Chasing Princess Charming - Chapter #9 I was never late… until now…Tonight, I am going to kill Nicholas Atkins!I drove to the diner. I really didn’t want

I pretended not to be affected. “Fine,” I said coolly. “What do you want me to do?”

Nicholas turned to the waiter. “Give us a round of—”

“Vodka?” I suggested.

Nicholas shook his head.

“Tequila?” Elle piped in.

After looking thoughtful for a while, Nicholas said to the waiter, “The Green Fairy.”

I blinked back at him.

The fuck?

“That’s illegal!” I protested.

“Was.” Nicholas raised his forefinger in the air. “It was illegal, right, Tofer?” he asked the waiter.

The waiter nodded. He turned to me and said, “We’ll make it an enjoyable experience for you. We have a mix called Hypnosis. It’s perfectly safe, with none of the ingredients that banned the Green Fairy before.”

I turned to the ladies, checking if they were keen on the idea of drinking what was once believed to have hallucinogenic effects. But all I saw were excitement on their faces and enthusiasm in their eyes.

Shit! I did not see this coming.

Nicholas was grinning. I could tell he was really enjoying himself. The waiter returned with five glasses of a green drink on the rocks. He smiled at me and said, “Enjoy.” But in my mind, I knew what he really wanted to say was Good luck.

I swallowed hard. When I saw the amused expression on Nicholas’ face, I knew I was in much bigger trouble.

“Ken Clarke doesn’t get drunk, right?” he announced to the ladies. Then he turned to me. “Now, let’s see what you’ve got against the Green Fairy.”

At the first drink, I thought it would burn, but I was wrong. The cocktail that Tofer brought us was the exact definition of bittersweet, and it smelled like a girl’s perfume. To redeem a little of my dignity for sounding scared to try it, I drank it straight up. When I put my glass down, I saw Nicholas cringe a little bit.

Ha! Who’s the macho now, huh, Nickytums?

The ladies took their time drinking the cocktail. They seemed to enjoy it, but maybe not as much as I did.

”You don’t know your limits. You don’t want to lose your sobriety in front of others.”

Nicholas’ words echoed in my head. He really did think he had me all figured out. It may take a lot to surprise him, but I was here to prove that he shouldn’t have underestimated me.

I raised my hand, and Tofer came to us in less than a minute.

“One more.” I turned to Nicholas, who still had his glass half full. “Too fast for you?” I asked smugly.

He forced a smile on his face. “Some drinks are meant to be enjoyed.”

“It’s a ladies’ drink for crying out loud!” I said. I turned back to Tofer. “Just me then.”

Tofer disappeared into the crowd. When Tofer returned with my drinks, I held my glass to the girls and said, “Cheers!”

I toasted to them and deliberately ignored Nicholas. He was eyeing me with a somewhat worried expression on his face. Saucy slowly inched closer to him, probably hoping the Green Fairy would help her take Nicholas home tonight.

Well, I hope it does.

The faster she gets in his pants, the easier it will be for me to get rid of him.

After finishing my second glass, I called Tofer again to give us all another round.

The cocktail was sweet, with just the right amount of tang. It was refreshing, and it seemed as though I was born to drink it, as though it was created for my taste buds.

What the hell was I thinking ordering beer from this club all this time?

I heard Bailey’s voice booming from the speakers. “High on diesel, gasoline, psycho for drum machine…”

Fuck! He’s singing my favorite song.

I stood up and held my hand out for Elle, asking her to accompany me to the dance floor. We danced our way to the front.

She was singing the lyrics along with me, and we were jumping, going crazy with the band.

Bailey saw us and knelt in front so we could share the microphone. I had sung one time with the band, and it took a lot of convincing. But tonight, when he shoved the microphone to my face, I felt the beat, the rhythm, and the lyrics as though it was tempting me to shout out that no matter how fucked up my life was, I was still in control. No matter how prosaic my façade was, there was something inside me that was full of zest.

“Here they come, the beautiful ones, the beautiful ones,” somebody sang in a voice that would put Suede to shame, and it sure as hell was not Bailey. The crowd went wild with approval at the sound of that voice.

Hey, wait! Was that me? Was that how I sounded like?

Bailey was right. I could sing. And this song was too good for Bailey’s voice. So, I grabbed the microphone from him and finished what I had started. Elle was ecstatically jumping and cheering beside me as if she was proud that she was the one dancing with me. When I looked at her, I saw admiration in her eyes, something I hadn’t seen in Jen’s eyes.

“Because you’re beautiful…” I continued singing, this time turning to Elle and meaning those words for her.

