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  For her own ensemble, she had also decided on one of her new gifts – a vintage-looking black dress patterned with a print of the tiniest red roses. She paired it with her usual black tights and pumps, though she packed a pair of flats in her purse for when her heeled feet would inevitably give up on walking. Aside from a coat or two of mascara, her only attempt at makeup was bright red lipstick that she had purchased with Casey at MAC.

  “So have you been to this place before?” Amanda asked as she seated herself in the backseat of the luxury SUV that Ian at called for.

  “A couple times a few years ago, but I don’t remember a thing. All I know is that I definitely had a good time,” Ian grinned devilishly, toying with the settings on his video camera. Amanda noted that he looked actually handsome instead of just cute with his hair for once out of his face.

  “How do you know you had fun if you don’t remember anything?” she asked curiously.

  He bit his lip back. “Because I always woke up next to a girl in the morning.”

  “Oh.”

  “You can’t not get lucky at a place like Roué, basically. Something always happens there, it’s just one of those places.”

  “So that’s why you were so excited that you actually did your hair,” Amanda teased.

  “Partially, but I’m also going to a party full of huge celebrities, so that’s kind of exciting too.”

  “Right.”

  Ian laughed, sighing happily. “Thank you again for inviting me, Pretty,” he said. “And also, you look very pretty.”

  “No problem and thank you.”

  “You would’ve definitely gotten lucky tonight if you weren’t Liam’s girlfriend.”

  Amanda snorted. “Shut up!”

  Ian grinned wide and shrugged. “Just telling the truth,” he said as the car pulled up to a sidewalk. Amanda didn’t have to look for a sign to figure out that they had arrived at Roué. The entire block was packed – almost comically so – and despite the freezing temperature, there were three lingerie-clad beauties at the door with clipboards and headsets. One was likely a man. The trio did their best to admit and deny entrance to the stylish crowd, and despite the chaos, everyone seemed to be all smiles. Amanda could practically feel their energy permeating through the car. Suddenly it wasn’t so hard to believe Ian’s words – that something always happened at Roué.

  Ian looked out the window and then back at Amanda with a hint of concern. “Are… you ready for this?” he asked.

  She cocked her head. “Actually,” she smiled. “I think I am.”

  - Chapter 7 -

  In case the negligee-clad bouncers didn’t get the rowdy message across, Roué greeted all guests of Jaime’s party with a massive shot of bourbon presented by a dancer swinging from the ceiling. She literally hung around until the shots were finished so she could collect the empty glasses.

  “Yeah… tonight’ll be good,” Ian laughed, wiping his mouth with his leather sleeve and draping a free arm around Amanda’s shoulders. She could feel the burn of the bourbon in her throat turning into a nice, warm buzz in her chest.

  Together, they ventured into the main room, which boasted white marble balconies on its walls and vintage iron chandeliers from the ceiling. On stage, a group of half-dressed acrobats flipped, contorted and stacked themselves atop one another, forming together a rather vulgar totem pole of the oddest shapes and most suggestive positions. Amanda’s eyes widened, unable to pry her eyes from the bizarre scene, even as she felt someone tugging on her arm. She stared as the next act took the stage, trying to predict what the woman dressed in balloons would do.

  “I apologize on her behalf,” she heard Ian joke. “I think it’s her first time seeing this kind of thing.”

  “Aw, she’s so funny. Such a doll.” The girly voice next to her belonged to Casey, and so did the hands still gripping her forearm. Finally, Amanda forced her eyes away from the stage.

  “Hey, sorry!” she smiled wide, leaning into Casey’s pouting lips for a kiss on the cheek. She silently congratulated herself for completing the normal social exchange, which was necessary considering the amount of party guests curiously watching them as they filed in. They expected to see a friendship in full bloom, and that was precisely what Amanda needed to convey. “You look great!” she said, gesturing at Casey’s dress and even plucking at its suede fabric. It gave full coverage but was tight and red and showed off a surprisingly curvaceous body. Casey smiled and shrugged, carefree.

  “I said ‘screw modesty’ tonight. No one’s modest in this place anyway.”

