Authors: Emma Taylor
“Look, about Nadia, I’m sorry about that, I don’t want this trip to be ruined. You don’t realize how happy I am that you’re here” he began and then waited for her to respond. Michelle remained quiet, not really sure how to feel about his words.
“Are you sleeping with her?” she asked.
A paused followed her question and sadness began to sink in as the silence settled. Why had he kissed her like that if he was seeing someone else?
“No, I’m not I promise.”
Although he had denied the accusation, Michelle didn’t feel any sort of relief by it.
“Are you coming to dinner?” he asked.
Michelle leaned against the wall of the closet and rubbed the soreness from her eyes. She could hear him shifting uncomfortably on the other line.
“Chelle? I want you there.”
“Yes, Jackson, we are coming to dinner, see you soon.”
Michelle hung up the phone and stared at it. She wished she could have avoided going, but she knew that it would cause more problems if she didn’t go. Michelle stood up and walked out of the closet, heading back to where Rachel lay on her bed.
“I guess we’re going to dinner,” Michelle said as she chucked her phone onto the soft mattress.
“You don’t sound excited about that,” Rachel said as she sat up on the bed and watched Michelle start looking for something to wear.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Michelle stopped what she was doing and looked up at her friend who was watching her intently. Had Rachel seen right through her?
“Something like what?”
“I don’t know, just, something seems off,” Rachel said as she fell back on the bed and stretched her arms to the ceiling.
“You care so much about Nadia being with Jackson, so maybe you have feelings—”
“Can we just leave it?” Michelle interrupted as she stood up suddenly and she headed towards the bathroom. “We should get ready for dinner.”
Rachel watched as her friend headed to the bathroom. There was something going on with her friend and she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. All she knew was that when it came to Jackson, Michelle turned into someone that Rachel didn’t recognize.
*****
Michelle and Rachel stepped out their rooms in their knock-em-dead dresses for dinner. Rachel looked at Michelle and gave her a playful wink.
“Looking to get lucky?”
Michelle laughed at the comment and shook her head. That statement seemed to be the running theme for this trip.
“In that dress it looks like you’re the one trying to get lucky,” Michelle responded.
The two began to walk down the hallway to meet everyone at the front of the house. Jackson had rented a limo so everyone could ride together to the restaurant that he’d reserved.
“Maybe if I’m lucky I will, it’s becoming painfully clear to me that I haven’t had sex in…jeez I can’t even remember.”
Michelle placed her hand over her mouth trying not to burst out laughing.
“You haven’t had some in a while either missy so you shouldn’t be laughing,” Rachel said playfully waving her finger at her friend.
Michelle in fact couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex; great, mind blowing sex. She had been so wrapped up with work and taking care of her mom on the side that she didn't think much about relationships.
“Ah you’re right, that’s pretty sad.”
At that moment Michelle thought about Jackson, she imagined what kind of lover he was. He was probably attentive, wild, rough in the right way and passionate. The thought of it all aroused Michelle. She hoped could find out for herself.
When they had reached the front of the house everyone was dressed to impress, excited and ready to go. Michelle’s eyes instantly went to look for Jackson; she spotted him with Nadia hanging on his arm while he took a call.
Michelle decided she wasn’t going to let jealousy rule her this weekend and made her presence known in the room. She began greeting everyone, except Jackson. He wiggled his way from Nadia’s grip to go and see Michelle.
“Chelle,” Jackson called out to her as she busied herself in a conversation with another gentleman in their group. She continued her pettiness and proceeded to ignore him until the last possible second.
Jackson took her arm gently, turning her around to face him. Michelle excused herself from the conversation she was in and turned to look at Jackson with an innocent look on her face.
“You called?”
Jackson sighed and shook his head realizing her little game.
“You’re still angry with me,” he said as he pulled her away from the group. At the corner of her eye, Michelle could see Nadia fuming for losing Jackson’s attention.
“Michelle, are you going to be like this all night?” he asked her with a stern look on his face. He rarely used her correct name and when he did it was because he was truly annoyed. Michelle’s shoulders dropped as she instantly felt bad for her behavior; it was his birthday weekend after all. At the same time he made things so complicated, especially after that kiss he’d planted on her.
“No,” Michelle simply replied as she looked away feeling a bit hurt that he was making her seem like the bad guy. He must have sensed this because his face instantly softened and his hands planted on her shoulders to bring her body to his. He embraced her and placed a small kiss on her forehead. She felt protected and loved in his embrace and wished to stay in that position as long as possible. Even if Nadia was burning holes in the back of her head, she wanted to stay in his arms.
“You’re the best,” Jackson said softly as he released her and flashed a toothy smile. She couldn’t stay mad at him, even if she had really tried. She returned his smile and nudged him playfully.
“Let’s go eat.”
*****
The limo pulled up in front of a brightly lit restaurant in downtown San Diego. One by one, they stepped out of the long vehicle and walked in and found that they were the only ones in the small, homey building. They all looked at each other before looking to Jackson prompting someone to ask the obvious.
“Jackson, you rented the place out?”
“Nothing but the best for my friends,” he said with a grin as he led everyone inside.
There was a long table set in the middle of the place with chairs on both sides for everyone to sit. The host herded everyone to the table and allowed them to sit wherever they wanted, with the exception of Jackson who had to sit at the head of the table. Michelle found herself sitting to Jackson’s right while Nadia sat to his left. The two women eyed each other at that moment and it was as intense as a showdown.
Jackson shifted nervously as he felt the invisible sparks fly between the two women. To break the tension, he called over the waiter to begin the large order for drinks.
