Gamble With Desire

Addison didn’t have a chance to reply to the text on her phone, because the wedding march began, and everyone stood and turned around to rest their eyes upon the bride. Once the ceremony was over, the mass of people sitting inside the church hastily poured outside to get into their warm cars and drive to the reception hall.

Addison and her mother chose a table located in the middle of the large, tastefully decorated room. Replying to a text from one of her friends in New York, Addison didn’t bother looking up when she felt someone sitting down beside her.

“Oh, so I don’t even get a ‘hello’ from you now?” asked a voice, making Addison jump. Her head snapped up and she saw Alex sitting beside her, dressed in a suit with a crooked grin on his face.

“Alex!” she said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Kayla is my mom’s best friend’s daughter,” said Alex. “We’ve known each other since we were like, eight.” He shrugged. “What about you?”

“Daniel is my cousin,” she explained.

“Oh, that’s cool,” said Alex and smiled. “So, how have things been in the last - what, twenty-four hours or something?”

Addison smiled, chuckling. “Things have been fine. What about you, glad to be home?”

“Yeah, definitely. You start to miss it after being on the road for so long.”

“So do you and your band have some time off?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, we have until a bit after New Year’s. Then it’s back on tour again.”

“That must get a bit tiring,” said Addison.

“Well, most people would think it does,” said Alex, shrugging. “But for us, it’s sort of second nature - I mean, we’ve been doing it since we were sixteen or seventeen, really. You get used to it after a while.”

Before they could continue their conversation, the usher who had escorted Addison came over and plopped himself in the chair next to Alex.

“Addison, this is Jack,” said Alex, gesturing toward the lanky guy sitting beside him. “He plays guitar in our band, or at least pretends to.”

This earned Alex a sharp smack on the back of the head from Jack, who afterwards looked at Addison with a charming smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Addison laughed. “Nice to meet you too, Jack.”

“So, how do you guys know each other?” asked Jack, furrowing his eyebrows.

Alex and Addison both hesitated, looking at each other.

“We, uh… met at the airport,” said Alex, not really sure whether or not he should include all the events that had occurred. He decided against it.

Jack nodded. “Oh, that’s cool. So you’re from New York?”

Similar conversation continued between the three during the next while, until they ate and after speeches were said. Addison had also found out that Jack was a close friend of Daniel’s, at which point she had sniggered and muttered, “Ha - Jack Daniels.”

After speeches was when the drinking really got started. Addison made no hesitation to begin, and it didn’t take very long for her to start feeling quite happy. Jack was acting as her partner in crime, while Alex was taking it easy - something unusual for him. This hadn’t gotten past Jack.

“Why aren’t you drinking?” he asked Alex as Addison went to the bar to get more drinks for her and Jack.

“I am drinking,” replied Alex, holding up his glass of wine. Jack rolled his eyes.

“Alex, you’ve been on one glass of wine for an hour and a half now - that doesn’t classify as drinking.”

He shrugged. “I just don’t feel like it.”

Jack didn’t buy this for a second, but he wasn’t about to waste his time trying to figure out what could possibly be going on in Alex’s mind - it was a confusing place, usually understood by himself only, and sometimes not even Alex could fully explain what was going on in his brain, as he occasionally didn’t know himself. There was definitely more to Alex than most people gave him credit for; it was all a matter of getting to know him and breaking past his goofy, casual façade.

The night went on, and as the minutes passed, Addison and Jack became more amusing to watch. They decided it would be a good idea to try doing the Soulja Boy - and why the DJ had even chosen to play that song at a wedding reception was a bit of a mystery. Naturally, they butchered the dance while attempting to sing along with the words. Alex laughed as he watched.

Addison fanned her red face as they made their way back to the table to join Alex.

“I need to go outside!” she announced giddily.

“Ooh, I’ll come!” squealed Jack. He draped his arm across Alex’s shoulder.

“You coming, buddy-roo?” he asked Alex, who laughed. He stood up.

“Yeah, I’m just going to the washroom. I’ll meet you two outside, okay?”

Nodding, Jack linked arms with Addison and theyfell skipped towards the door leading to the lobby. Smiling and shaking his head, Alex ventured towards the bathroom.

“Alex!” said Diane, who had been introduced to Alex at the beginning of the night. “Do you know where Addison is? We should really get going…”

Looking at the clock located in front of them, Alex saw that it was only eleven thirty.

“If it’s alright with you, I could always give Addison a drive home later,” offered Alex. “She seems to be really enjoying herself.” For reasons he wasn’t about to discuss with Diane, Alex had the instinctive feeling that Addison really needed this - it felt like such a waste to end her night at eleven thirty.

“Oh, Alex, we wouldn’t expect you to do that…”

He smiled. “Really, don’t worry about it - I don’t mind. And I’m only on my second drink of the night, so I’m in fine condition to drive.”

“Well, as long as you don’t mind,” said Diane. “I’ll go find something to write directions to our house down - you know, in case Addison can’t quite give them to you…” She smiled.

After Diane had given Alex directions scribbled down on a piece of paper towel, she said, “Oh, and you’re welcome to stay at our house tonight, if you’d like. I’ll set out some of my son’s clothes for you to sleep in.”

“Alright, thanks,” said Alex. “See you.”

“Bye, hun,” said Diane, and with that, she left. Now, Alex had one task: find Addison and Jack.