Aziza stared wide-eyed at Greg, her mouth slightly open. This was not how she expected to wake up.
What were they doing in the same room? He was in a white hotel robe and she was still in bed with the covers, her only barrier, up to her neck.
“Um, so…I know how this looks…” he began, before pacing back and forth by the end of the bed. He paused suddenly, looked at her again, and continued, “Why don’t I step into the other room so you can get yourself together. We’ll talk when you’re done.”
Aziza watched him quickly leave the room, loudly closing the door behind him. She let out her breath as she squeezed the covers tighter to her chest.
“What’s going on,” she whispered harshly to herself.
She sat there for a few more minutes, forcing herself to breathe in and out with controlled slow and measured breathing. She couldn’t afford to lose it right now; freaking out wasn’t going to help her get to the bottom of what happened. Though looking around the room, anyone with half a brain could explain what happened.
“No, this can't be…this can't be…” she murmured, shaking her head and instantly regretting it. How much did she have to drink last night? Her mind was too foggy to remember.
With the covers still wrapped around her, Aziza took one last deep breath and climbed out of bed, slowly and stiffly. More evidence of what happened last night. Yet, her memories were way too fuzzy for her to recall anything specific. All she could remember was the events and reason that led up to her coming on this college road trip with her friends.
“This is all Lacy's fault,” she whimpered, searching for her clothes. Lacy was the one who came up with the road trip idea.
Aziza had just broken up with Travis two weeks ago after learning that he had cheated on her with one of his old high school female friends. Since then she had been so depressed that she took to staying in her dorm room, telling all her professors that she was sick so they would allow her to complete the work online.
Going on a road trip during spring break was Lacy’s idea of helping her move on. Lacy had invited their other roommate, Jessica, and three guy friends, one of which happened to be Greg.
Greg was Aziza’s close friend and study buddy, so he knew everything that happened to her. Which may be why she could remember him trying so hard to cheer her up during the car ride to Vegas. At some point, they all must have been drinking, and…
Aziza shook her head again to clear her mind, only to be met with excruciating pain.
“This is the last time I drink at all,” she murmured to herself as she searched around for her clothes, while holding her head with her right hand.
She quickly started getting dressed, when a bright glare shined in her face. Pausing, she looked down at her hands and gasped. On her left hand was a beautiful, white gold, princess cut diamond ring.
“What is going on!” she yelled, as she plopped down on the edge of the bed.
Covering her mouth, Aziza glanced at the bedroom door, before gawking back at the ring. It was beautiful to say the least, with its rose gold floral pattern on either side of the diamond and smaller diamonds in the middle of the flowers. There was a thinner white gold ring with a row of diamonds, which melded perfectly with the larger flower designed ring.
It was a ring that most any woman would want, but why was it on her left ring finger? Aziza didn’t want to admit it, but the signs were all there.
This has got to be a prank, she thought, still gazing at the ring. Come to think about it…the ring doesn’t even look real. It’s probably fake gold and rhinestones.
Nodding her head slowly, she forced herself to look away from the ring and finish getting dressed. She took one last look around the bedroom, then breathed in deeply before making her way into the other room.
Aziza didn’t know what to expect when she walked out of the bedroom, but what she saw was beyond her imagination. The outer room was huge and luxurious. The sunlight poured into the room from the wall of glass windows on her left, which stretched from ceiling to floor. It blended with the pristine white decor, giving the room a clean and elegant look. The room looked more like a living room for a mansion, with light grey sofas and white cushioned chairs and an oval glass table in the middle. The walls were a mix of soft greys and white trims, with two pillars on either side of the room—one next to her and the other directly across on the other side of the sofas. The pillars were made of marble and had a unique grey color pattern in it from top to bottom.
Walking further into the room, her eyes widened and her mouth slightly parted, as she scanned the area. Everything she saw was more magnificent than the previous.
Behind the pillar on the other side of the room, was a bar and kitchenette combo against a black accented wall. In between the bar and pillar was a kitchen-like table, which looked to fit four to five people. On the left side of the kitchenette, there was an entryway to another room, which had a dining table that looked to seat six or more people. There were several small light fixtures embedded in the ceiling, throughout the room—to provide plenty of lighting at night. However, the most impressive part of the whole room were the two white crystal, teardrop chandeliers on either side of the room. One hung over the living room area, while the other hung over the dining room table in the other room.
Finally forcing herself to stop looking at the decor of the room, she trained her attention on her friend. Greg was waiting for her in the seating area, already dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a casual light olive green shirt, which brought out his grey eyes. He stood up and gestured to her to sit in one of the other seats.
