Page 9

“Get your asses up assholes.” I turn over on my back on the floor. I don’t know why I thought that drinking something made by George would be a great idea. We’re all fucked up from last night. George makes the worst concoctions. It’s twelve pm and we were supposed to leave for Jersey at around ten.

“Fucking George.” Daniel presses a pillow on his head.

“Wakey wakey ladies.” George waltzes in and just behind him is a similar face. But I am too hungover to open my eyes completely to see who it is. “Bye babe.” He kisses the blonde bye as she walks out the door.

I am on the floor with a pillow under my neck, Daniel is on the couch and Siddharth is arched over the bean bag.

“You guys are lightweight.” George sits on the floor beside me and opens another beer. This asshole is built differently.

“You couldn’t even give me a blanket?” I finally sit upright.

“Be thankful I gave you a pillow.” I am too hungover to tackle him right now. “The blonde was all over me.”

“You fucked her anyway asshole. My ass cheeks are numb from the cold floor.” George laughs. But it’s true. I can’t feel my ass and my back hurts like a bitch. “Poor Siddharth. His back is gonna be done for the–” There it is. The urge to throw up. I race to the sink and empty my stomach contents. I am never touching anything that George makes, ever again! Daniel is right behind me in line to the sink to empty his stomach and poor Siddharth is still passed out.

“Pussies.” George laughs from the living room.

“Chauvinist.” Dan grunts behind me.

“Hey, not saying I hate pussies. They’re my favourite. I worship them and I thank god everyday for making them.” I don’t know if I should laugh or slam dunk George.

“I’m gonna take a nap before leaving. Let’s leave later in the evening. Unless Dan…” I turn to face Dan who looks more awful than me. “Nevermind. Evening. Don’t wake me before that or I’ll kill you.” I make my way upstairs.

“I could drive.” I hear George.

“Like hell. I am not trusting you with my drinks, let alone our lives.” Dan is right behind me and I laugh.

“So, nobody gonna help Sid?” George yells from the living room.

“You are!” Dan and I yell in unison.

◆◆◆

“Turn up the music, M” George yells from the back. “Your playlists are the best. Could you share this one with me?” The first thing George did as soon as we sat in my car was connect my phone to the bluetooth and play songs. The sun has already set when we leave. We’re probably going to get there pretty late. You must be wondering why leave today then?

The gala is tomorrow and we could get there tomorrow morning, but we made reservations at the hotel for today and George insisted that we go shopping for the gala in New York. Which we were supposed to do today, but we’ll be done with it tomorrow.

Siddharth is still fast asleep in the back. We were scared that he was dead when he didn’t move even after we poured a glass of water over his face before. But he’s alive.

We are all fed and now ready to get to Jersey in one go. No stops.

We are fifteen minutes away from the hotel when my phone rings and the infotainment screen lights up. It’s the last person I was expecting to call. My Raven. Before I could disconnect the bluetooth and accept the call, George accepts the call. Dan, George and Siddharth all go silent.

“Miss me?” I say in my cocky voice, eyes still on the road.

I hear sobs and I hit the brakes hard without looking anywhere. Dan almost breaks open his skull like a watermelon.

“James…” She cries my name.

“Where are you?” I swallow whatever liquid was in my mouth until it’s dry. Panic sets in. I stiffen my grip on the wheel after hitting on the gas again.

“Could you..” she sniffles.

“Where are you?” I ask her again.

“I’ll send you my location.” she sobs again. My world comes crashing down around me when I hear her cry. She said she was going to New York to meet her sister. What happened? Why is she crying?

I look behind at George, who has already opened the maps and started the route without me saying anything. It’s about a thirty minute drive.

“Stay on call with me, alright?” I try to take a few deep breaths as I try not to think about the worst.

“I can’t. My battery is–” and the call ends.

“Fuck!” I hit the wheel. I should’ve just forced her to come with me instead. “George–.” He had already called her number, before I finished my sentence. The call goes straight to voicemail.

“Fuck, M. Do you want me to drive?” Dan asks. He can probably see how rash I’m driving right now. I don’t have time to care about all the tickets I’ll receive. All I know is I need to be with my Raven right now. I need to know that she’s safe and okay.

“She was saying something about her battery. Maybe her phone died. I’m sure it’s nothing that bad, M.” Siddharth pats my shoulder.

“She was fucking bawling. Of course it’s fucking serious.” A series of scenarios going through my mind. And each and everyone pushing me more and more over the edge. What if she was harassed? What if she was hurt? She called me. As far as I know her, I’m sure I’m the last person on her list to call in a crisis situation. Which means the situation is that bad!

Where is her sister? Why did she have to call me? Did something happen to her sister? I look at her location and I don’t see any hospitals nearby. Fuck. What happened?!

I get us near her location in about twenty minutes. The road ahead is packed with cars and there’s no way I will get there in time. “Dan, take the wheel.” I grab my phone from George’s hands and open the car door.

“What the fuck do you mean by–” I don’t hear what Dan was saying as I close the door and run to her location. Pushing through the New York crowd on a Saturday night. My heart is thumping out my chest. Please, just be safe. Just be safe. That’s all I’m praying for right now. I take a look at my phone and I am at her location, but I don't see her. I call her, but it goes straight to voicemail. Shit. Riya, where are you baby?

