Friday July 10th
7:32am Maison Dupuy Hotel
What the FUCK? I had to force my eyes open as I tried to wake up. They felt like they had weights on them. Fuck my throat is scratchy, I thought as I tried to swallow. I looked around at my surroundings and realized I was in my hotel room. How the hell did I get here? The last thing I remembered was Lydia going on stage to sing at The Cat's Meow.
I tried to get up and noticed the additional weight on me. Looking down, my already present confusion got worse. Lydia was asleep and not just next to me. She had her arm thrown over my stomach and her head was on my chest. Not to mention, I realized my own arm was wrapped around her. Okay, what the fuck happened last night? At least we both had our clothes on. Because if something like that ever happened between Lydia and I, I was not going to forget it.
I brushed her hair lightly, trying to wake her up. "Lydia? Lydia, wake up," I said as she started to stir.
Two seconds later, she shot up and looked around. "Is she here? Where is she?"
Okay, now I'm even more confused. "Is who here? And what happened last night? I feel like I got run over by a garbage truck. Then he came back and did it again."
Lydia rubbed her eyes before looking back at me. "What do you remember?" She asked.
"We were at the bar and you were going on stage...That's it. The rest is a complete blank." I took a deep breath before asking my next question. "Did—Did something happen?"
She had a guarded look before she said, "Someone spiked your drink."
Okaaaaayyyy. Wasn't expecting that. "What? Who?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a long breath. "I had just gotten on stage when I saw you at the bar. A blonde woman was talking to you and you seemed to be uninterested in her. When you looked at me on stage, I saw her pour something in your drink. I think it's safe to say, PSYCHO Amy is in town."
I was trying to process what she was saying. I didn't remember any of this. Wait a minute..."Amy isn't blonde."
Lydia came and sat on the end of the bed. "I know. The blonde said a woman who was there paid her two-grand to drug you and get you outside."
My head was spinning. "What happened? How did we get here?"
She looked down and started fidgeting with her fingers. She wasn't comfortable telling me everything. I could tell.
"I got you in a cab and got you to your room. I called the concierge and they got a doctor to come examine you. He said you may not remember and to make sure you drink a lot of fluids."
There was more, something was being left out. "I guess that explains why I woke up with you in bed."
She was clearly uncomfortable with the line of questioning, but to my surprise, she said, "You asked me to lay next to you."
"I did?" Was I surprised I wanted her to lay next to me? No. Was I surprised I actually asked her to? Hell, yes. I knew how she was. If I asked her to lay next to me right now, she would be on the first flight out of New Orleans.
"Yes, the doctor said you may not act like yourself. I think you were confused, you know, with everything."
"Thank you," I said and she turned away.
"You're welcome. I'm just glad I could help."
I rose from the bed and walked up behind her. Grabbing her arm gently, I turned her towards me. "I'm serious. You have no idea what you did for me last night."
"You would have done the same for me, I'm sure," she said with a friendly smile.
"Lydia, if I saw a guy spike your drink and try to leave with you, I would be in fucking jail. For murder."
Before she could respond, there was a hard knock at the door. "New Orleans P.D." A voice said through the door.
I walked over and opened the door. A tall Hispanic man in a police uniform greeted me. "Sean Williams?"
"Yes, sir. Come in, please."
The officer came inside and the three of us sat around the dining room table in my room.
"Well, let's get started with what happened. We have the woman in custody who drugged you. She described the woman she claims paid her off."
He unfolded a piece of paper and sure enough, it was PSYCHO Amy. "That's her. She's been stalking me for some time. I've had to move and change my phone number. I have a restraining order out on her in New York."
The officer nodded. "Alright. Well, now that we know this sketch is accurate, we will get all the information you know about her and have the other officers looking for her. We can bring her in once she's caught."
"How is she tracking me?" I asked aloud.
"Well," Lydia said, and I just realized how quiet she's been. "I spoke to Anne last night and we think she put a tracker on your car."
"Who's Anne?" The officer asked suspiciously.
"She's my assistant in New York," I answered before looking back to Lydia. "A tracker on my dad's car?"
"Yes. I didn't know where to look for one and I didn't want to leave you alone last night. I figured we could check today."
The officer rose from his chair. "We'll have a look at your car and see if we find anything. I just need you to write down everything you know about this stalker."
I wrote down everything I knew about her and handed the officer the paper. This was all so crazy. I couldn't believe this was happening.
The officer left and promised to reach out to me within the hour.
"Are you okay?" Lydia asked in a soft voice.
I didn't even know how to answer that. "I don't know. This is—Unbelievable."
"Do you want to leave New Orleans? In case she's here?"
I didn't want to put Lydia or myself at risk by staying here. But, I also didn't want to run scared. I promised Lydia a weekend in this city, and I wanted to keep that promise.
"No, I don't want to leave."
"Me either," she said with a smile before asking, "What do we do?"
PSYCHO Amy was clearly more obsessed with me than ever. She was obviously jealous and was under the impression there was something going on with Lydia and myself. Maybe we could use that to our advantage...
"Lydia, do you trust me?"
She raised an eyebrow at me as she said, "Yes."
A smile broke out on my face. "I have a plan that will help us get rid of PSYCHO Amy."
"This is a terrible plan," Lydia said as she paced back and forth in my hotel room.
"How is it a terrible plan? It will draw her out and we can call the police. End of story."
"Really? So, let me see if I got this straight. You want to parade me around New Orleans, posing as your girlfriend, then throw a party in your suite?"
