Nolan stepped out of the loud bar, into the chilly night air, to answer the phone call from his mom. He walked far away from the few couples who were still cuddled in each other arms in front of the bar and took a deep breath, preparing himself for the conversation.
"Hey, Mom," he said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
"Hey sweetie! How's New York treating you?" his mom asked, her voice filled with excitement.
Nolan hesitated for a moment before responding, his mom was a human lie detector, she could tell whenever he was lying, "Everything great, Mom. The city's amazing. I'm loving every minute of it."
"And how's your job? Are you enjoying it?" His mom asked.
“Yeahh.. I’m enjoying everything.” He lied.
"Where are you, sweetie.. it’s quite loud?" his mom asked, her voice filled with concern.
"I'm meeting some really interesting people. Actually, I just got back from meeting a dignitary, it’s been a long day." Nolan lied again.
His mom's tone changed, her voice filled with concern.
"Oh, okay dear. Well, you must be tired. Why don't you go home and rest?"
Nolan felt guilty for lying, but he didn’t want his mom to worry and he wasn’t ready for her usual sermons.
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired. I'll head home now."
His mom's voice softened.
"Okay, sweetie. Be careful, and don't work too hard. I love you."
Nolan's face softened, "I love you too, Mom."
He ended the call, taking a deep breath again before heading back into the bar.
He paused at the door, his eyes widened in surprise.
The seat was empty.
She was gone.
Nolan's eyes scanned the room, searching for the drunken woman.
Her seat was empty, and he couldn’t spot her anywhere.
He could feel his stomach twist anxiously.
Where did she go? Was she okay?
She had been pretty drunk earlier, and he knew she could’nt have woken up and left that fast.
He looked towards the bar but the bar tender was also gone.
Did someone take her? Did she leave on her own?
Where the hell was Lance in all this, he told him to watch over her.
He looked around, trying to find Lance.
He stared in surprise as he saw Lance, dancing drunkenly with a red haired woman on the dance floor.
Nolan frowned. What the hell was Lance doing? He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, not getting distracted by some random woman.
Nolan made his way through the crowd, his heart pounding with every step.
He reached Lance and tapped him roughly on the shoulder.
"Hey, where the hell is she? The woman I told you to watch?" he shouted over the music.
Lance turned around, a sheepish grin on his face.
He could smell the alcohol oozing off Lance.
"I don't know, dude. I thought she was with you." Lance replied drunkenly.
Nolan's face changed, his frown deepened.
"I told you to watch over her! What the hell happened?"
Lance shrugged.
"I needed some fresh air, and when I looked back to check on her, she was gone, she just took off. I thought she had gone to the bathroom or something."
Nolan's mind raced.
He didn’t know her but he didn’t feel comfortable thinking about the fact that she was alone, drunk, and who-knows-where. He needed to find her, now.
Nolan dragged Lance roughly from the red haired woman’s hands, pulling him outside the bar, as he looked around hoping to see her.
"What were you thinking?!” He shouted.
“I told you to watch over her!"
Lance stumbled, trying to keep up with Nolan's pace.
"Dude, I'm sorry! I didn't think she'd just take off like that!"
“Dude?!” Nolan repeated, his eyes wide in disbelief.
He stopped as they reached the sidewalk, his eyes scanning the crowded street.
That was when he saw her.
Becky, his side fling, standing under the streetlight.
But she was not alone. She's with a woman, they were laughing and smiling like they were having the time of their lives.
Nolan frowned, as he stared at them from affair, holding the drunk Lance before he fell over.
Becky slowly turned around like she had noticed Nolan’s stare, her face changed immediately. She looked guilty, like she had been caught red-handed.
"Nolan, what are you doing here?" She asked.
Nolan stared at Becky silently, his eyes moving from Becky to the woman beside her.
"What are you doing here , Becky? Who's this?"
The woman stepped forward, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "You must be a friend of Becky’s, I'm Amanda. And you are...?"
Nolan's gaze moved from Becky to Amanda's. Amanda...the name sounded familiar.
Wait a minute… was she the one Becky was seeing?
If so the who was the drunken woman from earlier.
Just then, Lance drunkenly pointed at Amanda, his finger wagging accusingly.
"She's...she's the one!"
Nolan quickly grabbed Lance's hand, holding it down.
"Shut up, Lance."
"What's going on, Nolan? Why are you here?" Becky asked.
Nolan looked towards her.
"What are you doing here, on your wedding night? You should be with...with your husband."
Becky's face turned ice cold.
"Maybe I should ask you the same thing, Nolan.” She said, her voice low.
“ What are you doing here, instead of being with your mom, or your job, or whatever it is you're supposed to be doing?"
Nolan's smile tightened, feeling a little hurt from Becky's words.
"That's not the point."
Amanda stepped forward, her voice calm and gentle.
"I think the point is, Nolan, that we're all adults here, making our own choices. And maybe, just maybe, we're all exactly where we're supposed to be."
Becky placed a hand on Amanda’s shoulder, Amanda sighed as she stared at Nolan for a brief moment, before she finally nodded and smiled. " I think I'm going to give you two some space to talk." She said as she turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of people on the sidewalk.
Becky watched her go, before turning back to Nolan.
"So, Nolan," Becky said, her voice low and even. "What are you doing here?"
Nolan hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal.
He couldn’t say yet if Becky knew the drunk woman or not.
"I was looking for someone," he said.
"A friend. She was supposed to meet me here, but she hasn’t come."
“A friend?” Becky repeated.
“I hope you’ve changed and you don’t treat your friend like you treated the rest or us.” She added.
Nolan smiled.
“I was always a gentle man to you, wasn’t I?” He said.
Becky rolled her eyes.
