Chapter 16
The Second Date
‘I’m going to kill you for this!’ Natalie yelled, banging on the bathroom door.
‘It was a misunderstanding!’ Siobhan said from inside the locked hotel room bathroom. She had barricaded the door to shield herself from Natalie’s wrath.
‘Come on, Nat, she didn’t know you would get Tasered,’ Kate said, trying to calm her down. ‘And I need to use the bathroom before my date with Trevor, so open up, Siobhan.’
Siobhan unlocked the door and crept out cautiously. Kate went in behind her, carrying the ugly dress the girls had bought her.
‘I’ll never forgive you for this, Siobhan!’ Natalie said, pointing to the bruise on her neck. ‘I could have this scar for the rest of my life!’
‘Oh please, I’ve had hickeys bigger than that,’ Siobhan said, downplaying it.
‘You’re dead to me. I’m never speaking to you again!’
‘Nat, it was an honest mistake! How was I supposed to know an angel shot was a secret code for calling security?’
‘You should have done something before they Tasered me!’
‘It all happened so fast. I was just as shocked as you were!’ Siobhan said. She suddenly realized what she had said and burst out laughing.
‘Ugh, you’re such a dick, Siobhan!’
‘Well, you know what they say . . . you are what you eat.’
‘At least you don’t look like a lobster, Nat. I’m burnt to a crisp!’ Chloe said. Her decision not to wear sunblock in the Nevada heat had proved unwise, and now she was red raw on her face, back, chest and neck. She was desperately trying to fan herself down in an attempt to cool her skin.
‘It’s almost like you should have worn sun cream in the desert,’ Natalie said, sarcastically.
‘Oh, well, sorry I’m not a weatherologist, Nat!’ Chloe yelled as she opened a tiny bottle of liquor from the minibar.
‘Give me some of that!’
‘No, this is my emotional support vodka. Get your own!’
‘It’s the last bottle! Give some to me or I’ll unfollow you on Instagram,’ Natalie threatened.
‘You wouldn’t dare!’
‘Wouldn’t I?’
‘Fine, I’ll unfollow you too. All you do is post social justice infographics anyway,’ Chloe huffed.
‘Yeah, because I’m an activist.’
‘Who’s never even been to a protest. You’re a slacktivist.’
‘It’s not my fault I live in the middle of nowhere and my parents won’t drive me to one!’ Natalie sulked.
‘The lady doth protest too little methinks,’ Siobhan laughed.
‘As if either of you two go to protests!’
‘We were literally at the women’s march at the start of the year!’ Chloe said, adamantly.
‘Chloe, that wasn’t the women’s march. It was the January sale at Zara!’
‘Well, we were women . . . and we marched!’
‘I can’t with you.’
‘Come on, Chloe, give Nat a break,’ Siobhan said. ‘The first thirty years of childhood are always the hardest.’
‘I’m going to SCREAM!’ Natalie said, on the verge of spiralling.
‘Girls, enough bickering,’ Kate said, walking out of the hotel room bathroom. She had put on the dress the girls had bought her and it was hideous, to say the least. It had a brown base with terrible floral patterns that didn’t connect in any coherent way. It was extremely hard on the eyes. ‘Well?’
‘It’s perfect,’ Chloe said. ‘And by perfect I mean the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life.’
‘Are you sure it’s not too ugly?’ Kate asked. She felt rather conflicted about the dress. She prided herself on having good fashion sense. Sure, she couldn’t afford designer brands like Chloe, but she always looked chic. This dress, on the other hand, made it seem like she had no taste whatsoever.
‘The whole point is that it’s too ugly. It’s supposed to give him the ick,’ Chloe said.
‘Unless you don’t want to give him the ick?’ Siobhan pried.
‘OF COURSE I DO!’ Kate snapped, unexpectedly.
‘Touchy.’
‘Sorry, I’m just a little tense,’ Kate said. ‘A date with Trevor is a battle of wits, and he always seems to get one up on me. But once I get through tonight, I’ll just be one date away from being free.’
‘Free from fun, free from excitement, free from laughter . . .’
