HI EVERYONE!
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING, ADDING THIS TO YOUR FAVORITES AND FOR YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEWS! I RESPONDED TO ALL OF THEM.
HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.
PARTY TIME!
PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENJOY!! :D
CHAPTER 25: Please read and comment.
"…Hi Robert…. it's Allison. Call me back when you get the chance."
Sophie stood in the middle of the living room after hearing Cameron's voice on her and Chase's answering machine, having no idea what to do.
But she didn't have much time to think about it because the doorbell rang.
She answered the door, finding Remy Hadley on her front step, decked out in a deep purple silk tank, a black tight skirt and heels.
"…Hi!" Sophie said, rather surprised to see her.
"You ready?" Remy asked.
"I thought you couldn't make it tonight," Sophie reminded her.
"I changed my plans," Remy said with a smile.
Sophie smiled back, as she was genuinely happy to see her. But because she was still distracted by Cameron's phone call, she didn't say anything.
"You ok?" Remy asked, arching an eyebrow.
It only took her a second to decide that she didn't want to reveal to Remy that Cameron had called and that her seemingly innocuous message had jarred her so much.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Sophie lied quickly. "I'm just not sure about this dress," she added with a self- deprecating laugh as she gave herself a once- over for good measure.
"Are you kidding me? You look fantastic!" Remy told her. "Now come on."
As Remy grabbed her hand, pulling her out the door, Sophie suddenly realized that Remy's compliment about the way she looked in her dress seemed much more sincere than Chase's had.
It only took twenty minutes after arriving and checking in at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City for House, Chase, Wilson and Foreman to be trolling the packed casino floor, beers in hand. The casino was bustling with activity, the din of slot machines, dealers and players surrounding them.
Carrying an almost empty bottle of Heineken, Chase was turning his head every few minutes, losing count of how many beautiful and practically half- naked women there were around him.
"Looks like breasts are the new black," House snarked, honing in on a young blonde woman with a prominent set of D- cups leaning over one of the Craps tables to take her turn rolling the dice.
"He's right. They're everywhere," Foreman agreed, enjoying the view.
"Oh please. Half of these girls' breasts aren't even real…" Wilson said, trailing off as he turned around and craned his neck as a gorgeous brunette with more than ample cleavage passed him.
"Your neck hurt yet?" Foreman teased Chase, jabbing him with his elbow as Chase's head continued to whip around in both directions.
"Sophie said, and I quote, 'this is my last chance to be a drunken, irresponsible bachelor before she ties me down next week,'" Chase said, sporting a shit- eating grin on his face, the beer already giving him a nice little buzz.
"Didn't know she was into that," Foreman quipped.
"Yuk yuk," Chase said sarcastically.
"Party's this way, boys," House said, making a sharp left.
Chase took another long, lingering glance at the scene before following House, deciding to make the most of his last weekend as a free man.
The four men followed House to the Borgata Poker Room, which was a large space roped off from the rest of the casino.
As they approached, a rather large, imposing man wearing a uniform and an ear-piece stood in front of the gap between two velvet ropes.
"Sorry. Room's full right now," the man said, holding up his hand.
"We're here Robert Chase's bachelor party," House told him.
Upon hearing this, the man backed up, allowing the four of them to enter.
"We were told to ask for Alex?" House told the man.
"All the way in the back," he replied, gesturing with his hand.
They made their way through the packed poker room, which was decidedly quieter than the action in the rest of the casino. Almost all the players were men and were thoroughly focused on their cards and those sitting at the tables with them.
They arrived at the only empty table out of eighty- five tables in the room, where a stunning African- American young woman was sitting, waiting for them. There was a placard marked "RESERVED" on the table top next to the recessed area holding the house chips.
"You Alex?" House asked her, admiring how the tight blouse of her uniform hugged her torso.
"Yep. You House?" she replied.
House narrowed his eyes. "Sophie tell you to look for an old guy with a cane?"
"Nope. She told me to look for a hot tall guy with gorgeous blue eyes and a cane," she said without missing a beat.
Chase's eyes widened a little at her boldness, wondering if indeed Sophie had described House in that manner.
House smirked as Foreman and Wilson exchanged amused glances.
"And you must be Robert," Alex said in a sultry, disarming tone, turning her attention to Chase.
"…I must be," he said, faltering for a moment.
"I'm James," Wilson piped up, not wanting to be left out.
She giggled at his enthusiasm. "And you?" she asked, turning to Foreman.
"Eric," Foreman said with a grin.
Alex gestured to the empty chairs, indicating for all of them to sit down, which they did. She stifled a laugh as Chase and Wilson almost stumbled over the plush, high- backed chairs because they couldn't take their eyes off her.
"Sophie told me a lot about you," Alex said to Chase in a flirtatious manner.
"Did she now," Chase grinned, sneaking a peek at Alex's cleavage that was making an appearance through her unbuttoned blouse.
She nodded, matching his smile, flicking a piece of her long, pin straight hair away from her face.
"Ok. You're getting a really good tip tonight," House told her.
She laughed as she quickly counted out three- hundred dollars in chips for each of them, placing their stacks in front of them.
