Chapter 6
Trish and Alexis walked into The Ivory Ring, a classy bar with a 1920s-theme resonating throughout the establishment. The walls were covered in fancy black and white wall paper with ornate designs. Sumptuous chandeliers were suspended from the ceiling that illuminated the room with a majestic ambience. The floors were an old hardwood, the same floors from the warehouse that was here back in the twenties. “I forgot this place existed,” said Trish as she walked in front of Alexis, looking forward into the large, open, common area that doubled as a dance floor. “I wasn’t expecting for us to come somewhere so classy.”
“It’s not that classy,” said Alexis as she muscled up to the bar, sliding beside a couple large men who were taking a great deal of space with their elbows resting on the wooden structure. “In an hour, that dance floor will be buzzing and we’re going to be getting down.”
“Really?” asked Trish as she stood beside Alexis. “Are you about to have a few drinks to get the night going?”
Alexis smiled. “I told my ex where to meet me and he’s going to come find me here at some point,” she said as the bartender placed a glass of wine in front of her. “I’m going to need a few of these before I can see his smug face again.”
“Alexis, why are you putting yourself through this?” asked Trish with a concerned tone. “Why are you making yourself talk to him?”
“Because we had something decent and I really feel like I need closure,” she explained. “So, I’m going to get a few drinks in me and then we’re going to see where the night takes me.”
Trish smirked as she motioned for the bartender to bring her what Alexis was drinking. “Then I suppose I cannot let you drink alone,” she said with a coy grin. “Maybe with our powers combined, we can be one sensible human being.”
Alexis looked around the room to see if Hannah was already waiting on her. “Have you seen Hannah?” she asked as Trish reached for the drink the bartender brought her. “I thought she’d make it here by now.”
“No, I haven’t seen her,” said Trish while she sipped on her glass of white wine and looked at her phone. “But I think Davis will be joining us this evening. I told him we were coming here and he was adamant about coming out and seeing me.”
“Do you think he wants a real relationship with you?” asked Alexis.
“I certainly hope so,” replied Trish. “He’s attractive, smart, ambitious, and has most of his shit together. He’s exactly what I’m not. I think he’d be really good for me as a person.”
Alexis laughed heartily as Trish bluntly admitted her faults. “If he can keep you contained, then I suppose he would be great for you.”
“I sure hope so,” she said with an awkward smile. “I’ve had so much go wrong for me in this life that I really feel like I need a good win.”
Alexis looked back at the door to see a small group of people walking in, though none of them were Hannah. She turned back to Trish and looked at her closely. “How have you been handling your issues?”
“You mean my addiction?” she asked bluntly. “I still crave it, but I haven’t used in several years.”
“Heroin really is a dangerous thing,” said Alexis. “I can’t even imagine what going through that was like.”
“It was terrible ecstasy,” said Trish. “I loved every second of the thing that was trying to kill me.”
Alexis nodded while taking a sip from her drink. “Is that why you chose to do what you do?” she asked. “Is that why you chose to work with children who are at risk for addiction?”
Trish smiled and nodded. “Absolutely,” she said. “Every day that passes that I am able to keep children off drugs and off the streets is a day that I have won. I don’t know if I want a family or even several little buggers of my own, but helping these kids who need mentors is what I live for now and I love what I do.”
“That’s great, Trish,” said Alexis with an earnest smile. “It’s always good to do things that you love.”
“I love working with them,” she continued. “I feel like it is my life’s purpose and I really appreciate my employers for allowing me to do it.” Alexis turned and looked toward the door to see Hannah and Russell walking into the bar, both looking at the décor as they walked through the crowd. Alexis raised her hand to get Hannah’s attention as she waded through the mass of people to finally them.
“You changed,” said Alexis as she leaned forward and hugged Hannah. “I knew you couldn’t make it all night in a dress.”
“You know me too well,” she replied as she embraced her friend. “Hey Trish! How was your flight?” she said as she leaned forward and hugged her.
“It was an airplane,” she replied sarcastically. “Honestly, flying from Chicago to New York is really not something to think too much about. It’s a quick flight from one airport to another. The only problem is when you get stuck beside someone who potentially smells funny or snores.”
