Eric was leaning against the balcony railing looking down over the city, his third empty Old Fashion glass sitting next to him. He figured if had to be at this stupid party he might as well drink but that didn't mean he couldn't keep an eye on the city still. He had only been out there about 10 minutes when he heard the door open behind him. Without turning around he began to speak assuming it was Wes coming to drag him back inside.
"Look I'll come inside at midnight but until then I'm staying out here," he said still leaning against the railing.
"Oh I'm sorry. I just wanted some fresh air. I can hardly hear myself think in there," came a voice that was much more feminine than Wes'. Eric quickly stood up and spun around to see who had joined him in the outside world of the Collins Mansion. He stood there staring at her a moment trying to pinpoint where he had seen her before and blaming the alcohol on his delayed thought process. He must have had a confused look on his face so she spoke again. "My name is Kayla. I helped you and Mr. Collins that day at Victoria's Secret." She must have seen the realization cross his face and then more confusion and she answered his next question without him asking it aloud. "He just randomly called me the other day and invited me. Parties aren't really my thing but you don't exactly turn down a party invite from Wesly Collins."
"No I suppose you don't," he said shaking his head at Wes before grabbing his empty glass and attempting to walk forward and out the doors she was standing in front of still. "I'll let you be. I need another drink anyways."
"Wait how did it go?" she asked placing a hand on his arm causing him to freeze.
"How did what go?" he asked confused glancing at her hand on his bicep and then at her face. He gulped quietly at realizing how close they actually were on the large balcony.
"Your girlfriends present. Did she love it or did she love it?" she asked smiling up at the tan man that she still held on to.
"Um she never got to open it. We broke up before she could," he said telling the half truth, or what he thought was the half truth. He didn't know he was going to be greeted at the door in her nighty.
"Oh well then good," she said smiling even bigger up at him. At this he was even more confused than before and he knew it showed on his face.
"Good? How is that good?" he asked trying to tug his arm out of her grasp that just got stronger the more he struggled.
"Because now I won't feel bad about this," she said and before he could ask what the hell she was talking about she placed her other hand behind his neck and stood up on her toes, pulling his head down at the same time until they were kissing. At the same time this was happening Eric could hear the door beside them opening again and then he was being showered in brown liquid. He was able to finally get a grip on Kayla's shoulders and push her away from him just in time to see blonde hair and an ass he'd know anywhere going out the door.
"Shit! Earnhardt! Wait!" he said pushing Kayla away from him and running out the door after her forgetting both the now broken glasses on the ground. But as soon as he stepped back into the ballroom his vision was obscured by the people and lights around him. He scanned the room for her long blonde hair but couldn't find it anywhere. But he did find Wes, Jen, Cole and Alyssa all gathered around a table and he ran to them.
"Where'd she go?" he asked as soon as he reached the group. They all looked up at him startled but instantly knew who he was talking about. Jen and Alyssa shot each other a worried look as the guys continued to looked startled.
"She came to the bar, got two drinks and then went to the balcony to find you. Why? What happened?" Jen asked turning to face him more fully.
"That damn girl that you invited from that damn store jumped me and she was kissing me just as Taylor walked out the doors. She threw a drink at me and stormed away. I tried looking around the room but all I could find was you guys," he said glancing at her and then continued his scan of the ballroom, searching for any sign of the women in question.
"She most likely isn't in here anymore. She probably went to find some place quiet. Let's split up and keep looking. Wes and I will go check the monitors and see if we can find her there. Cole, Alyssa you guys search this floor, not as many rooms and hallways to get lost in. Eric you check the second floor, you know it as well as anybody does, you know all the hiding places. Let us know if you find her," Jen said taking control of the situation fast.
Everyone nodded and they headed to the main doors of the ballroom and then went different ways. Cole and Alyssa heading down the long hallway to the right, Eric heading down the main staircase to the second floor and Jen and a quickly sobering up Wes headed down the back staircase to the first floor security room. Cole quickly communicated that the third floor was clear and that they were going to go back to the party and keep an eye out for her there. Jen said that they hadn't seen her on the first floor and their way to the security room and Eric was slightly starting to panic more and more with each passing second that she wasn't found. He knew that if she got off the property without him being able to speak to her then it was truly over. He had checked the whole West wing of the second floor and only had about 3 rooms left in the East wing, one of which was his room when he stayed here. That's when Wes's voice came through the communicator laughing. Before Eric could yell at him he heard a thunk and Wes stop laughing.
"She's on your floor Eric, room 5 East wing," he heard him say still trying to hold back the laughter and failing. That's when it hit him why Wes was laughing. That was his room. She had chosen the farthest room away from the ballroom on the second floor to hide. He quickly got over the irony and started running towards his room only stopping when he found a champagne flute in the hall a few feet away from his door.
Knowing that she most likely heard him running down the hall he decided to forgo the knocking and slowly tried to open the door. Finding it locked he laughed at himself for not thinking about that sooner. What person wouldn't lock the door to their hideout room? He reached into his pocket and pulled out his key to unlock the door when it hit him that he had locked it before he had went up to the party. Shaking his head he unlocked it and slowly opened the door, hiding behind it halfway expecting things to be hurled at him again. But when nothing came he peaked around the door to see her standing at the window looking as small as he had ever seen her. Come to think of it he had only seen her when she was trying to be taller than the world and she always was in his eyes. But now she looked as tall as an ant.
"Earn-Taylor?"