Bringing the Magic
Chapter 14
Mike Lane awoke to the sound of snoring. It echoed around him in the room and he'd wished he'd opted for his own hotel room this weekend. His head was killing him. He forced an eye open and found Tarzan asleep on the floor between the beds. It looked as though Ernie had rolled out of the bed at some point and he'd decided to stay down on the floor.
Tarzan snored loudly again and Mike thought his head was about to explode. Why he'd thought drinking that much last night was a good idea, he'd never know. Mike had tried to keep up with the guys who hadn't fallen out of practice and now he was nursing one hell of a hangover. It was no wonder those guys in the movie had lost their friend on the roof. Unfortunately, he could also remember most of the things that had happened the night before.
He didn't get out of bed, despite the need to pee. Mike found his phone – somehow it had become lodged between the mattress and the headboard – and checked his messages.
He had some from Ali, Ken and Richie. And the message from Ali that was showing on the home screen read: "um…thanks…I'm glad to hear you're having a good time…ttyl :)"
He unlocked the phone and pulled up the messaging app so he could find out what he'd sent that elicited that response from Ali.
"Oh, shit," he said out loud.
He'd sent a dick pic.
To Ali.
In the middle of the night.
He'd never done that in his life. And now he'd done it to the woman he thought he might marry. Embarrassed wasn't a strong enough word for what he felt.
"Holy shit…damn…" he moaned. He put the phone down and pulled the pillow next to him over his face.
"You wanna keep it down, dude?" Tarzan muttered from the floor.
"I sent a picture of my junk to my girlfriend last night," Mike said.
"What? Hasn't she seen it?" Tarzan asked gruffly.
"Ugh…not the point, man."
"Just chill, Mikey," Tarzan said as he rose from the floor. "It's not the end of the world. Do you think someone made coffee?"
Tarzan stretched and his back and knees cracked during the motion.
"You should have that checked out, Ernie," Mike replied.
"I have. No cartilage left in my knees. I'm like Batman."
"Yeah…you're the stripping and painting version of the Dark Knight," Mike mumbled back.
He slowly rose from the bed and flipped through his other messages on his phone. He'd received an order for a coffee table and two messages from Ken. Ken was staying with someone named Danica. And the second message read that Danica lived in Henderson.
"Ken isn't even in Las Vegas anymore," Mike said out loud.
"What?"
"He's with some chick named Danica in Henderson…isn't that an hour away?"
"He's probably dead, then," Tarzan said.
"You're terribly optimistic this morning," Mike replied.
"At least I didn't send my girlfriend a pic of my junk last night," Tarzan said.
"I should call her," Mike said.
"Get some coffee first and wake up. Another half hour won't matter, man. And it's not even a big deal, Mike. It happens all the time," Tarzan said while laughing.
"No, I'm going to call Ali," Mike said. "Go ahead. I'll find you all in a bit."
Tarzan shook his head and smiled. "Whatever, man."
Tarzan walked out of the room and closed the door behind him as he left.
Mike dialed the phone to Ali's number and waited for her to pick it up.
"Hi there!" Ali answered in a happy tone. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Hi, babe," Mike said quietly. "I think I had too much to drink last night."
Ali laughed. "It's possible. Did you have fun? It sounded like you were."
"What?"
"You called before you sent me the picture," Ali said.
He groaned at the thought of the picture. And yet he could tell she was trying to stifle laughter.
"It's not funny, Ali," Mike said now trying to hold back his own laughter.
"I mean, it's a little bit funny…" Ali replied. "I think you said you were at your fifth bar of the night and I said I missed you and when we got off the phone, you said the pic was so I wouldn't have to miss you too much."
Mike laid back down on the bed and covered his eyes with his arm while he held the phone to his ear. "Ugh, great," he said in a sarcastic tone. "I am so sorry."
"Mike, seriously, don't worry about it," Ali told him. "It's not a big deal. And it's a bit flattering, actually."
"A only a bit flattering?" Mike asked. "And I can hear you rolling your eyes over the phone."
"Get out of my head, then," Ali said. "Don't stress about the pic…it's not the first…anyway…" Ali was saying. "No worries. Just keep focusing on the trip and having a good time."
"You are way too nice to me," Mike said.
"I am? I can work on channeling my inner-Nikki for you, if you'd like," Ali said.
"Oh, man! Don't do that. Don't ever do that," Mike said. "You're really great, you know that?"
"I think that's one of a few things you said to me last night."
"Do I want to know what else I told you in our conversation last night?" Mike asked.
