Lola and Monique thought their eyes were playing tricks on them as they stood in front of the stairs leading to an airplane. Both were in disbelief. They blinked—repeatedly, thinking if they did, something else would magically appear—like their bedroom. And they pinched each other—ensuring they weren't in some wild drunken dream.
Ryder walked up to them, resting his hands on them as he stood between the surprised women, asking, "Are you two going to stand and stare at what's in front of you, or are you going to start heading into that plane?"
Lola, surprised, pointed, asking, "Do you own this jet?"
Monique laughed at Lola, asking, "What are you pointing at?" She lowered Lola's hand, having her point at the plane instead of the sky. "Do you mean that instead of the air above it?"
Feeling stupid, Lola groaned, "Hush. He knew what I meant."
Ryder laughed, ignored Lola's question, and lowered his head to their level. "If you two would rather end our night of fun, let me know now. Otherwise, start working your way up the stairs and into that plane."
Monique grabbed Lola's hand, pulling her as she headed up the stairs. Ryder followed behind, and when they entered the jet, he looked at Lola waving his arms while smiling the famous boyish smile he knew moistened women's panties, saying, "Sit at any window seat your heart desires."
While Lola and Monique picked where they wanted to sit, Ryder headed to the cockpit to talk with the pilot.
Lola was beginning to have second thoughts about what she and Monique were about to do with the man she never wanted to see again—flying to who knows where so that she could sit beside the window. And she couldn't stop wondering if Ryder had a hidden agenda about why he offered to fly them anywhere in the world on the spur of the moment.
She was astonished by it all. Lola went from despising Ryder to somewhat liking him to drinking, dancing, doing things she never would have done—like doing a body shot on her best friend and allowing her friend to do it to her, partying, and having fun with him, to feeling overwhelmed—dumbfounded she's leaving Miami to fly who knows where with the filthy-mouthed man she knows nothing about.
Monique whispered, "Where do you think he's bringing us? We never told him where we wanted to go."
Lola shrugged, eyeing Ryder as he stood in the cockpit doorway, talking to the pilots. "I have no fricken idea."
"You don't think he's planning on kidnapping us, or worse—kidnap, then kill us, taking our lifeless bodies somewhere nobody will ever think of looking. Do you?"
She shook her head, looked at her surroundings, and then her eyes returned to Ryder, quietly saying, "I doubt it. It's obvious the man has money. Look at his clothes, the money he threw around at the nightclub, the vehicle that drove us here, and now this. Someone like him wouldn't do such a thing. At least, I hope he wouldn't. But he seems important—like he has a reputation to uphold, so I don't think we should worry about him doing anything that would hurt us."
Monique hummed, contemplating what to think. Usually, she's all about adventures and trying new things and is never afraid to be wild and spontaneous, but she felt what she was doing now was over the top—flying somewhere, in someone's private jet, with a man she had just met.
"I know we're drunk and not making the best decisions right now, but I'm nervous. We don't know this guy, and now I feel he got us drunk on purpose. Why else would he have a bottle of tequila waiting for us at the table? Why was he persistent in getting you to talk to him, drink with him, party with him, and now fly with him?"
Lola shrugged. "He said it was a peace offering. So, I'll take his word for it. Is your phone charged?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Mine isn't. So we'll need something In case we need to make an emergency phone call. But something tells me we won't and that Ryder's not a creep. I think he's just someone with lots of money who was looking to have fun. That he's been so tied up in work lately he felt the need for a temporary change of scenery or a crazy adventure with two drunk girls to keep him sane," Lola wondered, rethinking what she had just said. "It's a good thing this is happening now. On the days I already requested off."
Monique sighed, "I have off until Tuesday. He better have us back by then."
"I'm not worried."
Ryder finally returned to the girls, sat across from them, and buckled his seat belt, smiling while eyeing Lola. He looked at Monique, studied the look on her face, then returned his gaze to Lola. He leaned forward, rested his forearms on his lap, and folded his hands, saying, "I see it written on your faces. You don't have to be nervous with me."
Monique looked from Lola to Ryder. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask—"
He raised his hand and cut her off. "I won't hurt you. I'm not kidnapping you, and I'm not some deranged psychopath. If that's what you were about to ask."
"Who are you?" Monique asked, holding onto the seat arms after feeling the plane moving.