‘Okay, that’s quite enough,’ Kate said, blocking them out. ‘Chloe, put some aloe vera gel on that sunburn once every hour. Natalie, massage some Sudocrem into that bruise to calm it down. And Siobhan . . . take some penicillin. The chances of you having not caught something by now are minimal.’
‘At the very least I have herpes from that pool.’
‘Or the pool has herpes from you,’ Natalie muttered.
‘I’ll meet you all at the Rio for Chippendales at eleven,’ Kate said. She was incredibly excited about the male strip show. Once the itinerary had been torn up and Trevor had hijacked the holiday, she feared she wouldn’t get to do any of the things she originally planned. But Siobhan buying the tickets meant a lot to her. And it made her feel like she still had some semblance of control. ‘Also, I was thinking we could hike the Grand Canyon tomorrow morning? It was on the itinerary.’
‘The one you tore up?’ Siobhan laughed.
‘Yes, Siobhan, the one I tore up. But lucky for you all I have it committed to memory.’
‘Yeah . . . lucky us.’
‘Okay, girls, I’m off,’ Kate said, heading towards the door. ‘Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.’
‘No promises,’ Natalie yelled as Kate left the room.
As soon as Kate left the Bellagio, she immediately spotted Trevor waiting for her. He was wearing a suit once again, except this time, the top two buttons of his white shirt were open, shamelessly showing off his cocaine key necklace.
That wasn’t the most striking difference, however. Because Trevor wasn’t by his usual town car. He was leaning against a yellow Lamborghini Huracán.
‘You rented a Lamborghini for our date?’ Kate said.
‘It’s not rented,’ he smirked.
Although Kate knew what Trevor was doing, this was not the way to impress her. She didn’t care for cars, and it was clearly just a tacky display of wealth. Sure, there were plenty of people who would fall at the feet of a man in a Lamborghini, but Kate was not one of them. She had no interest in ostentatious objects of desire. Norman would never show up in a Lamborghini. He wouldn’t need to resort to such tasteless tactics because he had nothing to prove. If Trevor had really wanted to give her a pang, he would have pulled up in his old red Mustang from that summer. If Kate ended up in a Mustang with Trevor, all bets may well have been off.
Trevor looked her up and down and couldn’t hide his disapproval. ‘That’s an . . . interesting dress,’ he said with a grimace.
‘Oh, thank you,’ Kate bragged. ‘It’s so my style, right? I couldn’t wait to put it on!’
‘You’d look a lot better with it off,’ he winked.
‘Well, that’s a sight you won’t be seeing. Are we really driving in this thing?’ she said, referring to the super car. ‘This looks even worse for the environment than that stupid Hummer limo.’
‘Hummer limo?’
‘Yeah. A pink one the girls tried to rent at the airport. But some of us actually care about the planet.’
‘Speaking of the girls, aren’t they coming to send you off this time?’
‘They’re slightly incapacitated at the moment. And they might be on the verge of killing each other. But we’re going to see a show at eleven, so I need to be returned by then. Don’t argue, the tickets are already booked.’
‘Your wish is my command, darling.’
‘Okay, then I wish you’d sign the annulment.’
‘You only get one wish per night, Freckles. And you shall be returned home safely by eleven.’
Trevor opened the passenger door of the Lamborghini and Kate got in. It was incredibly luxurious inside, with leather seats and tinted windows.
‘So, what do you think?’ he asked as he sat in beside her.
‘A little flashy for my taste,’ Kate said, not amused. ‘If you ask me, any man who buys a car like this is obviously overcompensating for something.’
‘Well, we both know that’s not true, Freckles,’ Trevor smirked.
Ugh, he was right too. Trevor certainly didn’t need this car as an extension of anything. But nevertheless, the car screamed ‘Look how successful I am’, not ‘Look how happy I am’.
‘Still, anyone who spends this much on a car is missing something in their life,’ she said, unamused. ‘I would have been more impressed if you showed up in the Mustang.’
‘Sadly, the Mustang broke down on the road several years ago.’
‘The perfect metaphor for our love,’ Kate said, making a face at him.
‘We can go and buy a new one right now, if you’d prefer?’
‘Just start the car already!’
