Love Never Goes Out of Style/CH 17
After the three women got Christina gently laid down in Betty's bed, they looked at one another wondering what was the right thing to do.
"We can't just leave her here by herself and desert her." Betty observed.
"No. Of course not." Hilda agreed. "But... maybe we could take turns staying with her."
"Right. There's no sense in all of us being miserable missing our guys when she's just sleeping right now anyway and wouldn't really miss us being gone."
"Okay, so...we're agreed. We'll take turns staying here. Hilda and Amanda, why don't you both go find your guys. I'll take the first shift, since she's my friend. Tell Daniel...I miss him, and I'll see him soon."
Amanda agreed readily, but Hilda hesitated, "No, Betty, I feel bad leaving you here. I mean, if not for Daniel, our guys wouldn't even be here in the first place. You go first, I don't mind staying."
"That's sweet, Hilda, but you're the queen, remember? This is supposed to be your bachelorette week, so I want you to be with your groom."
"Are you sure?"
Amanda pulled Hilda away, "Yes, she' sure, now come on, let's go. We'll take turns coming back, right? I guess...I could relieve Betty first, since like she said, this IS supposed to be your time, Hilda."
Both of them looked at Amanda, rather surprised, and she rolled her eyes, "What? Why are you looking at me like that? I'm a good person,too. Deep down.I can be nice, you know! "
They both grinned, and Betty pushed them towards the door, "Of course you can, Amanda. Now go, the sooner you both leave, the sooner you get back. Tell Daniel..."
"We know, you miss him and you can't wait to tear his clothes off again."
She bit her lip, guiltily, "What? What makes you say that?"
Amanda laughed, "Uh, Tyler already texted me that Daniel has his jacket buttoned up to hide his shirt that you apparently couldn't wait to get off!"
"Oh. Yeah, I...well, I guess I did get a little impatient maybe."
Hilda raised her eyebrow, "Betty! You? I'm surprised at you. But proud of you. It's about time you started molesting that man. I don't know what took you so long!
Come on, Amanda, let's go so you can get back here and let my sister have her fun with Mr. Meade." both women giggled as they left.
Betty smiled, somewhat embarrassed that she had 'attacked' Daniel earlier, as she sat on the couch, and turned on the 'tellie' to watch television as her friend slept.
Hilda pointed as they got to the pub where the men were, "Here, this is the place Bobby said they were all hanging out, Amanda. Whoa, this place is all men, practically!"
Amanda laughed, "Oh my God! Those idiots! This is a gay bar!"
"What? Are you kidding me? Why would they go to a gay bar? Are they THAT lonely already, just because we ditched them?"
"No, they probably were too disoriented from the flight and didn't notice the little signs that would have tipped them off. But, believe me, I've been to enough gay bars back in New York with Marc. I know one when I see one, no matter what language they speak here, they're still all gay!"
Hilda rolled her eyes, "They speak English, Mandy! We're in England, remember?"
"Right. I keep forgetting. It doesn't really sound like English the way they say it, though. I can barely understand them.
I was tempted to go see what he was talking about when some hot waiter back at our hotel restaurant offered me some bangers and mash, but then I saw he just had some weird British food with mashed potatoes, yuck! I almost took him into the ladies room with me for a quickie!"
"Amanda! What about Tyler?"
"Well, yeah, I know...but we're in a foreign country, so it doesn't really count."
"Yes it does! How would you like it if he did that to you?"
"You're saying that because you're all in love with Bobby. You guys are engaged."
"So, you don't think you are in love with Tyler? Or ever could be?"
She shrugged, "Maybe. I don't know yet. I've never really been in love, I don't think. I mean, I wasted a lot of time, thinking I could get Daniel to marry me.
Or at least have me as his mistress that he set up or something. But deep down, I saw that once your sister caught his eyes, he barely even looked at me anymore. Even when she looked hideous. No offense."
"Hey, Betty is a good person. She's always been beautiful to me. But...I sort of know what you mean. I used to always try to get her to make the most of her assets and she was too shy or whatever."
"Yeah, she has like morals or something. I don't know why she wouldn't show off her Mayan temples. Guys like those. Especially Daniel."
She laughed, "Are you going to call them that from now on?"
"Yeah. I think it makes her embarrassed. She's fun to mess with sometimes. Sorry, I know she's your sister and all."
Hilda laughed, "Hey, I mess with her all the time, BECAUSE she's my sister!
So...how are we going to get our men out of this place? Those guys next to them seem to be checking them out! How drunk are they that they aren't seeing that they're eye candy here?"
Amanda smiled knowingly and put one hand on her hip, "Just follow my lead. I've been to plenty of these places. I know how to handle this."
She walked in, looking around and smiling at the men there. Some she looked at disdainfully, and she walked over to Daniel, Bobby, and Tyler, who were all having a dispute over who was a better basketball player.
"I say MJ will never be touched..." Daniel declared.
Amanda slid in between Daniel and Tyler, "Yeah, but you three will be if we don't get you out of here, stud. You didn't look around and see how well dressed all the men were here, did you, Daniel?"
"Huh? Oh, hey, Amanda. Where's Betty? How's Christina?"
"Asleep, so your little chica volunteered to take the first shift. But that means I'm on a time crunch to be with Tye tye. So, we need to move fast before the guys decide they aren't willing to wait to pounce on you three fresh meat."
"Fresh...what? What are you talking about? You know they sing show tunes here? I heard about singing in pubs, but..."
She shook her head, "You're so stupid. Crap! Daniel...I don't know what we're going to do with you. Come on, Hilda, you take yours and I've got these two."
"Amanda! How drunk are you? I'm with Betty now. I'm not interested in some three-way with you and my brother! That's sick!"