Ali's laugh filled his ears once more.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Do I?" Mike said.
Ali laughed. "You told me, in graphic detail, what we'd be doing when you got home. And how we would be christening your new building."
"Oh, my god," Mike said. "Really?"
"Yes, but I think we will have a good time, so still, no worries. Listen, I have to go. I'm having lunch with the other girls. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Ali said.
Mike smiled into his phone. "Sounds great," Mike said. "I love you."
Ali giggled. "I love you, too, Mike. And seriously, don't worry about the picture. I know you…you're going to keep stressing about it. It's really fine," she said.
Mike rolled his eyes at her words. "Talk to you later," he said.
"Bye!" she said.
The phone call was disconnected immediately and he set the phone down on the bed next to him. He had thought that he'd remembered everything from last night, but he was realizing that huge bits were missing. He didn't even remember any bars from the night before except for the first two. Ali had said it was during the fifth bar that they'd talked. Now he was wondering what else had happened.
Ali was still laughing as she approached the group of ladies that were waiting for her. They were sitting at an outdoor patio, enjoying the sunshine and blue sky.
"What is so funny, Ali Cakes?" Nikki said as Ali joined them.
"Why do you call me that?" Ali asked. "Where did that come from?"
Nikki's face was a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "What difference does it make? It's your nickname now."
Ali rolled her eyes. "Okay, Nikki. Whatever you say." Nikki was the only one to call her that."
"Hello, my little angel," Ali said to the toddler in Georgia's lap. "How are we today?" Ali smiled.
"Hi Ali!" the toddler squealed.
The little girl jumped out of her mom's lap and dashed to Ali. Ali picked her up and hugged her tightly.
"You're practically a teenager now!" Ali swung her around. The little girl giggled madly the whole time. "You're gorgeous, darling. Gorgeous. Just like your momma."
Ali sat down with Emma in her lap and she started to play with the little girl's light red curls. "What are you having for lunch, little girl?"
"Peanut butter and jelly," Emma giggled.
"Mmmm...that sounds good."
"You should have that, too," Emma said. "I'll share mine."
"Oh, honey. That's so nice, but Ali will order her own lunch," Georgia said. "Why don't you come here to mommy so Ali can read her menu?" she said to her daughter.
"She's fine, G," Ali replied.
"So…is Mike having a good time in Vegas?" Coco asked Ali.
"Wait…your boyfriend is in Las Vegas without you?" Nikki asked. "Well…good luck with that one."
"I trust Mike," Ali said. "He's never given me a reason to not trust him," she finished.
"Well, you let him go to Las Vegas without you. He's a sexy as hell male stripper going to Vegas with a bunch of other sexy as hell male strippers. The likelihood that he doesn't sleep with at least two women while he's gone is…well…"
"Nikki!' Georgia said. "First, we have a child present. And second, Mike isn't going to cheat on Ali. Don't worry, Ali," she said to Ali. "Don't listen to her. She's jealous."
"I am not jealous. What would I be jealous of?" Nikki said in her most offended sounding voice.
"Well, the fact that she's had two steady boyfriends in the time that you've gone through about a dozen is my first answer," Coco said.
"And one of those two boyfriends cheated on her. You really know how to pick 'em," Nikki replied.
"Mike and Jack are nothing alike; which is probably why I like Mike so much."
"I'm just saying…be careful."
"A warning from the HBIC," Ali said. "I should be so lucky."
"Ha-ha," Nikki laughed sarcastically. "I'm just trying to make you open your crazy naïve eyes, Alice. This isn't wonderland."
"I see what you did there," Jessie laughed. "Can we talk about something else?" Jessie asked.
Ali nodded emphatically. "Yes, please!" she laughed.
Nikki made a humphf sound since no one was taking her advice and she went back to trying to decide what she wanted for lunch.
…
An hour into their lunch, the conversation had turned back to Mike and the rest of the Kings of Tampa and their bachelor party in Las Vegas.
"So…how long are they there?" Jessie asked.
"Just til Sunday night," Ali said. "Mike is flying back here and the rest of the guys are flying back to Georgia and Florida out of Nevada. I'm pretty sure they were having a pretty decent time," Ali laughed as she remembered both her phone conversation with Mike as well as the text message convo.
"What? You're randomly laughing again," Georgia said.
"Mike was so drunk last night that he…ugh…" Ali said as she tried to figure out what she was going to say while the three and a half year old sat on her mom's lap. "He…um, sent one of those pictures," Ali finished.