I threw the microphone back to Bailey as the crowd cheered louder. I felt heat rushing through my veins. Maybe this is the effect of the alcohol, but I don’t really care. I was so exhilarated. I felt like kissing someone. And Elle was the closest, so I grabbed her by the neck and brushed her lips with mine.

Does kissing Elle make me gay? I don’t think so. I haven’t been attracted to girls before. I was just drunk. And I was having fun!

Kissing a person, for me, is about finding that connection, that spark.

I wasn’t innocent when it came to sex. I had fooled around before. I must admit, I didn’t do it because I was a hormone-crazed teenager. I was too smart to be driven by hormones. I did it more out of curiosity. I wanted to see why everybody around me seemed to have sex in his mind. But unfortunately, I still didn’t get what the big deal was.

While kissing them, I didn’t feel a connection or even the slightest tingling feeling. I imagined fireworks bursting in the sky and all that shit that you only read in corny romance novels. I imagined losing my breath and feeling electrified and asking for more.

I opened my eyes and found Elle blinking back at me as she pulled herself from the stupor I had put her in. And then we felt it at the same time. It started with a smile, then a chuckle, and then we were thrown into a fit of laughter.

I only had one realization at that time: “The Beautiful Ones” is one long song. I could still hear Bailey’s voice singing it over and over.

In fact, I was still singing when we got back to our table. I saw Tofer bringing five more glasses of the green cocktail. And when he brought another round after that, I held him by the collar and told him, “This is delicious and totally noneffective. This—” I raised my glass in his face “—should be called The Beautiful Ones. Do you hear me? If you don’t change the name, I will stop coming to your bar. Tell that to your boss, okay?”

I turned to Nicholas. He was quiet in one corner. Saucy was nowhere in sight, much to my disappointment. I was hoping she had succeeded in getting her tongue down Nicholas’ throat by now.

The drink was not really working the way I wanted it to. Calling it a cocktail was a shame. It should be called a mocktail at best.

“Dude,” I said, studying Nicholas’ unusually groggy expression. “What’s the matter? You don’t like losing, huh.”

He raised a brow at me but did not say anything. He looked different to me. He lost that smug look he usually wore. He looked serious as if he was trying to hold himself together.

“You wanted to get me drunk, so I would embarrass myself, didn’t you?” I asked boldly.

I expected him to deny it, but he simply shrugged.

“Look at you,” I said. “You look stoned, man.”

Still, he kept quiet. I reckoned he was seeing stars or his world was spinning. Liquor could give you that vertigo effect, though, and it seemed to be affecting Nicholas, but it was not doing anything to me.

Man, he is so drunk!

At least the guy looked tamed. His world must be turning into a different swirl of colors right now. Meanwhile, my world was the same as it was when we first started drinking. It was still calm, stable, and green!

Nickytums thought he’ll get me to lose it! Ha!

“I told you, man!” I said to him. “You can’t win this game with me! I’m Ken Clarke! I do not get drunk!” I shouted almost to his face. “Here they come, the beautiful ones…” I sang along with Bailey.

Why is Bailey still singing that song?

I should talk to him tomorrow. Our band was multi-talented. He should not make it sound as though we only knew one song.

But it’s a damn good song!

Here they come, the beautiful ones… the beautiful ones…

***

I opened my eyes, and light quickly flooded my senses. Something was definitely wrong. I usually leave the blinds closed so my room remains dark no matter what time of the day it is.

I slowly looked around me. The room I was in was huge, about twice the size of my room. And everything was white. From the curtains to the wallpaper, down to the most comfortable duvet, I have ever been wrapped in. Even the door to the left, which I assumed was the bathroom, was white.

This was definitely not my room. My wallpaper was black and with dozens of colorful abstract paintings tucked on the wall. My bed covers would always match the colors of the highlights of my hair. So last night, I was certain my bed cover set was violet.

I tried to remember the events that transpired last night. I remembered drinking the best cocktail in town, the trio of beautiful girls I shared a table with, and the song I kept singing all night—all of which is called “The Beautiful Ones."

I have no memory beyond singing that song, so I didn’t know how I got home.

Whose room was this? I’ve been in Brett’s room plenty of times, and this was not his either.

Did I sleep with someone last night?

Fuck! I don’t like to make a drunk habit of sleeping with strangers.

I bolted up from the bed. I was wearing my underwear and my shirt. My pants and my jacket were sprawled on the floor, along with my sneakers. I wasn’t completely naked. There was a good chance I did not have sex last night.

I stood up to grab my clothes from the floor.

I heard the bathroom door open, and somebody came out. I was afraid to turn around to discover the identity of the person I came home with.

“Good morning,” somebody greeted from behind me.

Shit!

I knew that voice, and my heart pounded inside my chest.