Painful Pleasures

the party

CHAPTER 8

Gretchen and I are seated at the restaurant when the waiter brings my burger and chips with coke and her chicken wings with barbecue sauce.

"Chicken wings huh." I say as she takes a bite then dramatically rolls her eyes in ecstasy.

"I'm a meat and spice kinda girl." She says and I laugh.

"So...I didn't see you when I came back this morning. Where were you?" She asks with a suspicious raise of her brow and I immediately have a quick flashback of everything.

Waking up.

Ethan.

Seeing Jay.

Ethan again....

Going to his penthouse...

With Ethan.

Coming back...

With Ethan.

Great. Every aspect of today had him in it, even the part of me buying a lamp shade.

Gretchen wiggles her eyebrows at me and I know it's time to spill...I'd shut her out enough.

"Remember that guy that brought me home when I was drunk?" I ask and she nods slowly.

"Well..."

I tell her everything, from the voicemail to the club incident, to meeting him at Splitz, to him coming to the room last night, to bumping into Jay at Walmart, to the punch Ethan had given him, to the Penthouse.

When I'm done.... Gretchen's jaw is hanging open.

"Where do I start? Oh my God, April. First of all I am so sorry that bastard, Jay had sent that to you on voicemail. Then secondly, he was in the room? That sounds thrilling and exciting and scary all at once. But it's great cuz he gave Jay a nutcracker in the face and then he brought you back!"

I can't stop laughing at how her expression changed from sadness, to surprise, to giddiness and awe.

She suddenly puts her hand to her chest dramatically,

"I can't believe you were hiding this from me."

"More like hiding it from myself. I don't know, there is just too much drama going on that I'm trying to avoid." I say and she rolls her eyes.

"April, you can't avoid drama. The more you avoid it, the more it finds you. Example this Griffin guy you keep speaking of."

"Griphen."

"Huh?"

"His name. Its Ethan Griphen. Its okay, I made the same mistake."

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. As in G-R-I-P-H-E-N?"

"Yup." I say and finish my burger.

"As in Griphen & Griphen company limited."

I swallow. What is she talking about?

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I say, picking my fries.

"April. Griphen & Griphen is the company here that's operates in everything and anything computer and software based. I hear it's a family business, you know. Its been around here for ages."

I chew on another fry... I have no idea where she is going with this.

"So?" I ask

"SO??!" She nearly screeches.

"These people have created tons of apps of recent. Then it was only based on computer software programmes that channel easy communication and the rest. But they make tons of applications now in combination with the software thingy. They're a major hit in this part of California."

Well, that explains the Penthouse.

"Wow." Is all I say. I never knew Ethan was a hit...and I didn't want to care, no matter how bad I already did. Its not like we are gonna see each other again.

There is no reason to see.

I'm not even sure we're friends...or acquaintances even.

"I can't believe you were in the same room with him, on the same bed! Its a great deal to just meet this people. I never knew that guy was him and that's the thing. No one ever knows who they really are, just that their business is way over the top."

Gretchen is still excited and I finish my fries, smiling at her new burst of energy compared to her sad face an hour ago.

"Don't get overwhelmed, Gretchen. I'd probably never see him again."

"Don't forget about what I said about avoiding drama." She says wagging a finger at me.

"Anyway, I got invited to another party and I'd really like it if you could come with me this time." She says and I shake my head immediately...even though it's been ages since I went out.

"Pleeeeaaseee, April. Its really important that I'm there for the person who invited me."

"The same person?" I probe and she doesn't do well to hide her blush but nods.

"Then go. You don't need me to be the third wheel."

"I swear, it'll be nothing like that! You're my roommate and I want to spend more time with you apart from the room. Or when either of us are in pain."

She says and I laugh.

"I've got to finish my project and--"

"School, school and more school. Its all you've been doing. Come on! Just you and me and a party...I promise we'll leave when you want." She says and I begin to consider.

I had been the one complaining that I had barely gone out. Plus I'll still have time to complete it tomorrow.

