Intensity (19 page)

“Well, think about the time difference! It was only four in the morning in Los Angeles when I left for the conference. I just shot him a text,” Celine explained rapidly.

“Okay, well it’s close to noon there now. Are you going to tell him?” Ruthie prodded.

“What’s with the inquisition?” Celine laughed half-heartedly. “Of course I’ll tell him! I have nothing to hide!”

“Right,” Ruthie agreed with sarcasm.

“I’m serious!” Celine insisted. She rubbed at her neck, still feeling the effects of the previous night.

“Okay, fine, fine, I believe you.” Ruthie rolled her eyes. Frowning, she slowed down her pace.

“What’s wrong?” Celine asked, looking around.

“I think we’re lost.” Ruthie spun around, scanning from left to right. It was no use; all the buildings looked the same to her.

“No, we’re not,” Celine protested. The deep frown on her face said otherwise. Gulping, Celine wondered, “Should we ask someone?”

A crowd of people was walking in their direction, bumping into them in the process. Celine almost stumbled back, but Ruthie managed to catch her before she fell on her ass. “Now I know why I never wanted to live in a city.”

“You live in Los Angeles.” Celine laughed.

Ruthie smiled warmly. It was nice to hear a genuine laugh coming from Celine again. It had been far too long. “You forget we can drive anywhere we want to in L.A. This place…” Her voice trailed off as she gestured towards the yellow taxi cabs which began to pile up around them, “is not somewhere I’d want to be for an extended period of time.”

“So you went on a shopping spree.” Celine said suddenly. Still trying to figure out where the heck they were. She glanced up at the street sign and noticed they were near Penn Station.

Ruthie lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, so what?”

“No, nothing wrong with that. I’m just stating a fact,” Celine responded nonchalantly.

“Um, okay?”

“And I went to a karaoke bar and did an awesome rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” by the way,” she said seriously.

“I don’t doubt that.” Ruthie laughed.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Celine asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“That you’re a closet Journey fan?” Ruthie teased.

Ignoring her, Celine explained, “That we both had fun without the other! I thought the whole point of this weekend was to be spontaneous and go on adventures together.”

Ruthie’s frown disappeared. “Oh.”

Celine nodded her head slowly. “Yeah, precisely.”

“Well, we can do those things again, right? With each other this time,” Ruthie suggested.

“First of all, how are we even going to afford a ‘Cash worthy’ shopping spree?” Celine asked.

“I like that pun,” Ruthie commented.

“I know, right?” Celine replied with a snicker. Straightening her face, she continued, “Second of all, I am not doing karaoke again. Like ever.”

“Okay, well what if we just go on an entirely new adventure together?”

“Like what?”

Ruthie looked up and noticed the entrance to the subway across the street. With a wicked smile, Ruthie asked, “What do you say to a little public transportation?”

Celine bit her tongue, deciding not to tell Ruthie that she had already braved the subway system. Instead, she grabbed Ruthie’s arm and the two crossed the street in a hurry.

Chapter 31

Celine fumbled with the plastic card and clumsily tried swiping it through the reader. She groaned as the thin plastic slip fell to the ground.

“I got it,” Ruthie replied with a yawn, snatching the white plastic card off the floor. She slipped it into the little slot and unlocked the door, pushing it open. Taking a step inside the hotel room, she paused about halfway in the door, causing Celine to stumble into her.

“Hey!” Celine yelped. “What’s the big idea?”

“There are roses!” Ruthie said excitedly. “Do you think they’re from Cash?”

Celine shrugged. She truthfully did not care. She was exhausted. Navigating the subway system without an expert was no easy feat. After getting lost about a dozen times and finally succumbing to walking ten city blocks, she was feeling beyond fatigued. Stifling a yawn, Celine asked, “How would Cash even know where my hotel room is?” She abruptly glued her mouth shut and frantically looked over to the extra bed. To her relief, housekeeping had tidied it up with hospital corners and all. There was no hint that anyone had ever slept on it.