Kate’s phone suddenly began ringing violently in her bag. She pulled it out and was horrified by the name she saw on the screen.
It was Norman.
He was video calling her. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t answer a video call from inside her ex’s Lamborghini. But if she didn’t answer it, Norman would be worried sick. She was supposed to text him ages ago, but with the drama of Natalie getting Tasered, she had completely forgotten.
‘Oh God, it’s Norman. I forgot to text him earlier,’ she panicked.
‘You sure do forget him a lot,’ Trevor said, smugly.
‘I have to take this. Do not make a sound!’
‘My lips are sealed,’ he said, pretending to zip his mouth closed.
Kate took a deep breath and answered the call on voice only. Video was not an option.
‘Hi, Normie!’ she said, in a friendly tone.
‘KATE!’ Norman said, irked once again. ‘Why is it so hard to text me every hour like you promised?’
‘Normie, I’m so sorry. We’ve just been so busy, and it’s so late in Ireland so I thought you’d be asleep.’
‘How am I supposed to sleep when you have me worried sick? Turn your video on, I want to see you.’
‘Um . . . I can’t right now,’ she said.
‘Kate, what the hell is going on?’
She needed a lie. ‘Nothing is going on. We’ve just been doing so much on the itinerary. We saw the . . . the, uh . . . the Grand Canyon earlier and . . . there was literally no signal out there so I couldn’t text.’
‘Well, I know for a fact that’s a lie because I saw your location on my phone and you were at a pool party earlier!’ Norman whined.
Busted.
‘Well . . . we had a slight change of plans.’
‘Kate, I know there’s something you’re not telling me. You never break from an itinerary. Who even are you any more? Because you’re certainly not the woman I proposed to.’
‘Norman, that’s a very hurtful thing to say.’
‘Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, Kate, but you’re behaving like a lunatic and I have every right to be worried!’
‘There’s no need to worry, Normie. It must be the middle of the night there. Go and get some sleep.’
‘Not until you tell me why you’re acting so strange.’
Trevor started the car and revved up the Lamborghini’s engine. It was obnoxiously loud.
‘What was that noise?’ Norman said. ‘It sounds like you’re in a sports car!’
‘Norman, you have nothing to—’
Trevor grabbed the phone out of Kate’s hand.
‘Don’t you dare!’ she whispered.
‘Norman, your wife has been taken,’ Trevor said, in a scary deep voice.
‘OH MY GOD! WHAT?’ Norman cried. ‘KATE, ARE YOU OKAY?’
Kate grabbed the phone back out of Trevor’s hand. ‘I’m going to kill you!’ she whispered, digging him with her elbow.
‘HELLO?’ Norman squealed.
‘Norman, I’m so sorry, that was a joke.’
‘WHO WAS THAT?’
‘It was . . . Siobhan! She’s been smoking and her voice is all hoarse,’ Kate lied.
‘That was a horrible joke! Put Siobhan on the phone right now!’
Busted again. She felt the smothering feeling come over her once more. She needed this call to end as soon as possible.
‘Norman, I can’t hear you!’ Kate yelled. ‘I’m going through a tunnel!’
‘A TUNNEL?’
‘You’re breaking up . . . there’s nothing to worry about. Love you and chat tomorrow!’ Kate made a crackling noise into the phone to pretend the call had cut off.
He was gone. She could breathe again.
‘Trouble in paradise?’ Trevor said, knowing damn well he was the trouble.
‘That was not funny! Norman could have had a heart attack!’
‘Well, that would’ve solved both our problems,’ he laughed. ‘He sounded very whiny on the phone. And did I hear him say he was tracking you?’
‘He’s not tracking me. He can just see my location in real time so he knows I’m safe,’ Kate defended him.
‘So . . . tracking then?’
‘Well, at least he cares about my safety, unlike you, putting me on rollercoasters!’
‘The Kate I remember always loved a little danger. She would always choose freedom over safety. I can’t believe you became such a people-pleaser.’
There was that term again. Siobhan had used it to describe her as well. There was some truth to it, Kate supposed. She did put the needs of others before her own, after all. But how was that a bad thing exactly? Wasn’t being selfless supposed to be a positive quality? Making other people happy made her happy. Of course, Trevor saw it as a character flaw. He was the personification of moral degradation.