"… How do you know Sophie?" Chase asked, not paying any attention to his stack, noticing that the air conditioning in the poker room was having a wonderful effect on Alex's nipples.
"We used to Round together in college," she replied.
"Really," Chase said, extremely interested, the image of Alex and Sophie hustling cards together making the front of his pants tighten just a little.
"She taught me everything I know," she added, knowing how she was affecting Chase.
"Really," Chase repeated.
"You sound like an idiot," House stated to Chase.
Foreman laughed out loud at House's remark, thoroughly enjoying how Chase was making a fool of himself.
"I could tell you some great stories if you're interested," Alex said, her sexy smile never leaving her face.
"I'm very interested," Chase said, nodding eagerly.
"Oh god," Wilson groaned, cringing, trying to block out the scene in front of him and the images that were started to form in his mind.
"Now James, let's not be rude," House chided him sarcastically. "Alex wants to regale us with stories from her college days."
"Are you gentlemen ready for drinks?" a lilting voice said from behind them.
House, Chase, Foreman and Wilson turned around to see two almost identical busty blondes standing behind them, wearing black skimpy cocktail waitress uniforms.
"Why don't you go play Roulette or something?" House told Wilson, knowing that at the moment, Wilson had no intention of leaving the table.
"… No… I… think I'm fine here..." Wilson stammered, nodding his head slowly, unable to look away from the waitresses.
"The blinds start at 20- 40, gentlemen. Sami and Penelope are your private waitresses for the evening and will get you whatever you want," Alex stated.
While Wilson continued to stare open mouthed at the smiling, perky blonde waitresses, House, Chase and Foreman turned back to Alex.
"Welcome to the Borgata," she said with a smile.
Sophie, Cuddy, Ingrid and Remy were sitting at an outside table at Citrus in Manhattan, a chic restaurant with Latin and Asian fare, sharing plates of various exotic appetizers.
"Time for presents!" Ingrid announced loudly, already into her second caipirinha for the evening, as she reached under the table and presented Sophie with a pink bag from Fredericks of Hollywood filled with pink tissue paper.
Sophie eyed the package skeptically for effect. "Should I be afraid to open this?" she teased.
"C'mon, show us already!" Remy demanded, taking another swig from her Amstel light.
Sophie grinned broadly as she dug into the shopping bag past the tissue paper, pulling out and holding up a lacy red garment that looked like a bra, but with the cups missing.
"Where's the rest of it?" Sophie asked, still grinning.
"It is a shelf bra," Ingrid explained. "Very sexy and it gives you great lift underneath."
Sophie's eyes caught the sight of another flash of red peeking out beneath the layers of tissue paper. She dug her hand into the package once more, pulling out another lacy, red scrap of clothing.
"The panties match," Ingrid said as Sophie examined the garment.
"Are these crotchless?!" Sophie exclaimed, causing the other patrons around her to snap their heads in her directions. She shrunk back a little once she realized how loud she had said that, causing Cuddy and Thirteen to laugh out loud.
"Of course!" Ingrid replied, as if the question was ludicrous. "Chase will love them."
"Yeah, when I can fit into 'em," Sophie joked.
"Those will fit you," Ingrid assured her with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Open mine next," Cuddy said eagerly, reaching under the table and handing her a bag from Victoria's secret across the table.
"Ok…" Sophie said, taking the shopping bag.
Cuddy smiled in anticipation as she watched Sophie dig through the bag.
"Lisa… this is gorgeous," Sophie gasped as she took out the elegant silk and lace trim white baby doll nightie that Cuddy had bought for her.
"Figured you'd want something innocent for the wedding night," Cuddy deadpanned, pursing her lips together.
Sophie's jaw dropped. "He TOLD you?!" Sophie demanded, her eyes bugging out a little.
Cuddy shrugged. "I asked Chase what he'd like to see you in," she said simply. "And there's more in there."
Sophie dug through the bag once more, finding a tiny pair of white string bikini panties and a white satin garter with a thin blue ribbon running through it, a blue bow affixed to one side.
"Now you don't need something blue," Cuddy said happily.
"My turn," Remy announced, taking a black shopping bag out from underneath the table and placing it on Sophie's lap.
Sophie untied the handles of the bag and peered inside for a moment.
But she said nothing and didn't make a move to take out the contents of the bag.
"So, what is it?!" Cuddy asked enthusiastically.
"… I… can't take this stuff out here," Sophie said, her cheeks turning pink.
"Oh gimme," Remy said in annoyance, snatching the bag from her lap.
Sophie screwed her eyes shut, leaned her elbow on the table and began to rub her forehead in embarrassment as Remy proceeded to empty the contents from the bag and place them on the table top.
"Massage oil… flavored condoms… edible body crème…edible underwear… and a couple of fun toys," Remy listed rather loudly as she took out each item.
Both Cuddy and Ingrid grinned broadly as they began to pick up the various goodies that Remy had placed on the table.
"And no, I didn't ask Chase for help," Remy added just to make Sophie feel even more uncomfortable than she was already feeling.
"Mmm… Piña Colada," Ingrid commented as she read the tiny print on one of the flavored condoms.