Ruthie excitedly grabbed the little card, which was perched above a spiral shaped clip. A wave of disappointment washed over her face as she read the tiny card. “It’s for you,” she said, holding it towards Celine.

“For me?” Celine asked. She felt an involuntary leap in her heart, wondering if Brian had sent it to her. She hesitantly grabbed the card and sighed with relief.

To my lovely fiancé,

Good luck today, but I know you won’t need it. Wishing I could be there with you.

I love you,

Noah

“It’s from Noah,” Celine breathed.

“Who else would it be from?” Ruthie plopped down on the extra bed and sprawled on top of the white sheets.

Celine shook her head quickly. “No, I just meant that I really wished he could have made it. It’s nice that he’s here. Sort of, at least.”

Ruthie turned herself onto her side and eyed her best friend. Never one to have a good poker face, Ruthie was surprised that Celine was somewhat unreadable. “Are you mad he couldn’t make it?”

Celine shook her head. “He’s got work. I couldn’t ask him not to work the opening shift. He’s working for us, you know.”

“Yeah,” Ruthie agreed. “He’s a good guy.”

“I know,” Celine replied, smiling. “I’m going to call him. Do you mind…?”

“No, go ahead. I’ll be here, trying to catch some shut eye.” Ruthie took a deep breath and tried to lull herself to sleep. She had a vague feeling that she’d need her energy for that night’s party.

Twirling her hair around her finger, Celine anxiously listened to the phone ring. What if Noah didn’t pick up? What if he did? Would she tell him about Brian? Would he be mad?

By the time Noah answered the phone, Celine was on the verge of hysterics.

“Hey babe.” Noah’s voice instantly calmed her.

“Hey!” she yelped. Clearing her throat, she continued in a softer tone, “How’s the restaurant going? I’m not bothering you, am I?”

“Of course not!” She could almost hear him grin over the phone. “You’re never a bother. How was the conference?”

“Over!” She laughed weakly.

Noah joined in on her laughter. “Sorry I couldn’t be there. You know if we had known in advance…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Celine brushed it off. “I know it was a purely last minute thing.”

There was a pause in conversation. There were never pauses in their conversations. Noah must have picked up on it because he soon asked, “Is everything all right?”

It’s now or never, Celine.

“I’m worried you’ll be mad at me,” she whispered nervously.

“Why?” Noah asked suddenly. The sound of blowing wind made her guess that he had stepped outside. Probably for privacy. Not good. “You’re scaring me,” Noah admitted.

“Well, you know that friend of mine, Brian? Well, he ran into me here in the city and he took me out for karaoke,” she said quickly.

Silence.

“Noah? Are you there?”

To her surprise Noah burst out in laughter. “You sang karaoke? Please tell me you sung ‘I Will Survive.’”

Celine sighed with relief and laughed weakly. “You’re not mad?”

“Why? Because you went out with a friend? Come on, Celine. You know I trust you. I know it’s a guy I haven’t met before, but at the same time you’ve known him since high school, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Exactly. I know everything is fine.” He paused for a bit and then asked, “Is Ruthie guilt tripping you about hanging out with him or something?”

“You can say that.” She chuckled, feeling relieved.

Noah snorted. “Let me guess, she ditched you to hang out with Cash?”

“Yup.”

“That’s the only reason why she’s bothering you about it. It’s because she’s the one who’s guilty. She just wants you to be in the same boat as her,” he replied with thought.

“I guess…” She wasn’t entirely sure. Brightening, Celine cooed, “Thanks so much for the roses! They were beautiful.”

“Oh good! You got them! I was beginning to get worried since I haven’t heard from you since that text this morning.”

“I figured because of the time difference…”

“I’m only kidding, babe.” He laughed. Celine heard someone shouting for him. Noah’s muffled voice quickly followed. He returned on the line with a sigh. “Sorry, babe, got to run. There’s a minor mishap in the kitchen.”