"Ryder Dickens."
"I know that. What I meant was. Who are you? What do you do? And why did you want to hang out and party with us as badly as you did?"
He sat straight, loosened his tie, and said, "I'm just a guy who hasn't had time to enjoy life. I felt I owed her after meeting Lola earlier and doing what I did to get under her skin. She said she had a bad day; I made her day worse. I didn't know how to get a hold of her or where to find her, and I assumed since it was a Friday night, instead of going home to watch TV, I figured she had decided to go out. And when I was in my office, staring out the window, thinking about her, something told me I needed to leave work to search the clubs for her and apologize if I found her. And I'm glad I did. Look where we are now," he said, grinning.
"I know I've been drinking, and I may be a little slow at comprehending things at the moment. But did I miss something? What did you say you do?" Lola asked.
"I'm an investment banker," he admitted, not saying anything more.
Once they were in the air and where they could freely move around, Ryder unbuckled his seat belt, headed over to a cabinet, and looked to see if he had anything for them to drink. "I don't have any tequila, but I have cognac, scotch, and wine."
"Wine is fine," Lola said. "We'll have a glass of your cognac, too."
***
Lola opened her eyes to a quiet and dark room. She was groggy, her eyes were blurry, her head was pounding, she had cotton mouth, and she felt sick. Then, closing her eyes to stop the hammer from hammering in her head, Lola rolled from her side to her back, which made her feel even sicker—the hammer pounded harder, and she felt like she was spinning out of control. Wanting the pounding to stop, she rested her hands on her forehead and told herself to fall asleep and sleep it off.
Hours later, Lola opened her eyes to a pair of emerald green eyes looking at her. Her eyes widened, and her breathing hitched. And just when she opened her mouth to scream, a hand covered her mouth, with a man's voice saying lowly, "Shh... Your friend is still asleep."
Lola's heart pounded harder and faster, making the headache she awoke to earlier in the morning return. She blinked repeatedly to get her eyes to focus on what she was seeing before her, and when they became more apparent, Lola realized she was in bed with the man she despised. The man she used so that she and Monique could have fun at the club and drink for free.
"Don't scream. Please. I have a fucking headache," Ryder said quietly, slowly removing his hand from Lola's mouth.
An immediate fear of them having sex came to Lola's mind, and she lifted the covers, looking at herself, making sure her clothes were on—and they were. Then she whipped the covers off them both to make sure he still had on his clothes—and was instantly relieved to see he did.
Still feeling scatterbrained and confused about where she was and why she was in bed with Ryder, she quickly jumped out of bed and ran into the wall beside the bed, falling to the ground. Feeling sick and that she could vomit any second, she quickly crawled away from the bed and moved until she got to an opening and saw a door. Hoping it was the bathroom, she crawled further, and when she felt a cold, tiled floor, Lola knew she had found what she was looking for.
Lola's hand rubbed up the wall as she stood, using the wall for support and to help her find the light switch. When she felt the switches, Lola flipped it up, looked around, and when she saw the toilet, she lunged for it, immediately letting out her insides when she gripped the seat.
Ryder confused himself about what happened and why he was in bed with Lola, covered his face with his hands, trying to remember what he did the night before. The only thing he could recall was sitting on his plane, drinking cognac with Lola and Monique, and when that was gone, they hit the bottle of scotch.
He thought harder about the night. And when nothing more came to him, he began scrubbing his face, frustrated for blacking out. While rubbing his face, he felt a cold foreign object on his face and finger and stopped moving his hands.
He opened his eyes, and when he looked at his left hand, his heart stopped, and his stomach dropped. "What the—" he moaned, confused.
Lola left the toilet and headed to the sink. Seeing a glass on top of the counter filled with amber-colored liquid, she picked it up and made herself sick again when she smelled the alcohol. She dumped it, rinsed the glass, filled it with cold water, and chugged.
She looked in the mirror when something flashed in her eyes, and when she saw a massive diamond on her finger sparkling back at her, her eyebrows drew together, and the glass resting against her lips dropped into the sink, shattering.
Her hand shook as she turned it around to look closer at what was on her ring finger. And when she realized it was a wedding ring, her heart stopped, her stomach turned sour, and right before she lunged for the toilet and emptied her insides again, she shouted, "What the fuck?"
