrived.” The driver’s voice calls back to us as the tiny partition that separates him from the back slowly rolls down.
“Thanks, Mark!” Melissa calls up to him. “Honestly,” she turns to face the rest of us, her voice lowering and her face suddenly serious, “if I don’t meet a cute guy later then I seriously think I might try and see what the driver is up to.”
“Melissa!” Marissa gasps. “He’s like 50!”
“I like older men!” Melissa protests while her friends giggle.
“Are they always this wild?” I look to Laura with a smile.
“I’m afraid so. Think you can keep up?”
“I’ll do my best.”
With that, the car comes to a stop and seconds later, the driver has opened the door and is extending his white-gloved hand to help us out—one by one. A small red carpet leads to a huge, double-paned glass door, and the word “Calea” is printed above it in dark purple light-up letters, glowing against the night sky.
“Yikes, this place looks fancy!” I can’t help but murmur to Laura.
“I said to dress up for a reason,” she grins. “Let’s go.”
The moment we enter, a young hostess who looks pretty enough to be a model—tall, slim, big eyes, hair slicked back into a low ponytail, and a flawless face of makeup—comes up to us. She leads us to a large cozy booth tucked towards the back of the huge restaurant. The interior has a large open space in the middle, with tables lined all along the edges of the room. A bar is set up at the far end of the room and a small DJ stand is next to it. This is clearly going to be transformed into a full-on dance floor later. Huge glittering chandeliers are hung overhead, adorned with Swarovski crystals of dark purple.
“This place is amazing!” Kirsten says as we slide into the large booth which the hostess has brought us to. The furniture is all upholstered in plush purple velvet, matching the shade of the glittering gems overhead—and perfectly matching the purple of the “Calea” sign we’d seen out front. Painstaking attention to detail has clearly gone into making this place.
“The food looks fantastic as well,” I add as I scan the menu I have in front of me.
“And the drinks,” Marissa notes. “I’m definitely going to have to try one of their signature cocktails.”
“What about you, Cara? Ready for a real drink?” Melissa asks, giving me a huge smile. She might be a bit of a party girl and a flirt, but her bubbly personality is infectious.
I take in the room with a smile. I might as well get into the spirit of things. “Yeah, I think I’ll try one of those signature cocktails, too,” I tell her. I settle my gaze on Laura, who is happily chatting with Kirsten and Marissa and looking relaxed and stress-free. This is Laura’s night, I tell myself. I think of the tiny pink rose hidden in my clutch and give a last thought to Jason—and then I push it out of my mind. Tonight, I just need to support my sister and make sure she has a great time on her last big night out as a single woman.
***
Three hours and four Calea signature cocktails later, I’ve actually managed to stick to my resolution not to think about Jason at all—well, except for just now. Laura’s friends are sweet and funny, and they definitely know how to have a good time. The dinner-club has already given way to more of a party atmosphere and the first people are trickling onto the dance floor.
“Let’s get out there!” Marissa cries out with a nod, gesturing to the open floor.
“Ready when you are,” I reply. As I speak, I feel a slight buzz from my purse. My phone is on vibrate. Despite my earlier resolve to not think about him tonight, my heart jumps. Maybe it’s Jason? He’s texted me at least once a day since we parted ways after the boat.
I slip my phone out of my clutch and take a peek, feeling a smile grow across my face as I read the words: “How’s the bachelorette party going? Did the stripper show up yet? ;-)”
I prepare to write something back when Melissa’s voice interrupts my thoughts.
“Look at that smile!” She squeals. She’s staring at me with a knowing look.
“Oh, it has to be a guy!” Kirsten adds.
“Totally.”
“I thought you were single, Cara?!”
“So did I,” Laura says, a hint of ice in her voice.
“I am single.” I quickly put my phone away. “It’s just a friend back in New York.”
“Yeah right,” Melissa is already reaching across the table for my bag. “Come on, show us what your Romeo is writing you. Nobody smiles at their phone like that for a friend.”
“Seriously!” Marissa agrees. She puts her hand out. “Hand over the phone, Miss Cara. You’re busted.” I can see that the girls, fueled by booze, aren’t going to let this rest so I reach into my purse and pull my phone out.
“Let me just unlock it and then you’ll see.” As I’m talking, I unlock the phone—and also swiftly delete my message history with Jason. I hold it up for the rest of the table to see. The last text is just some innocuous message from Beth, asking if I’m having fun. Luckily it was sent just one hour ago, so it’s believable that this was actually the message I was reading. It’s pure luck that I didn’t feel the buzz of it when it’d first come through. Even when my girls don’t know it—they’re constantly saving my butt.
