“Put down that damn placard, man. You’re embarrassing the both of us.”
Andre chuckled, tossing the placard into the closest trash can his eyes could see. Holding up a placard that read, “Welcome to Detroit! The City of the Coldest beers and the Hottest women,” was so lame that everyone kept giving him the stink eye. But he didn’t care. It was designed specifically for one eye only and that was his friend: Sean Patterson.
“I can’t believe you showed up with a goddamn placard like those little girls who’d squeal when they see their father come out of the boarding room,” continued Sean in disbelief. “Really man? ‘Welcome to Detroit! The City of the Hottest Women.’ I am getting married in five days.”
“And that, Sean, is five days more to enjoy the benefits of being a bachelor in the City of Detroit.”
“Oh yeah? Tell that to Stella.”
“Speaking of Stella, how is she doing? Is she still flying in tomorrow?” Andre asked, reaching out for one of the two luggage Sean had had to drag out of the boarding room with all the strength his body could muster.
When Sean handed him the bag, his arms almost fell out of his shoulder. “What the hell man? Did you stuff rocks in there or something?”
“Trust me, Andre. You don’t want to know what’s inside the bag. Stella has me doing all sorts of crazy for this wedding.”
Jabbing a warning finger in Sean’s face, Andre reminded him in a stern voice. “Did you tell her not to get handsy with our bachelor’s party?”
He choked out laughter. “Tell Stella not to get involved with my bachelor’s party, organized by my best man who happened to be Andre Lourdes?” He scoffed without any real rancor. “Good thinking, bro.”
“Did you at least tell her not to call you for one night?”
“Do you want Stella swarming around the place with all those cheeky bridesmaids like some police recruits in that pink silk romper they’re all planning on wearing?”
Andre’s brows furrowed. “Why are they wearing silk pink rompers?” He asked and Sean flung his hands in the hair, thinking the exact same thing.
“It’s what I have been asking myself for the past week. Anyway, enough about Stella. Where is this wonderland of a resort you keep yapping about? If it offers anything remotely close to peace, I would give it a four-point five-star rating.”
For the slightest moment, a complacent smile formed on his face and he pulled his hair back dramatically, milking all of that self-appreciation and appraisal. But when he replayed those words a second time in his head, his eyes bulged out.
“What do you mean, a wonderland of a resort? I mean, yeah, no lies there. It is a wonderland Alice was unfortunate not to see but don’t tell me you haven’t heard of Harbor Bridge Resort?”
“Not from anyone except you.”
He scoffed, drawing back. “Oh, that is insulting. What, Sean!? Harbor Bridge is ranked number two in Michigan!”
Again, he shook his head in negativity. “No idea.”
Andre swore under his breath, making a mental note to fire everybody on the publicity team of his resort. But for now, he had a friend he intended to wow.
“For starters, Sean, I didn’t build my resort for peace. It was meant for fun! And that is what we’ll be having in the next five days. Now, shall we?” he said, leading the way while grumbling and pouting to himself, “I bet Stella knows all about my resort. Some friend you are.”
Sean was the closest thing Andre had to a best friend. They met seven years ago while he was on a business trip. Together, they came to a close for what was the biggest deal Aerospace Lourdes have ever witnessed. And since then, they have been working together as business partners and friends. They bonded so well and grew so close to the extent that Sean asked him to be his best man for his wedding.
“So, Andre, how is the entrepreneurship program coming along?”
“Going great,” he answered, still moving his head to the beat of Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse’ while using his fingers to drum on the steering wheel. “I don’t know how my mother did it back in the day, but I know this one might just be the best yet. Feedback from participants says it all.”
“Feedback from participants?” Sean lowered his eyes. “You have a personal relationship with all the participants.”
“Why not!? They all adore me.”
“They do?”
Andre glanced in his direction with a look of mortification and Sean put his hands up innocently.
“Just asking man.”
Later that evening, after Andre had helped Sean settle down – by settling down, I mean he toured him all around the place till what was left was going from room to room to see the interiors.
Who cares about physical and mental exhaustion from a thirty-four hours flight from California to Detroit?
Right. Not Andre Lourdes.
Sean was the happiest when he finally let him move on to the next person.
Colleen.
He found her in the dining hall where they were having dinner. After serving himself some chicken salad, he slid to the table where Jessalyn Russo, Liz, and Colleen were seated.
On his arrival, the table went deadly silent.
Giving each one of them a look, he picked up his fork, pretending like a divinely gorgeous being hadn’t just descended upon their table.
“Why ladies? Don’t stop on my accord. I would like to hear all about how Ms. Caddell, here, was ditched on prom night by her date.”
Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. He had been eavesdropping.
Liz laughed, sticking out an arm. “We haven’t met. I am Liz Parker. Colleen’s friend. And this is Jessalyn, our high school classmate.”
