September 2005, NYU

“You didn’t tell me those two are coming,” Chanty threw Angelica an accusing look as she murmured under her breath.

“Come on, Chanty. We’ve been going on a road trip for years, just the two of us. It’s refreshing to have some fun company.”

“Those two are not fun at all, Ange,” Chanty retorted fast, watching Zach and Liam walk toward them with their large backpacks.

“Hey, just give them a chance. And don’t tell Cameron.”

She wouldn’t dare tell Cameron. He’d freak out once he knew she’d be on a weekend getaway with his enemies.

2013

“What’s taking Liam so long?” Angelica whined, stumbling out the car. She tried to steady herself by leaning against the trunk of the car. “My husband might be home anytime.”

“I thought you said he’s on a mission?” asked Chanty, peering at her phone. The alcohol was still taking effect and it seemed that it would take a few hours before she could see things more clearly.

“He comes home without notice most of the time. And when he does, I should be home, especially after midnight.”

“You two should get back inside--oh God, Philip’s calling again. What should I do?” Cassandra said to them, opening the driver’s door. “He’ll kill me if he finds out we are trapped in the middle of the road. And then he’ll decide to bury me in the woods behind our house if he knew I was driving.”

No one paid her panic attack any attention because Angelica and Chanty were secretly trying not to throw up (which was the reason why they went out for some air).

“Where are we again?” asked Julianne, joining Chanty and Angelica at the rear. She looked around, but couldn’t see a thing, except the long empty road, thanks to the car’s headlights.

“We’re at freaking-I-don’t-know,” Angelica sighed, gulping. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

Chanty groaned, “Oh my God, me too.”

All of a sudden, the two of them jumped to the nearest tree and emptied everything on the bushes.

“Oh my God, my hair!” Angelica was shouting.

“Are you guys okay?” Julianne asked, not daring to come closer.

“Yes, we’re fine!” Chanty shouted, patting Angelica at the back. Her friend was doing the same thing with hers.

“You guys are a picture of true friendship,” Cassandra shouted from inside the car. Her laughter rang out in the dark, cold, silent night.

“Jules! Take my phone for a sec, Liam’s calling,” Chanty said, holding out her phone behind her back.

Julianne walked toward her and grabbed the ringing phone. “What should I tell him?”

“I don’t know. Just say something so he could get us the hell out of here,” she uttered before she bent over once more with a gag. Angelica was busy catching her breath while holding her hair out of her way.

“I’m never drinking again,” Chanty groaned.

“You always say that,” Angelica said. “Oh God, my hair!”

“Where are you?” Liam asked the moment Chanty answered the phone.

“This is Julianne.”

“Julianne? Where’s Chanty?”

“Uh…she’s busy at the moment.”

That didn’t sound good. “Where are you guys?”

“Wait. Cass, where are we? Liam’s asking.”

“Just tell him to take the way to Ange’s place.”

“I don’t know where that is,” Liam said, hearing Cassandra’s reply. “Forget it. I’ll figure it out. Just stay inside the car. Don’t get out.”

“Uh…okay.”

He then dialed Henry’s number. He peered at his rearview mirror. Zach was driving behind him, followed by Henry and lastly Philip. “They said they are on their way to your place,” he said to Henry when the guy picked up. “Lead the way.”

He slowed down his car and within a few seconds, Henry was revving past him and led the way.

“I hope no one gets killed tonight,” he murmured under his breath.

“Liam’s here!” Julianne cried out. The two ladies were still by the bushes, trying to do some last-minute stomach drainage. “Oh-oh.”

“What? What oh-oh?” asked Cassandra from inside the car.

“Uh… I think Liam--”

But she was not able to finish her sentence because Henry was already storming toward them, his face serious.

“Angelica!” he cried out. “Where is she?” he said to Julianne.

Julianne pointed to where Angelica and Chanty was without a word.

“It’s Henry!” Chanty told Angelica. And then she thought she heard someone say, “I said stay inside the car, right?” Was it Liam?