"By the way, who’s your friend?" She asked.
Nolan frowned looking away.
"What about your marriage, Becky? I thought you were supposed to be on your honeymoon right now." He asked, changing the topic.
Becky's eyes darkened.
"Cancelled. The whole thing was a mistake."
"What happened?" He asked as his eyes brows shot up in surprise.
Becky shrugged. "Let's just say today I realized I was making a huge mistake. And besides I already had Amanda."
Nolan's gaze moved back to Becky's face.
"Is Amanda your lover?" He asked, his voice low and filled with curiousity.
Becky looked away, her cheeks flushed slightly as she nodded.
"Yes."
Nolan smile faded a little before he quickly forced himself to smile again.
He hadn't seen that coming. He slowly looked around, trying to spot Amanda in the crowd, but she was nowhere to be found.
Becky turned back to him, her eyes filled with tears.
"I know this may inappropriate, but I've never felt this way about anyone before. Amanda makes me feel alive, Nolan."
Nolan's stare softened a little.
"I'm happy for you, Becky. I really am, if she makes you happy then go do her." He said as he forced a smile.
He slowly turned around.
"Goodnight, Becky. I'm glad to see you happy." He said as he turned to Lance, who was still mumbling gibberish.
"Come on, buddy, I'll take you home."
Lance protested, but Nolan dragged him toward his Lamborghini Aventador, parked on the sidewalk.
He opened the passenger door and shoved Lance inside.
"What about that woman?" Lance asked, still confused.
Nolan sighed and closed the door.
"I don't know, man. We’ll try to find her another day, I just hope she’s safe.”
Nolan got into the car and started the engine. The Lamborghini roared to life, as he gently pulled away from the parking lot.
*
Amanda frowned as she spotted Becky walking back into the bar, she immediately waved back to her.
As Becky approached, Amanda stared at her with concern.
"Who's Nolan?" she asked, nodding towards the Lamborghini that was now driving away.
Becky shrugged, trying to downplay the situation. "Just a friend."
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Just a friend I felt the tension around you guys, that doesn’t feel like the tension from just friends.”
Becky laughed.
"Yeah, he's got money and we were once close but that’s all. He’s not a big deal to me."
Amanda frowned.
"Is he the Nolan who was calling you this afternoon? The one you've been avoiding?"
Becky frowned a little as she nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's him."
Amanda's eyes widened in surprise.
"Becky, what's going on? Who is this guy?"
Becky sighed, realizing she couldn’t hide the truth anymore.
"Nolan and I... we have a little history. We were involved, it was complicated but it all ended a long time ago. He's been trying to reach me, but I've been avoiding him."
Amanda shook her head, her face serious. "Becky, we need to talk about this later. But right now, let's focus on finding Daisy."
“Daisy? Didn’t you say she was in this bar?” Becky asked.
Amanda nodded,
“Yes she was meant to be here but she wasn’t isn’t here anymore.”
“And it’s weird because she called me and said she was here, waiting for us.”
Becky and Amanda search the bar from top to bottom, scanning through the crowds and asking people if they had seen Daisy.
But there was no sign of her anywhere. Amanda kept trying Daisy's phone, but it just kept on going straight to voicemail every time.
"Maybe she went to pick up something or maybe an emergency came up.” Becky suggested, trying to stay optimistic.”
Amanda frowned, her eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Daisy's not the type to just blow off on plans like this. Something's definitely wrong.”
As they searched, Amanda continued to try Daisy's phone.
She was growing anxious in each passing minute, she had called daisy’s maid and the woman had told her daisy wasn’t home yet.
She had tried texting too, but there's no response.
"Let's check outside again," Amanda suggested, as her eyes scanned through the crowded bar. "Maybe she's waiting for us out there."
Becky nodded, as they made their way back outside, searching the sidewalks and the street. But there was still no sign of Daisy.
Amanda was starting to get worried
Where could Daisy be? And why wasn’t she answering her phone?
*
Meanwhile…
Morning came and her phone was still blasting non stop as Amanda tried to call her.
Amanda was very worried and not even the soothing words of her lover could calm her.
She paced from one end of her house to the next, dropping so many voicemails and hoping wherever her best friend was, she would see it and return it. So many things flitted through her mind but she refused to entertain any of them. Daisy is a big girl and can take care of herself. Maybe she went home with a man and he had banged her so good that she had overslept.
But there was a situation, a situation that only she could handle.
"Where is my mummy?" The five-year-old son of Daisy, who was the situation that Amanda didn't know how to handle, asked.
"She is good, Danny, can you go play with Ella?" Amanda asked him and his response was to stick his nose in the air like his mother when she was in disagreement over something, poked his little red lips, and without another word went in search of his beastie bestie.
It all happened in a flash. Early that morning, Amanda had received a call from Daniels's School_being that she was his second guardian, and they told her they have been trying to reach his mother and tell her that they were sending Daniel home for the holiday with the team that was dispersed to the U.S.
And just like that, Amanda's early morning pleasure was cut short as she had to head to the airport to pick him up. And since that morning they came back till now in the afternoon, her friend hasn't picked up her call and the little monster won't stop tormenting Amanda at the request of his mama.
"Maybe you should give her till evening, okay?"Becky came behind her to suggest. She gradually turned to kiss her nose and smiled.
"Yeah, I really don't mind, it's just that knowing him, he won't rest until he sees her."
Back in Ethan's mansion, Daisy woke up for the second time, and this time she was as good as a fiddle. She sat up from the bed, picked up her stuff, and made her way out of the room as silent as she could.
However, just as she made it to the front door and twisted the knob, the man of the hour came up behind her and said, "I didn't know you to be a coward, Raven..."