Chapter Nine
After dining at The Nice Guy, Kells took Anton and I to Warwick for more drinks and for some much-needed dancing, a great stress reliever, and one that was necessary after the afternoon I had.
The décor at the lounge was rustic meets modern chichi. A lot of wood, brown leather seats, with chandeliers that reminded me of the Medieval era. There were secured lounges that were designed in striped black and white for more privacy, but overall, it rendered a cozy flair of old Hollywood ambiance. It was elegant, and the kind of atmosphere I welcomed with opened arms.
With Kells’ connections, we darted past the line outside. And the moment we sat down at our reserved seating, Anton couldn’t help bursting into hysterics when he found out what Kells and I had been up to.
He held up both of his hands, cursing before directing us a cutting look. “I swear to Jaweh, God, and Allah. If either of you do some shit like that again, I’ll never forgive you. I’m not going to lose my virginity with some bullshit like that. I’m gay, but notthatgay.”
Kells rolled her eyes, giggling. “Allah? First of all, you ain’t a Muslim, nor are you a Christian. And as for being a Jew, you’re not even a real Jew. Heck, you’re not even religious. You once said that you’re Buddhist deep in your heart, so none of that counts.”
“Whatever, I was born a Jew; I guess that counts for something,” he muttered before giddily clapping when our large bucket of selected drink arrived, along with some appetizers.
“Belvedere shots!” Plucking the bottle, I immediately twisted it open before lining up three shot glasses then carefully pouring the drink all the way to the rim. Handing them one of each, I then raised the miniscule glass, beaming. “Here’s to love and friendship, and to butts that don’t crack.”
Kells choked on her drink while I annihilated mine with one swift gulp.
“I love you guys,” Kells coughed out in amusement before she handed me her shot glass, ready for the next one.
“Holy shit balls on fire, it’s my Viking!” Anton shrieked as he held his chest, mouth agape. “Oh, my gawd, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die tonight.”
“WhatViking?”
Who? What? Where? There was only one Viking for him, and that man wasn’t in Los Angeles. He had to be mistaken.
“It’s him! It’s fucking him!” He reached to touch Kells and I before he dug his fingers into our skin, too engrossed as he honed his eyes with laser-like focus across the room with his mouth hanging ajar. “I can’t breathe. I think I need an ambulance.”
“Shut up. You always say that when you have diarrhea.” Kells smirked at Anton, sending him a look that assured him that he seemed less than nothing but a crazed fan.
“Look!” he hissed while hyperventilating. The guy was seriously having breathing problems.
Kells and I both glanced toward where he pointed. A few tables down, there was a man who could alarmingly be River’s doppelganger. But it couldn’t be him because he was out on location across the Atlantic Ocean. There was no way this man was him. It was a false alarm, but I couldn’t very well tell him that. Then I would have to explain myself.
“Jesus, itreallyis River Ellis,” Kells sighed, green eyes glued at the table where his doppelganger was located. There were about ten of them, six men and four women. Scratch that, four delicately-clad hot women.
“He’s so—” Anton choked up, looking close to tears. “He’s so fucking perfect.”
Drawing my eyes away from the group, I quickly glanced back toward my friends, who seemed too dumbfounded to do anything but stare.
“It’s probably not him. For all we know, there’s, like, a bunch of River Ellis look-alike. This is tinseltown, after all.” Shrugging, I happily busied myself with another round of drinks. This time, I was all for a dirty martini. “Drinks anyone?” I asked, but it was like they didn’t hear me.
Anton made a strangled sound. “Our eyes connected. Oh, my God, I felt a jolt of electricity.”
I quickly glanced at my dear friend, wondering if he really needed an ambulance because his behavior was unprecedented. Was the man about to pass out?
Good God, if he knew the truth, he wouldn’t speak to me for a month.
Kells looked stricken as she dragged her eyes away. Dipping her head close to us, she then whispered, “He got up … If he comes over here and turns out to be gay, there’s something really wrong with this world. All hot guys seem to be gay these days.”
Who was coming over? My heart stopped working at that point. Oh, fuck … OH, HOLY FUCK.
Now it was me in panic mode. Much to my horror, the doppelganger really was heading our way. And the closer he got, the more my heart thumped harder against my chest. I felt hot and cold all over, my ears rung, and everything seemed to be out of focus. It was my turn to hyperventilate.
Hysteria seized me so much so that I almost choked on my own saliva. And when the man in question finally stood before our table, I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
“Hello, Cara.”
There was no mistaking, it was him. No man on earth had a voice like his. I would know it anywhere. It was the sound that haunted my dreams. But it was also the echo of happiness, the light that brought in beauty into my sordid, ugly-filled world. River Ellis.