“What do you mean it’s Henry? He’s out on a mission--”

“Angelica!” Hearing her husband’s voice, Angelica straightened and whirled around. Henry was attacking the ground with his shoes, his eyes deadly.

“How do I look?” Angelica asked Chanty.

“Hell,” she answered, knowing her friend had leaves stuck in her hair and some--something else.

“Not a good answer,” her friend said before forcing a smile as her husband neared. “Darling! I was just about to call you!”

“Call me? I have been calling you and you weren’t answering. Did you drink?”

“What? Of course I…did. But only a little, I swear,” her friend answered, stepping away from her husband.

Chanty wasn’t listening because she was on her way to Liam who was already out of his car. And then she saw Philip and Zach behind him.

“You called them?!” she accused.

“I didn’t. We were together. Are you okay? I told you guys not to get out of the car.”

“You were together?” Chanty repeated, glaring at Zach and Philip.

They just looked at her and went to Julianne and Cassandra respectively.

“Are you okay?” Liam repeated.

“Yes, I am. I thought you are going to do something important?”

“Well, I made that up. You said you can’t go on a date with me tonight so I thought I should call the guys.”

She sighed. That date again. She couldn’t think about it for now because she suddenly remembered one important thing. She turned around and stormed to where Philip and Cassandra were.

“You’re driving?” Philip was saying to his wife.

“No, of course not! I was just sitting here while waiting.”

“I know when you’re lying, babe. And you’re lying now.”

“Babe, I swear I am just--”

“Philip!” Chanty cut her sister-in-law’s words. “Where the hell is Willie?”

Her brother turned and looked at her panicky face. “He’s with Mom.”

“What? We entrusted him to you!”

“And you think Mom will not be doing a better job that I would?”

“No, of course not, but you could have called!”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have found out that my wife is driving a long way in her very pregnant state,” he said, turning back to face Cassandra.

“Babe, calm down,” Cassandra said.

“Just get your ass out from the driver seat, Cassandra. And let’s go home. Now.”

Cassandra glared at him but followed his orders. Nowadays, whenever Philip would call her by her given name, it meant serious. “I am not talking to you!”

“You will when we get home,” Philip said, following her to their car.

Chanty cringed and turned around to survey the scene. Henry was pulling Angelica away from the bushes only to guide her back when Angelica gagged. “You promised me you’re not drinking tonight,” Henry was telling her.

Liam walked over to Chanty. “What now?”

“I don’t know,” Chanty sighed.

Zach was busy talking to Julianne, but he seemed to be calmer than Henry and Philip.

“Jules, you should have called.”

“We didn’t think this was going to happen, Zach. And why didn’t you tell me you are going out?”

Cassandra, on her way to the Philip’s car stopped in her tracks when she heard Julianne. She whirled around to face her husband. “Yeah, why didn’t you tell me you are going out?”

Philip stepped back in defense. “I thought you’re not talking to me?”

“You did not even send a text! What if something happened and we didn’t have anyone else to call but you, huh?”

“Hey, babe, calm down. You’re overreacting.”

“Now I’m the one overreacting? What did you just do earlier?”

“I was worried!”

“Why should you be?”

At that point, Chanty couldn’t quite figure out who was talking, who were in defense and who were on attack mode. “STOP! EVERYONE, STOP IT!” Chanty shouted. “This is not the time for this!”

Angelica was in the process of wiping her mouth, Julianne was saying something to Zach and Cassandra--well, in short, everyone stopped and stared at Chanty.

“Great job,” said Liam beside her.

“Okay, so can we just all stop and go home? I am drunk, I smell awful and I feel dirty.”

“What about my car?” Angelica asked when everyone started to move.

“Did you check the tank of gas at the trunk?” asked Henry.

“There’s a tank of gas at my trunk?” Angelica asked her husband.

“What?” Chanty, Jules and Cassandra cried out in disbelief.

“I placed it there for emergencies.  There are four of you and no one checked.” Henry said dryly. “Forget it. You’re not driving,” he said to his wife and then he looked at Chanty, Julianne and Cassandra. “None of you is driving for a week or I’ll arrest you personally.”