Hannah laughed while Alexis stepped up to Russell and gave him a small hug. “How are you, sir?” she asked while she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I hope earlier went well.”
“It really did,” he said in his soft, British accent. “I really enjoy spending time with her.”
“Well don’t get too attached,” she said while she looked at him directly. “She’s still mine.”
Russell laughed as he released Alexis. “I would never think twice about taking her away from you.”
“Swear?”
“I swear,” he replied with a smile. “I firmly understand how dreadfully important she is to you and how important you are to her. I’ve accepted that the two of you are a packaged deal.”
Alexis nodded in affirmation. “I’m glad you’ve already figured that out,” she said as she turned to see Trish walking up. “Most people struggle to get that far, but Russell, I’d like for you to meet our friend Trisha.”
“It’s a pleasure,” he said as he stretched out his hand to shake hers, which she immediately brushed aside to hug him.
“I don’t shake hands,” she said with a laugh.
“I can tell,” he said as he leaned down to hug her, having a considerable height advantage. “You are quite friendly.”
“That I am,” she replied as she released him, allowing him to stand up straight and look down at her. He stood at least a foot taller than her, which made hugging her awkward though he knew he needed to be polite. He stood tall as Hannah walked up to him and placed her hand around his waist and looked at Trish. “Welcome back,” he said as he watched her order drinks at the bar.
She smiled as she looked up at him, biting her lip innocently before looking back at Trish. “Mine,” she said with a possessive, yet playful tone. “Do you have someone coming?”
“Yes, I sure do,” replied Trish. “Davis is supposed to be meeting me here in the next few minutes.”
“Is that the guy we met last time we saw you?” asked Hannah.
“Yes, it is,” she replied. “I’m hoping he gets here soon else I’m going to have to keep staring at your man.”
The girls laughed while Russell stood there looking awkward, not knowing how to react to Trish and her straight forward personality. “It’s ok, you’re allowed to laugh at her,” quipped Hannah as she looked up into his eyes. “I know she’s relatively harmless.”
“Relatively?” he asked rhetorically. “How can someone be relatively harmless?”
“Come to the bedroom with me later on and find out,” she joked as Hannah turned her head and shot her a mean glance.
Alexis stepped forward and looked over toward the door to see a familiar face walking in. “Trish, is that Davis?” she asked as she pointed at the entrance.
Trish quickly turned around, her short, black dress moving with the motion, and looked toward the door. Her eyes lit up as she noticed him walking toward them, looking incredibly dapper and justifiably handsome. His black sports coat and matching slacks fit him perfectly with his white shirt accented by a loosely fitting blue tie around his neck. “Davis!” shouted Trish as she waved at him. “We’re over here!”
Davis turned his head and looked over at the group, noticing them waiting on him to walk up. He weaved through the crowd slowly as he worked toward them, keeping his eyes on Trish the whole time. His blue eyes were soft and his dark, brown hair was neatly cut and styled. “Can he move slower?” asked Hannah as she darted her eyes between Trish and Davis.
“I think he’s making an entrance, love,” quipped Russell, prompting a chuckle out of Hannah as she turned toward the bar and grabbed her drink. “You know, like those wrestlers who walk out of the curtains with a sense of boding and forlorn anger? I think he’s about to come punch someone in the throat,” he continued, making Hannah laugh more and getting Alexis in on it.
“I don’t think he has that in him,” said Alexis as she turned to look at Russell. “He’s not that jacked.”
“Well, you never know,” continued Russell. “He could have muscles on top of muscles underneath his shirt.”
Alexis shook her head with a smile across her face. “I don’t think so,” she said. “He looks too scrawny for that.”
Davis walked up and immediately placed his arms around Trish’s waist and pulled her toward him while she planted her lips on his. With a quick peck, she pulled back and looked into his eyes while he brought his arm up and brushed the hair off of her face and behind her ear. “It’s good to finally see you again,” he said as he kept his right arm around her while his left was near her face. “It has been far too long.”
“Yes, yes it has been,” answered Trish as she stared into his eyes. “I’m sorry my relocation took a bit longer than I was anticipating.”
“I’m sorry it did too,” he replied with a smile while turning his head toward the bar to find the bartender, an older, chubby, bald man waiting on him. “Jameson on the rocks,” he said before turning back toward Trish. “What are you drinking?”
