"Umm, that was surprising," Selene said after they heard the "beep, beep," noises of the door closing behind Peter and Johnny.
When Johnny had made his announcement that he and Peter were leaving dinner for drinks, there had been a stunned silence. Now that they were gone, the remaining four were free to discuss after them.
Lucy looked at Selene, whispered, "Looks like the flirting and ending in fun is going to happen for Peter," and then giggled.
Selene glanced at the gentlemen seated in between her and her friend and replied to Lucy, "Ben and Max are right there and they can hear you even if you whisper."
Lucy laughed louder at that and exclaimed, "Oh geeze, I must be tipsy then! No more wine for me!"
"Sounds like a good idea," Selene said with a gentle smile.
Ben chuckled and said, "I've never seen Johnny do something like that before."
Max shook his head in agreement.
Selene said, "Well, he better not break Peter's heart. That's all I'll say about it."
"They're both grown adults," Ben said calmly, giving Selene a look that indicated it was out of his hands. "I'm sure they can take care of themselves."
"Still," Selene continued with her train of thought. "Peter is special. He's not like most guys these days and you know that."
Max cocked his head and asked, "What does that mean?"
"Uh, he's just old fashioned is all," Selene responded without giving away too much private information.
"I see," Max nodded. "Johnny is pretty old fashioned too I think. I mean, he's British and all. But then, I don't think I've seen him in a real, long-term relationship so I guess I don't know. Do you know?" He turned to Ben.
"I don't feel comfortable talking about other people's private relationships," Ben replied and that ended the conversation.
Selene changed the subject by saying she was going to get up to get another beer and asked Ben to go with her. Secretly, she wanted to give Lucy and Max some alone time.
Max turned to Lucy and said, "Hey, you never told me if you liked the chicken fajitas from the other day. Well? Weren't they amazing?"
Lucy's head tilted as she thought for a moment trying to remember what he was referring to since her mind was a little muddled. "Oh! Yes!," she replied once she remembered. "They were amazing!," she exclaimed. She had forgotten that she didn't want to actually let him know how good they were. But once she said the words, she remembered, and so she back tracked by saying, "I mean, the sauce was, like you said, but the overall fajitas were just okay."
Max looked at her sideways and then poked her with his elbow. "Oh come on, you're lying," he said, "Those were the best fajitas you've ever had. Admit it!"
"I will admit no such thing," she continued in her lie, even though she couldn't help but let a smile slip since she was tipsy.
He caught her smile, poked her cheek, and exclaimed, "I see that smile! You're totally lying, admit it! Just admit that I was right!"
"Ok fine, you were right! The fajitas were amazing! Oh my God, they were like little slices of melt in your mouth heaven!," she stated, laughing.
Max laughed, "I wouldn't go that far but yah they're very good!"
Once the laughter died down, it was a little awkward so they both drank their wine.
"This is good wine, by the way," Lucy said. "I don't know much about wine, but I know what I like and this one tastes good. That much I know." She smiled and then laughed.
Max smiled, "I'm not much of a wine drinker either, but I've started learning more and this one…"
He went on to tell Lucy a little bit more about the wine they were drinking, while they drank it. Several minutes in he mentioned France and Lucy said, "I've always wanted to go to France."
Max said, "Really? Why haven't you gone?"
"I don't know," Lucy replied. Then she was thoughtful as she answered, "At first it was money, I guess. And then it was work."
"What about now?," Max asked sincerely.
"Now?," Lucy considered. "I guess I could go next week if I wanted." She smiled. At first it was a sardonic smiled and then she thought, "Why not? I haven't been on vacation in years." She looked at Max and said, "You know what? That is an excellent idea. I'm going to go to France. Maybe not next week, but I could go next month. Why not?!"
Max looked shocked and shook his head as he said, "What?! Are you serious?"
"Yes," Lucy responded calmly. "Or maybe I'll go to Italy. I've always wanted to go there. Or Greece. I don't know. I'll pick the one place I've most wanted to go and just go. Nothing to stop me now."
Max was still confused. He didn't know what she meant by those last words that there was nothing to stop her. What about her boyfriend?
Lucy took her glass and raised it as if to toast. Max raised his glass too out of habit. She said, "To new adventures!" He replied the same and they clinked glasses. They both drank the wine, as Max looked at her with half-hooded eyes, thinking she looked very sexy in that moment.
"So tell me more about France," Lucy said. Max was brought out of the spell and responded by telling her about the last time he was there even though he really wanted to ask about those words she had used. He also wanted to ask about how Kyle fit into these plans. But for now he obliged her request and they talked for several minutes. As he talked, he could tell that she was getting more than tipsy.
After a while, Selene and Ben came back. Lucy vaguely wondered why they took so long but didn't ask. If she had asked, they would not have told her that Ben had given Selene what started out as an innocent kiss after they got into the kitchen. This developed into a more passionate kiss, which then led to a "quickie" in their bedroom.
"What did we miss?," Selene asked as innocently as they sat down in their seats, drinks in hand.
"Not much. Except that Lucy is planning on going to France, or Italy, or Greece, or someplace else next month," Max replied, filling them both in, and shrugging his shoulders--a slight glint in his eyes.
Selene laughed and said, "Lucy, have you had a little too much to drink?"
Lucy looked at her friend seriously and considered the question carefully. Then she laughed and said, "I think I have." Everyone laughed. "Maybe I should drink more so I can forget about what's his name the asshole. Oh, sorry for swearing at the dinner table." She put her hand to her mouth in apology. Then she took the wine bottle in the middle of the table and poured more wine into her glass—a lot more wine. She proceeded to drink half of it.