“James?” I hear a faint voice and turn around to see her. Her eyes are swollen and red. Her cheeks are puffy. I check her from top to bottom. I don’t see any injuries. I run towards her and hug her. She breaks down on my chest and suddenly the air feels so much thicker.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I hold her face in my hands and she nods her face. Wiping her tears with her loose grey sweatshirt. All her bags are in her hands. “What are you doing outside?” I pull her closer to my chest. She can probably hear my heartbeat since I can almost feel it in my throat.

“I–I–” she doesn’t say. “Thank you for coming, James. I didn’t know what I’d do if–”

“Not a chance.” I don’t even want to think what would happen if I wasn’t around. I just don’t want to.

“Can you take me somewhere?” she asks me in a soft frail voice. She sounds tired. Not just physically, but emotionally. I want to ask her what happened, but I don’t want to push her, right now. I am looking for her confident, sarcastic self, but I don’t see that. I just see a person who is tired.

“Anything you want. Did you eat?” She nods her head but doesn’t say anything.

“Good.” I pull out my phone and call Dan, to pull the car around to pick us up. Dan is there within two minutes. George is sitting in the passenger seat with two ice cream cones. Siddharth sitting behind with two in his hand too.

She gives my jacket a squeeze “Can you not mention the crying or anything to the guys?” Battling her watery lashes at me, she says “Please?” The way she’s looking right now and they heard her crying before already, but I won’t tell her that. I just want her to smile at me the way she used to in her cocky way. I want her to tell me to shut up.

I hold her hand in mine and bring the back of her hand to my lips before kissing it.

“I won’t.” I flash her a painful smile that I manage to pull. I just hope that the boys don’t act differently around her or act as if they know that she was crying.

“For the queen or sarcasm.” George hands her an ice cream cone from the passenger seat and she snorts. It would almost be classified for a smile if her eyes weren’t so droopy right now.

“Thank you, George.” She whispers to George. Her voice is gone.

“Cap…” Siddharth hands me another cone.

“Why are all of you here? Weren’t you going to leave in the morning?” We all simultaneously hit George.

“Because these fuckers can’t handle a drink. Lightweight.” he scowls. She raises her brow. And the boys start explaining to her the details of last night.

“George fucked us in the ass, or at least he did M.” Siddharth chuckles and winks at me.

Her head turns to see me at a megaspeed. Eyes wide. “No.” George and I yell in unison.

Sid chimes in, “What were you saying this morning about not being able to feel your ass, Cap?” Riya chuckles and man I would really get fucked in the ass just to hear her chuckle right now. Not fucked, but fingered. Whatever.

“M is not my type, Sid. He’s too big for me to fuck him.” She starts laughing now. Is it wrong to tell the boys that I love them for pretending that nothing happened? For making my Raven not just smile or chuckle, but laugh?! Nope. I’m never telling these fuckers that.

“Did he really?” she whispers in my ear and it makes me laugh how innocent she is.

“You think I can let him, baby? My ass is all yours.” I wink at her and she tries to suppress a blushing smile which makes my heart waver.

“Not your ‘baby’” she whispers and does the air quotes. There she is! She’s back! My feisty Raven.

“I’m letting you sleep on the fucking grass next time, Sid. So much for keeping the secrets secret.” George rolls his eyes.

The rest of the ride to the hotel is just the boys making Riya laugh until she is genuinely laughing. Dan pulls the car in front of the lobby and all fall quiet.

“I’m not staying at the hotel with you all, don’t worry. You can roam around naked in the room all you want.” she huffs.

“That’s a shame, your highness. Because what’s the point of getting naked if a hot woman like yourself isn’t there to ogle us?” George is quick to pass his comment which makes her laugh. She turns to look at me and then whispers slowly telling me that she has somewhere to go.

“Right…” I run my hand through my hair. I turn to the guys and tell them to check in the hotel and tell them that I’m dropping Riya somewhere.

“Don’t wait on my account. I’ll get a key from the counter.” I tell them as I close the door of the driver’s seat. Riya sits next to me, all strapped in. She waves the boys goodnight.

“We weren’t going to, anyway, asshole.” Siddharth comments from the back as he walks away. I just roll my eyes and drive us a little further and then look at her. She falls silent and her smile from a few seconds has faded away.

“I can put the address in your phone.” she doesn’t even look at my face.

I hand her my phone before saying something which I should’ve given a second thought. “You can stay with us, if you want. We have two rooms in the suite. Me and someone can crash on the couch or adjust–”

“Please, James… I can’t. I’m already very embarrassed. I don’t…” she takes a deep breath. “I don’t cry like that in front of other people. I don’t know what happened. But I can’t take any more favours from you.” Her words tug my heart around in a tightrope.

“I’m not doing you any favours, Raven.” My voice is soft, but I am trying not to let the obvious pain be visible in my words. I’m really not doing her any favours. I am just helping myself, by helping her. One thing I can’t tolerate is tears in a woman’s eyes. It’s my biggest weakness. And Riya is not just any woman. She is one of my closest female friends. Hell, she is my only female friend. She is more than a friend, at least for me.

“James, please.”

I hold her hand and give it a squeeze. “I’ll drive you anywhere you want, Raven. ”