“You can’t do that--” Chanty protested but Liam grabbed her hand to stop her with a whisper, “I won’t argue if I were you.”

“Okay, fine! Just take me home! No, I want to see Willie, my son whom I entrusted to my dear brother,” she said, walking past Philip with a glare, “and who is now with my mother!”

She walked straight to Liam’s car and went straight to the backseat.

“You won’t ride shotgun?” he asked.

“I smell terrible,” she explained.

“I’ll open the windows.”

“Fine,” she answered, climbed out of the backseat and bumped against Philip. “Don’t you dare kill your wife and bury her in the woods!” Her brother just rolled his eyes and guided his pregnant wife to his car. “And she didn’t drive!” Chanty yelled before she climbed beside Liam.

“Done?” he asked with an amused smile.

“Yeah,” Chanty whispered and closed her eyes. All of a sudden, everything was swirling all over again.

When Liam opened the windows, she could make out Henry and Angelica’s voices as they walked to Henry’s car which was parked before them. And Julianne must have decided to continue lecturing Zach about why he said he was not going out of the hotel and ended up with the other guys while he explained that they were inside the hotel bar so he did not really break his words while she, on the other hand, ignored his calls.

“I am going to face one hell of a mess tomorrow, won’t I?” Chanty asked Liam as they drove back on the road, leaving Angelica’s car behind to be towed later.

“Yeah, most probably,” Liam said beside Chanty.

When she woke up that morning, she woke up in a bed she didn’t recognize.

At first she thought it was just the hangover, but when she tried to get out, she bumped into a wall. That was when she discovered that one side of the bed she was in was against the wall, a wall she didn’t recognize. And when Chanty finally managed to distinguish the smell of alcohol from the smell of the cushions and the air in the room, she jumped out to the other side of the bed. She looked down. Not her room. Not her carpet.

Struggling with the sudden whirl of the room due to her abrupt change of position, she looked around. She took in the gray wall, the white furniture and the photos at one corner.

Liam.

“Liam!” She intended it to come out as a cry, but she barely heard her own voice. Her hand went up to her throat, swallowing to ease the dryness. “Liam!” she tried again and this time she succeeded.

“You’re awake?” his handsome face poked through the doorway.

“Where am I?”

He frowned. “Guessing by your reaction, I think you’ve already figured that one out.”

“I told you to take me to my mom’s!”

“And if I did? What could have I told her if she asked why her daughter was dropping by to pick up her son drunk?”

He got a point. “But still! You should have followed my orders!”

“Chanty, as far as I know, we work together. I don’t follow your orders. And we are dating, remember?”

She groaned. “Do you have an obsession over dating me? We haven’t even been on a date for you to declare the dating status!”

“And whose fault is that?” he asked and broke into a grin. He motioned with his head saying, “Breakfast is ready. You can shower after that. Then we can fetch Willie and then go to work.”

“That’s a lot to take in.”

“I’m not the one with the hangover. I didn’t even get the chance to get drunk last night, thanks to you and your crazy friends.”

Chanty groaned. She looked down and saw that she was still wearing her clothes from last night. Good thing Liam didn’t bother with the usual change-the-girl’s-clothes-and-make-her-think-something-happened-last-night thing, which happened to Cassandra and some other ladies in the movies.

“I think I need to shower first,” she shouted. “Can I borrow something to wear?”

“Go right ahead!” Liam answered from outside.

After showering and having breakfast with Liam, they drove to pick Willie up. The child was excited to see Liam and Chanty tried her best to act like it was a normal thing. Liam then drove to her home so she could change out of his sweat pants and shirt.

Once she was done changing into a simple black dress, Liam insisted that they ride with him. “I can’t trust your hangover state,” were his exact words.

So she obliged, knowing she didn’t want to waste a lot of energy arguing with him, and they dropped Willie off at daycare.

Everyone in the office was looking at the two of them when they arrived.

“Get ready for later,” Liam whispered beside her.

“Later?”

He looked down at her. “The date, remember?”

Chanty did not answer but turned and walked inside her office.