Drink Me

56. NOTTE DI FOLLIA

NOTTE DI FOLLIA

Riley rang the bell of Aidan's flat and tugged on his jacket to fix it as he waited for the door to open.

A moment later his cousin appeared, motioning for Riley to come in as he spoke into his phone. "Have you spoken to the MP for that area?" he said walking into the kitchen.

Riley silently followed, taking a seat at one of the high stools.

"Alice is almost ready," Aidan muttered covering the phone microphone with his hand.

Alice had received an invitation to a fancy dinner party and Aidan was supposed to go with her, but once again, work had come in the way so Alice had asked Riley to take her. Because he could rarely say no to her, there he was in his best navy suit, ready to spend the evening at the Italian embassy.

"OK, make sure to go over the deposition thoroughly this time," Aidan said into the phone, opening the fridge and taking out a Tupperware with leftover lasagne. "That's fine, call me back in one hour and let me know." He hung up and turned to Riley. "Sorry, this case is taking a turn at the worst possible time," he said, pressing start on the microwave.

Riley nodded, getting the man's meaning; he surely was a busy man. "No worries, Aid. I mean, I could never say no to free food," he joked.

"And drinks," Aidan added in the same playful way.

"Hey sweetie, you're early." Alice's voice caused the two men to turn towards the other end of the living room, where the woman stood, fixing an earring.

Her dark wine silk dress softly hugged her body down to below her knees, leaving her shoulders exposed under thin spaghetti straps. The black leather stilettos at her feet made her well-shaped legs look even longer. Her hair was up in a neat updo and her make up modest with just a pop of dark cherry lipstick.

"The taxi will be here in ten minutes," Alice informed him, turning her back to the men to check her reflection in the mirror. As she did, she revealed the deep cut of the dress, falling in a low v down to the small of her back.

As much as Riley wanted to look away, his eyes couldn't leave her naked skin where her white scar emerged from her dress. Aidan remained silent too, gawking at her girlfriend from behind the kitchen island.

Alice looked at the two through the mirror and smiled. "Are you guys OK?"

Riley cleared his throat and broke the stare. "Ten minutes, sounds great," he confirmed, casually.

"I was admiring your dress," Aidan said, sounding almost apologetic for his stare. Then he looked at Riley and gave a small, complicit smile.

Alice walked into the kitchen just as the microwave beeped and removed the hot container.

"Promise me you'll go to bed at a reasonable time," she said to Aidan as she decanted the heated lasagna into a plate.

"I will try," Aidan replied, taking the plate from her hands. "Let me do this, you don't want to ruin your dress."

Alice smiled sweetly, placing a kiss on his lips before moving to greet Riley with a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for taking me," she said.

"You're welcome, sweetie," Riley replied, mocking her voice and accent.

"Baby the dress is beautiful and so are you," Aidan said sitting at the counter with a steamy plate of lasagne. "But isn't it a little too— he cleared his throat— Appealing, for a work night at the Embassy?

Alice smiled and walked back to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Are you jealous?" she teased.

"No, I'm just worried you're gonna give those old men a heart attack," he lied.