"Fine. I'll come." I say and she does a small victory dance.

"Finally, I get to put make up on you."

She squeals and I laugh again.

***

"Gretchen, I can feel my face weighing a ton." I whine.

"You're overreacting." She says as she completes putting my eye liner.

"Are we done yet?" I ask and she laughs as she puts a coat of mascara on my lashes. Gretchen tampers with my eyes for a few more minutes before putting lipstick on me.

"You've got great eyebrows so I didn't touch em and.....Tada!" She exclaims and finally moves away.

"Oh....my.....God." I whisper as I stare at my face. I dont recognize the cat like sparkling eyes that are staring back at me. My lips are coloured nude and when I turn to Gretchen, she is giggling.

After 15 minutes of debating why I shouldn't wear her blue gown, I finally slip it on and she forces me to leave my hair down.

"Trust me. Its beautiful." She had said over and over again. I slip into my only pair of sandal heels and we leave.

When we get to the house were the party is, a brown haired guy with blue eyes comes over and pecks her on the cheek.

"This is my roommate, April!" She shouts over the music and he shakes my hand while I smile at him.

"This is Jeffery."

He has a piercing on his lip and two on the ear.

"Nice to meet you!" He yells and I nod. After he leads us inside and hands us drinks in plastic red cups, Gretchen pulls me to the dancefloor.

"Loosen up! Come on!" She yells and starts dancing. I finish my drink and join her, suddenly in the mood.

We dance and take more drinks and dance I actually feel more relaxed as we dance with each other.

"This is fun!" I yell and she nods, smiling. Suddenly my phone buzzes and I pull it out.

Mum.

I stare at it for a moment. Jay had taken what he wanted so why was she calling? Taking a deep breath, I finish my drink and leave the building completely as I pick the call.

"April dear."

"Mother." I say.

"I've been trying to reach you for weeks. Why haven't you been picking your calls?"

"I lost my phone." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Did in you get another phone? Do you need money dear?"

"No, mum. Why are you calling?"

I hear her sigh through the phone and I brace myself.

"I heard about Jay and Ginger. Honey, don't you think that you're maybe overreacting?"

Ofcourse. Classic mother.

"Overreacting?!"

"They both love you." She persuades.

"And love themselves apparently."

"Ginger just got caught up. You know school has been tough on her, and Jay happened to be there."

"Ofcourse! Its always about Ginger isn't it?! Go ahead and make excuses for her like you always do! Ginger needed comfort from my ex boyfriend, because school is pretty easy for me right?!" I scream, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

"There you go again. Overreacting. How are you going to patch things up with Jay in that attitude?"

"We are not patching things up, mother." I say slowly, trying not to smash my phone into bits.

"Not after you got someone to pummel him like that. He's ready to forgive you for that."

"Forgive ME?!" I screech, ignoring the way my voice is drawing stares.

"It's the best. You two get back together and Ginger won't do carry on with him."

Her words slice through me like a knife.

"Carry on? Carry on?! How long had it been carrying on?!"

"April, listen--"

"You knew about this?" I ask in a quiet voice, shock seizing my voice immediately.

"April--"

I cut the call and stare at the phone.

She knew.

My mother knew.

I want to cry but I can't....For the life of me, I can't.

I look back at the party going on and contemplate. I could go back to the dorm and scream, or I could get wasted.

I walk back into the house and head for the table where the drinks are.

***

What time is it?

Shaking my head, I stagger out of the house, ignoring the spinning blurr of people.

Where is Ethan?

He always rescues me when I'm in trouble.

I giggle at the irony of him not being around when I need his help.

"Taxi!" I yell stretching out my hand and the car stops.

"Take me to Ethan's house." I slur, grabbing his car for support.

"Where is it, ma'am?"

"Where Ethan lives."

"You've got to be more specific than that."

"Okay, take me to Ethan's penthouse." I say and giggle when he shakes his head.

How much more specific can you get after saying penthouse?

