Part Two: The Tragedy
Streets of Love
Chapter 11: Party Time!
A month passed, and it was already the day before the wedding. Kelly didn't want to get married looking extremely pregnant, and they both just wanted a simple wedding, having both been married before.
"Are you sure? If you want a big wedding, I'll agree to it. I just want it to be everything you want it to be," Matthew had asked her, taking her hands in his, and kissing them.
Kelly smiled, and kissed his hands in return. "I know that, and I appreciate it. I'd rather just keep this one low key though. I've been there, done that with the whole big wedding thing. I'm not really keen on doing it all again. Unless you want one?"
Matthew shook his head. "No. I've never wanted a big wedding. I don't need all the attention. To me, all that matters is that I'm marrying the woman of my dreams, which I am."
Kelly kissed him for that. "I don't want to just elope though. I wouldn't feel married. How about we invite only our closest friends and family, and have something extremely small and low-key?"
Matthew nodded. "I have an idea. How about we rent a yacht, and get married in the middle of the ocean? It will be secluded and private, and far from paparazzi and the media."
Kelly grinned. "I love it! We'll keep it quiet. In fact, let's not even alert the media to our engagement."
"They're gonna see your ring," Matthew noted, nodding at her ring.
Kelly shrugged. "I just won't say anything about it. If I'm asked about it, I'll just say, my best friend gave it to me, and it's my new favorite ring, so I like to wear it a lot. It's not lying."
Matthew grinned. "It might work. Even if the media doesn't buy it, there's no way they will be able to find out when our wedding day is, or where we'll be. We'll just have to work extra hard to keep it quiet."
"And, if we get married soon enough, no one will see it coming," Kelly said with a nod.
"We can get started on the plans right away, and hopefully be married as soon as possible. When should we aim for?" Matthew asked.
"Well, how about next month? Say, early June?" Kelly asked.
Matthew took out his phone, and scrolled through the calendar. "How about we make it June second?" he asked after a moment of searching. "It's the first Saturday in June."
Kelly grinned. "Sounds perfect!"
Matthew put away his phone, and pulled her close. "I can hardly wait to marry you."
She brushed some hair out of his eyes, and smiled. "I can hardly wait to marry you."
They kissed, so happy to actually be making their wedding a reality.
~I walk the streets of love~
It was just about time for Kelly's bachelorette party. She was having her bachelorette part the same night Matthew was having his bachelor party. Then, come the next morning, they would marry. All the arrangements had been made, and all the people had been invited. They decided to invite immediate family only, the cast and crew of Gossip Girl, and then of course, and five a piece of their closest friends. No one was allowed to bring a plus one. They didn't want to be rude, but they didn't want the wedding turning out to be huge either.
Kelly's good friends Marcia and Lisa, as well as Blake, Leighton, Caroline, Taylor, Jessica, Kaylee, and Margaret, who were of course, her fellow female coworkers. Then of course was Stephanie, the show's producer. They were all going to be at her party. She had wanted her mother and sisters to be there, but their flight got delayed, so they, as well as her brother and father wouldn't be able to make it out until really late that night.
"Are you ready to go? You look hot, you Hot Mama!" Lisa said. She was staying with Kelly for the night.
Kelly grinned. "Thanks!" She was wearing a neon pink dress that went to the middle of her thighs. She wore nothing on her freshly waxed legs. On her feet were strappy black heels. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and her nails and lipstick matched her dress. "It's something different, but it's fun. I wanted something fun for tonight."
"Well, you certainly accomplished it! Are you ready to go?" Lisa asked with a grin.
"Let's go!" Kelly said.
And so they left.
"Where are we going again?" Kelly asked.
"I never said. You know it's a surprise!" Lisa said, giving her a stern look, and a shake of her head.
Kelly grinned, and shrugged. "You can't blame a girl for trying!"
~I walk the streets of love~
"Are you ready for your last night of being single?" John, Matthew's oldest brother asked him as he draped an arm over Matthew's shoulder.
Matthew grinned. "Yes! I'm going to get it right this time, my marriage."
"Glad to hear it!" John said, patting him on the back.
"You better make it last! It's a miracle you even found someone else to marry you! Especially someone as hot as Kelly!" Luke, his youngest brother (but still older than him) joked.
Matthew glanced at him. "Haha, you're hilarious!"
Luke grinned. "I know I am."
Matthew rolled his eyes at Luke, then sighed. "I can't believe Mark is choosing to drive down. The punk isn't even going to make it for my party tonight. He could have flown down."
"We're not all as rich as you, you know," Luke teased.
