‘What do you mean? I am one of the organisers!’ he said while raising his glass.
‘You’ve organised this?’
‘Nah, just put some money into it and showed up tonight.’
‘Convenient!’
‘I hope you didn’t buy a ticket for this.’
‘I did! Full price and everything.’
‘Nonsense,’ he said, while putting a couple of notes into my jacket’s inside pocket. Probably a few hundred. It felt weird. ‘Oh, Dior. Look at you!’ he said, while reading the label inside. ‘There’s clearly someone out there treating you better than I am.’
‘Oh no, nobody does it like you do, Stefan,’ I said, while pinching his right cheek.
‘Look what else I found in my pocket!’ he said, while shaking a small plastic bag containing a few pills.
‘What the hell are those? Put them away!’
‘Oh, it’s fine. Just take two. It’ll make your evening more fun.’
‘Oh no, thanks.’
‘Please? For daddy?’
Ew.
It was in that moment I saw Sara and Alfie walking towards me.
‘Okay, if I take them would you please leave right now? My friends are coming here and have no idea of the kind of activities that got us together,’ I said quickly, panicking a little.
‘Alright, but I will see you later when they kick in!’
I took them both with the rest of the champagne in my glass and gave him a nervous smile. Then he blew an air kiss and left.
Fuck.
It had been over an hour since I had taken the pills and didn’t feel any difference. I felt more energetic, if anything. Everyone looked amazing, the music was loud, the drinks were constant, and I was, overall, having an absolute blast. Sara and Alfie were dancing, while I was, once again, leaning against a wall. I wasn’t sure what I had taken, and the last thing I wanted was to make a dickhead out of myself. My heart rate was certainly accelerated; I was getting very, very hot. I wanted to remove my blazer and shirt and be free to dance half naked. In fact, I wanted everyone to be half naked. It was so hot and sticky. Everyone would have loved it. Duncan would come to the party and immediately take his clothes off. We’d dance together and wait for midnight to give each other a slow, passionate kiss.
Suddenly I couldn’t see Sara anymore. Everything was somewhat blurry. I was sipping more champagne, in an attempt to rehydrate myself from the heat. My hair felt wet. Not damp, full on wet. I hoped my friends would be drunk enough not to notice.
I saw Stefan walking and dancing around from afar. I started thinking about the hot sex we had together, with me fucking him hard and him screaming and moaning in pleasure. I felt more heat. I was certain something was happening in my body. I wondered if I had taken a safe dose. I wondered if I had taken something that would interact horribly with alcohol. I wondered how I’d get home. My mind was speculating, questioning, panicking. All of a sudden, I wanted to write. I wanted to write my novel, I wanted to talk about all of my feelings, all of my problems, all of my stupid decisions. I wanted to talk and talk and talk about how angry I was at Jake, or how smitten I was about the sweetest Scottish guy. I wanted to do all these things. I was relaxed, but excited. Maybe I needed to get some fresh air, maybe I needed to jot down some sentences for a potential novel, or maybe I just needed to throw up. What I needed wasn’t exactly clear.
I stopped leaning on the wall and started walking. I did want to get on the deck where the pool was, where people would be smoking, so I could be alone in my thoughts.
Yes, great idea.
I moved, and someone very familiar started walking towards me. I couldn’t tell who it was. It was like I was trying to tap on a database in my brain, but the battery was low. My brain felt foggy, but then his voice ricocheted all around the walls of my head. It was a voice I didn’t like. A voice I didn’t think I’d encounter that evening.
‘Leo, is that you?’ he asked, with a Mean Girl-esque tone.
This was by far worse than my Stefan encounter.
‘Marc.’
Why was he there? Why did he greet me? We would try the impossible to avoid each other, and now he was coming to see me? What the fuck did he want?
‘I love what you’re wearing!’ he said, scanning my whole ensemble.
He had his hair all poofed up perfectly with a shimmering shine. He was wearing eyeliner and glitter on his face as well, just in case the Phantom of the Opera mask wasn’t gay enough. I could see him wearing a sheer shirt under a deconstructed velvet jacket. I wondered if this guy owned any non-see-through clothes at all.
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I didn’t think you’d be here.’
‘Yeah, some of the organisers are my clients.’
‘Of course.’
I didn’t know what to say. Part of me thought it was a hallucination. I didn’t think I had taken hallucinogens though. The situation was bizarre.
‘I saw you earlier at your workplace actually, running into a fitting room. Don’t think you saw me,’ he said.
Shit, did he see me stealing the suit? Of all people, he would be the one to bust me?
‘I didn’t see you.’
‘Well, I can see you made the right choice. Wasn’t this really expensive?’
‘It was a bargain, really.’
‘I didn’t think Dior was on sale. I wish I knew.’
‘Yeah, should have asked someone!’
‘I did.’
Why was he still talking to me?
‘When they said Dior wasn’t on sale, I just assumed you were trying it on to post on Instagram or something,’ he said.
‘I’m not that pathetic.’
‘Yeah, look at you wearing it. It’s fabulous!’
‘Hey, where’s Jake?’
‘He’s home with the dog.’
With my dog.
‘I’m surprised he didn’t come. He’s always loved New Year’s Eve.’
‘I don’t think he does much,’ he said with a smile.
That’s funny, because I’d always be called an old lady for fucking hating it. He’d even do his own firework display. Maybe the shitty tattoos he had gotten made him forgo his damn personality.
‘I’m shocked,’ I said.
‘Are you okay? You seem a bit…’ he said, while moving his hand side to side, near his head.
‘Positively not…’ I proceeded to make the same gesture. ‘Have a nice evening, Marc.’
I finally got to move away from him. I found it laughable that the guy was literally sleeping in my bed, on my side, and still felt the need to piss all over me to Marc his territory.
The cold air of the deck felt great on my skin. I was roasting; my back was completely sweaty.
I’m on my way! Duncan texted.
My heart was beating fast, with excitement.
Sara and Alfie found me near the smokers.
‘There you are, mate!’ he said, while patting my back.
‘What are you doing here?’ Sara asked, with a hint of confusion.
‘It’s so hot downstairs; I really needed to breathe out here.’
‘How much did you have to drink?’ she asked.
‘A fair bit, but I don’t think it’s that, no, really, I am great, I’m loving everything: the music, the people, the masks, it’s all fabulous,’ I said, really quickly.