NINI
"So, how's our new Juliet?" Adam asks while walking through the door of the restaurant and straight to me. He's holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands, which quickly makes Caden who is sitting next to me raise an eyebrow. I throw a grin at him and go hug Adam, who lifts me up and spins me around.
"I heard you knocked them dead", he whispers to me and I chuckle. Adam then puts me back on the ground and we return to the big table where all my friends are sitting. Soph went way over the top to celebrate I got the role. After getting everyone flowers for them to give me (she didn't tell me she bought them, but there was no way any other one would know all my favorite flowers, so I immediately knew she was behind the whole bouquet action), she had also convinced Alec to reserve the restaurant in his hotel just for us for one evening. I've mentioned before the guy is CEO of the biggest hotel company in the world, Dunn Leisures, and also has a few hotels in New York. He even lives in a penthouse in the last two floors of the most expensive one of his hotels in the city. It's the restaurant of this hotel we are in now. And by we, I mean our whole friend group. Soph, April, Dia, Nessie and I. The Fab Five are also here. So are Mark and Leo, Nessie and Dia's boyfriends. Even Darrel agreed to take a sit at our table. Soph didn't tell me what was going on, not until we were standing in the restaurant which was already decorated with fancy silver and golden balloons, and all my friends screamed "Surprise!". I had to cry, not believing what was happening.
Adam takes a sit on the spot Alec saved him next to him. As he's down, he greets the ones sitting at the table and says: "I'm sorry for being late. I had a meeting with one of our partners and it ran late." Alec nods understanding, since he's a CEO like Adam and must know what it's like. Soph takes a little spoon and hits her glass of champagne slowly a few times, to catch our attention. She then stands up and smiles at the crowd, who already smiles at her. It's impossible for one not to smile at my bestie. Not only does she have that kind of contagious smiles, but she also looks like the princess she is right now. She's wearing a beautiful checkered white and blue dress, with pearls surrounding her neck, her wrist and hanging from her ears. Her feet are covered in white high heels and her hair is perfectly styled as always. I guess her boyfriend has also noticed she's gorgeous, since his eyes are fixed on her as if he'd never want to look away again. Before she starts the speech, Alec takes her hand and pulls her down to him to kiss her. She giggles and whispers something in his ear, which makes him reward her with a smile. I can see how the rest of the people at the table go quiet and widen their eyes. It's rare for Alec to smile. He almost never does in the presence of other people. Only for Soph. And the proud look on his best friend's, Adam's, face proves my point.
Soph goes back up and Alec's face turns serious again, his eyes sparkling though as he looks at her. My bestie begins her speech, and one can immediately tell she's done toasts before: "So, I'd like to thank you all for being here today to celebrate my bestie. Nini, I just want to say how incredibly proud I am of you, for getting the role you wanted. I know how much you have worked for it and it clearly paid off. You are the most talented person I know and I can only say there's no other girl out there who would have been better for this role than you. I love you so much!"
I lose it and stand up to go hug her. Our friends start a round of applause and start shouting "Speech! Speech!". I chuckle and after throwing Soph a thankful look, I still keep my arm around her shoulders and begin my speech: "Thank you so much for being here! I had no idea this was going to happen, so I also want to say a special thanks to Soph and Alec for organizing this." Soph holds me closer and Alec nods at me. I continue: "I couldn't have done this without your help. A special thanks also goes to Caden, for being my Romeo at rehearsals. Thank you!"
Caden looks up at me, from the chair he occupies next to mine. He smiles, a first honest smile I get from him, and I can feel my world spinning faster. If this is what a smile looks like on him, I want to make this guy smile so much that he never has to wipe it away from his lips. "Anytime, Broadway", he mouths and I send him an air kiss.
"Needless to say", I continue, "you are all invited to come for the opening night. It would be a dream to have the people I love most on this planet with me for such an important event."
They all smile and the girls already start giving their confirmation. Soph also comes closer to my ear and whispers: "Of course we'll be there."