Michelle scanned the menu; she was finding it hard to be civilized with Nadia sending her death glares every five seconds.
“Well this is fun,” Rachel whispered sarcastically as she watched the invisible daggers fly between Michelle and Nadia.
“Truly it is,” Michelle responded as she held the menu to her face. At this point she already wanted dinner to be over so she could escape the awkward situation.
The drinks eventually came and everyone continued to enjoy themselves ordering food not long after.
As Jackson became increasingly inebriated, Nadia saw her chance to strike. She leaned over placing kisses on his cheek and wrapping her fingers into his. Michelle watched as Nadia began some sort of emotional warfare by making Michelle watch her throw herself all over Jackson.
Michelle, who was trying to take the higher road, counted to three and drank her wine as quickly as possible. Rachel gave her a reassuring pat on the back and offered her glass of wine to her friend.
As the night progressed and Jackson’s jokes became cornier and his words slurred, it was unanimously agreed he wasn’t allowed to drink anymore. Michelle helped him sip a glass of water in attempt to sober him up. She was glad that at least he was having a good time. Jackson eventually stood excusing himself as he stumbled to the bathroom.
The festivities continued for a while and Michelle and Rachel spoke about work and how they both hoped she got the position they each wanted. It wasn’t until 30 minutes had passed that Michelle realized Jackson wasn’t back. She looked across from her as well and also noticed that Nadia was missing as well.
“Did you see where Nadia went?”
Rachel looked around and looked back to Michelle shaking her head.
“I don’t even remember seeing her leave,” Rachel admitted as she looked around the restaurant. Michelle felt a tightness in her chest as the worst came to mind.
Michelle stood up and excused herself. She made her way to the bathroom area. She stood in front of the men’s bathroom and gave it a light knock. It was a one-stall bathroom so she assumed Jackson would still be in there. After a few knocks and not receiving a response, Michelle bravely grasped the door knob and opened the door slowly. She peeked in and found that Jackson was not anywhere in the bathroom.
She continued to look around the small restaurant and could not see Jackson anywhere in sight. She crossed her arms and thought about where else he could have gone. In his drunken state who knew where he could be? He could have very well left the restaurant itself.
“Excuse me,” Michelle called out to a waiter that was passing her, “have you seen Jackson?”
“I think I saw him go to the balcony area.”
Michelle thanked the waiter and moved out his way quickly making her way to the balcony area. She opened the double glass doors and didn’t see him immediately. Stepping out further, she took in the cool night breeze before looking around for the missing billionaire.
It was a noise that brought her attention to the far side of the balcony. There, she saw Jackson with his back turned to her.
“Jackson,” she said, but she soon noticed that he was lip locked with another woman. The woman’s arms snaked around him pulling him closer to her deepening the kiss.
Upon hearing his name, Jackson turned to find Michelle staring at him, blank faced. He quickly released the woman and turned to Michelle, suddenly realizing the gravity of what he had just done.
She looked over slightly and found that the woman was Nadia. She wasn’t surprised that it was her considering how she had been trying to one-up Michelle since she arrived. Michelle looked back at Jackson.
“Wait, Chelle,” Jackson said, trying to overcome the drunkenness and stepped towards her. Michelle shook her head and fought the tears that were stinging her eyes. She quickly turned away and hurriedly walked into the restaurant. She went to Rachel unable to stop the tears that were falling down her cheeks.
“Rachel,” Michelle whispered unable to convey what was wrong.
Rachel looked at her wide-eyed and worried, but without missing a beat took Michelle’s hand and stormed out of the restaurant.
“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked softly as she embraced her crying friend.
“I just need to get out of here,” Michelle clung to her friend who began calling for a taxi. The image of Jackson kissing Nadia played over and over again in her head.
*****
The taxi had gotten the two women to the mansion safely. Since she had left, Jackson had been calling her nonstop. Eventually she simply turned off her phone.
“I think I need to go back home,” Michelle said as she sunk to the floor and began to pack her things.
“You still haven’t told me what happened,” Rachel said softly sitting next to her teary-eyed friend.
“And Jackson’s birthday is tomorrow Michelle, do you really want to leave?”
“Yes,” Michelle said calmly as she wiped the remaining tears from her face and continued throwing clothes into her suitcase.
Rachel let out a frustrated noise and grabbed Michelle’s hand forcing her to stop what she was doing.
“Michelle, tell me what the hell happened.”
Michelle looked over to her stern face friend and released a breath before fully facing her.
“I saw Jackson and Nadia together. They were kissing,” Michelle said. There was a pause and Rachel couldn’t conceal the confused look on her face.
“I thought you knew they were a thing or something,” Rachel probed further. “Why does it bother you so much?”
Michelle looked down at her hands; she wasn’t prepared to tell Rachel despite the fact that she was her best friend. Maybe she was scared that Rachel would judge her, or not approve.
“Oh, I get it,” Rachel said slowly after the quietness deafened, she then took Michelle’s hands into hers. “I’m so stupid I didn’t even realize it,” she said gently tapping her forehead in sudden realization of what was going on. “You’re in love with him,” Rachel said with a small smile.
Michelle felt the tears flow free as she sniffled and nodded.
“I just, I didn’t realize how much until I saw him like that,” Michelle revealed to Rachel. Rachel leaned over and embraced her friend in a hug, soothing her.
“So much for getting lucky,” Rachel said with a sigh, still rubbing her friend’s back. Michelle let out a laugh and pulled away wiping the tears from her eyes grateful for Rachel being there with her.