"He has enough money to pay for a flight. He's not poor. Besides, I would have paid for his ticket, even if he were poor," Matthew insisted
"Well, you know Mark. He doesn't like to take handouts—even from family. Besides, I think it was more of his fear of flying," John stated.
Matthew raised an eyebrow. "He's still got a fear of flying? I thought he'd out grown that!"
Luke laughed. "You don't outgrow a fear, Moron."
"Shut up! Some people get over their fears. It happens," Matthew defended himself. "Well, he's going to be having a cow once he tries driving in New York traffic. He should have at least taken the train."
"Have you forgotten our brother is also cheap?" Luke asked.
Matthew sighed. "Well, he better make it in time for the wedding tomorrow."
"He will. That's one good quality about Mark—he' always punctual." John said, draping an arm around both his brothers' shoulders now.
"The only good quality," Luke quipped.
They all laughed.
John then nodded toward the door. "Come on. Let's go. We have a long night ahead of us!" He then walked on ahead of his brothers.
Matthew looked at Luke. "Why do I have a feeling he's up to no good?"
"Because John is always up to no good. But, being his brother, you should know by now never to try to fight him. He always wins," Luke said sympathetically. He shrugged, then quickly followed after John.
Matthew sighed. Luke was right. "Dumb John," he said half bitterly, remembering all the times John had won the arguments between them.
"What was that?" John asked.
"I said, 'Come John!' We don't want to be late," Matthew quickly lied as he ran to catch up with his brothers.
John smirked. "I thought so," he said as they left the apartment.
~I walk the streets of love~
"This is nice. It's a little calmer than what I thought you'd pick out for me, but it's nice!" Kelly said as she and her friends sat in a private room of Per Se.
"We have to eat, right? Trust me. There are plenty more things planned," Marcia said to her.
Lisa nodded. "A lot less tame things."
Stephanie laughed. "I'm looking forward to those things!"
Leighton and Blake looked at each other and smirked.
"What?" Kelly asked with a smile. "What do you have going on?"
"You might not want to know just yet," Margaret told her with a wink.
"Why does that not sound reassuring?" Kelly asked.
"Just relax and enjoy it!" Taylor said. "Let's order some drinks for starters."
"Not for me. I have an important meeting to go to tomorrow that I don't want to be hung over for," Kaylee said.
Taylor rolled her eyes. "Oh please! One drink's not going to make you hungover."
"Or two," Jessica stated.
"Or three," Taylor said with a snort.
Kelly's friends all laughed, well, except for Kaylee, who just shook her head and smiled.
Kelly grinned. She had a feeling is was going to be a wild night, but she was getting married tomorrow. The way she saw it, she had it coming to her.
~I walk the streets of love~
The first place they went to was a new restaurant and bar in one that Matthew had been wanting to try out called Barter and Trade.
"You said you'd been wanting to try it out, so I figured what better time than now? This is just our first stop though, so don't worry. There will be more," Tony, a good friend of his from Brooklyn assured him with a pat on the back.
"Knowing you, I have no doubt!" Matthew said.
His friends Marco and Isabella, who were in a longterm relationship together, as well as his engaged friends, Angelo and Daniella, had come over from Rome for the wedding. Seeing as Isabella and Daniela had never met Kelly before, they didn't feel right going to her bachelorette party, but were back at their hotel, sleeping off their jet lag. However, Marco and Angelo were here, and ready to party!
"The first round of drinks is on me!" Ed said.
"I don't want to be drunk or hungover for my wedding tomorrow. Kelly will kill me," Matthew said.
They all looked at him.
"She sure has you whipped!" Angelo joked.
"Hey, have you seen her? She's hot! If she was my fiancé, she'd have me whipped too!" Marco said.
"I'm sure Daniella and Isabella would both love to here you boys talking like that," Matthew said, not sure how he felt about the way they were talking about Kelly.
"Yeah, well, what they don't know won't hurt them, right?" Angelo asked.
"I'll drink to that!" Marco said.
"First we have to get the drinks. What do you all want?" Tony asked, standing up. "Oh, F it!" he then said before anyone could answer. "I'll get a mixture of everything, and you can pick and choose."
Ed smirked. "I'll go supervise."
"And I'll go supervise Ed," Chase said with a smirk. He followed after Ed.
That left Angelo and Marco to continue to make crude jokes with each other. At least this time they had gotten off the topic of Kelly.
Connor and Penn were yet to arrive, so that just left Matthew and Josh, Gossip Girl's producer to talk to.
"I'm so glad you guys are finally making it happen. Even when you were both married I sensed the chemistry between you too. You two clearly had the hots for each other from day one!" Josh said to him with a gentle, playful elbow to Matthew's ribs.