“See, it’s just her friend Beth,” Laura says, giving the phone a glance. “You guys have the craziest imaginations. If my sister was dating someone, I’d know about it.”
“Fine, fine. But you need a boyfriend Cara!” Marissa says.
“Yeah, your little sister is getting married and you’re at the wedding solo. We should find you a guy tonight,” Melissa adds. She is clearly on a man-hunting mission, whether for herself or someone else—it doesn’t seem to matter.
“I’m fine, ladies. Don't worry about me,” I say with a laugh, trying to swallow my guilt as Lau
ra’s words—If my sister was dating someone, I’d know about it—echo in my head.
“Yeah, and anyway tonight isn’t about finding guys,” Kirsten adds. I give her a grateful glance. She seems to have also sensed the shift in Laura’s mood, even if Melissa and Marissa are clueless.
“Yeah, tonight is about celebrating Laura!” I cut in. I see Laura’s face looking slightly stormy from the corner of my eye. After our conversation in the hotel room the other night, the last thing I want is to take away any of the attention from her tonight.
“Yeah, can we celebrate the girl who has already found her man and is actually getting ready to marry him—in just two days?!” Laura is feigning humor but I can hear the tension in her voice and my stomach twists anxiously. I raise my glass and prepare to make a toast, wanting to bring the spotlight back onto my little sister. But before I can get a word out, a voice comes booming over the sound system.
“And now we have a special treat. If you could all clear the dance floor, please…” A burly security guy is ushering people off the dance floor while another one is putting a single chair out right in the middle. “And if I could please get a…” The DJ pauses as he glances quickly at a sheet of paper. “A Laura Conley to the dance floor, please.”
“Oh shit.” Laura’s face has gone pale next to me and her eyes are huge. Meanwhile, Melissa, Marissa, and Kirsten are all red in the face with laughter.
“Laura Conley, come on down!” The DJ calls again.
“Laura, Laura, Laura!” The girls start chanting behind me and other people at nearby tables pick up the call. Meanwhile the burly security guard—whom I’m suddenly realizing isn’t a security guard but the previously promised male stripper—is standing in the middle of the dance floor. He points directly at Laura and waves her over, patting the chair, a huge smile on his face. I suddenly notice that his muscles are gleaming under the lights and realize he’s slathered them in baby oil.
I can’t help laughing out loud at Laura’s slightly horrified expression—but after a moment she picks up my hilarity. She gives a last death stare at her friends. “You ladies are the absolute worst,” she says, but she’s grinning from ear to ear. Then she stands up, and with one last backward glace and a wink at me, heads to the dance floor amidst a sea of whoops and cheers from the crowd.
Laura covers her face with her hands for a moment of embarrassment. She makes her way towards the chair in the middle of the floor but now she’s laughing and smiling—and clearly ready to enjoy herself. I breathe a sigh of relief as I watch her sit down and get ready for her lap dance, her face slightly flushed. I’m just glad that the spotlight is back on her. I never thought I’d be so glad to see a male stripper— I think to myself with a grin. Then…I settle in for the show.
Chapter Eighteen
Jason
After you’ve been to five or six bachelor parties in your life, they don’t really hold many surprises. There are two types of parties. One kind you end up at a strip club and someone inevitably does something stupid that gets everybody in trouble. The other kind, you end up sitting around doing bro stuff—playing cards, watching sports, drinking beers—and just hanging out. Jared has opted for the latter. I’m completely happy to keep it low-key, as are Reuben and Ryan. The only person who clearly is disappointed by the relaxed evening is Thomas.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to Centerfolds later?” He asks Jared as he scans his phone. “They have some cute girls there.”
“Nah, I’m happy with this.” Jared shrugs. “I just want to play some poker and chill out.”
“I fold,” Reuben says, putting down his cards.
“Same.” Ryan follows.
“Yeah, this is cool. Centerfolds is going to be crazy,” I add. “It’s a Friday night.”
“The best girls work Fridays!” Thomas says. I catch Jared just slightly roll his eyes. Thomas is an old buddy of his but I’m glad that Jared is smart enough to see that Thomas can be a fucking jerk sometimes.
“I think we should just hang out here,” Jared says firmly. “Jason arranged an awesome setup for us.”
“Yeah, the view from this place rivals even what we’d see at Centerfolds,” Ryan says with a laugh. “This place is wild, Jason,” he adds, turning to me and gesturing to the floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of us. The windows to the west show the Boston city skyline, lit up against the sky, and those to the east show the twinkling lights of boats on the harbor.
After Jared told me he just wanted a guys’ night in for his bachelor party, I decided my penthouse hotel suite was the perfect spot to celebrate. I pulled some strings at the hotel and had them set up a poker table right in the middle of the living room portion of the suite. A professional looking, green-topped card table has been carefully placed on top of the plush white rug, and five folding chairs set up around it. The hotel even came up with poker chips, cards, and a top-of-the-line card-shuffling machine.