“Just wine for now,” she said. “I may have something harder later.”
Hannah sipped on her wine and started to choke on it from laughing at Trish, hearing the innuendo causing her to spit it up slowly. “Trish, make sure I’m not drinking next time you say something like that,” she commanded as her face turned red from affixation.
“What, I may swap to whisky later,” she said defensively. “What’s so wrong with swapping to liquor?”
“Because you said you wanted… why am I explaining this?” asked Russell as he looked at the devilish grin across Trish’s face, realizing in the end that Trish knew what she was saying.
Hannah looked up at Russell after finally composing herself. “Trish has always been one to slip something in at a moment’s notice.”
“I’ve been known to slip a thing or two in,” she confirmed, still wearing that grin and dropping another innuendo.
“You’re like a high school boy,” said Alexis as she sipped on her glass of wine. “What’s next, a string of mom jokes?”
Trish’s smile grew across her face. “Don’t tempt me, Alexis,” she said plainly. “I have plenty at my disposal.” She paused to turn and place her empty glass on the bar. “I work with several young boys and they know all the new and great ones.”
Davis turned toward the bartender and grabbed his drink, nodding at him while picking it up and sipping from it. “Would you like anything else?” he asked politely to Trish.
“Yeah, I’ll have what you’re having,” she said with a smile.
“Perfect,” he said as he turned back toward the bartender and ordered a second one for Trish. “How was your flight?” he asked, grabbing Trish’s attention away from Hannah and Alexis and starting a conversation with her.
Trish turned her head and faced him while backing her body up into his. He placed his hands on her waist while she put the back of her head on his shoulder. “It was uneventful,” she answered while looking up toward his eyes. “I’m glad you’re here though.”
“Me too,” he replied. “I wouldn’t have missed tonight for anything.”
“You mean that?” she asked sincerely.
“I do,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ve been patiently waiting for your arrival since you told me you were relocating here.”
Trish smiled. “Have you been beating other women away so that you could see me?”
Davis shook his head. “If I told you I had, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Oh, you’re hot. I’d believe it and would be incredibly grateful for it,” she answered coyly.
“Don’t sell yourself short,” said Davis as he looked down on Trish with a cheesy grin.
“That’s difficult, as I’ve been just over five feet for my entire adult life,” retorted Trish. “Selling myself short is pretty much the norm.”
Davis laughed as he sipped on his drink, turning back to see the bartender bringing Trish’s. “Your stiffer drink is here,” he said as he turned around and grabbed it off the bar.
“Good,” she replied. “I could use a stiff one tonight.”
Davis’s face turned red finally as Hannah and Alexis looked on and laughed. “That didn’t take long,” said Hannah.
“I thought he did well. Normally Trish has the boys blushing a lot sooner in the evening,” said Alexis as she sipped on her wine. “Give credit where it’s due.”
Russell leaned forward. “Is she always like this?”
Alexis nodded. “Trish has always been the person who would do what she could to make the boys laugh,” she explained briefly. “She will make dirty jokes that are all in good fun, though I think tonight she may follow through on them.”
“May?” asked Hannah sarcastically. “I’m surprised her dress is still on.”
“Well she’s somewhat modest,” continued Alexis. “She doesn’t want to completely undress here. She’s not drunk enough.”
Hannah laughed. “She just swapped to whisky. Give her a few minutes.”
Alexis’s eyes opened up as she looked across at Trish sipping from the small glass. “Yeah, it’s not going to be long now.”
“Does she become a bit more promiscuous when she’s drinking?” asked Russell, still trying to get a feel for who Trish was.
“What woman doesn’t?” asked Hannah rhetorically, prompting a shrug of the shoulders from Russell. “I’ve had most of my more interesting encounters while under the influence of alcohol.”
Alexis leaned in. “It helps make bad decisions seem good,” she inserted. “I can attest. I would not have done half of the things that I’ve done in this lifetime without alcohol.”
“You should probably drink a little more tonight, Alexis,” said Hannah as she placed her arm around her best friend. “You haven’t really let go in a long while.”