But Cuddy's eyes were drawn to a pink and rather phallic shaped device.
"'Seventh Heaven Platinum Rabbit Pearl?'" Cuddy read off the item.
"It's a vibrator, isn't it," Sophie mumbled, still refusing to open her eyes.
"That's the best one they make," Remy stated defensively.
"It is very good," Ingrid agreed.
At this, Sophie opened her eyes and all three women snapped their heads around to face Ingrid in surprise.
"What?" Ingrid asked, lifting her shoulders, not understanding their reaction.
Sophie laughed out loud, grabbing the Rabbit out of Cuddy's hand across the table, feeling much more relaxed about the whole thing.
"Hopefully I'm not gonna need this," Sophie said with a grin, gesturing with the vibrator as she spoke.
"You and Chase can both have some fun with this," Remy reminded her.
"Thank you," Sophie drawled with a derisive snort as Ingrid and Remy gathered the other items on the table and helped to put them back in the black shopping bag.
"So what happened before you answered the door?" Remy asked knowingly.
Sophie shrugged. "Nothing."
"You actually thought I believed you whining about your dress?" Remy asked her.
Seeing how Cuddy and Ingrid's interest were piqued as well, Sophie exhaled, knowing that she didn't have a choice but to tell them what had happened.
"Cameron called when you drove up," Sophie confessed.
Cuddy's eyebrows arched a little. "What did she say?"
"'Hi Robert, it's Allison. Call me back when you get the chance," Sophie recited in a sing- song and irritated tone.
"You didn't pick up?" Remy asked her.
"I was on the way out already. I let the machine get it," she explained.
The three women remained silent to avoid saying anything that might upset Sophie. Not wanting to spoil the festive mood at the table, Sophie tsked.
"It's just a phone call. I don't know why I'm letting it bother me this much," she said, trying to downplay the whole thing.
"Because you left Chase because of her and you got back together with him because he said he was over her…" Remy began.
"…And you don't know if she was calling him… or calling him BACK," she continued.
Sophie nodded in reluctant agreement as she reached for another chile and lime shrimp quesadilla, stuffing it into her mouth, miserable at the possibility that Chase might have actually initiated conversation with Cameron after what they had been through.
"I would not worry about this," Ingrid declared confidently after giving the matter some thought.
"I agree," Cuddy said.
"Why not?" Sophie asked.
"Because she left the message on your home phone. If she wanted her call to be a secret she would've called his cell," Cuddy pointed out.
"And she would have said 'I am returning your call,' if Chase had called her first," Ingrid added.
"Now forget about Cameron and let's let Ingrid teach us how to use that Rabbit," Cuddy said in an attempt to prevent Sophie from dwelling on the phone call too much.
Sophie laughed out loud again, taking the vibrator out of the bag again, deciding to take Cuddy's advice for the time being.
"Take it," muttered Chase to House, folding his hand.
"You really suck at this when you're drunk," House commented, gathering the pile of chips he had just won off Chase.
"I suck at this when I'm sober, too," admitted.
Alex laughed. "You're not so bad. You just wear your tells, that's all," she said, gathering the cards.
"That's what Sophie tells me," he replied.
"What time is dinner?" Wilson asked.
Foreman glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes."
"Would you like to join us?" Chase asked Alex in a charming manner.
"That's all right. Spend some time with your boys," she replied sweetly.
"Would you like to join us later at the strip club?" House asked her.
She smiled. "I don't want to steal the show," she quipped.
House smiled at her, turning his attention to Wilson.
"So when are we gonna talk about how everything you touch turns to shit?" House demanded of Wilson with a pointed stare.
Wilson ignored him, deciding to count the remaining chips he had left in front of him while Chase and Foreman turned to him, their interest piqued.
"Everything you touch turns to shit?" Foreman repeated, exchanging a glance with Alex.
"I don't think this is the right time or place to have this discussion," Wilson said in irritation.
"Actually, I think this is the PERFECT time and place to have this discussion," House retorted, refusing to let up.
Just then, Chase's cell phone rang in his pocket. He eyed the caller ID curiously as it read 'PRIVATE CALLER.'
"Excuse me," Chase said, getting up from the table and stepping a few feet away from it to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"…Hi. It's Allison," Cameron's voice said on the other end after a concerted pause.
"… Hi!" Chase said after a moment, shocked to hear her voice on the other end.
"Are you busy?" she asked tentatively.
"Kind of. I'm at my bachelor party," he replied with a little laugh.
"Oh I'm sorry," she quickly said.
"Is… everything all right?" he asked, his mind racing as to why she would call him.
For a moment she said nothing, leaving Chase to wait for her answer.
"… Yeah," she finally said.
Not knowing how to reply, but pretty sure that everything wasn't all right with her, he remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate.
"I'm sorry. I called at a bad time—" she began.
"No, that's ok. Can I call you back tomorrow?" he asked.
"...Sure," she said.
"Ok, then…"
"Bye," she said.
"… Bye."
Chase closed his phone and shoved it back in his pocket, relieved that Sophie wasn't around, having no idea that she already knew that Cameron had called him.
TBC...