Her fingers tightly gripped the toilet seat, and when she saw the bling shining back at her again, she lowered her head and vomited until all that was left was stomach acid, burning her throat when it left her stomach.
Lola laid on the cold bathroom floor, trying to cool off and get her stomach to calm. But she was also scared to leave the room and see him, afraid to hear him confirm what they had done.
While trying to remember the night and why there was a ring on her finger, her eyes slowly circled the room, trying to figure out where she was. Seeing the towel rack displayed above the toilet, with rolls of toilet paper covered in wrapping, the shower, and the looks of the sink, she realized she wasn't in someone's house. She was in a hotel room.
Finally, she got the courage to leave the bathroom to talk to Ryder and see if he could tell her what they had done, where they were, and why. She stopped and leaned against the wall when she reached the room opening and saw Monique sleeping in the other bed. Then she looked at Ryder sitting at a table, holding a piece of paper in one hand and rubbing his forehead nervously with his other hand as he looked at the paper.
She was afraid to know the answer but asked, anyway. "What the hell happened last night? And where the hell are we?" Lola asked quietly, her voice crackling as she spoke.
Ryder dropped the paper on the table and tilted his head back, rubbing his face hard, groaning, "I don't know what the fuck happened."
Finally, he rose to his feet and headed over to the window, slowly opening the curtain, not wanting to shine the light in Monique's eyes. Pointing at the window while looking at Lola, he filled her in on where they were. "We're in fucking Vegas. That's where we are."
Shocked to hear she was back in Vegas, Lola's arms dropped from her chest. She stood tall and shouted, "What?"
"See for yourself," Ryder offered, after seeing the look on her face that she didn't believe him.
She rushed to the window, shoving Ryder out of the way. As she looked out the window and saw the strip, thousands of people walking the sidewalks, she yelled, "What the fuck?" Then, remembering a ring on her finger, she turned, facing Ryder, and raised her left hand, wiggling her fingers, asking, "What the fuck is this, too?"
Finding amusement in Lola's question, his lips twitched. He couldn't believe it either, and shook his head. Being the cocky man he was, he made a joke out of it by saying, "What do you think it is? Because it looks like a wedding ring to me." He knew what they'd done after reading the paper he found on the table. He held up his left hand and mockingly grinned. "It looks like we're married to me."
Her eyes widened; she twirled to face Monique and panicked. "This can't be happening. This didn't happen. This is just some cruel fucking joke that someone is playing on us. We can't be married!"
Ryder headed back to the table, sat, and lifted a piece of paper, waving it for Lola to see. "Oh, but we did. We are, in fact, married. And here's the proof," he said, lifting the marriage certificate with his other hand.
Lola ran to him, snatched the two pieces of paper from his hands, and looked at them both. And when she saw a contract and started reading it, she squealed, "What the hell is this?" She flipped the agreement for Ryder to see.
His eyes wandered to the paper she wanted him to see, saying, "It's a written agreement with instructions from the officiant who married us. And if we break it, I lose fucking everything."
She turned the paper around and looked at it as she returned to the window to read it in the light. Seeing what was written and signed by the officiant, her, Ryder, Monique, and a guy she didn't recognize named Emilio, made her sicker. "Who the hell is Emilio?"
"A guy I work with," he groaned.
She spun to face him. "Where is he?"
"I have no fucking clue." Growing more irritated the longer he thought about what he read, he asked, "Did you read everything?"
She slowly nodded, her eyes returning to the contract, saying, "Yeah, I did. There has to be a way to get out of this. This is bullshit! There must be some way we can get this voided since we were in a drunken state of mind. Obviously, we both weren't thinking clearly."
"You didn't read it all, then," he groaned, then pointed at the paper in her hand, saying, "That agreement lasts for one fucking year. It says we cannot get it voided. And we're not allowed to get a fucking divorce. We have to stick to the fucking bullshit contract we signed."
Lola walked over to the bed Monique was in and sat. As she looked at the agreement, she began reading out loud:
"I, Pastor David Scott, in the name of the father, we, Monique Baker, and Emilio Esposito, at this moment before these witnesses are joined in holy matrimony dated June 18th.