‘A people-pleaser is just another term for a pleasing person,’ she said, trying to rephrase it into a compliment.
‘But still . . . sometimes you have to put yourself first. Otherwise, you might end up married to a dentist.’
‘He’s a dental surgeon and last time I checked, his desk says Doctor Norman Cox.’
‘I bet he’s the tenth dentist in all those commercials who finds something to complain about. Nine out of ten dentists prefer Colgate. Except Norman.’
‘Is this date over yet?’ Kate sighed.
They drove for another couple of minutes before Trevor pulled up at their destination. Kate looked out the window to see where he had taken her.
‘We’re here already?’ Kate said. ‘We literally could have walked!’
‘I was afraid your legs would still be like jelly from holding my hand last night.’
‘That was from the rollercoaster! And if there’s another thrill ride on this date, Trevor, I swear . . .’
‘Don’t worry, this date is more relaxed,’ Trevor said. ‘And for this section of our honeymoon around the world, I’m taking you back to my homeland.’
‘Brooklyn?’ Kate said, raising an eyebrow.
‘No . . . Italy. My grandparents were originally from Venice. We’re going to ride along the Venice canal on a gondola.’
Kate secretly liked the idea. Like the High Roller, this had also been on her itinerary for the girls to do before it was torn to pieces. A part of her was happy she was still getting to do some of the touristy bucket-list stuff. She was a sucker for lists, after all.
‘Okay, let’s get it over with then,’ Kate said, getting out of the car.
They got out and Trevor tossed his keys to the Venetian valet.
‘Oh my God! Trevor Rush,’ the valet said. ‘I’m a HUGE fan!’
Ugh, this was all Kate needed. Another person falling at Trevor’s feet and inflating his ego even more. Why did every single person in Vegas know who he was? Sure, he was famous. But he wasn’t like famous-famous. It’s not like he was on late-night talk shows or Hollywood blockbusters.
Kate suddenly thought of an opportunity. Siobhan had said that openly flirting with another man in front of your date was a major ick. This valet was the perfect target.
‘You’re a huge fan indeed,’ Kate said, approaching him. ‘Look at those muscles!’
The skinny valet looked at his spaghetti noodle arms. ‘Oh . . . thank you. I started lifting about a month ago. But I haven’t made much progress,’ he blushed.
‘You look like that after just one month? Dear God, your genetics must be insane. And that jawline! What’s your name? Let me guess . . . Adonis?’
‘Oh no,’ the valet laughed. ‘It’s Patrick.’
‘Even sexier,’ Kate said, putting her hand on his bicep. ‘I love a good Irish name!’
‘Are you done?’ Trevor asked, folding his arms.
‘Oh sorry, Trevor,’ Kate said. ‘I just can’t resist a sexy Irish man.’
‘Miss, I hope this isn’t inappropriate but . . . could I ask you for something?’ Patrick asked, awkwardly.
‘Let me guess . . .’ Kate swooned. ‘You want my number?’
‘Oh no! I was going to ask if you’d take a photo of me and Trevor Rush.’
Kate saw red. Trevor smirked in victory as her attempt to make him jealous blew up in her face.
Talk about a plan backfiring.
‘Sure, no problem,’ Kate smiled while secretly grinding her teeth. She refused to show how annoyed she was. She took the boy’s phone and Trevor put his arm around him. She snapped a picture and handed back the phone.
‘Maybe we should get one with the Lamborghini in the background actually,’ Trevor said, knowing full well it would infuriate her.
‘Great idea!’ Patrick said.
‘Last time I checked I wasn’t your personal photographer. Now come on!’ Kate said as she stormed off.
Trevor caught up and began to walk beside her. ‘Trying to make me jealous, Freckles? You should know better,’ he teased.
‘Oh shut up!’ Kate said, charging towards the canal.
‘Anyway, I have no reason to be jealous. You’re already my wife.’
‘Well, you should be very jealous of Norman because I’ll be his wife in four days!’
‘We’ll see about that . . .’ Trevor grinned, cocky as ever.