  “Yes, I’m discovering this as we go.”

  Casey giggled as she downed the rest of her drink, obviously tipsy. “Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t give you a heads up about the naked acrobats and everything, I just kind of wanted to see your reaction, which was priceless. I wish you saw it. At least he saw it,” she said, pointing to Ian, who looked stupefied by her. He laughed.

  “I’m Ian, by the way,” he managed, holding out a hand for her to shake.

  “Ian,” Casey repeated, giving him the onceover as she bit the edge of her empty martini glass. “Casey,” she finally said, shaking his hand and for some reason peering suspiciously over her shoulder at Amanda. “Well,” she declared, plunking her empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter. “Amanda, Ian. Why don’t we go upstairs and say ‘hello’ to the birthday girl?”

  She led the way towards a roped off stairwell and up a flight of marble steps, holding on tight to the railing. Behind her, Ian and Amanda kept their arms outstretched, ready to catch her in case she fell. They looked at each other as they did so, exchanging silent laughter.

  Upstairs was yet another roped off area, which the bouncer opened up upon spotting Casey. It was just as crowded, but Amanda quickly spotted Liam’s friend Ben because of his playfully worn top hat. Next to him of course was Jaime, who donned a corset push-up dress and a thin gold headband just above her dark bangs. Despite the hordes of friends surrounding her, she immediately noticed Casey and Amanda.

  “Hello, hello, loves!” she shouted, happily waving them over and scooting around to provide room for them in the booth. When they reached her however, she gave a big, exaggerated frown. “Oh boo, Amanda, you didn’t bring Liam! Ben totally invited him!”

  “Oh!” Amanda laughed nervously as each one of Jaime’s mannequin-like guests turned to face her. “Well, he’s uh, prepping for an audition so he couldn’t come… but he says to have a wonderful birthday,” she offered. She could tell from Ben’s expression that he knew she was lying, but he smiled gratefully anyway. Jaime cooed.

  “So sweet of him! Well, maybe he’ll show later.”

  “Uh… maybe!” Amanda said brightly. But probably not, she thought with an inward laugh. Casey glanced at her, shooting her the same suspicious smirk she’d given her downstairs. “What?” Amanda mouthed curiously. Casey leaned in close to whisper as she nodded towards Ian.

  “That’s your boy toy, isn’t it?”

  Amanda promptly jerked away. “No!”

  “It’s okay, doll, I’d be proud of you.”

  “But… no. No. He is not, Casey. Ew. He’s like a brother to me,” Amanda clarified while silently finding her own statement hilarious. She was telling the truth, though the truth was also that she had known Ian for less than a month and Casey for less than a week. And yet somehow, Ian was already hands-down her closest friend at the moment. She had certainly experienced more in three weeks with him than she had in eleven years with Megan. The recent course of events in her life had made time feel suddenly irrelevant. After all, she was already on good enough terms with Casey Mulreed that it felt okay to practically yell at her, which was pretty much what she had just done for assuming her affair with Ian. Casey was unfazed as usual.

  “Well, I don’t know,” she giggled. “He looks like the perfect guy for that kind of thing.”

  “Uh, maybe, I wouldn’t know,” Amanda laughed. “I just… I’d never cheat on Liam,” she said with co
nviction, almost solely to entertain herself. As she held back a laugh, Casey put a hand on her heart.

  “Aw, that’s really good of you, actually. I’m happy for you guys,” she said. Though not long after the conversation ended, Amanda realized Casey was probably more so happy for herself.

  “Too funny,” Jaime cackled, nudging Amanda to laugh with her as they watched Ian and Casey murmur to one another across the table, Casey giggling as she recorded a video on Ian’s camera. Apparently, the eyes they had been exchanging since being introduced weren’t in Amanda’s mind after all. It was an amusing sight to see considering how speechless Ian had been upon meeting Megan. Amanda would have never guessed him to be capable of flirting so smoothly with a celebrity actress. But then again, unlike Megan, he had seen Casey many times before meeting her, so the shock factor was gone. He was simply excellent at adapting to his environment and acting as if he belonged there. And of course, he’d downed at least six drinks at this point. As she finished her own cocktail – her third – Amanda let herself laugh heartily with Jaime, covering her eyes and shaking her head.