Andre took her hand, his attention on Jessalyn “High school, huh? How would you describe Ms. Caddell? The party freak or party pooper?”
“Oh, she was definitely the party pooper.”
At that moment, she wanted so desperately to slide under the table and hide forever, or for the earth to happen and swallow her because she knew what was coming next. There was no way Jessalyn would keep quiet about this one. It was literally the highlight of her High School days.
“So get this,” started Jessalyn, sounding more enthusiastic about this than when she narrated her trip to Paris with a girl she met on the plane.
“Two days to prom, Colleen’s high school crush, the quarterback, asked her to prom. For someone who had spent the last week talking about how lame and immature prom is, she sure spent a great deal of time in the shopping mall that evening looking for the best dress and heels for the night. And on that day, Mr. Quarterback texted her saying he would meet her at school. That was the beginning of a very eventful night,” Jessalyn chuckled to herself recalling the moment.
“So, Colleen went to the dance alone. And while other non-date attendees were filling their dance cards, she didn’t because apparently, she only planned on dancing with one boy on the night. You wouldn’t believe what happened next!”
Andre propped his elbow on the table, leaning into his palm. “Now don’t stop now, Russo. What happened?”
“He set her up! He told her to go to the dance floor where he was waiting for her. I mean, yeah, he was waiting for her but not to dance, no. For a comic show. To everyone’s surprise and laughter, he dropped a balloon full of dog piss on her!”
“What!? No way!” He exclaimed. “He didn’t!”
“He so did! Apparently, he was still angry about her slapping him amidst a friendly game.”
The laughter kept rolling out from all three of them except Colleen who’d looked like she would cry any moment from now.
Stupid Harry Harrison, she cursed stuffing salad into her mouth.
After dinner, while she was walking to her room, Andre came up to her, deliberately brushing her shoulders.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Party Pooper. Didn’t see you there.”
Colleen lifted her hand to smack his head but he dodged it by a nickel. “Hey–hey! Not the hair, missy.”
“When I am done with you, Andre Lourdes, you would wish you were born bald!” She said through gritted teeth chasing after him down the empty hallway.
“Now don’t be ashamed, darling. Everyone has a shameful high school experience. Only that they don’t often involve you getting decorated with dog piss in the middle of prom’s dancing floor.”
Oh, Andre Lourdes was going to die!
They ran the length of the hallway, chasing after one another till she managed to escape to her room. She had touched his hair. So, the reverse was the case. Andre was the one now pursuing her.
He finally got a hold of her when she was inches away from her room. He flung her over his shoulder, entering the room and throwing her to bed as he picked up a pillow and began teasing her with it.
For the longest moment, they laughed, whilst she pleaded with him to stop.
“Say you won’t touch my hair again,” He tickled her sides while she continued her endless pour of laughter.
“I promise! I promise! Pleaseee stop.” It was hard to take her seriously while she was pleading for her dear life and laughing at the same time.
Thank goodness he finally pulled away when she thought she was going to be the next joker.
“Where were you all day?” Colleen asked breathlessly.
Andre plopped himself by her bedside while she gathered herself from the bed.
“Missed me, huh?”
“Oh don’t get all cocky with yourself. I barely noticed you were gone.”
“Then how did you know I was out all day?”
“Because as supervisor, Mr. Lourdes, your job is to supervise. And you barely did any of that today.”
He watched her as she pulled her hair up, tying it together with a band she got from her headboard.
Before Colleen knew what was happening, Andre was in her face-way too close to her face-using one hand to stop the activity she was doing on her hair by getting a hold of her wrists. Suddenly, her common sense flew out the window and all that filled her nose–and brain–was the scent of his very masculine cologne.
God! He smelled so good.
Slowly, he removed the band from her hair, allowing it to fall to her shoulders. Then, a slow devious grin touched his lips as he said, “I like it when your hair is down.
“And since you’re wondering where I have been all day, Colleen, I’ll save you the stress of overthinking,” he chuckled, drawing a couple of inches back. “I went to get my friend from the airport. He is getting married next week and I am his best man.”
“Hi–his best man?” she managed to force words out of her mouth and he shook his head in affirmation. “Didn’t think handsome and mighty bachelors like you had any friends, let alone friends who would actually want you to be their best man.”
A bemused expression took over his face as he cocked his head to the side. Handsome and mighty bachelors like him? So she thought he was handsome? He laughed, covering the distance between their noses so that it was touching. And again, Colleen lost her senses.
Andre’s eyes skimmed her face and he brought a hand to stroke her chin before saying, “Trust me, Colleen, you have never met a high, mighty, and handsome bachelor like me. If you stick around long enough, you’ll see. I’ll make you see.”
And in the split second, he climbed out of the bed, crossing the room in three long strides and shutting the door on his way out, leaving an outta-space Colleen breathless and frozen on the spot.