"Look around, Einstein. You three are in a gay bar. So, I don't know what you all were planning for tonight if we didn't come rescue you, but in case you didn't notice, we're like the only women in here. And you were like the main attraction."
Tyler looked around, and whispered, "Oh, wow, Daniel, she's right! I know I actually went with a few friends in high school to this place in Rapid City once and...it was a gay bar, too."
"Well, they're not going to attack you or anything, but they might be wondering if you guys are all curious or something."
"Oh, God! What? Are you serious? You mean, this place is...oh, wow, I just thought they were all really friendly because we were Americans or something!" Bobby overheard the conversation and his eyes popped out.
Hilda hugged him and grinned, "Geez, I leave you alone for one night and you turn gay on me!"
Bobby shook his head in disbelief, "Well, hey, at least you know I'M not cheating! So...I guess you can forget about your little threat to my cajones! Hey, so what happened with Christina and her hubby?"
"We don't know yet. She couldn't get him. She just kept getting his machine. She left him a drunken message. Right now, she's asleep in Betty's hotel room."
"I could go help her watch Christina."
"I don't know about that, stud. If you and Betty get together and Christina wakes up...that could get awkward."
"We won't do anything. I just want to be with her."
"Exactly my point."
"No, Amanda, I didn't mean...WITH her, I just meant in her presence. We can keep our hands to ourselves until we help Christina."
"Can you, now?" Hilda smirked, pulling Daniel's jacket open to reveal his ripped shirt.
He pulled it shut quickly, looking around nervously, "Hey! Cut it out! I don't want to be on display here. They'll think I'm trying to put on some kind of show."
"Oh, Daniel, don't be such a homophobe. Nobody would believe you were gay, believe me! Bobby or Tyler, maybe."
"WHAT?" Both Bobby and Tyler both looked at her, almost spitting out their drinks.
Bobby got closer and whispered, "Yeah, what? Why would anybody think I was gay?"
She laughed, "You know, tough guy, trying to look tough a little too hard? It's a type. I'm just saying. And you, baby? You're just man candy. You can't help being beautiful.
Tall, dark and hunky appeals to men and women. Believe me, if you did ever decide to go the other way, you'd have a boyfriend about as fast as you got me!"
A well-dressed man in his late thirties came to them, and nodded, "Good evening, all. How are you?"
"Good! Fine...great!" The guys nodded, somewhat nervously.
"So, I take it you ladies are going to see that these gentlemen make it home safely? My mates at the table over there were all taking bets that you three were totally unaware you had fallen into Alice's Wonderland here. Am I correct? Do I win the bet?"
"Righto!" Hilda said, putting her arm firmly around Bobby's waist.
Everyone looked at her, and she made a face, "What? I sound like a local, right?"
They all nodded, and grinned at her terrible accent, "Yeah, sure, Hilda." Daniel agreed.
"Well, we'll be off, then! Congratulations on winning your bet." Bobby said as he allowed Hilda to help him.
"We really had a good time singing and hanging out here." Tyler said, putting his arm around Amanda.
"What about you, luv?" The man nodded to Daniel, who's shirt was still slightly open, showing quite a bit of his chest. "You don't have a lady? You look as if you're on the fence, perhaps. Sure you don't want to stay and play a while?"
"NO! I mean, uh, no, thanks! I do have a...lady. She's just with a girl friend right now."
"Oh, I see, so you just wanted to see what you were missing, too? Well, you know..."
"No, not that kind of girl friend. Just a friend."
"Of course, of course. Just a friend. I've had lots of...friends. Friends can become lovers, though, you know. And that's really the best kind of lover. One who knows you better than you know yourself. If you know what I mean. That's real love."
"You got that right, mister!"
Daniel smiled, in spite of his awkwardness, "Actually, I know exactly what you mean. And she's my best friend. Thanks for letting us all hang out here tonight. It was fun!"
"Well, if you ever change your mind. Here's my card." He handed Daniel his business card, winking.
Daniel blushed, "Uh, thanks." as Amanda pulled on his arm, "Come on, Romeo. Let's get you out of here. Betty would kill me if I let the gays have you."
"Don't be stupid, Amanda. I have no intention of staying here by myself. I'm going to go stay with her and Christina."
"Okay, okay. So, Tyler, we only get an hour, then we'll need to stay with Christina while Daniel and Betty get to do it."
Tyler rubbed his neck, "So, wait, now you're putting me on a timer? But Mandy..."
Daniel grinned, "Ha! See? Have fun, man! Talk about pressure!"
Once the others had gone to their hotel rooms, Daniel knocked softly on the door. He smiled when Betty answered, and put her finger to her lips, as she came out in the hall to greet him, "Sh! She's still out like a light. So...how was the gay bar? Did you have fun playing with the guys tonight, Daniel?"
He pulled her to him by the waist, and leaned his forehead against hers, "Uh, no worries, sweetie. I'm definitely not cut out for the alternative lifestyle, although I did get an offer, I'll have you know." he showed her the card.
She giggled, "Well, it's nice to know you've got options, I guess, Daniel."
He shook his head, "No. Not really. You're the only option I'm interested in. By the way, I'll have you know, your impatience to get to me sort of caused me some embarrassing moments tonight, sweetie. Next time, let me get undressed for you, okay? I was afraid for a minute there, I was going to have to entertain my way out of there."
She laughed, "Well, next time, don't be so silly to go into a gay bar or gay pub or whatever in the first place! Besides, I can't help it if you're irresistible, Daniel." She kissed him holding his face, then ran her hands down to his chest.
He took a deep breath, smiling at her, "Mmm...you're killing me, Betty."