“Yeah, this place is pretty insane,” Jared says, squinting at the cards in his hand—clearly trying to decide whether to fold or not. He doesn’t have a great poker face. “Fuck it, I fold.”
“I guess it’s good to know the guy who built the damn hotel,” Reuben says with a chuckle. “This really is a hell of a spread, Jason. Thanks for organizing it.” He gestures to the kitchenette area in the corner of the room. When they found out what I was planning, the hotel also provided food, drinks, and a private bartender, who has transformed the kitchenette into a full-service bar.
Now the game is down to just me and Thomas. Even though I don’t have much to show, I’m positive Thomas is bluffing. Sure enough, when we lay our cards out on the table, I’ve got just two pair—but Thomas doesn’t have a damn thing.
“You’re ill-advised to bet against my brother,” Jared says with a laugh as I rake the pile of poker chips towards me. “He’s made his fortune making risky bets and winning them.”
“Well, not all of them.” I say with a grin. “You have to lose a few along the way if you’re going to win big.”
“Let’s take a break,” Thomas says grumpily, while Ryan and Reuben smirk to one another. Thomas has been edgy all evening, clearly annoyed that he’s missing an excuse to visit a strip club.
“Yeah, let’s take a breather,” I agree—not because I want to stop playing but because I want to take a peek at my phone. I texted Cara a couple hours earlier asking how the bachelorette party was going and haven’t heard back yet. As I walk to the bar for another beer, I slip my phone out of my pocket and take a peek. Nothing. That must mean she’s having a good time at least.
I slip my phone back into my pocket and take the beer—which the attentive bartender has already opened and is expectantly holding out to me. Returning to the table, I realize that Jared’s mind is also with the bachelorette party.
“I wonder if the girls are having a good time,” he says, glancing at his own phone—which he doesn’t have to bother hiding like me.
“I’m sure they are. Marissa said they were headed to Calea, that swanky new supper club,” Reuben replies.
“Yeah, apparently they were even going to rent a limo,” I add, then immediately bite my tongue. This information came from Cara—who, as far as these guys know, I technically don’t have any private contact with.
“Oh man, Laura is going to love that,” Jared smiles broadly, not thinking to question where I got this piece of information. It’s pretty cute, seeing my little bro get so happy just at the thought of his fiancée being happy.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure the girls are having a great time,” Thomas breaks in with exasperation. “If we’re not going to go to a club ourselves, let’s get back to poker. I need to make back some money from Jason before the night ends.”
“Alright, alright.” I settle back into my chair. “Seven-card stud?” I grab the deck.
“Bring it on,” Thomas says with determination. Jared catches my eye briefly and I can see a hint of laughter in his look. He’s smart enough not t
o take Thomas and his fronting too seriously. They’ve been buddies for years and Jared is too loyal to let a good friendship fade—but he’s also clear-headed enough to recognize Thomas’s flaws. And smart enough not to let the temptation of a strip club—or pressure from his bro pals—cause strife between him and his bride-to-be.
“You gonna need your groomsmen for any special duties tomorrow? It is the day before the wedding?” I ask casually as I deal. I’m secretly formulating a plan. Having not seen Cara since the day on the boat, I’m dying for another taste of her. Tomorrow would be our last chance to sneak in a meeting before the wedding…when we’ll have to be on our best behavior, what with all the family around.
“Nah, you guys are off the hook. I just need everyone to show up on time to the church on Sunday.”
“What time do you want us there dude?” Reuben asks, scrutinizing his cards.
“Ceremony is at 4:00 p.m. so I guess 3:00 should do it?”
“Better say 2:00, just in case we need to go drag Thomas out of Centerfolds at the last minute,” I give him a wink.
“They do have a Sunday brunch special,” Thomas says with a laugh. At least he’s able to laugh at himself.
“Alright, alright, as long you’re all there by 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, showered and sober!” Jared says throwing his hands up. “What you do before that is your business.”
“I guess a group of adult men can manage that,” Reuben remarks wryly.
“If you don’t, my head will be the one on the chopping block. Laura’s been planning this wedding for months and it better go according to plan.”
“No worries, buddy,” Ryan says with his chilled-out smile, running his hand through his blonde curly hair. “We won’t let you down.”
“Yeah, no worries man,” Thomas adds, giving Jared a light punch on the arm. “Nobody’s going to blow your special day.” He makes eye contact with me as he says these last words. I hold his gaze, knowing exactly what he’s referring to—walking in on me and Cara kissing the other day.