Matthew grinned. "It was that obvious, huh?"
Josh nodded. "We all took bets on when you guys would hook up. We finally give up on betting, and then you get together. Go figure! What took you so long?"
"I guess we were both just afraid. We didn't want to get together only to break up and be enemies or something," Matthew admitted.
"Well, I'm glad you got over your fear. Some of the strongest marriages are based on a friendship first. I'm really happy for you both. I have faith you guys will last forever," Josh said.
"From your lips to God's ears!" Matthew said. He grinned. "I have faith it will last too. I love her too much for it not too."
"Well, in the words of the Beatles, sometimes, 'love is all you need,'" Josh stated.
"That, I will drink to! Now Where are those punks with the drinks?" Matthew asked.
He and Josh both grinned.
~I walk the streets of love~
Dinner had been great. They had fun joking around, and catching up. They went to a club after that. Kelly had been a little hesitant after what had happened the last time she had gone to a club, but she had only had one drink so far. She wouldn't have any more than one more tonight. She would not let herself become drunk. There was no way she was going to do anything stupid tonight (at least nothing she wasn't fully aware of doing), and she most certainly would not be hungover tomorrow for her wedding—small or not.
"So, are Matthew's siblings' spouses upset about not being invited to the wedding?" Leighton asked on their way to the club.
Kelly shook her head. "They understood we didn't want the wedding to be huge. We explained why we couldn't invite then or his nieces and nephews. It's just, when you invite his huge family plus their spouses and then their children, and in some cases, their children's children, it would get to be way too much."
"Yeah," Leighton agreed.
"We're here! Let's go party!" Lisa said.
Taylor let out a loud whoop of agreement.
"I don't want to stay long. I'm not big on clubs. I'm sorry, I'm just not," Kelly stated.
"Oh, come on! You look far too hot to just be hanging out at home!" Taylor said.
"We won't be long, don't worry," Marcia assured her. "We'll stay an hour tops, and then we are going to continue the party back at your place."
"We were going to do it at the hotel, but since you want to make extra sure the media doesn't get wind of your wedding tomorrow, we decided to make sure it would stay in the privacy of your own home," Stephanie explained.
"That sounds wonderful!" Kelly said, wishing they could go back to her place right then. She had her occasional moments where she liked to party and have fun, but she as getting to that age where a nice relaxing day at home was what she preferred. But, since it was her bachelorette party, she supposed she could handle and hour of dancing.
They all got into the club. Of course Taylor and Lisa headed straight for the bar. Kelly wondered how Taylor was served drinks, but she supposed that was how it was in the business. If you're famous enough, or with people famous enough, you could get away with anything. She was concerned for Taylor, but knew Taylor wouldn't want her butting in. She decided to just monitor Taylor, and make sure she didn't overdo it.
"I'm only having one more drink, and that's it! If you care about me, you won't argue. I don't want to be a mess for the wedding tomorrow," Kelly stated as they all sat down at the bar with their drinks.
"Don't worry. I'm with you. I'm not that big of a drinker myself. This is my last one," Margaret assured her.
"And mine of course!" Kaylee stated.
Kelly smiled at them. "I'm glad."
They spent time at the bar, joking and laughing, and finishing their drinks.
Kelly, Margaret, Kaylee, and even Blake stopped drinking then. Leighton and Marcia had one more drink, and Jessica, Stephanie, Taylor, and Lisa had one more after that, which the four women were currently still drinking as they headed off to the dance floor.
"Aren't you guys going to dance?" Blake asked, nodding at Kelly and Margaret, who remained seated at the bar.
Kelly hook her head. "I don't really feel like it. I'm getting too old for that kind of stuff."
Margaret chuckled. "You're too old? Honey, forty-four is not too old. Heck, you're not even at forty-four yet! I'm about to be fifty-four. Now I'm the one that's too old."
Leighton rolled her eyes. "Please! You two are smoking hot! You are not old. You're only as old as you let yourself be. Now, this is a bachelorette party, not a pity party. Let's go dance!" She took Kelly's hand in one, and Margaret's in another, and pulled them out of their seats.
Kelly and Margaret looked at each other and smiled.
"Well, I suppose there's no arguing with my daughter," Margaret joked since she played Leighton's mother on the show. "And I'm not going out there without you for moral support!"
Kelly laughed. "All right, all right! I'll go."
They all headed out to the dance floor.
A remix of Willow Smith's "I Whip My Hair" came on. Kelly happened to love that song, so she decided to stop fighting it, and just have fun with her friends. Leighton was right. It was her bachelorette party. She was marrying Matthew tomorrow. She had reason to celebrate, and by darn it, she was going to do just that!
