Once upon a time, after a tough break-up, a young writer called Noah decided he needed a break. Lucky for him, he had family in Spain. So, he packed his cases and headed out there for three long weeks. And this was where the ‘fairytale’ getaway ended. It rained. It was cold. And his family just happened to live in the middle of nowhere – thank God for their broadband connection though, he thought to himself. So, after eighteen days, Noah packed his cases, headed home, ready to be start afresh with the ladies. And that he did.A couple of nights after I got back from Spain, I was invited out into the city to celebrate my homecoming, by the Carmientti twins Hayley and Brooke. I gladly accepted, knowing that we’d be hitting the hottest clubs this city had to offer. Starting out in TigerTiger, I decided this was the perfect location to start my drunken night. So, whilst drinking cocktails and downing shots of Apple Schnapps in a private section of the club, we laughed, sung and danced on the chairs.
Jaime, a girl I had dated for about a month a year or so ago joined us about an hour later. Hayley had told me Jaime was interested in me again, and she wanted to “test drive” me to see if I was any good. Her words. Not mine. There was one complication - Ella and Jaime were friends. They weren’t as close as they once were, but still on speaking terms. This, as Jaime later said, embracing me, “complicated things”.
After TigerTiger, we stumbled to Lloyds Bar, 500 metres away. There, I was told I was “hideous” by a fat, old woman, to which I drunkenly replied, “Excuse me? Do you know who I am? I'm a model! I'm not hideous!” She apologised. After several drinks in Lloyds, we headed to Liquid. Jaime and I walked ahead, making small talk as she linked my arm.
“I mean, there clearly has always been chemistry there,” I told Kayla over lunch the next day. “Why should Ella even come into the equation?”
Knowing Hayley and Brooke Carmientti was definitely a plus in this city. They seemed to know everyone and had connections in all the hottest clubs. So, after getting into Liquid for free, we were awarded VIP status and headed up stairs to the VIP Lounge. It was dark, mysterious, smoky, exactly how you’d imagine a VIP Lounge to be. There was a glass wall that overlooked Liquid and there was Champagne on tap. After spending time in the VIP Lounge we headed back downstairs. There, we saw some friends and then hit the dancefloor. I saw this as my chance with Jaime. I grabbed her to dance and before I knew it, we were kissing.
“It got pretty passionate I’d say Kayla.” I told her.
“What do you mean?” She said, taking a sip from some fresh OJ.
“Well, there as hair pulling, lip play…it was like foreplay of the face.”
“Wow. Did she awake the beast?” She replied, giggling.
“I think she might have done. You know, for all we dated, that was our first kiss,” I paused, smiled, and carried on, “and it was good! It was like something from the movies.”
After kissing for what felt like forever, in a good way, we headed to the bar. More alcohol followed, as did more kissing.
“Promise me this won’t be awkward when we’re not drunk.” She pleaded with me.
“I promise. I honestly don’t think it will.” It was a lie. I just wanted to carry on kissing her. It worked. And we carried on kissing.
“Then Hayley and Brooke bundled us into a taxi, and that was that. It kind of was a bit awkward in the taxi I mean, we were meant to have left 15 minutes before we actually left but they were just waiting for us to be done kissing. That was awkward.” I said as we settled the cheque for our breakfast.
Hiding my hangover from the morning world I placed my Aviators I’d purchased in New York over my eyes and we walked out of the café.
A couple of days later I was invited to another party. This time, it was a party masquerading as a nineteenth birthday party, to make sure no one had a problem with ID. After being rejected from an opportunity in California I’d auditioned for, I was feeling pretty down, so, I dressed up and aimed to please. I got far too drunk far too soon. I danced, or grinded, with an array of women and even forgot one girl’s name. Not my finest moment.
After, in the taxi que, I spotted a girl called Lyndsey. She’d played Sandy to my Danny when I had been in Grease a while back. There’d always been that attraction and chemistry there, especially with our kissing in the ‘drive-in scene’, but we’d never let it develop since I was with Ella. Now, with no Ella in sight, I was making sure I’d made up for lost time. The girl who’d played Marty in the production pointed her out to me, and told me that we’d make a “cute couple”.
“You think?” I slurred.
“Yeah, definitely.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to her. “Lyndsey, Noah has something to ask you.”
“I do?…Yeah, I think that maybe we should, you know, go on a date.” I said, as if it were a question. It was the first thing that came into my head.
“Yeah, we should.” There was an awkward silence. “I was sorry to hear about you and Ella.”
“Yeah, something’s just don’t work. Fuck it.” And with Dutch courage, well, a lot of Dutch courage, I kissed her. She didn’t pull away. Wow. Look at me go. I thought to myself. She said she had to go, and with that she climbed into the taxi.
I had a thought: was I acting out, and, like Britney Spears did, take my newfound single status too far? Was it a psychological repercussion from breaking up with her, and then finding out she had a new boyfriend a week later? Maybe I was trying to keep up with her, and show her that no one messes with Noah J. Austin. Anything she can do, I can do better…right?
