Gala Shenanigans
Famke giggled as Royal danced her in the direction of the exit to the ballroom.
“You’re always dancing me away. When we left the nightclub last weekend, you danced me away too.”
“Mm,” he nuzzled her neck, “it’s because if I don’t dance with you, I might start fucking you here and now.”
She shivered at the way his tongue drew along the curve of her neck. “It’s not even midnight yet. We can’t leave.”
“We’re not leaving. We’re going to my private rooms. It’s going to take me time to get ready for the explosive countdown.” He lifted his eyes and stared into hers. “It’s going to be fireworks.”
If Famke ever doubted this man’s desire for her, they would have evaporated at the blatant lust on his face. She couldn’t look away from his heated stare, “okay. Let’s go.”
“Famke!” Nyx hissed as she appeared at her side. “I need you.”
“No!” Royal shook his head. “You are not cockblocking me. I need her more.”
“You can sleep with her at home. I need her. I’m having an existential crisis.” She grabbed a protesting Famke out of Royal’s grip and pulled her away.
“What? Why?” Famke stuttered frustratedly as she looked longingly over her shoulder where Royal stomped his foot frustratedly. “Nyx, he was taking me to his private rooms.”
“Yeah, well you can wait a few minutes.” She dragged her out of the ballroom and through the hotel lobby and towards a sofa in a secluded section. “I need your help.”
“With what?”
“Talk me down from the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Talk you down?”
“Okay, hear me out.” Nyx took a deep breath. “Koda was pissed with me. He told me off before dinner because I covered all my tattoos. Then his sister cornered me in the bathroom and asked me what kind of game I was playing and asked if I was a gold digger trying to clean up to get her brother’s attention.”
“She what?” Famke’s back straightened. “Who the hell does she think she is?”
“I told her I got cleaned up for you, not him and she could kiss my ass. Then her mother showed up and started going on about how good a man Koda is and how I’m all he’s been talking about for the last several years. She,” she squeezed her fists, “she said he told her she could start planning our wedding. Our wedding Famke.”
“Oh crap.”
“His sister said she offered to draft up a prenup and he declined saying he doesn’t need one because once he puts a ring on my finger, I’m never getting away. That’s why she thinks I’m a gold digger because he’s refusing to do a prenup.”
“Marriage? You’ve never gone on a single date with him, Nyx.”
“No shit, Famke.”
“What did you say?”
“I told them there was a huge misunderstanding. I’ve never once agreed to date him because he was my boss and I sure as hell never agreed to marriage.”
“And?”
“His mother started crying. Famke, I made an older lady cry. She was sobbing. Told me all she wanted was for her son to marry the love of his life and knew how much he loved me and begged me to give him a chance. She said she knew he could be a bit overbearing but deep down he possessed a heart of gold. She was sobbing and telling me a story about a golden retriever from his childhood and how he cried for a year when it died.”
“Oh, dear god.”
“His sister went and got him to help get his mother calmed down because apparently, she has anxiety and was on the verge of a panic attack. His sister said she has a disorder, and her medication is off, and Koda’s been helping her and only he knows how to calm her down. When he came into the bathroom, he told her we were definitely getting married, and I’d had too much to drink and simply forgot how he’d proposed. She was hysterically crying Famke.”
Famke cocked her head as she looked at the bright red spots on Nyx’s cheeks and then she gasped. “Oh, my goodness, you didn’t. You agreed with him to make her stop crying.” She knew her tone was accusatory.
“She was hyperventilating, and her lips were blue, Famke.”
“Are you getting married?”
“No!” she smacked Famke’s leg angrily. “I lied to an older lady to make her stop crying. I don’t lie to anyone, ever. Then she asked me to come to New Years Day dinner tomorrow and her eyes were all blue and watery and bloodshot with spiky lashes. She’s like a baby in a woman’s body. How was she cute and pathetic all at once?” Nyx wailed and threw her head backwards and bounced it off the back of the sofa. “I can’t make her cry.”
“You can’t marry a guy because his mom cried, Nyx.”
“You sure?” Nyx sighed, “I mean, she’s like a porcelain doll. Did you see her, Famke? She’s a tiny little thing with huge blue eyes and big blonde hair. She’s fragile. I can’t break her.”
Famke laughed at her, “how much did you drink Nyx?”
“Three glasses of champagne and my head is pounding.” She pursed her lips, “it gets worse.”
“What could be worse than agreeing to marry a man in a bathroom because his mom was crying pitifully?”
“His sister took her to get a glass of water and he locked us in the bathroom and,” she exhaled a shaky breath, “he kissed me, Famke.”