Her friends all cheered as she pulled her hair out of the messy bun, and began to whip her hair back and forth. It wasn't long before they were all singing along, and whipping their hair back and forth, laughing, and having the best time that Kelly had had in a while.
She continued to laugh, thinking how maybe they didn't have to rush out of the club after all.
~I walk the streets of love~
"A strip club?" I should have known!" Matthew said, shaking his head as they entered into Flashdancers Gentlemen's Club.
"Why do they call it a gentlemen's club?" Tony asked as they headed into the club. "I can tell you right now, I'm certainly not planning on acting like a gentleman tonight!"
Angelo and Marco both laughed. "Me neither!" they said in unison.
"Do your wives know where you're going to be tonight?" Connor asked.
"I'm not married yet!" Angelo said.
"That makes is okay," Penn said sarcastically.
"Daniella is cool with it. She knows it's just having a little harmless fun," Angelo assured him.
"As for Isabella, we're not married, and we're not even engaged. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, I'm just going to look...and maybe touch one or two things." Marco grinned, and wriggled his eyebrows up and down.
"You're not supposed to touch!" Luke reminded him.
"If you tip them enough, you can touch," Marco insisted.
"He's going to get us kicked out," John said with a sigh.
"Do your wives know you're going to a strip club?" Connor asked.
"Yes. My wife trusts me," John assured him.
"My wife and I would never cheat on each other. We both know that. We both have a need to know basis thing going on, and this is something she doesn't need to know since no harm will be done. Who are you anyway? The marriage police?" Luke asked. His tone wasn't angry; just a teasing manner.
Connor rolled his eyes. "Excuse me for having morals."
Josh, Angelo, Tony, and Marco all laughed.
"Trust me. Once you enter this place, your morals are out the door, brother!" Tony said, clapping Connor on the shoulder.
Connor sighed, and shook his head.
Everyone headed into the club then.
"I wonder how Kelly would feel about this," Penn mumbled to Connor as they headed into the strip club.
"I don't know, but I doubt she'd be thrilled," Connor said.
Matthew overheard them, but he pretended like he hadn't. He was only going into to watch and to socialize. Besides, this was a party his friends were throwing for him. He couldn't very well be rude and say he didn't want to go, could he? No. He would go and have a good time. He liked his brother's take on things. Luke was right. If no harm was going to be done, which it wasn't, then why did Kelly have to know? She didn't. Simple as that.
~I walk the streets of love~
After the club, they all went back to Kelly's place. "I figured we'd play a few games. After all, what's a bachelorette party without games?" Lisa asked.
"Should I be afraid?" Kelly joked.
Lisa grinned. "The first game, is kind of a limbo game, only it's for the mouth. And, instead of 'how low can you go?' it's 'how big can you swallow?'" She grinned even wider. She reminded Kelly of the Cheshire cat.
Taylor burst out laughing. "I'm so going to win this!"
Kelly shook her head. "You're crazy!"
So, Lisa had them all sit in a circle on the floor with a variety of items in the middle. There were hot dogs, pickles, popsicles, and finally, bananas.
"The wife to be goes first!" Lisa insisted.
"This is insane!" Kelly said.
"What's the matter? You afraid you can't do it?" Lisa asked.
Kelly rolled her eyes. "Hardly." She picked up the hot dog, and slowly started shoving it in her mouth.
"If it breaks, you're out!" Marcia said.
"At least you cant break the real thing," Taylor quipped.
Kelly nearly choked on the hot dog, but only because she was laughing at what Taylor had said. She got it all the way in without breaking it though. She took it out, and set it aside.
Everyone cheered, then took their turns with their own hot dogs.
It broke on Leighton.
Taylor smirked. "Really, Leighton? You couldn't even handle a hot dog?"
Leighton just shrugged. "It just proves I'm not a slut!" She said, her head held high.
Taylor grinned. "And I am?"
Leighton shook her head. "I didn't say that."
"It's okay if you did. I am one, and proud of it!" Taylor said with a snort.
They all laughed, but Kelly, who just smiled. She would be good and not say anything. She hoped it was just a phase Taylor would grow out of. She was still a sweet girl at heart, and that is what mattered. Besides, she was hoping Taylor was only kidding.
They went around from item to item, one by one dropping out until it was only Taylor and Lisa left. Kelly had been able to get to the pickle, but then that was it. The popsicle was too much.
Lisa however, took the popsicle, and got it down her throat completely in hardly any time at all.
Taylor had no problem with it either.
"The banana's the tricky one. It's curved!" Margaret said with a laugh.
