This time next New Years Eve

Chapter 3 – The Burnbury NYE bash

Marie strode up to the two large security guards at the hotel’s grand entrance, throwing them a winning smile. She was determined to find someone to enjoy the new year with and every man was a target that night. If they could knock her socks off, they could have her knickers too. She smiled and stood a little taller when she handed over her tickets, appreciating the guard’s wandering eyes. It had taken hours to find the right dress, even longer to get her make-up just right.

She had gained a few wrinkles through her twenties that no amount of No7 cream could dissuade. They didn’t hold make-up like Elle’s youthful skin did, but she made it work. She was proud to have made it to thirty, there were so many times when she hadn’t thought she’d get this far. And, as her favourite movie once told her to be, she was now ‘Thirty, Flirty and Thriving.’

Gone was the cheating ex-boyfriend. Thirty was the year of Marie.

“You didn’t say it’d be this...” Elle waved her hands around, gesturing to the ornate doors of the hotel, lined with gold. From the pictures online, the inside would be even more gorgeous and filled with gorgeous men waiting to kiss them both at midnight. “This fancy. We’re going to stick out like sore thumbs.”

“No we won’t, we look gorgeous.” Marie flicked her hair over her shoulder and struck a pose. “Don’t we look gorgeous, fellas?” She threw a wink at the security guards, and they readily agreed.

Despite her charm working wonders, they had both dressed up for the party. Elle wore an elegant golden dress, with a pattern of sequins wrapped around it that drew the eye to every desirable curve. Marie wore a skintight red wrap dress, that hugged her like a second skin. It’d show the eligible bachelors how much woman they’d have to handle with her and would quickly wheedle out the weak willed from the strong.

Elle still wore that uncertain forehead crease, so Marie looped her arm through hers. She led the younger woman inside and was about to give her a pep talk when trash came into view. Trash in the form of Nic. He stood at the main entrance bar with a pretty young woman on his arm. The poor girl looked fresh out of school, looking up at him with an adoration that made Marie’s stomach churn. So this was Rebecca. Barely more than a child to his thirty-three years. She grimaced.

Elle must’ve followed her gaze, as she quickly guided Marie away. “Let’s get a drink. A strong drink.”

****

Darkness soon fell, carrying with it the hopes for the new year, the relief of the one gone past and the excitement of the presence as many in the crowd began pairing off. It seemed nobody wanted to risk missing their New Year's Eve kiss and Marie was the same, but no one was giving her that spark. When she danced, many men approached her, but there was nothing there, no connection, no interest. Not even the soft buzz of alcohol in her veins could sway her inhibitions to go for one of them. What a bust.

When the next song ended, she politely pulled away from the creep who had tried to grind on her, and sought out Elle. She was sitting at their table, nursing the same drink she had had an hour ago. Worse than that, she was on her phone and wearing that frown again.

“I’ll take that.” Marie plucked the phone from her hand and glanced at the screen. “Job applications? It’s New Year's Eve.”

“I can’t afford my rent. New Year's Eve or not, I need a new job.” Elle grabbed her phone back but put it down, downing the rest of her drink like it’d burn away her emotions. “Nothing around here pays enough for me to stay in my apartment, and my landlord wants to put up the rent. Jackass.” She groaned and thunked her head onto the table. “I’m going to have to go crawling back to Jack and beg for my old job back.”

Marie blanched. She had put up with that old creep standing too close, daring ‘accidental’ touches and propositioning her, but the moment he did it to Elle she had snapped. There was no way on this green Earth that she’d let her friend back into that man’s clutches. “Like hell you are.”

“What am I going to do, Marie?”

“Will your grandparents have you back?”

“Nope. They haven’t spoken to me since I got pregnant outside of wedlock.” Though she rolled her eyes, their small wince was telling. “Sam starts school in September, I have so much to save for. Uniforms, PE kits, stationary, school shoes...”

“Move in with me.” She cut Elle off. The idea had been floating in her head for a while, and she had wanted to broach it in a more relaxed way, but it slipped from her tongue. However, she didn’t regret it and repeated the proposition again to solidify her stance.