Selene looked at Ben who put his hand on her thigh to comfort her. There was a silent agreement that maybe Lucy needed to just drink this once and get drunk. Otherwise, one or both would have stopped her. Of course, they would stop her before it went too far and just let her sleep there.
Max looked at Lucy in concern and then looked at Selene with furrowed brows as if asking for an explanation. Selene just shook her head. Max wanted to know what was happening, however, so he asked, "Hey Lucy, are you okay? What's going on?"
Lucy turned to him and responded with, "Oh nothing big. Just that I have a big fat cheater for a boyfriend. I mean ex-boyfriend."
Max's heart started beating faster at this information. But seeing Lucy's eyes fill with tears stopped any selfish thoughts from making themselves known as his heart went out to her. "I'm so sorry," he said. He couldn't help but put his hand on her head and start stroking her hair to comfort her.
She leaned into it and let herself be comforted. "I just don't know why it took me so long to figure it out, you know?," she asked. "Selene says I shouldn't blame myself for that, but I just feel so stupid."
"Selene is right," Max said.
Lucy suddenly sat up straight and it startled everyone at the table. "I know she's right. She's always right," Lucy nodded. "But I still feel stupid." She drank the rest of the wine. Her head was starting to feel very dizzy and she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. It felt really good and really bad at the same time. Suddenly she felt arms around her as if she was being lifted up. Then it felt as if she was being carried.
After she drank the last of the wine in her cup, Lucy's eyes had indeed closed and she'd fallen over onto Max.
Selene got up and said with a sigh, "Maybe she can get some sleep without nightmares. I'll get her some water and ibuprofen so she doesn't have a headache tomorrow. Max, can you carry her into one of the bedrooms. Ben, can you show him?"
Max carried Lucy into one of the guest bedrooms Ben led him to. Selene woke her so she could drink a glass of water with the ibuprofen, but that woke her up for a while. Max said he would stay with her so Selene and Ben could go clean up the dinner table. Once they left, Max asked Lucy how she was feeling.
"Like crap," Lucy said with a lopsided smile. "You don't have to stay with me." She was sitting propped up against the pillows on the bed. Max was sitting on the bed too but facing her, one leg dangling off the bed.
"It's okay," he said. "I feel bad that you went through something like that. I've been cheated on before, so I know how it feels."
Lucy started crying and put her head in her palms. "I'm sorry," Max said, "I didn't mean to make you cry."
"You didn't," Lucy responded. "I cry at the drop of a hat these days. I feel bad that you were cheated on too. People suck. Why can't they just say they want to break up instead of cheating?"
Max nodded and answered, "I know. I don't get it either. It makes it hard to trust people after that. I hope that doesn't happen to you."
Lucy's head was spinning. Somewhere in her mind she thought about how she could ever date anyone ever again. Then she thought about Max and felt guilty. Selene said this wasn't karma because she had had thoughts about Max. Now Max was saying he didn't want her to not trust others because of Kyle. It was confusing.
"Are you saying that because you want to go out with me now that I'm free?," Lucy asked suddenly. Then she put her hands to her mouth as her eyes widened. She couldn't believe those words had come out of her mouth. Her face flushed beet red.
Max looked surprised and didn't know what to say. "Um, uh, actually," he stammered, "That's not what I was thinking. That's just how *I* felt at the time, and I didn't want you to feel the same way, but, um…"
Lucy took one of the pillows next to her to hide herself and then said, "I'm so sorry. Oh my God, I'm so embarrassed right now. I have no idea how those words came out of my mouth. I blame Selene and I blame the wine. Can we please pretend I didn't say those words? Please?"
Those were the words she wanted to say but it all came out super slow and slurred. Somehow, however, Max understood what she tried to say.
He put his hand on top of the pillow and slowly pushed it down as he said, "It's okay, Lucy. Don't worry about it." Lucy saw that he had on an understanding smile and his eyes showed concern not anger or resentment.
She knew she was drunk, and thoughts were jumbled in her head, but she could see Max in front of her and she could see he cared. On some gut level she wanted him to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. But she also knew it wasn't right. She didn't want him to be a rebound. It was like a fight inside her and her mind was too confused to know what was happening in her mind. "Wait, does that even make sense?," she thought.
"Max," Lucy said, "I can't seem to think straight."
"Yes," he responded. Drunk Lucy was definitely cute. "That's because you are drunk."
Lucy nodded, "I am. I definitely am. That's why I'm going to tell you this. I can't be with you, but can you be with me?"
Max was not sure what to make of what she just said. It was drunk-speak, that much he knew. Maybe he shouldn't take it seriously. Still. Something about it hooked itself onto his heart and wouldn't let go.
She quietly mumbled, "I think there was flirting, but shouldn't. A little fun."
Max leaned in but couldn't quiet hear what she said.
She had become drowsy, and her head was now drooping against her chest. He moved her body so that she was lying down, and the covers were up to her neck. She moved over to lay on her side facing him and opened her eyes part way.
"Thank you." she said quietly as she reached for his hand. He gave her his hand. She squeezed it and continued, "Can you stay?"
Max kissed her forehead and said, "I don't think that would be a good idea."
"Okay. You're right," she agreed.
"But, I'll call you tomorrow, if that's alright?," he asked.
"I don't know if it's alright, but call anyway," she said with a little smile before falling asleep.