The authority in this marriage shall be revealed to the following parties;
Ryder Dickens, a man who's not of sound mind, drunk, and not in love, yet he wants to marry a beautiful woman named Lola.
Lola Cox, a woman who's also not of sound mind, is also drunk and not in love with a man named Ryder Dickens, yet they both want to marry.
Both parties came to my door with their friends, insisting I marry the two loveless souls.
After having an in-depth talk with the two said parties and trying to talk them out of doing something, they'll both regret after waking up the following morning, I came to a decision and decided to marry Ryder and Lola. With that said, I make the subsequent agreement between the two parties to last exactly one year to date, and here I will set forth:
1. This agreement shall not be null and voided by anyone other than myself.
2. No divorce shall occur before the year of this dated agreement is up.
3. There'll be no flying when you leave Vegas to return to Miami. Instead, the two of you will drive back home together.
4. You'll immediately move in together once you're back in Miami.
5. You'll live like you are a happily married couple.
6. You'll learn about each other—likes and dislikes.
7. There'll be no other women or men in your lives—no dating and no one-night stands. If any events that require hanging out with friends, or one that requires they need a date, shall willingly come along, where you'll act like a married couple.
8. You'll be faithful to one another.
9. You'll announce your presence as husband and wife.
10. You'll offer support to one another, lend an ear, and give advice.
11. Any arguments that shall arrive. You'll immediately figure it out. You'll learn how to deal with and fix said argument. You'll also choose your battles, and you won't stifle your feelings.
12. You'll not talk badly about the other on any social media platform; if anything, you'll praise the other for something they've done well.
13. You'll be each other's number one.
14. You'll be honest and patient with each other, give forgiveness, communicate, and be selfless.
15. You'll do everything it takes to be a loving couple.
16. As for sex. You're on your own there.
17. If, in one year, the two of you decide you cannot be the couple you intended to be when you came pounding on my door at four in the morning, you'll return to me and explain your reasoning for the divorce. If there is no way the two of you can be married, I'll grant the divorce.
Your friends, Monique and Emilio, will follow this agreement, and they'll make sure the two of you do as you agreed to do after begging me for this marriage to happen. If you intend to break this agreement at any time, Ryder Dickens will lose his entire fortune to me.
As for Lola Cox/Dickens, she'll become a speaker and travel across the country, teaching kids, teens, and couples the meaning of marriage and the consequences of people's poor drinking decisions.
Signed, all five of us, dated June 18th," Lola sighed, tears assaulting her eyes. "What did we do?"
Being a smart ass and talking cocky, he said, "I'm pretty sure that piece of paper explains everything we just did."
She lowered the paper in her lap and snapped her head upward, giving Ryder a scowled look as she retorted, "No shit, Sherlock. It was a figure of speech, you dumbass. I meant, what the fuck did we get ourselves into, and why? How the fuck could we have been so careless? And how the hell could we do such a horrendous act? We don't even know each other! And I despise your ass!" Feeling like she was about to break down, she mumbled, "This changes everything..."
"What changes everything?" Monique groaned, slowly rolling onto her back. She opened her eyes, looked up and around, then quickly sat up after realizing she wasn't in her bed. "Where are we?"
"Las Vegas," Lola sighed, flopping backward onto the mattress, whining, "I'm fucked."
"I'm the one who's fucked," Ryder shouted angrily, standing and shoving his chair toward the table.
Monique pushed herself up after hearing Ryder snap, and when she saw him, she squealed, "You!" Then her eyes shot over to Lola, and feeling confused about why they were still with Ryder, she asked, "What the hell is going on, Lola?"
Lola lifted the paper from her lap and whipped it at Monique, saying, "That's what's going on." Angry with her friend, she shouted, "You bitch! You're not supposed to let me make bad decisions like this!"
Monique brought the paper closer to her eyes, read the agreement, and then shook her head, shocked at what she just read.
Then she tried remembering what they did after leaving the nightclub. The only thing she could remember was her, Lola, and Ryder sitting on a private jet, passing a bottle of cognac around until it was empty.
Feeling nervous for Lola when she saw a remark written at the bottom of the contract, she swallowed, then said, "It says here in small lettering at the bottom of the paper, there's a video of the entire ceremony. From the time we arrived to when we left. And you'll only be able to see it one year from now."
Hope the chapter was okay.🤞🤞