Chapter 44
Nic, Ruby and Annie piled out of the Taxi and walked into the hotel. There were greeted by a woman smartly dressed in a black suit.
"Hello, and welcome to the Sheridan. I'm Louisa and I will be your hostess for today." She told them. "If you would like to follow me we will go through to the Bar first and Migual will be creating a special drink for today."
Ruby and Annie looked at each other and turned to Nic.
"Hand over your phone." Ruby said to her.
Annie chuckled.
Nic flushed with embarrassment and poked Ruby in the ribs.
"This way please." Louisa told them.
"Good afternoon ladies, and which one of you lovelies is our bride to be?" a tall Spanish looking man asked them.
Nic looked at Annie and saw that her cheeks were flushed.
She leaned over and whispered to her. "No asking him to strip."
Turning she told the barman.
"I am."
"Now that is a shame that someone as beautiful as you should now be off the market." Migual told them. "My name is Migual and I will be creating the perfect drink for you today."
Nic could feel herself blushing and felt Annie poke her in the back.
"I will be back shortly to take you to our salon." Louisa told them and left them with Migual.
"Would you ladies care to take a seat at the bar?" he asked and they found themselves following him.
He pulled out a stool and assisted each one of them to sit down before walking around to the other side of the bar.
Annie, Ruby and Nic looked at each other and giggled.
"I so love Ella." Ruby said.
"Tough she's mine." Nic said.
"Ut hum, she's ours!" Annie amended.
"But just for you!" Nic said she pulled out her phone and dialled.
"Yes," her Dad answered.
"This is so weird are you like El's answering service?" Nic asked him.
Roman chuckled.
"No she's in bed asleep." He told her.
"Is that Lethal Weapon I hear in the background?" Nic asked distracted.
"It might be." He told her. "What did you want?"
"Well Ruby is feeling left out. " Nic explained with a giggle. "She wanted Ella to adopt her too."
"Consider it done She already mentioned it, but I'm not giving her an allowance!" he grumbled.
Nic laughed.
"I'll tell her and when El wakes up tell her we love her!" Nic said clicking the phone shut. She turned to Ruby. "You're adopted. She'd already told my Dad she wanted to!" Nic giggled.
"Is she ok?" Annie asked.
Nic leaned over and squeezed Annie's hand.
"I think so. My Dad didn't sound worried anyway. " Nic said.
"Right ladies, Lets get started shall we?" Migual asked.
He placed 3 cocktail glasses in front of them and pick up a tall silver cocktail shaker. He poured out a measure of White Rum and then Coconut milk before adding pineapple juice. He shook the drink.
"This is your standard Pina Colada." He told them and poured some into each of the glasses. He added a cocktail umbrella to each glass that had a curl of coconut on it, a piece of pineapple and a cherry.
They took a drink.
"Now if you were with Ella I would have to create something with Vodka but you ladies need something sweet that melts your inhibitions." He told them.
"You know Ella?" Annie asked first.
"Yes." He grinned, "Very well,"
Ruby and Annie looked at Nic.
"Tell me more about her?" Nic asked.
Migual reached into his pocket and pulled out a small business card he handed to Nic.
Nic looked at it and read it before handing it to the others to read.
'Do not answer any questions they ask about me on pain of me telling them you are Gay!' Ella had written. 'And I so do not drink too much vodka' she'd added as a postscript.
"You're gay?" Annie asked sounding disappointed.
Ruby laughed at her.
He smiled at her.
"No querida." He said very softly.
She flushed again.
They laughed at her again,
She glared at them and took a long drink.
"Now back to your drinks. I want to add a dash of Cointreau to this. And some banana liquor. Perhaps a dash of Mango juice and a dash of lemon just to cut through the sweetness." He said. He poured it into their glasses and watched as they took a drink.
They looked at each other and grinned.
"Perfect." Nic murmured.
As they drank he made a big pitcher of the drinks adding ice and fruit to it.
They looked up to see Louisa standing beside them.
"If you would like to come this way?" she asked.
"One last thing. What are we going to call this creation?" Migual asked them as they stood up.
The girls looked at each other again.
"How about…." Annie began.
"The El." Nic and Ruby suggested.
"As in tomorrow morning we are going to wonder what the "El" we were drinking." Annie said and they burst out laughing.
They followed Louisa into the Spa with Migual carrying the tray with new glasses and the pitcher of drinks. He placed it on table nearby and poured out the first drink before leaving them.
Annie sighed.
Ruby leaned over and whispered.
"You swear, gamble and eye up men." She said. "What the heck has happened to you?"
Annie smiled.
"I grew up. And I might add that I had you and Nic as role models." She murmured back.
Ruby half smiled.
"I think I was being serious Annie, I like this new you but I kinda miss the old you."
Annie turned to her and threw herself at Ruby and hugged her.
Ruby returned the hug, admitting to herself only now that she had missed Annie more than her ex-sleazebag. 'wow' she thought.
"I couldn't be your Annie forever." She whispered. "I just really did grow up. And yes he is cute, " she said referring to the barman." But you have to know I wouldn't do anything."
Ruby pulled away and looked at her.
Neither girl realised that Nic was frantically distracting Louisa to give them the space to talk.
"What about.." Ruby started to ask then shook her head.
"Nothing happened then apart from me getting him to bed and he pulled me to the bed and wouldn't let go. I fell asleep. Then you came in" Annie explained. "Then about two years later we met up again and I'm sorry but it did happen then. We were both drunk." She confessed.
Ruby stiffened in the other girl's embrace but Annie just held tighter.
"He never loved me Ruby. We married because I got pregnant and now we are almost divorced." She explained. "Even though we were married it was only the once, we knew it was a mistake."
Ruby pulled away and looked at her.
"The baby?" she asked.
"I lost it." Annie said.
Ruby pulled her close and squeezed her.
"I am so sorry Annie. I should have been there for you." She told her.
Annie shook her head.
"I'm ok. For a long time I wasn't but now I am. There is something else." Annie stood on tiptoe and whispered into Ruby's ear.
"Oh Annie." Ruby said and started crying.
Annie pulled back and wiped Ruby's tears away.
"Are we ok?" Annie asked her.
"Yes. I love you Annie." She told her.
"Good because I've missed you." She told her.
They turned and saw Nic waiting for them, she was lounging in a chair and had finished another glass of "El".
"Ladies?" she said.
Annie and Ruby joined her.
"Louisa will be back in 10 minutes." Nic told them.
She placed her glass on the table and held out a hand to each of them.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
They took a hand.
"Yes." They replied at the same time.
"Good then you better drink up." She said only slightly slurred.