"What was going on in there?" I ask as we walk up to the elevator. I press the down arrow and wait for an answer.
"Oh some of the girls came over to watch the Australian Open. Lily and Nikita are the ones that seem most interested." Rose explains as she steps into the elevator and presses the G button. I step up next to her and leave it at that. The elevator brings us down to the ground floor and we exit. Rose and I make our way to the restaurant that's inside the hotel. I tell that hostess our name and he leads us to our table that close to the back and to the right of the bar.
"So how was your girl's day out?" I ask after both of us have had some time to look at the menu.
"It was really nice. I bought a couple of things here and there," Nikita responds and then immediately takes a sip of water. We stay silent again, pretending to look at the menus. The waiter comes over to us and we order our food. Rose seems to be hungry and on a mission because she ordered almost the most expensive thing on the menu. The 5th Avenue Filet Mignon for $25.00 which includes center cut prime beef simply grilled with pommes anna, sauteed spinach and sauce demi glace. Not that I mind, but she doesn't seem to be sending a message. I order the Thai Coconut Red Curry Chicken which is described as boneless chicken thighs simmered with ginger, garlic, and lemongrass and served with peppers, onions and white rice. Sounds delicious. We both sit in silence, Rose checking her phone every so often.
Unable to stand the silence anymore, "So, are you ready to go back home?"
She looks up from her phone and nods. "Yes, I'm ready. The Oscars are coming up you know."
Right. I have been invited due to the fact that I am a high profiled athlete. Given the fact that Rose is my current girlfriend, she's my plus one. I didn't even ask her to come, it's just anticipated. It's about three weeks away and it slipped my mind to be honest. And she is more than excited to go. So am I.
"I am aware, I think it's going to be a great night." I say with a smile. "Have you been thinking a lot about it?"
"Yes," she replies, "I have a dress fitting the day after tomorrow in New York. I'm going to be staying at The Plaza."
"Oh. Do you want me to go with you, or keep it a surprise?" I ask secretly hoping that she says no.
"No way, I want it to be a surprise." Thank goodness. And with that our waiter comes with our food. I thank him and we both dive into our dinner. We sit their quietly munching and people watching. I notice a lot of other couples are starting to come in. Luckily the security at the restaurant is top notch so we weren't bothered with fans. A few minutes pass by and out of the corner of my eye a catch a familiar face. Nikita's driver. She walks through the lobby and into the elevator. Is she going somewhere tonight? He's just the driver, shouldn't he be waiting by the car? Maybe they have a thing going on. The elevator doors open, he steps in, and then close.
The waiter interrupts my train of thought, "Can I get you any dissert? Wine?"
I shift my focus on Rose and she shakes her head.
"No I think we are done for the night." The waiter turns around and we are let alone once again.
"So," Rose lets out a heavy sigh, "What are you up for tonight?" I can feel her leg stretch out from underneath the table and start to rub the insides of my thigh. Not in the mood.
"Um, to be honest, I think my lunch from today isn't agreeing with me. Do you think we can maybe take a raincheck? I didn't want to cancel plans for dinner tonight though because I wanted to see you." I try to word as nicely as possible to get myself off the hook.
The expression on her faces turns soft and calm, "Oh, of course." She retracts her foot from under the table but reaches her hand to touch mine over the table. "Why don't you head to your room then and hopefully you'll feel better by tomorrow." No I feel bad.
"Oh thanks hunny, let me wait for the check and at least walk you to your room." She nods with a smile and we wait for our check. The waiter finally arrives with the check and I pay in cash. We leave our table and head to the second floor. As we walk down the hall Rose's door to her room open and Nikita steps out with her driver. Lily joins them as well. They continue to walk down the hall and stop to chat with us.
"Oh, how was dinner?" Lily asks aloud looking at me and then over to Rose.
"It was nice, well needed." Rose responds while she wraps an arm around me. "Where are you headed to?"
"We were thinking the movies in the center of town." Nikita says in my direction. "What about you guys?"
"Well I'm not…" I started to say but Rose interrupted.
"My poor baby over here isn't feeling so good, so I'm letting him off the hook and letting him rest." She rubs my back and we both smile.