Famke sat up straight now and knew her eyes were bugging, “what?”
“He kissed me. He kissed me and I really liked it and then,” she sniffed, “he slipped this on my hand while his tongue was down my throat. Then for his mother’s sake, told me to go along with it until she is medically sound.” She held up her left hand which now housed the biggest solitaire cut diamond Famke ever saw in her life.
“Is that a black diamond?”
“Yes. He said he bought it because it matches my cold, black heart. Then he kissed me again, told me if I made his mother cry, he’d smack my ass and told me to make sure I was around to kiss at midnight or else.”
“You’re engaged?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. What just happened?” She wailed and flung herself sideways. “I’m so confused.”
“What did he say about the makeover?”
“He told me when I come to dinner tomorrow, I’d better have my jewellery back in and my tattoos showing or he’s putting me in the shower and washing me down himself.”
“Can I ask you something?” When Nyx nodded slowly, looking up at her from where she reclined on the sofa, “how was the kiss?”
Nyx wiped her forehead and groaned, “it was exactly what I dreamed it would be and the exact reason why I have avoided being alone with him. Famke he’s going to break my heart into a million pieces. He’s trapping me by making me play fiancée for his mom.”
“Come on Nyx. You once popped a kid’s balloon on a bus because he kept bouncing it off your head from behind you. You surely can hold your own against a sweet lady.”
“There she is!” a tiny voice called out. “Nyx, honey. There you are. Why aren’t you in the ballroom? It’s almost midnight.”
Famke stared at the woman approaching them. She was barely five feet tall with eyes as big as saucers, bluer than the sky and her heart-shaped face sporting the widest smile. “Oh, you must be Nyx’s best friend Famke. I’ve heard so much about you. You’re beautiful, Famke. Did you know I have a great-aunt on my mother’s side of the family named Famke. It’s an unusual name, isn’t it? Are you going to be Nyx’s maid of honor? We should get together and discuss all the ways to make the day the most special day Nyx has ever had. I only met her a short while ago and I’m already in love with her,” she motioned exuberantly to Nyx. “Isn’t she lovely, Famke? My son never makes mistakes, and I knew when he told me he fell in love with the most special woman in the world, I wasn’t losing a son but gaining another daughter.” She frowned, “though I do wish she hadn’t hidden all of her tattoos and piercings and dark make-up. I didn’t recognize her at first when we arrived when I compared her to the photos.”
“Photos?” Famke asked.
“Yes, all the photos Koda has in his condo of Nyx. He has so many candid shots of her. He’s quite obsessed but I know why. She has such a beautiful soul. He told me how you volunteer at the animal shelter, Nyx and anyone who loves a dog has to be a good person.”
Famke was pressing her lips together trying not to laugh as the woman talked a mile a minute, her hands flailing with excitement.
“Come on, Nyx, it’s almost midnight. Let’s go.” She was pulling Nyx away from the sofa as Famke dissolved into giggles.
She pushed herself off the sofa and followed the pair back into the ballroom. She found Nora hovering by the doors. “What’s up?”
“Can’t find Jubi,” Nora was on her tiptoes searching the crowd.
“Really?”
“Yes. She got pissed off because she was dancing with this really hot guy and Keshaun caught him putting his hands on Jubi’s ass. She stormed out after telling him he wasn’t her brother and he needed to fuck off. She seemed really upset but I can’t find her.”
“Well, the way Keshaun has been following her, he probably knows where she is. Go ask him.”
“There’s the problem, Famke, I can’t find him either.” She gave Famke a pointed glance.
She made a face. “Look Jubi is a big girl. I’m sure she’s fine.”
“He’s her kryptonite, Famke. If he gives an inch, she’s going to take all ten of them if you know what I mean.”
“Hey,” Royal appeared beside her. “The countdown is going to start, and we are not where I wanted to be.”
Famke grimaced as a thought occurred to her, “Royal, any chance Jubi knows you have private rooms here?”
“Yes.”
“She and Keshaun are missing.”
His expression was one of disgust, “I set the room up for us! I specifically put a lounger chair in there with mirrors.”
“You’re missing the point.” She held his gaze.
“I am not going looking for her and Keshaun. Neither of them is drunk enough to be making bad decisions. If they’re together, it’s a choice,” Royal shook his head. “There are things I do not want to walk in on and them getting it on is one of them. I’m out.” He looked to Nora, “where’s the guy you were dancing with?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to find Jubi. She’s making bad decisions.” Nora peeled off shooting Royal an annoyed glance.
“Well?” Royal held his hand out to Famke, “want to dance and make out on the dance floor until it’s time to go?”
Famke decided there was nothing she wanted more.