Celine nodded her head. “Okay, I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Your flight gets in tomorrow evening, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you then. Love you and be safe!” With a chuckle he added, “Sing some more songs if you can!”

Celine smirked and shook her head. “I love you, too.”

She clicked off her phone and leaned against the hallway wall. Noah was a great guy. It wasn’t any news to her. She was extremely lucky to have him in her life. She knew that she needed to snap out of whatever funk she was in and get back to normal—quickly. For a moment, she found herself wishing that she had never insisted on meeting Intensity. If she hadn’t, none of this stupid stuff would have ever happened.

Chapter 32

“I am so glad I took that nap!” Ruthie exclaimed. She leaned over the hotel sink and began applying a light coat of bright red lipstick. She smacked her lips together, admiring her makeup. Her big brown eyes were lined with a smoky liner, nicely accentuating her long lashes. She usually didn’t pair bold eyes and lips together, but she felt that she needed to make a statement that night.

Ruthie glanced over her shoulder at the closed bathroom door. Rolling her eyes, she pounded on the wooden door with the side of her fist. “Oh come on, Celine. You can’t look that bad!”

“Did you help Cash pick out this dress?” Celine’s voice yelled from the other side.

“Yeah…well, no,” Ruthie admitted. “I did pick out the store, though!”

“I’m not wearing this,” Celine replied through the door. “No way. I’m just going to wear that extra dress I packed.”

Ruthie eyed the simple black empire styled dress that hung in the closet. With a shake of her head she replied, “No, Cash said he picked that out specifically for the party tonight. You don’t want to show up underdressed do you?”

The bathroom door suddenly flung open, revealing a very scantily clad Celine. A (very) tight red tube dress hugged every curve of her body. Some she didn’t even know she had! The front was cut in a sweetheart shape and the edge of the skirt came to her mid-thigh.

“I can’t wear this,” Celine said in horror, walking towards the full-length mirror. “I would never even have worn this in college!”

“Don’t lie.” Ruthie laughed. “We all know what you wore back in the clubbing days.”

Without a word Celine grabbed her black dress. “LBD always wins out,” she exclaimed adamantly.

Ruthie practically pried the dress out of her hand. “You look good! I promise I’d tell you if you looked like a slut.”

Celine’s mouth dropped open. “Well, the fact that you just hinted at it means I do look like one!”

Ruthie laughed again. “No, you look beautiful. I think it’s an awesome dress.”

Celine eyed Ruthie up and down. “Is Cash going to be mad that you went ahead and bought another dress yourself? You know, because he didn’t get to dress you the same way he’s trying to play dress up doll with me.”

“He’s not like that, Celine! He won’t care I picked out my own outfit.” Not that she had any other choice as Cash had driven away with all her new clothes. “As for your get up, he bought what he thought was nice. Just wear it.”

Celine turned and examined her reflection in the full-length mirror. She had to admit, the dress made her feel sexy. However, being sexy wasn’t something she wanted to feel, especially when her fiancé was all the way on the other side of the country.

As if reading her thoughts, Ruthie placed her hands on her best friend’s shoulders. “You look fine, I promise. I’m sure Noah would think the same thing.”

Celine bit her lip and began to smooth out her hair.

“Listen, if this party bombs, we’ll leave early okay?” Ruthie offered.

Celine snorted. “I somehow doubt you’ll be leaving Cash’s party early.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ruthie asked, feeling somewhat offended.

Celine rolled her eyes. “Come off of it, Ruthie. You know I’m right.”

“I also know that I’d love nothing better than ordering a huge pizza pie and watching a movie in the comfort of our hotel room.”

The corner of Celine’s mouth worked up into a smile. “Fine. If the party’s bad, we’re leaving, okay?”

“You have my word.” Ruthie grinned. “Now come on. The limo’s going to pick us up soon.”

“I have to admit, it’s sweet Cash rented us one.”

“I told you that he’s a great guy,” Ruthie beamed.

Celine struggled to keep a straight face. “Yeah. I bet.”