Page 21

When I awaken, I'm in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room.

Not again! This is so unlike me. Get it together, Ari. I roll my eyes at my slipping standards. When did this become a thing with me?

Phoenix is on the couch, watching business news. The Nasdaq ticker tape runs along the bottom of the screen.

"Can we rewind for a minute? Umm. What . . . exactly happened last night?" I eye him suspiciously.

"Hey, sleepy head. Here, drink this." Phoenix hands me a glass of tomato juice. "You let loose last night. Never saw you like that before."

Disoriented, I take the glass and down the juice.

What did you do now?

"Breakfast is on the way. The bathroom is there." Phoenix points to the left of the bed. "I'll meet you downstairs." He leaves the room.

I get up and go to the bathroom. Waiting for me is a toothbrush, toothpaste, and hand towel. I wash my face, brush my teeth, and pull my hair up into a huge, curly ponytail on top of my head. Still wearing my black cutout dress, I grab my shoes and clutch and head downstairs barefoot.

There's chatter downstairs. When I look over the balcony, Mia is engaged in a deep conversation with Riz, and Penelope is laughing with JC. They're already seated at the kitchen table. Everyone must have stayed the night.

A room service attendant wheels in a cart full of food, juice and coffee into the suite. Phoenix signs the bill, the attendant thanks him profusely and leaves.

"Where are we?" I grab a binder off the coffee table. "The Vintage Brew? What happened last night? How did we get here?"

"This is an old brewery that's been repurposed into a swanky hotel.

" Mia's eyes light up. "I love it. That old, exposed brick on the walls, the rugged unfinished style of it.

Look at that bellhop cart, they used old pipes from the factory to make it.

We took a short tour this morning, they even kept the original copper beer vats. Which are huge, by the way."

"Yeah. I've never seen a place like this, chica."

"We all got pretty messed up last night.

I had Leon pick us up and take us to the nearest hotel and this was it.

Luckily, they had this suite available, I was not gonna split you and your girls up.

I know how protective you are over each other.

" Phoenix takes a bite out of a crisp, green apple.

"Have some breakfast." He motions for me to sit at the table.

"I went ahead and ordered for you. Hope you like it." Mia smiles at me.

"How much did I drink?"

"You had enough, girl. We all did. I think I'm handling mine only slightly better than you are." Penelope rubs her temples, then reaches for water and aspirin.

"Not so sure about that one, Penelope."

Phoenix takes the carafe of coffee from the tray and pours everyone a cup.

Mia grabs a plate and sets it in front of me. "Here's what I ordered for you. It's a Mediterranean omelet with feta cheese, spinach and diced tomatoes. Hash browns and toast on the side."

"Smells delish. Not sure how much I can hold down, but I'll try."

Mia sips her coffee. "Last night was a boatload of fun." She cuts into her Belgian waffle. "Hmm. Compliments to the kitchen!"

"So, last night, you remember the Wicked Trip, right?" Phoenix asks me.

"I remember. You told me they had good Bloody Marys?"

"Well . . . ."

"After the drinking game, you went in on the Bloody Marys. I know that's your drink and all, but you went into overkill. Phoenix, Penelope and I tried to slow you down, but there was no stopping you once you had your first one."

"Are you serious? I got out of control like that?"

"And you never do that. You're usually so uptight when we go out. You always make yourself the designated watcher over everyone else. Not last night." Mia shakes her head.

"Or that other night!" Penelope laughs at her inside joke.

Mia laughs, but cuts it short. "Last night was lit!"

"Yeah, you were lit and you stayed on the dance floor! There was a circle of people surrounding you, watching you dance, chica."

I look at Phoenix, "Is this true?"

Riz and JC nod.

Phoenix agrees, "You danced you ass off."

"And Penelope won the bar dancing contest against like twenty other girls," Mia brags.

Penelope shows off her little trophy. "We put it down last night."

I lean over to Phoenix and whisper, "And how was last night?" I squint, bracing for the impact.

He shakes his head. "You know I'm better than that. I won't touch you till you ask me to. Might just make you beg." He laughs. "But seriously, you're safe with me." His debonair smile melts my heart.

Is that why you felt comfortable enough to get so sloshed last night?

We finish brunch and check out of the Vintage Brew. Phoenix gets his driver, Leon, to take us back to our vehicles.

"We gotta do this again, sometime. Here, give me your phone." I pass him my phone. He saves his number in my contacts. "This is the last time I give you my number. This is my personal cell, not my business line. Call me."

I smile at his tenacity. This time, I will.

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I shift through my makeup bag looking for rose-tinted lip gloss.

Since it's a daytime date, I'm keeping the makeup to a minimum.

Phoenix went so far as to tell me I might want to dress down and wear comfortable clothes and tennis shoes.

I wonder why? I can't fathom a date where I'd have to dress down, but I'm rolling with it.

I'm curious as to what he has planned. It's strange that he should ask about deal breakers.

What did he mean by asking what won't I do on a first date?

The list you gave him was pretty short. Better pack pepper spray. You never know!

It should be fine.

The doorbell rings. I open the door and there's Phoenix, standing there with a huge, gregarious smile, and a clear bag in his hand.

"Hey! What's that?"

"When I saw them, I immediately thought of you. Don't ask why." Phoenix carries the clear bag filled with water inside. In it are two of the most adorable, black, bubble-eyed goldfish I've ever seen.

I grab the bag to get a closer look. "These are for me? They are so cute but I don't have a tank."

"Don't worry. Got you covered." He leaves, then returns with a box.

The image on the fish tank box makes me think of the art of feng shui. The tank looks very Zen-like. From the rectangular glass that sits atop a smaller, black rectangular pedestal to the black square lid that opens for feeding, the design is minimal but elegant.

"Wow! That's for me too?"

"So, you like it?" he asks squinting as if he's unsure.

"Um, Yes! I can't believe you went through all this trouble. Can we set it up? Cause I have no idea how to do any of this on my own."

It takes over an hour, but we put the fish tank together and set it up with black gravel, Asian-inspired underwater trinkets and plants. After filling it with water, we plop the black bubble-eyed goldfish into their new home.

The man's already putting points on my board.

"That's an original start to a first date."

"When I saw them, I couldn't turn away."

"So, you got a thing for pets?"

"I like animals." He nods with a faint smile.

"That's cool." I follow him out the door. "Where are we going?" I ask as I lock the front door. "I followed your instructions. As you can see, I'm a plain Jane, just as you requested." We walk to the Range Rover parked at the curb.

Phoenix opens the door of the truck for me. "You'll see. Sit back and enjoy the ride." He closes my door and walks to the driver's side.

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