"Yeah," Nikita eyes me and then continues to Rose, "I'm sure all the alcohol and loud music is getting to your head or stomach." She says with a smirk and then starts to make her way past us.
"Feel better," Lily lets out and follows her. Nikita's driver gives us a nod and follows his boss. They hop on the elevator and disappear. I look back at Rose and just shake my head. We walk over to her room, I give her a quick kiss goodbye and she shuts the door. I take the stairs one more level up to get to my room. I open the door and am greeted by Kyle cooking in the kitchen.
"Oh, that was quick," He says looking up from the stove.
"Yeah, we just had dinner. I wasn't in the mood for anything." I say as I lay the key card on the kitchen island.
"Wasn't in the mood or did a certain someone ruin in it for you?" He asks with a smirk as if knowing that my evening let alone whole trip wasn't going as planned.
"I'm sure you know the answer to that. What are you cooking anyway?" I ask as I take a whiff of air. I can smell peppers and onions being sautéed. I walk over and look in the pan and was right along with mushrooms and tomatoes.
"Some chicken veggie quesadilla. Want some?" He ask as he continues to stir the pot. I can see on the counter the tortillas wraps, shredded mozzarella, and shredded cheddar. Quesadillas are my weakness but I am just to full at the moment.
"No thanks. Smells great though." I respond walking into my room and talking off my shoes. I change quickly into joggers and an oversized shirt. I throw on a pair Nike soaks and get back into the kitchen. Kyle finished cooking his quesadilla and is eating on at the kitchen table.
Throughout the night we catching up on some more football and just chill. The night ends in a blur and the last thing I remember is hitting the soft and comfy bed.
I wake up to the sound of my alarm on my phone. I quickly turn is off and see that it's eight AM. My flight leaves for New York at noon. But everyone knows that you have to get to the airport earlier. I roll out of bed and get dressed out of my joggers and t-shirt and into jeans and a polo. I walk into the bathroom, wash my eyes, brush my teeth and comb back my mess of a hair. I can hear Kyle waking up as well and making a rustle in his room. He comes out of his room and does the same routine that I just did.
"Do you want to make breakfast here or grab it at the airport, or downstairs?" I ask him when he finally finishes up.
"I think I'm just going to grab something at the airport." He responds and clicks on the TV. Ah… CNN. So that's how we finished our night. "I'm going to start packing up now, this way we can leave earlier and eat something."
"Sounds good to me," I respond and head to my room. I make my bed and start to gather my clothes. I grab all my shirts, jeans, and what not out of my drawer, fold them neatly and place them in my bulky black handbag suitcase. I'm a pretty light traveler so packing didn't take much time. I can't say the same thing for someone like Rose. Takes her hours.
Both Kyle and I gather our belongings in the living room and by that time it's already nine thirty. We do our last check in the bathroom, kitchen and living and finally head out the door.
"I called for our ride a while ago so we should be good to go," Kyle says as he presses the elevator button. Rose, Lily and all of the other girls don't have to go to the airport because Victoria's Secret has their own plane that the girls travel on for their big annual show. So hopefully the airport won't be too crazy.
We get down to the lobby and I see a couple of other celebrities that I assume are headed to the airport too. I can recognize Steph Curry and Roger Federer. Both of them were recognized in the show. All of us spot each other and nod. Kyle and I head out of the hotel and get into our car.
Our ride to the airport went smoothly and quickly. We were there within ten minutes. I step out of the car and grab my bag. By standards were starting to recognize Kyle and I so I tell Kyle to hurry up and we enter the airport. We get passed security swiftly and head to a restaurant for breakfast. We sit at the diner bar and order.
"I'll have the veggie omelet and a cup of coffee." I ask the waiter and wait for Kyle to order. He get the "Big-To-Do" which includes French toast, two eggs, and bacon. Our food comes quickly, due to the fact we were the only people there, and we inhale it as fast as if came to our table.
We pay our bill and head to Gate 11A to New York JFK International airport. I check my watch and see that it's a quarter to twelve. If the schedule goes as planned, only a little bit until I board the plane and am back in New York and back to what my life used to be. Football and Rose.