“What?”

Marie chuckled. “Well, I have a spare room, and I love Sam. You’d both be welcome in my apartment and we can split the bills. It’d help me out too. I was banking on Nic moving in over the next six months.”

“Really? You wouldn’t mind?” The glimmer in her eyes made Marie melt.

“Of course, Hun.”

Elle squealed and launched into her, drawing a few startled faces but neither of the women cared.

“She said yes!” Marie announced to the onlookers, earning the pair a round of applause. "You've made me the happiest woman in the world."

The pair celebrated the news and popped the bottle of champagne the hotel gifted to them for their mock proposal.

“Are we celebrating ladies?” A young man sauntered to the table, he smiled at Elle, but when his attention turned to Marie, he froze for a moment, his next cheesy word caught on his tongue.

Marie smirked, letting her tongue play on the rim of her glass before she sipped her drink. The man was tall, built strong, and she had to press her lips tight together to temper the urge to latch onto his neck and nibble him. She quickly looked away and downed the rest of her bubbly. The man was younger than her, by at least a few years. The age of messy hook ups and situationships. She might want a bit of fun for the night, but not some lovesick puppy following her around for the next couple of months.

“She just said yes to me.” Marie pressed a kiss to Elle’s cheek.

“Said yes to what?” The man grinned, leaning closer so his elbow rested on the table as if he was blocking out the rest of the room.

“What do you think?”

“Unlike the rest of these rich dumbasses, not marriage.” Marie huffed and turned her gaze away. Big mistake. Warmth breath ticked over the side of her neck, hot words whispered in her ear. “There’s no ring.”

A shiver traced her spine, and she caught herself almost leaning into the man. No, Marie. She chided herself. He’d be too much trouble.

She righted herself but her flushed cheeks betrayed her temptation. Then, she noticed a man behind the one who was sitting far too close, yet she couldn’t bring herself to move away.

“Who’s your friend?” She asked, batting her eyelashes.

“He’s Oliver, but more importantly, I’m Jason.” He took her hand and pressed his lips to its back. His fingertips felt rough, and she couldn't help but imagine them roaming over her skin, teasing every curve, finding the spots that’d make her...

“Well, aren’t you a charmer.” She pulled her hand away and gave Elle a look that said she needed help. Her friend was grinning ear to ear and did nothing to stop the pursuit of the puppy.

“You’re thirsty tonight, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?” She whipped on him, palm ready to c***k across his cheek.

Expression full of mirth, he nodded to her empty champagne flute. “You've finished your drink already, why don’t you let me...”

“What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” A body stepped between them, breaking the sizzling eye contact that was burning past her resistance.

Nic’s fists clenched tight at his sides, his chest huffing and puffing. Jason stood to meet him, standing a head taller and making sure Nic felt every inch. “Excuse me, mate. You’re in my way.”

“You’re talking to my girlfriend, and I’m in your way?”

“I think you’ll find this sexy lady is engaged to the lovely woman at her side.”

“What the f**k are you talking about?”

Marie managed to gather her wits by then, the back and forth between the two pissing her off. She stood up, her presence silencing the men. “Nic, you are no longer my boyfriend and never will be again. You’re a cradle snatching perv who needs to grow up.” Glaring at her ex, she grabbed Jason’s hand and planted it on her waist. “Come on, Babe. Let’s go.”

Jason pulled her tight into his side, slipping into the act of her lover in an instant. He smirked at Nic, before leading Marie through the crowd. She quickly whipped out her phone and sent Elle a text.

“Babe, ey?” Jason grinned.

She groaned, almost regretting her decision, but it was worth it to see the look on Nic’s face. “Calm down, boy, we’re just getting out of his sight. Christ, I’m old enough to be your mother.”

It wasn’t true, at all, but the few years she was his senior felt strange in her tummy.

“Then, should I call you Mummy?” Jason purred.

Marie threw back her head and laughed. Maybe one night with a younger man wouldn’t be the worst thing. She could at least let him buy her a drink.