  “They are so boning tonight,” Jaime whispered, squeezing her arm delightedly. Amanda wrinkled her nose and laughed, opening her mouth to respond but getting interrupted by the reedy voice of the emcee downstairs. Everyone turned their heads to look over the balcony and onto the stage.

  “I’m sorry, but is it getting hot in here?” he asked with feigned innocence, fanning his studded leather vest. “Well, too bad, because it’s about to get hotter. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a nice and warm welcome to Miss Lavinia.”

  The crowd applauded as a sultry brunette took the stage, dressed in just tassel pasties and a red sarong, carrying in her hands two long metal chains with balls of rope at the ends.

  “What are those?” Amanda wondered aloud, though before anyone could answer, the emcee set her ropes on fire, the ends blazing bright with white-yellow flames. Amanda watched as Miss Lavinia brought the ends of the ropes together, forming one large fireball before whipping them apart and spinning them in circles behind her back, close to grazing her own skin. The crowd clapped tepidly, waiting for more. She didn’t disappoint, pulling the ropes forward and whipping them like nunchucks into figure eights. The fire drew glowing pictures in the air as she danced, winning over her audience with each risky maneuver.

  On the wing of the stage, the emcee gestured out at the audience. “Anyone feeling dumb enough to join Miss Lavinia up here?” he asked. The crowd fell silent. “Oh come on! I know someone’s gotta be drunk enough!”

  Amanda snorted. “There aren’t enough drinks in the world to get me to go near that,” she said, watching as someone volunteered only to back out within seconds. Jaime and Ben hooted as the emcee continued pleading with the crowd, desperately appealing for a participant.

  “I need to see this up close,” Casey decided, taking Jaime and Amanda’s hands while nodding at Ian to follow. The four headed downstairs and navigated through the eagerly parting crowd to the front of the stage. Once they reached it, Casey surprised the room by promptly raising her hand and shouting out, “Over here! We got a volunteer!” She put her hands on Amanda’s shoulders and guided her forward. Jaime clapped her hands and jumped up and down.

  “Oh, no, no, no!”

  “For Jaime’s birthday!” Casey insisted.

  The crowd hooted and hollered and chanted encouragement as Amanda resisted. While waiting, Lavinia swung her ropes into such large rings that the flames nearly skimmed the ground.

  “No, no, no, please, Casey, I’m actually terrified!” Amanda squeaked. She wasn’t sure what scared her more – the fire or being the center of attention in a room of three hundred people. Casey giggled, thoroughly amused.

  “You’re so cute! I swear it’s fun, doll, you’re going to thank me,” she said. “Ian, help me get her up.”

  “Ian,” Amanda started warningly, though she knew her tone was in vain. He was too drunk and lustful to oppose Casey.

  “Don’t worry,” he said with a chuckle. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

  “We promise,” Casey added, no doubt delighting Ian with the use of the word “we.” And with that, he placed his hands on Amanda’s waist and hoisted her up on the stage. Amanda caught herself as her knees actually buckled upon standing. The warmth of the flames tickled her eyes and made them water. Her face burned with embarrassment and the proximity to fire, but mostly embarrassment. Despite that, she made sure to try and laugh it off – she couldn’t think of a quicker way to make things awkward for everyone than looking as terrified and self-conscious as she felt.

  As Casey prompted a chant of her name from the crowd, Lavinia moved the ropes slowly and sensually, dancing in circles around Amanda. As she and her flames moved closer to her body, Lavinia took Amanda’s hands and placed them above her head. Off her quizzical look, Lavinia whispered with a wink, “So I don’t burn you.”