Alexis nodded as she looked at her phone. During the walk over with Trish, she told Nathanial where to find her and she was starting to have her regrets about it. “I know I should,” she said as she shook her head. The group continued to drink and have a great time for a couple of hours, standing beside the bar and getting to know Davis and Russell while reminiscing about great times growing up and what their plans are now that they were back in New York.
She looked toward the door with Hannah at her side as a pit slowly developed in it. Her recent ex, Nathanial Jenkins, had just walked into the Ivory Ring. “There he is,” said Alexis as she looked toward him, prompting Hannah to turn and look on with a shocked gaze.
“Why is he here?” she asked before turning back and looking at Alexis. “Why is Nathanial in New York City?”
“Because I told him where I was at,” she confessed. “He told me he was in New York and he wanted to see me.”
Hannah shook her head. “Wow,” she said as Nathanial walked through the crowd and approached Alexis. “Hello, Nathanial,” said Hannah with scorn in her voice. “How was your flight from Sydney?”
“Honestly, it was terrible,” he replied softly.
“How is flying on a private jet terrible?” asked Hannah, pondering curiously at how a billionaire could experience a terrible flight.
“Because I came to New York,” he explained with a smug tone before turning and looking at Alexis in her eyes. “Can we go talk somewhere a bit more private?”
Alexis looked back at Hannah and nodded. “Fine, we’ll go over to that hallway,” she said as she pointed toward the restrooms.
“I was hoping for somewhere that wasn’t here,” he continued.
“Well I’m afraid I’m not ready to leave,” she replied in a harsh tone. “If you want to talk to me, it’ll be over there.”
Nathanial nodded, hearing the anger in her voice. “Fine, we can do that,” he replied as the two walked over toward the hallway. They walked into the hallway slowly and Nathanial turned to face Alexis, who remained with her back to Hannah. “It’s good to see you,” said Nathanial as he stood in the hallway and looked at Alexis. “Thank you for agreeing to talk to me.”
Alexis smiled while looking on at the dapper Nathanial. He came dressed to impress with brown slacks with a matching sport coat and a pressed white shirt underneath it. “You look nice,” she said politely as she placed her hand on his shoulder, dusting some debris off of it. She looked down as she brought her arm back before looking up slightly and peering up at his tall body. “So why did you decide to come to New York?”
Nathanial smirked and shook his head. “I felt compelled,” he said ambiguously. “Honestly, something didn’t feel right about what happened between us. Something inside just forced me to get on my plane and make the transcontinental flight here. I had to put my eyes on you one more time just to get what I wanted to say off my chest and see how you feel about things.”
“Like what?” she asked. “What could you possibly have to say to me that you couldn’t have said it in a text message?”
“That I’m sorry,” he said earnestly. “I don’t expect this conversation to lead to anything nor do I expect it to. I just didn’t feel like a text message would convey how I really feel.”
Alexis scoffed a bit while shaking her head in disbelief. “You showed your true colors to me a couple days ago. You really hurt me with what you said.”
“I know, and that’s why I wanted to come face you to show you my remorse,” he said. “I wanted to be a man and show you how this has weighed on me a lot more than anything I’ve ever been involved with.”
Hannah walked up behind Alexis and placed her arm around her shoulders. “Hey girl, is there anything I can help you with?” she said in a condescending tone while glancing up at Nathanial.
Alexis smiled. “No, Hannah, I think I’m going to be ok,” she said calmly. “He flew across the globe to come and apologize to me for how he treated me that night,” she stated while not breaking her gaze to Nathanial.
“Oh, he couldn’t do that in a text?” she asked, reiterating what Alexis had already asked.
“No, he said he wanted to come face me,” explained Alexis as Nathanial began to look uneasy.
Hannah turned and looked at Alexis. “That’s brave of him,” she said before turning back to look at him again. “Or a waste of fuel.”
Alexis nodded. “I haven’t decided which yet,” she said, making Nathanial grow a bit more uneasy as Hannah pulled her arm back. “I’ll come out there and find you in a few minutes when we’re done, ok?”
“That’d be awesome,” said Hannah as she stepped away. “I’ll get you another drink and have it waiting on you.”
“I’m probably going to need it.”
Hannah smiled and stepped away, leaving Nathanial and Alexis in the hallway staring at each other. “So, do you have more to say or should I go ahead and start drinking again?”