"Still not specific."

"You've got a silly hat." I say, giggling at his brown hat.

"I'm gonna go now." He says and drives away.

"Oh, screw you! My sister is good at that by the way! And I promise, my mum won't tell!" I yell at the speeding car.

Ethan EthanEthan.

We need to talk.

I pull out my phone and scroll through it. The blurr of words on my phone are mashed together, but I see his name.

Silly. You can't hide from me.

Giggling, I call it.

"April?" His voice sounds rushed and I giggle.

"Did you save your number in my phone? Silly. I found it." I say and laugh.

"Oh God. You're drunk."

"Or I'm having a great time!" I yell.

"Where are you?"

"At the party." I slur, giggling that he would ask that.

Where else would I be?

"What party?"

"The party here."

"Where is here?"

"The party at the house silly!" I say and suddenly some guy walks over to me.

"Hey! Can you take me to Ethan's house?" I ask and he smiles and nods.

"Sure." He says

"Really?!" I squeel

"April! Who is that?" Ethan asks.

"Some guy that wants to help."

"No, no! Don't talk to anybody. Wait there! I'm coming."

"Don't worry silly, he'll take me to your house in no time."

"April--" and I cut the call and turn to the smiling guy with dyed blue hair.

"Let's go." I say and he holds my hand and starts leading me.

Ethan's POV

"April! April!" I yell into my phone but the call is over.

"Dammit!" And Trevor rushes in from the kitchen.

"What's going on?" He asks but I'm already heading for the door with keys in hand.

"I've got to find April, she's drunk with some perv. She could be in trouble."

"She is drunk? When I saw her at the party, she looked pretty good to me."

I spin around to face him.

"You saw her? When, today? Where is the party?"

"Ethan, calm down. She was with a girl and they were dancing and drinking. She looked great."

"You're taking me there, now. Let's go." I practically drag him out and we head for the elevator. Once we're in the car, I speed off, following Trevor's directions.

"There it is!" He says and points at a white two storey building. Turning off the car, we both run out.

"I'll check around the house, you check inside." I say and he runs in, disappearing into the crowd of people.

"April!" I yell, heading behind the building.

Nothing.

I turn the corner, about to yell her name again when I hear,

"This isn't Ethan's house."

"It is now."

I jog farther into the brushes behind and the voices become clearer.

"No, it's not silly. Ethan's house is huge and black."

"Shh.."

"Wait. What are you doing? Stop."

Panic rises in my gut as I turn in circles, forcing my head to think.

Listen...

"No. Stop. Get your hands off me." Her whining is weak and anger surges in me when I turn towards the rustling and see her hair.

Some i***t is pulling down the sleeve of her dress as she shakes with little effort.

"Hey!" I yell and grab him by the neck.

"What the f**k, dude." His voice is strained as he struggles against my grip then I jam him against the tree trunk.

"You keep your filthy hands to yourself." I say and let him go. Then just as he starts coughing and sputtering, I connect my fist with his jaw and knock him out cold.

"Ethan?" April asks as she gets up than staggers and I hold her.

"Dammit, April. Are you okay?" I ask as she leans on me and then her warmth envelops me. I pick her bridal style and carry her to the car when Trevor runs out of the building.

"Great. You found her!" He says and opens the door. I hold her close and stay in the backseat with her as Trevor drives us home.

"People get a kick out of deceiving me." She murmurs, clutching me like a life line.

"Shh. Just sleep." I say and she looks up at me. I notice she has make up on..emphasizing her green eyes.

And that dress... thigh high and low at the neck. Too low.

I gulp as I stare at her cleavage, rising and falling.

She looked like she was dressed to kill.

"Don't let go when I fall asleep." She murmurs then plants her head on my chest and pulls me closer.

I suppress a groan and roll my eyes at Trevor's expression.

"Don't let go, Ethan." He says and I look out the window...knowing I won't have the guts to even think about letting her go in bed.

God, what sort of woman is she?