Page 5 of Rushed

“So, Troy tells us you’re a captive audience in his establishment. How’s that going?” Jim grins, wrapping his arm around Charlie’s shoulders.

“It’s fine, I guess. I don’t have much else to do. I mean, what I wouldn’t give to have a schedule, or a necessity that needs my attention. I was bored stiff until I found out about your run group.” Looking over, Troy’s beaming as he watches me with excitement. I’m his pet project. He’s the second unattainable man that thinks I need guidance and help. “I’m lucky as hell for meeting a guy like him at l’hotel de l’enfer.”

Confusion radiates from Ty. Tig laughs deeply, and Troy looks aghast. Jim contains himself and asks, “Really? The hotel of Hell. I didn’t think it could be that bad. You’re at a high end hotel that faces the nicest park in the U.S., in the company of our boy. It can’t be that horrible.”

Before I speak, our waiter—who is clearly the fastest man I’ve ever met on the planet—arrives with our drinks in record time. Each take their cutie-patootie drinks, offering their thanks, and rolled back into the conversation.

“Is the service here always so fast?” I ask, swirling the foaming neon pink and white crushed ice around in my glass, blending it before taking a sip. It’s not bad. Actually, it’s fucking good.

“It is when you own the joint, love.” Charlie smirks, but without conceit. Raising his glass, he toasts, “To new friends, old friends, and reacquainted lovers. May your lives be filled with love, happiness, and Louis Vuitton.” Everyone raises their glasses and clinks them together before sucking back on their liquid happiness.

For the next few hours we eat, laugh, and find ways to ignore the uncomfortable silence between me and Ty. After a few awkward questions from Tig and Charlie, I find myself somewhere in the middle of light and sweet conversation with these lovely men. Ty even expresses his reason for being a “rude bitch,” as he puts it. The toast it seems was meant to bring Ty back into the fold.

He’d been in a wretched relationship, and had just broken up with the fellow. Maddy was a sweet man on the outside, so no one understood the pain Ty was going through. Maddy was an escort, a well-paid one at that. Ty thought he was going off to work every day at a bar in Queens, but it was all a lie. Finding out crushed him because he thought that Maddy was monogamous and true, that he was the one. I suddenly felt uneasy and sad, so the drinks kept coming.

And coming.

And coming.

Until there was no graceful way to exit. I was well and drunk.

I remember Troy returning me to the hotel, slipping me into my room and leaving a glass of water and an aspirin on the nightstand. With a promise that I’d take it, he left me to pass out in my rented space.

Tomorrow, I’ll pay for this.

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