How did he get dressed when he didn't even leave the bedroom with his clothes, she thought, her cheeks burning, as she slowly walked over to the seating area.
She sat across from him, fanning her face, as he sat back down. They were silent for several moments, avoiding eye contact. Looking out the glass wall, Aziza saw a huge balcony, which had a porch table and chairs with an umbrella attached to the table. There was even a lounge sofa on the other end of the balcony. Just the sort of relaxing area she would love to curl up in with a good book.
How much does this room cost? How can either one of us afford this room, she thought, her eyes wide as she continued to look around.
“Are you…”
“I guess…” Aziza said, at the same time that Greg began to speak as they made eye contact.
They both hesitantly chuckled, looking away from each other. After a moment of silence, Aziza looked back at Greg and said, “What were you about to say?”
Greg nervously smiled at her before asking, “Are you okay? I figured you might have a headache, and since you don’t drink coffee, I got you some aspirin and a glass of water.”
He got up again, and picked up the glass cup and two pills from the coffee table, still sheepishly smiling as he handed them to her.
Aziza smiled back, nodding her head and blinking rapidly to hold back the tears, as she took the items from him. Whatever happened last night wasn’t Greg’s fault, so she couldn’t get mad at him. On top of everything else, he was owning up to his part, by trying to take care of her, making sure that she was alright.
“I’m glad,” Greg said as he sighed, sitting down again, this time a little closer.
They stared at each other in silence, smiling. As Aziza looked at him, she began to feel a warmth spread up her neck to her cheeks. Chuckling to herself, she had to admit, out of all the people she could have made this mistake with, she was glad it was with Greg. Besides, if she was truly honest with herself, she had always been attracted to him since they met. But that was something she wasn’t able to explore, not when she was with…
Shaking her head as she looked away, ignoring the pain, she took the medicine and chugged down the water. Maybe the meds will help get rid of the fuzziness too, she thought. She placed the glass back on the coffee table, and folded her hands in her lap, looking down at them intently.
It was now or never. They needed to get the conversation over with, set the boundaries, and agree to still remain 'just friends'.
“So, last night happened,” Aziza said, playing with the string hanging from the bottom of her shirt. She still wouldn’t look back at Greg. It was bad enough that he could see her face possibly turning red at the moment.
“Yea, I’m sorry for that,” Greg said. “I never meant to take advantage of you. I normally don’t allow myself to get that drunk, because I know how stupid I can be when I get that way. I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling right now, especially after what happened between you and Travis.”
Aziza stiffened at the sound of Travis’ name. Greg cursed under his breath before he said, “Sorry, I’m supposed to help you forget about him…” his eyes widened and he sat up straighter. Waving his hand, palm out, he added, “Not that what happened last night was my way of doing that! I swear I was not planning anything nefarious!”
Aziza smiled again, this time wider. She didn’t understand it, but he always seemed to speak as though he was from another world, throwing in big words that no one their age would use or even know. His foreign accent just added to that image.
“It’s okay, Greg,” she said, waving his apology off. “You obviously weren’t the only one who got us in this situation. I just wish I hadn’t broken the promise I made to be abstinent until I got married. That’s the thing I regret the most, but I think the shock level is dying down now.”
Of course she wasn’t about to mention the huge ring on her finger. It was just costume jewelry anyway.
“Well, here’s the thing…you didn’t go back on that promise.”
“I’m sorry…what?”
“So, I take it from the scream earlier, that you noticed the ring.”
He just had to bring that up, she thought, as she mentally rolled her eyes.
“Um, yea…like what is this about,” she asked, holding her hand out as if to examine the ring. “What, did we rob a jewelry store last night, and now we’re hiding out cuz we’re on the run?”
“No… look, I know I was pretty drunk last night,” he began, scooting to the edge of the sofa. “but I do vaguely remember buying that for you.”
Aziza arched an eyebrow. “O…k…so, I was joking there, but…I’ll bite. Why would you buy me some costume jewelry?”
Was he laughing?
She didn’t see the amusement in the situation, but at least she got a chance to see Greg smile a little. The tension between them was unbearable and she needed it to break. She needed everything to go back to that comfortable state of them being ‘Just Friends’.
“Well, first off, that ring is very real and very expensive,” he said, cautiously. “Secondly, I bought you a wedding ring. We actually got married last night.”
Aziza shook her head slightly, as she stared at Greg. This was a joke, right?