Disasterpiece

Large droplets of water fell onto the red and gold patterned hotel carpet as Joey and I walked back to our rooms, carrying half a bundle of clothes each. We decided after a while of lying on the concrete together talking, that we should go take showers and see what everyone else had planned for tonight. Walking out into the hallway, our first port of call was my room to dump the saturated material off...preferably on top of Josie’s bed. We entered and found Josie by the mirror gussying up.

“You’re an asshole,” I seethed playfully upon seeing her. She rolled her eyes and continued to powder her face.

“Don’t be a baby, it was funny,” she responded.

“Oh yeah?” I said; walking over to her bed I held the wet bundle menacingly over it. “Well I think this is funny,” I told her as I dumped it on her bed and spread it out so it wet as much as it possibly could. Josie snorted and put her powder away.

“That’s stupid, I’ll just sleep in your bed then,” she said, rolling her eyes once more. I turned to Joey and pointed at my bed.

“Dump that lot on my bed,” I told him. He shrugged, walked over to my bed and repeated my previous actions. Josie just laughed, shaking her head.

“You’re ridiculous! Now neither of us have a bed to sleep on,” she pointed out. I growled inwardly knowing she was right and stuck my tongue out in lame response.

“Well...stuff you!” was all I could come up with. She grinned, grabbed her makeup bag and threw it into her suitcase. “Where are you going and what’s the plan for tonight anyway?” I asked her. She glanced up, quickly looking between Joey and I with a sheepish face.

“Um...well...I’m having dinner with Sid,” she answered slowly, her eyes darting up to Joey cautiously, gagging his reaction. “I think everyone is doing their own thing tonight,” she added.

“Alright, well I guess I’ll see what Corey’s doing or it’s room service and pay tv for me,” I shrugged carelessly back.

“Actually Corey’s got a date tonight, Sid and I bumped into him before,” Josie informed me.

“With who?!” I asked excitedly, but Josie just said that she didn’t know. I had an idea of who it was with anyway and an inkling urge to get to find out more about her. Josie glanced at the time on the bedside clock and jumped a little on the spot.

“I’ve got to go now, have fun with room service,” she said, quickly kissing me on the cheek and waving at Joey before skipping out of the room. I turned to Joey, smiled and rubbed my hands together.

“I’m going to find that menu then jump in the shower,” I told him. He shuffled uncomfortably on the spot for a second, tucking his hair behind his ears.

“No pressure or anything,” he started nervously. “But I’ve got no plans either if you want to like, go to the restaurant downstairs instead of getting room service?” he suggested apprehensively. My stomach flipped, mouth going dry as I watched him, watch me expectantly.

“That sounds great...I mean like yeah, if you want,” I stuttered back. I knew the invitation was nothing more than a ‘we’re both going to be bored tonight so let’s just eat together nothing fancy’ kind of thing, but it was so close to a date-like proposal that it was scarily exhilarating.

“Awesome, how about I come back in an hour and we’ll go then?” he said. Afraid that my voice would crack if I tried speaking again, I just nodded with a dopey smile and waved him out as he left. I collapsed on Josie’s bed when the door click closed, my heart racing. This would mean another few hours with just Joey and I trying to make conversation, no one else there to take the brunt of social conventionality or lift the awkwardness of an un-dating, but secretly crushing (at least on my part) man and women hanging out together.

I flopped my arms out to my side dramatically; grabbing bunches of wet clothes in my hands. That’s when I realised that I had nothing to wear...everything I owned had been soaked to the core.

“Fuck!” I yelled desperately, jumping to my feet I look wildly around the room, finding my empty suitcase dumped in the corner by the window. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I continued as I bounced around. There was absolutely nothing I could wear, Josie had literally thrown everything out of the window. I ran my fingers through my hair stressfully. Maybe I should just cancel? Or maybe suggest we get room service together? That idea was stupid through because it meant I’d have to sit in my bather’s all night. I let out an exaggerated groan; fucking Josie.

“Wait!” I said out loud to myself, running over to Josie’s suitcase I flipped it open and stared down into it. We were roughly the same size so borrowing some clothes wasn’t an issue, plus she totally owed me. My only problem was that I didn’t know what to wear. Was it a fancy restaurant or just something casual? Would it look weirder if I dressed up and he dressed down or vice versa? I rummaged through her clothes but found that she either had dressy clothes or overly casual clothes, no middle ground. I pounded my fist into the suitcase angrily, grabbed my towel I headed for the shower; deciding to try relax before I make the big decision.