  Oh, awesome. Panicking slightly, Amanda held her arms over her head as the fire started to whip with increased speed around her. She could see Casey and Jaime whooping with delight while imitating her, sashaying around Ian and his rolling camera like belly dancers. Only then did she realize what a sensual pose she was standing in, and that Lavinia wasn’t remotely afraid of burning her at all – she had purposefully positioned her that way to titillate the crowd. Amanda blushed hard but managed a somewhat real laugh. It was amusing to think of herself as remotely sexy, and certainly good to know that the person whipping fire at her actually knew what she was doing. Okay, this isn’t the worst, she told herself. I can do this. Knowing she was no dancer, Amanda decided to give a silly twitch of the hips, just to let the crowd know that she wasn’t on the verge of passing out anymore. They responded with vociferous cheers that grew louder as she began to smile and warm to the fire. It illuminated her and made her feel actually quite enchanting, its light brightening her auburn hair to a pretty red. But the very moment she began to feel comfortable, she spotted a familiar face in the crowd, wearing a crisp white shirt and a black skinny tie. Oh no. No way.

  He, of course, was watching her intently with the rest of them – even leaning over to say something about her to a friend. She knew she was the topic of his conversation because he didn’t avert his gaze as he spoke. And neither did she from him, which of course meant that they were locking eyes. In front of hundreds of strangers. Her arms clasped above her head, encircled by white flames, she and Dylan Hardy were absolutely gaping at one another. Amanda felt her stabilized heartbeat pound again. But before she could revert back to full panic mode, Dylan smiled at her, even raising his brows and giving her an encouraging nod that said, “You’re doing great!” Amanda couldn’t help her girlish smile.

  And suddenly, the fire dance was over. Lavinia stepped away from Amanda to close out her performance by weaving the fire through her legs and then dropping dramatically to her knees. And just as quickly as she had spotted him, Amanda lost Dylan in the crowd.

  ~

  “Oh my God, but it’s three-thirty. You’re not tired? I’m totally done.” Casey held onto Ian’s shoulder to relieve her heeled feet. She cocked her head at Amanda with amusement. “Who would’ve thought you’d outlast everyone?”

  Amanda tried to laugh it off as she retrieved her jacket from the coat check. “I mean, I don’t know. I figured we’d just stay till closing,” she said with a smile and a shrug, though the truth was that she was exhausted. It had been a mad rush after her fire dance cameo – of having drinks thrust into her hands, being introduced to Casey and Jaime’s other friends, chatting with people who wanted to meet her. It left no time for her to scan the crowd for Dylan or even enlist Ian’s help in finding him and assisting in a staged run-in – not that he would be useful in his utterly drunk and high state.

  “Everyone’s leaving now,” Ian pointed out flatly, appearing exhausted. His eyes were barely open, but his observation was correct. The crowd was waning and Dylan Hardy had probably left already an
yway. Amanda’s shoulders slumped.

  “Okay, you’re right. It’s late,” she conceded. It wasn’t as if she had any sort of plan for if or when she bumped into Dylan. And she was absolutely drunk from all the champagne that had been shoved into her hands anyway, so it was probably best to avoid an encounter.

  Along with Jaime, Ben, and a few others, the three exited through the heavy steel backdoor, though of course only to be greeted by a pair of photographers.

  “Nice fire dance – you looked hot up there!” one called out to Amanda, holding up a YouTube video of her stage appearance on his iPhone. She wanted to laugh at his compliment but was too in awe of the fact that footage had already been uploaded online. She let herself take a closer look at his phone – of course, it had been uploaded by the user FilmFreak. And in three hours, the video had garnered almost five thousand views. Ian had probably blogged and tweeted about it. Knowing that, she felt suddenly compelled to check her phone, which she had neglected all night. As usual, texts from old friends, classmates and neighbors flooded her inbox, but she only checked Liam’s. Hot stuff, it said simply. Amanda snorted, instinctively reading it with his sarcasm.

  “I need some shawarma in my stomach before I go home,” Ian announced in a gravelly voice, walking next to Casey in zig-zags. He was in the heavily intoxicated state that Amanda had only witnessed the after effects of. Ian drunk, she noticed, was far less bright and jovial than Ian sober. In fact, he was sad, even moody. While Casey, Jaime, Ben and others started hailing cabs to go home, Amanda opted to follow Ian to Orchard Street and join him in his late night bite. She was feeling the odd but somewhat familiar compulsion to stick with him while he was drunk, convinced that for some reason or another, he was better off with company.