"Come on, she's obviously watching us. She has to know I'm staying here. For fuck's sake, she probably has a room here."
"Ugh, don't say that. It creeps me out."
"Exactly," I said. "If I throw some kind of huge party here and invite pretty much everyone in the Quarter, she'll show up. I'm telling you."
"What if she, I don't know, hurts someone?"
"I won't let her hurt you," I answered automatically. Not a chance in hell.
She gave me that same guarded look as earlier. "Not me, one of the party goers."
"I'll let the police know the plan. I'm sure they can have people here under cover."
She seemed to actually be considering this. My main goal here was to get rid of PSYCHO Amy, but I also didn't want to pass up the chance to spend the day spoiling Lydia, even if it was pretend.
"How do we get people here for the party? We don't know anyone," she said with a frown.
I smiled as I pulled out my phone. "Milady, let me teach you just how money talks.
12:47pm
I grabbed my cellphone and keys when I heard Lydia's knock at the door. After I got Anne on the phone, she called an even planner we knew and, sure enough, seventy percent of the French Quarter already RSVPed to the party at my suite tonight. Lydia was surprised that I pulled it off. She was even more surprised when I convinced the cops to go along with this plan and have some under covers here tonight.
I went to answer the door and wasn't surprised to see Lydia's annoyed expression.
"This is ridiculous," she said again.
I kept my smile to myself. I was having way too much fun with this. "Hey, if you want her to stay here, most likely in this hotel, we can call this whole thing off."
She rolled her eyes and put on a fake smile. "Ready, honey?" She said in a mocking tone.
"Absolutely, sweetie," I said as I shut the door to my suite.
We made our way to a restaurant called August. If I wanted this plan to work, it needed to look real. Coming to this upscale classy restaurant? Definitely in my wheelhouse. As we got closer to the hostess stand, I wrapped my arm around Lydia's waist. I felt her stiffen, but she didn't move. Good girl, I thought.
"Good evening, table for two?" The hostess asked.
"Yes, please."
She escorted us to our table, and I gave Lydia a sly smile as I pulled out her chair for her. "Thank you," she said as she sat down.
We placed our order and I looked at Lydia across the table. "Lydia," I called, and she turned towards me. "If this is going to work, you can't look like I just shot your dog. Smile."
I extended my arm across the table, holding my hand out with a silent invitation to hold hers. She met my eyes before finally placing hers in mine. I clasped my hand around hers, and if I didn't know better, it looked like she shivered at the touch.
She smiled at me, and I had to take an extra breath. It was a genuine smile. She leaned forward, tucking her hair behind her ear.
I frowned at the act. A weird feeling came over me. Fragments of pictures passed through my mind. Choppy and incomplete. But, I had the oddest feeling that I did the same thing to her. Recently.
"Sean, are you alright?" She asked, pulling me back to the present.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
After our food came to the table, we enjoyed our time. Lydia would throw longing looks at me. We talked, laughed, and to anyone else, it probably looked like we weren't a fake couple.
Something still felt off about last night. She was keeping something from me. I knew her and she was relying on my loss of memory. If earlier was any hint, it looked like bites and pieces of last night were coming back to me. Sooner or later, I was going to find out what she was keeping from me. As we left the restaurant, I wrapped my arm around her waist again. This time, she leaned into me and rested her head on my shoulder. This doesn't feel fake...
8:27pm
We spent hours after lunch exploring the Quarter. I took her to shop after shop, trying on clothes and shoes. After I promised her I would return everything when this charade was over, she let loose and dove into it. She tried on multiple dresses. She even came out of the dressing room to show me. Each time she did a little spin, my heart did a little squeeze.
I loved watching her smile like that. I was still so grateful to her for what she did for me last night. I still felt uncomfortable without all my memories. But, I was hoping they would come back.
We were in my suite now. It was filled with music, booze, food and complete strangers. The party started about thirty minutes ago. A handful of the people here were undercover cops.
Lydia was standing next to me. She was wearing a black satin gown that hugged her body nicely. Not to mention the three-inch heels she had on. When I first saw her in that dress, I had to do a double take.
She grabbed another glass of champagne from a waiter before walking over to me. "Any sign of your girlfriend?" She asked as she looked around the crowd.
I took a sip of my drink before I said teasingly, "Yes."
"Really? Where?" She tried looking harder in the crowd.
"She's wearing a black dress and heels. She's looking incredibly beautiful tonight."
"Funny," she said as she turned towards me to shoot me a look.
One of the undercover officer who was dressed in a black suit walked over to me. "We think we spotted her outside the hotel. We don't have confirmation yet, but if it is her , it looks like she's watching from across the street."
"So, what do you suggest?" Lydia asked with impatience clearly in her tone.
Before the cop could answer her, I passed him her glass of champagne and grabbed her by the hand. "I know what to do. Come with me," I said as I pulled her to the balcony.
"What are you doing?" She asked in a whisper.
"Putting an end to this," I said as I cupped her face and brought her lips to mine.
I wasn't surprised by her gasp of surprise. But when I deepened the kiss, she let out a little moan. She put her hands on my waist and pulled me closer to her. I buried my hand in her hair, suddenly forgetting about the psychotic bitch outside. All there was in that moment, was Lydia.
When I pulled away from her, she didn't remove her hands. Neither did I. Something passed over her features and then it hit me.
"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" I asked her that the night before. It came back to me crystal clear. Along with the kiss I gave her in my bed.
She started to say something but was cut off by an officer yelling, "Knife! Get down!"