In the end I couldn’t bring myself to dress down just in case he dressed up, figuring that would be much more awkward than the other way around. So here I was slipping into some glittery black heels, wearing a skin tight, strapless, black peplum dress. I felt a little ridiculous, but it was the longest dress Josie had brought with her and the last thing I wanted was Joey getting a view of the whole sideshow.

I grabbed my wallet as a knock come through the door and went out to greet Joey whose eyes popped just a little.

“Wow, you look...great,” he complimented in surprise. I forced a laugh and shook my head.

“I’m sorry, I had to borrow Josie’s clothes since she drenched all of mine in chlorine,” I replied uncomfortably, tugging at the bottom of the dress just a little.

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” he laughed, offering me his elbow. I took it carefully and let him lead me down to the restaurant.

I was glad I didn’t take the dress down option because as we approached the restaurant I could see candle light everywhere and the sounds of a live string quartet. Walking up to the maitre d', Joey dropped his arm from my grasp and pulled out his room key, handing it over to the suited man.

“Table for two please,” Joey requested as I looked around at the decor in interest. There seemed to be a red, kind of romantic and expensive theme going on in this restaurant. I craned my neck to the side to try and see the blown up menu they had out front when I noticed a chalk board that read: ‘Couples night tonight’. I spluttered and choked a little mid-breath, reaching out to tug Joey on the shirt to inform him; but he was already beckoning me to follow the maitre d'. I grimaced painfully, knowing it was too late to back out now and followed him sullenly through the restaurant, trying my best not to take in all the couples sitting around holding hands and schmoozing.

The table we were sat at was in a cosy corner away from everyone else, there was a small bunch of white roses and two tea light candles in the center, on top of a red tablecloth with gold cutlery. Joey pulled my chair out for me and I sat down with dread filling my insides, worrying about what would come of the current predicament.

“It’s a set menu tonight, your entrees will be out shortly,” the maitre d' informed us before tottering off to the front.

“Kind of odd they have a set menu,” Joey mused; I bit my lip and swallowed.

“Yeah...I guess they do it when they have ‘couples nights’,” I replied dejectedly, Joey furrowed his brow then took in his surroundings for the first time.

“Oh...shit,” he chuckled upon realising that the ultra sultry decor wasn’t part of the restaurants usual furnishings. “That’s sort of awkwardly funny,” he said, grinning at me. I relaxed a little seeing that he was finding the funny side to it and smiled back, maybe tonight wouldn’t be too bad.

“Ok so I might not have chosen what I ate tonight, but it all tasted pretty amazing,” Joey said, leaning back in his chair he patted his full belly.

“Agreed, this chocolate pudding is delicious,” I concurred, licking the last remnants of pudding off my spoon,

“If you think that tastes good, you should try my microwave pudding,” Joey said.

“I thought you ‘cooked with your phone’?” I asked, remembering the night we ordered Chinese and watched movies in the den. Joey laughed, shaking his head.

“Ok so there’s one thing I can actually cook in my kitchen, and only because I grew up with my Mom making it,” he corrected.

“Hmm...I remember you once telling me that you were in a cemetery visiting your Mom, and assuming she’s still alive, I’m hoping she’s not a zombie resident of said cemetery or I think I’ll have to pass on the chocolate brains you claim as ‘microwave pudding’,” I joked, causing us both to laugh. Tonight had been pretty amazing, we glazed over the whole fact that it was ‘couples night’ and just enjoyed finding out more about each other. The more we talked, the easier it became to open up to him and not let my nagging feelings get in the way. In fact, this moment just felt like two old friends having a good time...and in a way that felt a hundred times better than any other situation I could imagine.

“Let’s get the bill and go raid the pay tv in my room?” Joey suggested, sitting up.

“Sounds like an excellent idea,” I agreed as we both stood up and headed over to the maitre d'.

Back at Joey’s room we sat on his bed and dozed together, some crappy comedy flickering across the screen, but neither of us actually paying attention to it. I snuggled down into the blankets and smiled up at Joey who smiled back. Reaching out he tucked some loose hair behind my ear, making my skin burn where he touched.

“Hey V...” he said quietly.

“Mmmhm?” I replied tiredly, my eyes drooping.

“I know we’ve never brought it up or anything ... but you deserve way better than that asshole from Adventureland,” he said, staring at me. My heart skipped a few beats as I pulled myself up a little and stared back at him, having no idea of where that had come from.

“...thanks Joey,” I replied softly, unsure there was anything else I could say. He smiled, placed his arm behind my back and pulled me into his chest slowly. Words could not express how grateful and blessed I felt right then in that moment.