They all chuckled.
"Piece of cake!" Lisa said. She pealed the banana, then slowly ran it down her throat. However, she got stuck halfway there. She pulled it out, and pouted. Boo! I wanted to win."
Taylor, meanwhile, and already started on her banana, and was working on getting the last inch down. She ended up accomplishing it. She even ate the banana when she was done.
"You're an animal!" Lisa said.
Taylor grinned. "And don't you forget it!"
"You win a penis toothbrush," Lisa said, handing Taylor a pink tooth brush shaped like the male organ.
Taylor laughed. "I love it!"
The next game they played was pin the pecker on the naked man. Kelly won that one. She won a penis necklace.
"Can you imagine the look on Matthew's face if I wore this to the wedding?" Kelly asked with a laugh.
The others cackled.
"You so should!" Stephanie said.
Kelly laughed. "I don't think so. I will wear it for the night though!" She put it on, and wore it proudly.
They then had a ring toss where you had to get the plastic ring around the naked man's privates.
Leighton won that won, and accepted her blow up man in a box with a giggle.
"All right, this was fun, but it's getting late, and I should get some sleep. My family will be staying at a hotel, so I don't have to worry about them at least," Kelly said after the games.
"Oh, no you don't! The fun's not over yet! I have something else up my sleeve," Lisa stated.
Kelly smirked. "What?"
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "That must be the 'masseuse' Lisa said with a grin as she ran to open the door.
"Masseuse?" Kelly asked.
"That could be nice. You getting a nice massage to calm you before your wedding tomorrow," Marcia said with a smirk.
Something was up.
"What's going on?" Kelly asked.
Lisa let an extremely good-looking blonde man in then. He was carrying a massage table.
"Only one of us are getting a massage at a time?" Kelly asked, an eyebrow raised. This could take a while."
"I wouldn't worry about it!" Lisa said with a smirk.
The man grinned, displaying his perfect white teeth, and a dimple in each cheek. He then set up his table. "Shall we begin?" He asked.
Kelly shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Should we all get into towels first?" She nodded toward the girls.
"This massage is only for you, Kelly," Taylor said with a knowing smirk.
"And clothing and towels are absolutely optional!" The guy said with a grin.
Kelly's friends all giggled, and Lisa popped in a CD that the "masseuse" had just tossed her. Where he had been hiding it, Kelly had no idea, nor did she wan to know.
"What in the world is going on?" Kelly asked, though she was beginning to get the picture.
Lisa popped in the CD, and pumped up the volume. A thumping sound like a heartbeat suddenly sounded throughout the room, and then came the music that was no doubt a stripper's music. "This is Skylar. He's here to dance for us!" Lisa explained.
Leighton brought in a chair from the kitchen, and brought if over for Kelly to sit in.
Kelly laughed. "You guys, this is so wrong!"
"Yeah, because he still has his clothes on!" Taylor said.
Skylar grinned. "I can take care of that!" He ripped off his shirt in one fluid motion. It tore into two pieces. He dropped it to the floor.
The girls all hooted and hollered—even Kelly. It didn't hurt to look. And, looking was proving to be very nice, for the guy had an eight pack. Not a six-pack. And eight-pack. Yum! "Take off the pants!" she said with a laugh.
Her friends all laughed, and hollered their agreement.
Kelly grinned as Skylar started to do just that. This party was turning out to be even more fun than she had thought it would be!
~I walk the streets of love~
Meanwhile, the boys were having a blast.
"These girls are fine! Where have they been all my life?" Tony asked as he slipped a twenty dollar bill into a particularly chesty blonde's G-string.
"Take off the G-string!" Marco yelled.
"It's not that kind of club, sadly," Tony said.
"Ah! You Americans are way too conservative!" Angelo complained.
Connor sighed. "Not always."
A pretty brunette came over to their table just then. She had what looked like an A-cup bra on, when her breasts clearly needed a D-cup bra. She was wearing a pair of extremely see-thru white G-string underwear.
Ed smirked, and pointed to Matthew. "He's getting married tomorrow. You should give him a lap dance!"
The guys all laughed, and playfully elbowed Matthew,
Matthew grinned. She was a beautiful woman. He didn't see the harm in one little dance. It's not like he'd be doing anything. She'd be the one dancing—not him. Besides, it was every man's right of passage at his bachelor party. What was the harm? What Kelly didn't know wouldn't hurt her. They weren't even married yet anyway.
"Hi. I'm Samantha. And you are?" she purred into his ear.
"Matthew," he answered with a grin.