The women all collapsed into a fit of laughter.
"Why do they think we want these pictures?" Jessie said.
"I think it's an adrenaline rush," Coco replied. "And stupidity."
"I think this was alcohol," Ali replied.
"Some women like to get those kinds of pictures," Nikki said smugly.
"Mike called me this morning and apologized," Ali said, ignoring Nikki's comment. "It was kind of adorable, actually."
"The picture or the apology?" Nikki asked.
"The apology," Ali said sternly. "I don't think guys like it when you call them adorable."
"Cheers to that!" Jessie said, raising her glass. Ali and the rest of the ladies did the same and they toasted.
Ali's phone dinged, a notification sound she wasn't used to, and she looked down at the display. She was having all inquiries from Mike's website sent to her so she could make sure they were all promptly replied to. This email stated that Mike had a package to be picked up and an address. Ali was torn; she could let Mike pick up his own stuff when he got back or she could have it waiting for him when he got back.
"You wanna take a trip across town?" Ali asked the ladies.
…
Jessie and Ali checked the address again and Ali's heart beat faster.
"You do realize we're standing outside of a jewelry store, right?" Jessie said.
Ali nodded. "I have the right address, right?"
She handed the phone to Jessie who read the email and compared addresses.
"Yup. You sure do."
"I don't think I should go in. This must be something that Mike should do when he gets back home. Don't you think?" Ali said.
Jessie's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me? You have to go in there."
"But…"
"What if it's an engagement ring?"
"Exactly."
Jessie stared again. "You don't want an engagement ring from Magic Mike?" Jessie asked.
"Of course I do. I love him. But he doesn't need to…I don't think I can explain myself well enough. What if it's just a necklace for his mom or a brooch for his nana?"
Jessie rolled her eyes. "You're joking, right? Mike loves you. And – let's just go inside."
Jessie grabbed Ali by the elbow and hauled her into the store.
An older gentleman stood behind the counter. He smiled and he reminded Ali of the guy who got Harry Potter a wand.
"May I help you, ladies?" he asked.
Jessie cleared her throat.
"Well, I received…well…my boyfriend got an email to his work email address and…"
Jessie pushed Ali out of the way. "Her boyfriend is Mike Lane – Ali is taking care of all his work related business while he is out of town. She is here to pick up a package."
The man continued to smile at them.
"Unfortunately, my dear, without verbal confirmation and some verification, I cannot release anything to you."
"See…"
"So…it's a ring?" Jessie ignored Ali and talked to the man. "What's your name, sir?"
"My name is Gerald."
"Gerald…Jerry…Ali here has been deputized by her boyfriend to take all orders for business-related things. She saw the email in his business email box that Mike granted her access to. She's here to pick up the package that you said was available for pick up," Jessie said. "Besides, we already know it's an engagement ring, isn't it, Jerry?"
"It's Gerald…and I cannot…"
Jessie affected a bored look. "I know…you can't blah, blah, blah…but seriously…"
"Seriously, miss. I cannot release a package to either of you," Gerald told Ali and Jessie.
"Okay. That's fine. I'm fine with that. I will just forward the email to Mike and he can deal with it when he comes back from Las Vegas," Ali told Gerald.
"What? Ali, what are you…" Jessie said.
"Its fine, Jessie. Even if it is a ring, I don't want it now. I want to be surprised. Does that make sense?" Ali asked.
The older man smiled warmly at Ali. "I won't tell him that you were here," he said.
Jessie's eyes went wide once more. He had basically told her that it was a ring.
"Thank you, sir," Ali said. "C'mon, Jessie," she said. She took the other blonde woman by the arm and pulled her out of the building into the sunshine.
"Oh my gosh! You're going to get married!"
"He said nothing that specifically said that Mike bought a ring. It could be a watch or a bracelet or it's probably not even for me! It's probably for someone else entirely. That guy could just be screwing with us."
"You are such a pessimist."
"I just don't want to get my hopes up only to find out that he'd bought a locket for his grandma or a cat watch for his crazy aunt."
Jessie slung her arm around Ali's shoulders and they started to walk.
"You just keep being cute," Jessie said. "And let's go get our dance on. But seriously," she added after a beat. "I'd be your maid of honor, right?"
To be continued…
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Sincerely apologetic author's note: I am so sorry for not posting. I've been so busy with work and family obligations and honestly, a major case of writer's block, that I'm just finishing this chapter. Please accept my humblest and sincerest apologies.
Also, Happy New Year!