Nathanial opened his eyes wider as he tried to grasp what all was going on. Alexis was being incredibly standoffish as he spoke to her, doing his best to apologize so that both of them could move on. “I guess not,” he said, clearly defeated after hearing the conversation between Hannah and Alexis. “I’ll just leave it at, I’m sorry for everything.”
Alexis nodded, still doing her best to hold the look of scorn on her face. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” she said in a perturbed tone. “What did you hope to get from this? There had to have been a reason for you to fly to New York to see me.”
“I wanted you to know that the man you saw wasn’t really me; that’s not who I want to be and I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said.
“Excuse me?” asked a confused Alexis, becoming more perturbed as he spoke. “How could that not have been you?”
“I was frustrated and angry. I lashed out and I shouldn’t have,” he stammered as she stepped closer toward him. “After everything that had happened, I felt betrayed and I lashed out toward you because I associated you with everything at first, but the more I thought about it, it’s not your fault that I had to sell my company. It’s my fault.”
Alexis smirked as she continued to look up at him. “You’re damn right it’s your fault,” she said angrily. “You made the decision to not take an active role and then when you were forced to actually run the company, it was so far gone that there was nothing you could do. It was your fault that it got that far, not me, not the consortium, you.”
“I know!” he yelled in frustration. “Everything over these past few weeks has been my fault! Everything! And instead of actually sitting back and rationalizing everything, I instead compartmentalized it and then snapped on you when in reality, I should’ve been yelling at me!”
“So, who you are really mad at!?” screamed Alexis, prompting Hannah to step back from the main room and look into the hallway, seeing her body language become a bit more aggressive. “Are you saying that you just went off half-cocked and are now realizing that you made a mistake? Are you regretting treating me like you did?”
Nathanial breathed slowly as Alexis became more animated, looking down at her while he tried to calm down. “Yes,” he said softly and slowly, relaxing his body and looking a lot more defeated. “Yes, I’m saying that I regret the way I treated you.”
Alexis fumed as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Really? I think it might be a little late for your regrets.”
“I figured as much, but I wanted to at least come tell you to your face,” he continued. “Look, I don’t regret what happened to the company and if I’m being honest with you, as well as myself, I wanted to get out of oil somehow on my own terms. My only regret is how everything went down with you. I regret that and I knew that I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t see your face one more time and apologize to you for the way I treated you.”
Hannah looked down the hallway as Trish and Davis stood there with her, with Russell standing at the bar acquiring more drinks for the group. “I wonder how heated that conversation is getting,” asked Trish as she stood beside Hannah, looking down at Alexis as she fumed at Nathanial.
“On a scale of one to ten, I’d give it a solid eight,” answered Hannah as she turned away and grabbed her drink, taking a sip from it before turning back to watch. “It’s like watching a train wreck. I can’t look away.”
“I can’t either,” said Trish as she stared at the conversation. “I mean, I hate it for him. He looks like he is about to fall over from the tongue lashing he’s receiving, but man, that’s rough.”
Hannah smirked as Davis walked up behind Trish and placed his hands on her hips. “Are you that vehement normally?”
She looked up at him as he towered over her. “Depends on how mad you make me,” she replied with a smirk. “If you push me too far, absolutely.”
Davis’s eyes opened up while he looked out toward the discussion Nathanial and Alexis were having. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as he shook his head. “I feel for that guy.”
“You shouldn’t,” said Hannah as she turned and looked at him. “He’s a nice guy but he was an absolute asshole to Alexis. He deserves this.”
“How can any man deserve this?” asked Davis.
“He put his ego ahead of his relationship,” said Hannah. “He treated her like dirt when he thought he was being dealt a bad hand. He tossed her aside like she was garbage and then he realized that he made a terrible mistake. This is him trying to be contrite and win her back.”
Davis nodded. “How did he get a raw deal?”
Hannah smiled. “That’s a very long, difficult, and arduous story to get into, but let’s just say, he ran a business the wrong way and it came back to bite him.” She paused and turned to face Davis, who was clearly curious as to what happened and how things fell apart for him. “To put it simply, he hired someone to run the company for him that ended up screwing him over and because it happened on his watch, he was responsible for that man’s action. Alexis and I saved his company from bankruptcy but the powers that be decided that he wasn’t fit to own his company anymore. Once he realized that he was on the way out, he lashed out at Alexis, thinking she was partly to blame for it. Once it passed, he realized that he screwed up and knew he had to fix things because she was the best thing going for him and he needed her more than she needed him.”