"Well, you're a sexy little thang. Your soon to be wife is very lucky," she purred. Then, before Matthew even knew what she was doing, she took off her bra, and tossed it to the floor.
The guys all cheered and laughed.
Then, Samantha began to grind against his lap as she did her lap dance for him.
Matthew held her waist, and grinned as he enjoyed his dance. Again, what Kelly didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
~I walk the streets of love~
The stripper had been a lot of fun. He had stripped down to nothing, but Kelly had played it nice, and refused the naked lap dance. However, Lisa and Taylor both got one, and even Margaret wanted in on the action!
"What?" she had asked. "I may be the oldest one here, but it doesn't mean I don't still enjoy a hot piece of naked man!"
They had all laughed at that one.
After Skylar had left, they decided to give each other fake tattoos with washable markers.
Lisa insisted on being the one to give Kelly hers.
"Pull up your dress," Lisa ordered.
"Excuse me?" Kelly asked, looking at her funny.
"Pull it up. Come on." Lisa nodded toward Kelly's stomach. "I want to draw it right below your belly button."
"That's right above my crotch," Kelly said, still skeptical.
Lisa grinned. "Just trust me on this one."
Kelly rolled her eyes, and did as told. "Fine, but I'm not taking off my underwear, so don't even ask."
Lisa rolled her eyes too. "Gross! No worries there!" She clicked open the blue marker.
"That better be washable!" Kelly warned.
"Relax! It'll wash off as soon as you take a shower," Lisa assured her. "Now don't look! I want it to be a surprise."
Kelly sighed, but looked away. She knew not to argue with Lisa. Lisa always won.
After about five minutes, Lisa finished. "Done!"
Kelly looked down to see a blue, textured rectangle with the word, "WELCOME" written inside it in all caps. "Is that a welcome mat?" she asked in confusion.
Lisa grinned and nodded.
"Okay, why?" Kelly asked, still confused.
"Get it? It's a welcome mat! As in, 'Welcome, Matt!' That is why it is so strategically placed."
Kelly finally got it. She burst into giggles. "You're so bad! That's cute though, I have to hand it to you."
Lisa grinned. "I try my best!"
"Now it's your turn!" Kelly said.
Lisa suddenly backed off. "I'm getting tired. I don't really want a tattoo."
"Why not?" Kelly asked with a pout. I was going to draw a little Billy goat."
"Why a Billy goat?" Lisa asked.
"Well, since you play Billie on Days of our Lives, I figured I'd give you a Billy goat!"
Lisa laughed. "Maybe next time."
Kelly was going to push it further, but the phone rang.
"Saved by the phone!" Lisa joked.
Kelly smirked, and shook her head at her, then went to answer the phone. "Hello?" Kelly she wondered who it could be at this time of night. Maybe it was her mother.
"Kelly? Is Matthew back yet? This is Isabella, Matthew's friend."
Kelly smiled. "You're the one dating Marco."
"Yes! Are they back yet? I just found out from Daniella that the guys are taking Matthew to Flashdancers tonight," Isabella explained.
"The strip club?" Kelly gripped the phone tighter. That was the most classless of all the strip clubs—or so she'd heard.
"Yes!" Isabella confirmed. "Marco didn't even tell me they were going there. Are they still there?"
"Well, Matthew is staying at his place tonight, but he promised he'd call me when he was done with his party. He hasn't called yet," Kelly answered, now worried.
"I don't like this," Isabella stated simply. "My Marco has a wandering eye."
"I don't like it either. I'll go check it out and make sure he gets back to you. I'm going to end that little party of theirs right now!" Kelly said.
"Thank you, Kelly."
They said their goodbyes, then Kelly turned to the girls, who were all listening, and explained the situation. "I'm not a prude, but I don't like that he didn't even tell me, or even ask if I minded that they were going there!"
Lisa nodded. "Totally understandable."
"If he had asked me, I'd let him, but him not telling me is like hiding something from me, and him having something to hide does not bode very well with me," Kelly stated, her fists balled.
"Well, then, let's got break it up!" Lisa said.
The others voiced their agreement.
So, they all headed out of the house, determined to show Matthew he couldn't hide anything from his soon to be wife. Soon to be wife, that is, if he was lucky.
~I walk the streets of love~
Samantha wasn't the first lap dance of the night. As soon as Samantha's friends heard Matthew was getting married he next day, they all wanted to give him a lap dance.
Matthew's friends were more than happy, because Samantha and most of her friends then moved on to them. Heck, even Connor agreed to a lap dance from a young, pretty blonde.
For the next half hour, Matthew enjoyed a mixture of the strip shows on stage, and then the private shows he was getting right on his lap.
