The Gay Delusion

8: The Genesis Delusion

Helloooo! Sorry this is a little late in terms of the little schedule of posting I seem to have developed; I was doing that awful thing where I was second-guessing myself and hating on this chapter so much :P Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I would love to know what you think! Dedicated to lovely Crazyworthit for coming up with Griffin's new nickname and being a general babe every day of her life :P (Photo is of how I imagine Emilie :))

8: The Genesis Delusion

When we finally arrived at the hotel, Griffin's BFF (aka Mo the cab driver) dropping us off right outside, I couldn't help but feel like the classiest girl in the universe. We gazed up at the looming, beautiful building of the Landmark Hotel in front of the purple and orange sky of dusk and took simultaneous intakes of breath.

'Holy crap,' I murmured, closing my mouth once I realised it had fallen open.

Griffin let out a laugh, head thrown back and his hands buried in the pockets of his trousers. He looked like a model. A camera would have been perfect right about now to capture the way he looked, or something to record the sound of his laugh, I thought. It made my own heart leap in excitement, and yet at the same time it flooded me with an odd feeling of calm - like just for a fleeting moment, everything in the world was maybe all right.

'I was just going to say the same thing. Holy, holy crap, they've outdone themselves,' he said. Griffin's stare was locked onto the building; the dazzling yellow lights that were dotted outside reflected in his eyes and made them appear even brighter than usual.

'Don't try and one-up me with your extra holy, mate,' I said, giving him a gentle shove by the arm.

We made our way towards the building with my hand in the crook of his arm, the two of us flashing our invitations at the people sat at a table by the door, before being ushered inside to the lobby.

It was like being transported to a Regency ball (except with a lot more skin showing than you would have expected at one of those, the exposure of my own skin included), the entirety of the ground floor of the hotel already swarming with people: the restaurant and bar, the entrance hall, the ballroom, all with their chandeliers and lavish furnishing.

'I really don't think I'm posh enough for this,' I groaned to Griffin, taking the champagne offered to me by a passing waiter and taking a long sip, loving the smoothness of it running along my tongue and down my throat. The feeling was so good that I continued sipping until half of it had somehow disappeared from the glass without me realising.

'Steady,' Griffin said with a grin, tugging the champagne flute gently from my mouth by its base. 'You'll be on the floor passed out or being sick before it even hits eight-fifteen.'

I wrinkled my nose at him, although he was right. The bubbles were already going straight to my head, and I could usually handle my alcohol relatively well.

'I thought you wanted to see me drunk though,' I pointed out, eyeing up the glasses of golden liquid in his hand.

'Not before the party's even properly started though,' Griffin said, rolling his eyes and taking a small sip to make a point, although he made a face. 'Not a big fan of champagne,' he explained.

'I am,' I grumbled, resorting to stealing two canapés from another waiter and scoffing those down in quick succession to compensate, as Griffin watched me amusedly.

'Laina! Griffin!'

We turned at the sound of our names being called by familiar voices, seeing Felicity, Ronan and Emilie making their way towards us.

'Guys! You're all looking beautiful,' I said earnestly, after quickly running my tongue along my teeth to make sure there were no remnants of canapé lodged between them.