“That makes sense,” he said. “Not to defend him, but sometimes, when we put money at the forefront of our lives, the thought of losing it makes us panic. You can’t take it out on people, but I can understand why he panicked, though there is no excuse for taking it out on her.”
“Once he got all of the facts, he backed off and started to apologize,” she said. “And I agree with you. If I were in his situation, I would’ve also panicked. However, she is my best friend and you don’t treat her like dirt.”
Davis smiled. “Clearly,” he said, turning to face the bar while grabbing his drink. He turned it up and placed the empty glass on the bar while Trish did the same thing. “You want to get out of here?” he asked as he looked at the beautiful Trish. “Maybe we can spend some time getting to know each other a little better in a setting that isn’t so loud or hostile?”
Trish smirked. “Are you saying looking out at those two in the hallway is hostile?”
“I’m saying that it might give you far too many ideas,” he replied. “I love strong women and I love the fact that you know what you want but don’t need you getting ideas about how to yell at me.”
Trish laughed while Hannah shook her head. “Wow,” said Hannah as she shook her head. Russell walked up and placed another drink by Hannah, as well as placing two more at the bar behind her. “Davis, it’s been great seeing you again,” she said as she leaned in and hugged him. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“I will do everything in my power to not be,” replied Davis as he embraced Hannah, letting go long enough for Trish to step in and hug her.
“I may keep him around,” said Trish. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Good,” said Hannah. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Great!” exclaimed Trish as Russell shook hands with Davis and Trish leaned in and hugged him. “It was nice meeting you,” she said. “I’ll see you again soon.”
“Yes, I will see the two of you again soon,” he replied as he watched the two of them walk away with Hannah at his side. “They are quite nice people,” he said as he watched them wade through the dance floor.
“They are,” said Hannah. “I’m really glad she came back into my life, and I like him too.”
Russell grinned as he turned and looked toward the hallway where Alexis and Nathanial were still talking.
“Look, I came here to apologize and tell you that treating you the way I did was a mistake.” He paused briefly as Alexis slowly calmed down. “I didn’t come here to win you back or beg for your forgiveness,” he said coldly as he started to regain his confidence. “I came to New York to offer you an apology and show you my gratitude for coming into my life when you did. You really helped me through that time and I am eternally grateful for it.”
Alexis continued to relax while she looked at Nathanial, though now with a much softer expression instead of scornful. “So you don’t want to date me anymore?”
“I didn’t say that,” said Nathanial. “But if that’s something that you want, then we would need to really talk about what happened and how it doesn’t happen again.”
She shook her head as she turned back to see Hannah looking into the hallway at her, keeping a close check on her. “What would you do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?”
Nathanial exhaled slowly as he turned his body and placed it against the wall. “Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” he said dejectedly. “I’ve always been a very prideful person and I don’t think I can change that. I do think that if you and I are not working together in the same industry, that could be a major benefit.” He paused and turned his head to face her. “Honestly, the only thing that I could tell you I would do is to be more mindful of it and to listen to you if I were at that breaking point. I would have to understand when I was approaching it and I would have to make it a point not to let it get between us again.”
Alexis nodded as she stepped forward and placed her hands on his side. “You have a lot of work to do to show me that you can be the man that I think you can be,” she said as she looked up into his eyes. “I think you can be an excellent person but I need you to show me that side of you. I need you to show me the side of you that made me fall in love with you the day I met you.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
“I will work at it every day to show you that I am the man you think I am,” he replied as a small smile came across his face. “But, I have a small confession,” he said as Alexis backed up, leaving her hands on his side as she looked up at him. “I don’t like New York.”
Alexis smiled as his charm slowly returned. “Then I’m afraid you’re going to have to get over that, sir,” she said with a snarky tone as she turned around and grabbed him by his hand, pulling him out of the hallway and into the main room where Hannah was waiting on them with two drinks. “Really?” asked Alexis as Hannah handed both Nathanial and Alexis a drink. “You got him a drink too?”