There was a beautiful girl whom he had his eye on. She was Italian, and he had a thing for Italians. She had long dark hair, and stunning blue eyes. Her body was smoking hot, and she was wearing nothing but a tight, see-thru white T-shirt, and a short, red and black plaid skirt that barely covered her bottom. She had on black stiletto heals that looked to be at least five inches high.
She grinned. "What's your name, Handsome?" she asked, batting her long, thick lashes at him.
"Matthew," he told her with a grin.
She straddled his lap. "Matthew. I like that name. I'm Gabriella, but you can call me Gabi," she purred. She gently licked his left ear.
He smirked. "Okay, Gabi."
She then surprised him by pulling off her shirt, revealing her bare breasts. "You can touch them if you want. I won't tell." Without waiting for his response, she took his hands, and placed them over her chest.
The guys were all acting like guys, hooting, and cheering him on.
Matthew blushed. He didn't know how to react to that. Kelly certainly would not be okay with this!
~I walk the streets of love~
They arrived at the club. Kelly had just intended to go inside the club and secretly spy on Matthew to make sure he was behaving. She didn't want to embarrass him. She would later question him about where he went and what he did, and see if he lied to her. However, all that went out the window when she saw Matthew kissing a slutty, Italian stripper. She clenched her fists, and stomped over to him, not caring if she embarrassed him. Heck, she hoped she did embarrass him, actually.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, standing directly in front of Matthew and the whore.
Matthew quickly broke away from the kiss. "It's not what it looks like!"
"Really? That's the best you can do? 'It's not what it looks like?' I would think, being an actor, you could come up with a better excuse than that lame cliché!" Kelly was so angry, her nails were digging into her palms, and she was shaking. She felt hot too. She didn't know if it was from anger, or all the hot lights. It was probably both.
"You're a real ass!" Lisa said. She was the only one who had gone in with Kelly. The others had ended up just going back to their homes or hotels. They figured they'd get noticed too easily with a big crowd of them.
Matthew practically pushed Gabi off of him. He stood up. "I swear, it really isn't what it looks like!"
Kelly shook her head. "I was stupid to ever think we'd work." She then ran out of the club. She would not let him see her cry.
She was vaguely aware of Lisa telling Matthew he was despicable before calling her name, and running after her.
"Don't worry. He isn't worth the tears. He is a jack ass!" Lisa said, holding her friend tightly.
"He's not though! He was always so good to me! That's why I agreed to marry him. I thought he'd be different with me," Kelly said. She was usually stronger than this, but losing Matthew—especially this way—hurt more than she could currently bear.
Matthew came running out of the club then. He ran over to Kelly. "Kel, please, listen to me. She kissed me! It was not reciprocated!"
"It sure looked like it was!" Lisa said, whipping around to face him.
"Well, it wasn't! You came in just as she kissed me. I didn't even have time to react!" Matthew insisted.
Lisa crossed her arms over her chest, and narrowed her eyes at him. "So, you didn't kiss her back only because you didn't have time to."
Matthew glared at her. "I would not have kissed her back. Now can you please excuse us? I need to talk to my fiancé in private."
Lisa laughed out loud. "You think she's still going to be your fiancé after what you just did?"
"She kissed me! I didn't kiss her! 'What I just did?' Gosh, you act like I slept with her!" Matthew was getting a little annoyed now.
"You probably would have, had Kelly not walked in on you!" Lisa insisted.
"Give me a break, Lisa! That's just stupid!" Matthew crossed his arms over his chest this time.
"Oh, so now I'm the stupid one?" Lisa asked.
Before Matthew could respond, Kelly placed a hand over Lisa's shoulder. "Lisa, it's all right. I'll talk with him. Why don't you go inside and tell Marco his girlfriend is looking for him."
"But, Kelly—"
Kelly cut Lisa off. "I'll be fine."
Lisa glanced sideways at Matthew. "All right, but if he does anything else to make you cry..." She turned to Matthew, "I'll make sure he won't be able to use that thing of his for anything other than peeing. And even then it will be difficult!" She nodded toward his crotch.
Matthew just glared at Lisa.
Lisa then went back into the club.
Kelly crossed her arms over her chest. She too nodded at his crotch. "I see you enjoyed it at least."
He blushed. "I'm a man. Trust me, any straight man who gets a lap dance from a beautiful woman is unable to stop that from happening." He nodded down at is crotch for emphasis.
Kelly narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not helping matters."
He sighed. "She sat down on my lap. I didn't expect her to take her shirt off."
Kelly laughed bitterly. "You're at a strip club, Matthew! What did you expect her to do? Show you how she accessorizes it? Besides, you had your hands on her breasts while kissing her, Matthew! Kissing her!"