I smile at her and hug her once more. When we let go, I am done with the speech and we can sit back down. Alec claps his hands once and waiters start entering the room carrying trays of food. I give Soph a what the heck look. She grins at her boyfriend and whispers to me: "Babe likes his power". And from the sharp look in his eyes, I guess she's right. My bestie turns to everybody again and says: "Alec and I didn't know what to order for everyone, so we got a few platters. I hope that's enough. If you want anything else, just tell us." She says that, although the table is now filled with all sorts of incredibly fancy food, like appetizers, some very expensive looking meat, little salad bowls and all sorts of other stuff. I also share a look with Caden, who's smirking bright.
"Enjoy", Soph says and everyone starts digging in the food. Well, everyone except my bestie and Alec, who spend some time kissing again, before they fill their plates.
"Did you know about this?" I ask Caden, wondering how on Earth did Soph manage to gather so many people at once. Caden nods and comes closer to my ear to whisper. I am immediately filled by his perfume, so minty and fresh I can't stop the urge to kiss his neck. He chuckles and answers: "Sofia sent everyone from here a message with an invitation a few days ago. The message was quickly followed by a message from Alec, threatening us if we didn't do what his girlfriend says. Of course, Sofia doesn't know about the messages from Alec and probably will never know."
I chuckle, looking at Alec staring admiring at my bestie. I am so glad Adam and I convinced him to man up last year and go fight for the love of his life. Crashing a wedding streamed all over the world must have been hard for him, but I guess he would agree it was totally worth it.
"Just for the record, I came here because I wanted too and not because of the threats. So did everyone else." He looks around the table and then whispers back to me. "Well, probably everyone except those two guys there."
He points with his eyes at Mark and Leo, who sit lonely in a corner. Everyone else is engaged in a conversation. My besties are talking to each other, the Fab Five also started a talk between them, which made Coin smile, Adam look relaxed, Alec just nodding serious and Jacob laughing. Everyone is somehow finding their place in this group. Everyone except the two.
"I'm pretty sure they hate us", Caden continues and he didn't have to say names for me to understand who he meant by "us". The five guys. The Fab Five.
"Why would you say that?"
"Their girlfriends are sitting at the same table with three other single hot guys. That doesn't do well for their self-esteems."
I couldn't help but notice he said three single guys. And they're five. So two of them are taken. His eyes were pointing to Adam, Jacob and Coin as he was speaking. Which means...
"What do you mean three single hot guys?" I ask, and he clearly doesn't notice the issue.
"Well, Adam, Jacob and Noah. Three single hot guys."
It's then he processes his words and realizes his mistake. He swears once.
"Look, Nini. I'm sorry. I know what you must be thinking..." he begins, and my throat goes dry.
"But you don't want me as a girlfriend."
He swallows hard. "It's not like that. I do. I really do. But let's take it slow. We don't have to come together now. We can still continue to be like this without the whole titles."
I nod as if I understand. I don't. And he sees it.
"You don't agree..." he lets out.
"No, I do. I really do. I just don't understand why."
"Because...", he wants to say yet he stops again. He takes a few seconds to think then says something else. "Because I don't want to rush things."
I nod, more confident this time. If not being able to call myself his girlfriend is the only difference between us being a couple and us not being a couple but being how we are now (whatever we are now), then I accept. However, I don't understand what he means by rush thing. I mean, he kissed me twice already. Actually, more times. And we made out a few times. Is that rushing things?
As if he could read my mind, he cups my chin in his hand and pulls me closer, to kiss my lips. I wrap my hands around his neck and get lost in him. His kiss shows me the answer to all my questions. I don't need to be his girlfriend to like this guy. Maybe even love him. I just need him.
I was so consumed by the kiss I didn't notice the silence that installed at our table. It's only as we let go that we see how everybody is staring at us. At first, I don't get it. Soph and Alec kiss the whole time, and nobody stares at them. It's then I understand that although Soph and Alec kiss the whole time, this was the first time everyone has seen us kiss. So, shock.
Caden's best friend, Jacob, is the first one who breaks the awkward silence: "That's what I'm talking about", he says, winking at Caden. Caden chuckles and shows him the middle finger. The chatter restarts then and everything goes back to normal. Well, not normal. Sometimes, I can still see glances thrown by our friends in our direction. Especially by the girls. I calm them down with a smile every time.