“I knew how this was going to play out,” she said with a sly grin. “I knew that the moment you put your eyes on him that you’d be open to listening to him, even though you did look like you were about to take a swing at him back there.”
Nathanial chuckled as he reached for the amber liquid with a smile. “Thank you,” he said as he reached for the drink. “Did you poison it?” he joked.
“I don’t know, did I?” asked Hannah with an awkward gaze.
Nathanial looked on with an awkward glance as he sipped on the whisky, tasting it in his mouth before swallowing. “It tasted like whisky.”
“Hah!” she exclaimed. “It was vodka! You’ve been poisoned!”
He laughed as he shook his head before walking up and placing his arm around Hannah’s waist in front of Russell. “Thank you for your help,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek. “I owe you a lot for that.”
“Wait, what does he owe you for?” asked Alexis as she grabbed the glass of wine from Hannah’s hand. “What did you do?”
“I told him to text you,” she said with a smile.
“When I was trying to make sense of everything, I reached out to Hannah to ask her opinion,” explained Nathanial. “Once we got past the fact that I screwed up royally, and Hannah being sweet enough to tell me repeatedly that I had, she told me that you were also having a rough time dealing with it. She said that it might be best for me to reach out and talk to you.”
Hannah stepped in front of him and looked Alexis in the eyes. “I told him that you needed closure and from what he was telling me, he needed it as well,” she said politely. “Now, I didn’t tell this genius to fly from Sydney to New York to tell you to your face, but, well, here he is.”
Alexis smiled. “Yeah, that was pretty bold,” she said. “I guess I should give you some major props for that.”
“I think you should,” he said as he sipped the drink Hannah provided him. “I like to think that I have a few romantic moments in me.”
“Only a few,” joked Alexis. “You probably used your yearly allocation since we met.”
Nathanial held his drink and smirked, looking back at the rest of the bar while thinking of the proper reply. “Probably,” he joked. “But I guess we’ll have to see if I can find a few more.”
Hannah walked behind Nathanial and placed her arm around Russell’s waist. “Please don’t ever be that cheesy,” she said as she looked up into his eyes. “I’m almost positive that would make me vomit.”
“I don’t think you have much to worry about,” he replied.
“I don’t think I do either,” she continued as she looked back at Alexis as she rekindled the feelings she had for Nathanial. “How about we get out of here and let these two have a great night to themselves.” Hannah let go of Russell and walked up behind Alexis. “Hey, Russell and I are going to head out of here for the night. I want to know everything from tonight and if you and Nathanial are able to make your relationship work, then make sure to tell me all of the details.”
Alexis smiled. “Aren’t you a bit nosey?”
“Always,” she replied. “Besides, I know how Trish’s night is going to end. I really want to know how yours ends.”
“You want to know if I give in to his physical prowess?” asked Alexis.
“I want to know that you’re going to be happy,” she replied. “Nathanial, even with his faults, was really good for you and you were equally good for him. Maybe, just maybe, the two of you can figure this out.” She looked back at Russell as he stood by the bar and paid their tab. “But, you’re not allowed to leave New York,” continued Hannah with a smile.
“I will never leave New York,” confirmed Alexis. “My life is here and besides, he’s from the United States. It’d be coming home for him.”
Hannah smiled. “Good,” she said. “I’m not losing my best friend for anyone.”
“And I would never let that happen,” she replied as she stepped up and hugged her. “I love you, Hannah.”
“And I love you, Alexis,” she said as she embraced her tightly. “Have a good night,” she said once she released her and looked into her eyes. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
Alexis turned back to Nathanial as Hannah walked away with Russell, leaving the bar for the night and heading back to her apartment. “So, want to go grab a bite to eat?” asked Nathanial as he looked out at the bar and the people dancing the night away.
“That sounds like a great idea,” she replied, thinking back to the Chinese food she ate earlier in the evening with Trish. “What do you have in mind?”
Nathanial shrugged his shoulders in indifference. “I think there’s a diner near here that’s open this late.”
Alexis nodded. “Oh yeah, pancakes would be amazing right now,” she said with a smile. “Let’s go hit that up.”
“Lead the way,” he said as he pointed toward the door, allowing Alexis to walk in front of him.