He blushed some more. "She placed my hands on her breasts. I was surprised. I didn't know what to do."
Kelly raised an eyebrow. "You could have tried taking them off. Did that ever occur to you?"
"Okay, I guess I didn't want to. I figured what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you," Matthew confessed. When he saw look of anger on Kelly's face, he quickly continued. "But only because it didn't mean a thing to me! I was just having fun. There were no feelings of love at all."
"Just lust because my body's not good enough to satisfy you. I'm not Italian. After all, Italian's your type, right?" Kelly felt herself getting even angrier.
Matthew shook his head. "No! Not at all! Look, I was just having fun at my bachelor party. That is all. True, I shouldn't have let it get that far. I apologize for that. But, I promise you, I was just about to take my hands off her when she surprised me by kissing me hard on the mouth. You came in just then. It is like something you'd see on TV, or in the movies, but I swear to you that is what happened. I would have pushed her away, I just didn't have time to. She caught me by surprise, and then you arrived."
"But she was Italian. You were clearly attracted to her. She was gorgeous!" Kelly said, trying not to cry again.
"Naama wasn't Italian," Matthew reminded her.
"Leyla was," Kelly reminded him.
"So, I like Italians, but clearly, my taste isn't limited to them." Matthew slowly approached Kelly, and when she didn't seem to be ready to push him away, he pulled her into his arms, and kissed the top of her head. "Trust me, you are the most beautiful woman in the world to me. That stripper was beautiful, yes. Her body was nice, yes. But you're a million times more beautiful than she is, and your body does far better things to me that what hers did to me."
Kelly rolled her eyes. "You're full of it!"
Matthew stroked her hair, still holding her close. "The only thing I'm full of is love for you. Please don't break off our engagement. I promise to never step foot in a strip club again if it will make you feel better. You're classy, and beautiful, and everything I could ever dream of in a woman. Class is something Gabi clearly doesn't have."
Kelly raised an eyebrow at him. "You know her name?"
"Only because she told me. They all say their names. Please forgive me, Kel. You know you're the only one for me!"
Kelly sighed. "Fine. But if you ever let something like that happen again..."
"I won't!" Matthew kissed the top of her head again. "I promise. So, the wedding is still on?"
Kelly smiled and nodded. "Yes, the wedding is still on."
Matthew cried out in happiness, then pulled her in for a deep and passionate kiss.
"Mm," he said upon breaking the kiss, "Now I'm really in the mood. Care to do something about it?"
Kelly smirked. "Sorry, but after what happened with Gabi, no. You'll have to wait until tomorrow. Besides, you know it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding." Kelly kissed him again. "I'll see you when I'm walking down the aisle to you in the morning."
Matthew pouted. "Oh, all right. Do you want me to walk you home, or will your guard dog?"
Kelly smirked. "Be nice. She is just looking out for her friend. She can see me home. She's staying with me anyway."
Matthew took her face between his hands and kissed her deeply. "I can hardly wait to make you Mrs. Settle tomorrow."
Kelly wrinkled her nose. "Your mom?" she teased.
Matthew laughed. "Don't ruin it for me!"
They kissed again, then he hailed a cab.
"Won't your friends wonder where you are?" Kelly called after him.
He turned to her before getting into the cab. "They'll figure it out. Besides, I promised you I'd never step foot in a strip club again." He winked at her, then got into the cab.
He then quickly rolled down the window. "Hey, is that a penis necklace you're wearing?" He looked confused.
Kelly giggled. "Why, yes, it is."
Before Matthew could respond, the cab drove away.
Kelly shook her head and smiled as she watched his cab disappear. She then sighed. "What am I going to do with him?" she asked with a head shake and a smile.
"I'd say hang him, but, judging from the look on your face, you're still going to marry him?" Lisa asked, suddenly showing up next to her, and draping an arm over her shoulder.
Kelly smiled. "He meant it. He really didn't initiate anything, and he apologized for letting it get that far."
Lisa shook her head. "I think you let him off easy, but, it's your life. Even so, if he ever does something like that again, tell me, and I'll castrate him. Then you'll never have to worry about it again."
Kelly chuckled. "Will do." She placed an arm around Lisa, and rested her head on her shoulder. "Let's go home. I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I need some sleep."
"For the wedding night!" Lisa said with a wicked grin.
Kelly giggled. "Stop!"
Lisa laughed too, and hailed them a cab.
As they rode home, Kelly couldn't help but smile, for tomorrow, she would be Mrs. Kelly Rutherford Settle. She could hardly wait!