"So, I guess they know that we're seeing each other now", I whisper in Caden's ear who chuckles.
"You can't imagine the shit I'll get from the guys tonight."
"Are you meeting the guys again afterwards?" I ask, not even knowing what guys he means. The guy is so popular, probably every guy in the university is "his guy".
"No. They're already here, so we're not meeting again." he answers, making it clear he's talking about the Fab Five. "But someone," he continues, shooting a glare at Jacob, "decided it would be fun to have a group chat."
"You literally have a Fab Five group chat?"
"We do, apparently. We started hanging out more lately, since I started seeing you and Alec is already dating Sofia."
"I'm glad we contributed at your bonding."
"You should be. It's entirely your fault."
"Just wait to see if someone else from my besties comes together with someone else from the Fab Five. You'll soon start a boyfriend gang." I reply chuckling. He frowns.
"That's highly unlikely."
"Yeah, might be."
He chuckles at my answer and kisses me again. I pull him closer since I didn't have enough. We finished our food long ago, and honestly, I'm not even hungry anymore. All I want is to kiss Caden. Which is why I am rather shocked as Soph sits up and says: "Now, time for desert."
The waiters, who somehow already started listening to her commands as well, come inside carrying another tray. Soph cheers happy once, making Alec smile at her again. She rushes to the waiters and removes the lid, uncovering a Romeo and Juliet themed cake. It's a white cake with the quote "Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore are thou Romeo?" handwritten with black frosting on it. My bestie almost jumps around from excitement.
"Do you love it?" she asks me and I can't keep my excitement together. I rush over to her where we hug each other and start jumping around. I can feel everyone's gazes on us, some chuckling. I don't mind and continue hugging her.
"It's perfect. Thanks, Soph!"
"I knew you'd love it", she replies then allows the waiters to carry the tray to the table. Some new waiters enter, carrying a bowl of chocolate dipped strawberries. Soph looks confused, probably not having ordered those. However, it doesn't take much til she chuckles and turns to her boyfriend.
"You haven't", she tells him laughing.
"I did. It's your favorite food, Foxy. Anything to please you, my love."
She smiles at him and goes sit back on the chair next to him. He catches her hand quicker and pulls her closer, til she's sitting on his lap. She's giggling and he's whispering stuff in her ear to make her laugh harder. I go sit back on my chair and Caden bends down closer to my ear and asks: "Who is that guy and what has he done to Alec Dunn?"
Right. He hasn't seen them together as often as I do. I only smile and go back to kissing him.
"Love makes people crazy for their partners sometimes", I explain between kisses. He takes my hand and places it on his chest, on the spot where his heart is. I shiver, since it's one of the first times I'm touching him. And even if he's wearing a sweater on, I can feel his muscles tensed under my touch.
"It does", he whispers. "My heart is racing."
I bend down and kiss the spot. His heart beats faster. I take his hand and put it on my chest too, on the spot my heart is pounding.
"Mine too."
Still with his hand there, he kisses me. And I love it.
I spend the rest of the time with his arm around my shoulders, talking to our friends. The conversations last until late at night, yet no one comments about the late hour. I can't say how happy I am that his friends get along with my friends and that we feel like we belong there. There isn't one time there's complete silence, or one time in which someone isn't smiling or laughing. Okay, Mark and Leo aren't doing both, but the rest of us are having a blast. Which is why we end our dinner at around 2 a.m.
Not wanting to let us drive at that hour since it isn't safe, Soph convinces Alec we should stay here. He manages to get us a few rooms in the hotel. Since it's one of the most well-known hotels in New York, filled with VIPs and stars and all, he didn't have so many free rooms left, so some of us have to share. I get to share a room with April, Dia with Leo, Nessie with Mark, Jacob and Caden. Noah and Adam get a single room and Soph spends the night at the penthouse with Alec.
Before we enter our rooms, Caden pulls me aside one more time and kisses me goodnight. I've been smirking all the way to our room, which makes April smirk.
"You're hopeless", she teases me.
I am.