As Nick dragged himself up the stairs to his room, the only thought in his mind was that Ally wouldn’t be waiting for him. True, he had expected her to end the relationship, but he had thought she would at least try to straighten things out with him before packing her stuff and leaving. Not that he really deserved a chance for that after what he did… Still, it would have been the proper thing for her to do.
She’d been lingering in his thoughts for three days now, not once escaping his head. Every once in a while he became distracted from her, but she was always there in the back of his mind. How could he have let this happen? Why hadn’t he just been honest with her in the first place? He wanted to, but it was too difficult. It was funny. It took so much work to build a loving relationship, and in a few seconds, it fell to pieces. Love was certainly a delicate thing.
He remembered telling himself every day to be careful not to do anything stupid to lose her, and that was exactly what he had done. What else would you call kissing an ex-girlfriend? It was someone he didn’t even care about. It was kind of ironic. All he had wanted to do was get her away from him so he wouldn’t hurt Ally. Just his luck that she would walk in right in the middle of it. A lot of good that did. He shook the sad thoughts from his head and tried to think of something else.
That didn’t work though, because as he opened the door to the hallway, he bumped into her. Her smoky eyes locked with his, and he glimpsed the pain he had caused her. She tore her gaze away from him and slipped past, letting the door closing behind her. “How can I get over her when she’s always around?” he wondered aloud.
Ally downed another shot and made her way dizzily to the dance floor with the fifth guy that night. When they returned to the hotel from rehearsal, she wasn’t really looking forward to their girls’ night. An entire day spent around Nick made her too depressed, but Shannon and the other girls, Maureen, Michelle, and Joanna, had insisted. Maureen lent her a mid-thigh length purple dress and Shannon had done her makeup for her. After that, she couldn’t refuse, and she had to admit that she was having a lot of fun. Granted, with the condition she was in, cow tipping would have been fun. She had certainly consumed enough alcohol.
“What’s your name?” the guy yelled over the music. He was one of the few Americans at the club they were at. Most of the others were French.
“Ally. What’s yours?” she replied.
“I’m Dave,” he said. “Where do you live?”
“Florida.”
“I’m from California.” Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her, and she tried to ignore it, but Dave noticed. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Sure, just let me tell my friends,” she answered. She turned to look for them, but Maureen was dirty dancing with some guy, Michelle was curled up in the corner with another guy, and Joanna and Shannon were nowhere in sight. She decided to leave them alone. She’d call Shannon when she got back to the hotel. “Never mind.”
“Okay, let’s go,” he said. He grabbed her arm and led her to the door, then hailed a taxi.
After he opened the door for her, Ally slid in, ready to puke. This was no longer very fun. Dave got in next to her and looked at the driver. “Hilton hotel, s’il-vous-plait.”
“Actually, I’m staying at the Ritz,” Ally stated.
“Don’t you want to come back with me?” Dave asked, placing his hand on her bare lower thigh.
She brushed his hand off. “No, I want to go back to my hotel.”
“Oh, I understand,” he said, winking. “Garçon, nous voulons aller au Ritz.” (Editor’s Note: Sir, we would like to go to the Ritz.) The taxi began to move.
“I don’t think you’re getting this, Dave,” Ally said gently. “I want to go back to my hotel alone.”
“Then why the hell am I in the taxi with you?” he exclaimed.
“I don’t know. I thought you wanted to go back to your hotel, too,” she replied.
“This is just great. Fine. Garçon, laissez-moi ici,” he muttered. (Sir, leave me here.)
The taxi pulled to a stop, and Dave got out and slammed the door after throwing some money at Ally so she could pay for the cab.
“Où est-ce que vous voulez aller, madame?” the driver asked. (Where do you want to go, miss?)
Though she didn’t understand much French, she knew what he meant. “Au Ritz, s’il-vous-plait,” she replied, trying to ignore the tears that stung her eyes.
When Ally got to the hotel, she couldn’t think straight. The tears were spilling over finally, and she was a mess. She went upstairs and opened the unlocked door to find Nick sitting on her sofa. “What the hell are you doing here?” she muttered.
“What’s going on?” he asked, alarmed. “Are you okay?”
“I would be fine if you would just leave my room!” she snapped.
“What have you had to drink?” Nick inquired.
“I don’t know. I had a couple wine coolers…a couple shots…I can’t remember…” she slurred. “Now get out of my room!” She started to move toward him, but stumbled.
“Alexandra, calm down,” Nick said, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Do you know what room this is?”
“Sure, I do. It’s my room. I don’t know what you’re doing here. What have YOU had to drink?”
“I haven’t had anything to drink. This is my room, sweetie. Yours is the one across the hall,” he said gently.
“What? You’re lying,” she said, giving him a strange look. Before he could reply, she passed out and fell into his arms.
He sighed and laid her down on the bed, worried about what this would look like to her in the morning. Hopefully, she’d remember what happened, but she might not and, knowing her, she’d jump to conclusions. Oh, well. He couldn’t just leave her alone like that. He picked up the phone to call Shannon.
“Hello?” Shannon yelled over loud background music.
“Shannon, it’s Nick. Ally just came back to the hotel, and she’s really drunk. She walked into my room and passed out. I’m just going to keep her here until morning.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks!” Shannon replied. There was a click, and then a dial tone. Nick figured she was probably just as drunk as Ally. He let out another loud sigh as he looked down at his love.
After another fifteen minutes, her eyes snapped open and looked up at him. “What the hell am I doing here?”
“You passed out, so I laid you down on the bed. Just stay here tonight, Al. You’re way too drunk to be alone tonight,” he said.
“Is that all guys have on their minds? Just because I’m drunk, guys think I’ll just go and sleep with them?” she exclaimed incredulously. “You’re the second one tonight.” She burst into tears.
“That wasn’t what I meant, Ally,” Nick replied, sitting down next to her and stroking her hair. “I meant I don’t think you should be alone tonight in case you get sick or something. I don’t know when Shannon will be back.” He paused. “Who was the other guy who wanted to sleep with you? Is that why you’re crying?”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and quickly told him about Dave. She suddenly seemed to sober up slightly. At least, she knew what she was saying. “Why do you guys think we want flings like that? Why do you guys even want flings?”
“I don’t know. All I can say is that we don’t all want flings. Some of us want serious things. I want something serious,” Nick replied honestly. “I had something serious, but I lost it and it hurt more than anything.”
“If you’re referring to me…” she said. She trailed off, waiting for him to say he was or was not.
“Of course I’m referring to you.”
“Then I can say I’m just as hurt as you are, if not more. I’m not the one who-”
He interrupted her. “Don’t bring that up again. I know I was the idiot, but just leave it alone. And I know you probably are more hurt than I am, and you didn’t even deserve it like I did.”
She turned her back to him by rolling on her side and closed her eyes, signaling the end of the conversation. He was thankful, since he couldn’t control his tears any longer. After crawling into bed, he silently cried himself to sleep.