19. A Drunken Mistake.

BETH.

I was so happy that I was finally able to get my sweet revenge on Jeremy. He got paid back for what he did to me. Tony and I decided to go to back to the cocktail party to celebrate my comeback against Jeremy.

“You finally did it. You didn’t allow that scumbag stomp all over you. I’m so proud of you,” Tony had said.

We danced for a while and when we got tired, we headed to the bar. We ordered some cocktail drinks while still talking and laughing at what we did to Jeremy.

“Whoa, that was so much fun,” I said, laughing really hard.

“The dancing or the revenge?” Tony asked with a smile etched on his face.

“Both,” I replied, laughing out loud.

“Do you feel better now that you’ve had your revenge on Jeremy?” Tony asked me.

“Better? I had the best night ever. Did you see the look on Jeremy’s face? He looked totally embarrassed and hopeless. Thank you for doing that with me, I had a great night because of you. Many thanks,” I said.

“That’s why we’re friends and friends help each other, right?” Tony said.

“We’re friends?” I asked.

I was surprised he called me his friend. I didn’t even know he’d consider me a friend. I thought maybe he helped me because I was a friend of Lara or because we’ve known each other for a while, before Lara introduced us.

“Are we not? Don’t you see me as a friend too?” Tony said looking confused.

“Oh, no that’s not what I mean. I thought you only saw me as one of Lara’s friends; I didn’t know you saw me as a friend too,” I said, voicing out my thought.

“Well, I can be your friend if you would accept me,” Tony said.

“Yeah, why not? Friends?” I said, stretching out my hands for a handshake.

“Friends,” Tony said with a smile on his face, extending his hand and shaking mine.

“Okay since that has been settled, let’s get to know each other as friends now,” Tony added, with a smile still etched on his face.

We talked and drank a lot. We drank until we were both dead drunk.

“I think we should get back to our rooms now; we’re both dead drunk,” I slurred.

“Yeah, I’d take you to your room,” Tony replied, slurring too.

I tried to get up from the bar stool but I staggered back. I was too drunk to even get up on my own.

“Easy girl, I’d help you up,” Tony said.

I chuckled for no reason. I guess it was as a result of the alcohol. It was making me laugh for absolutely no reason.

“You’re just as drunk as I am, Tony. How can you help me?” I said.

“Okay, let’s do it this way. We’ll help ourselves. Now, give me your hand,” Tony said.

I stretched out my hand and Tony grabbed it.

“Okay so at the count of three, we’ll get up at the same time,” he said.

“Okay,” I answered.

“Here we go,” Tony said.

“One…Two…Three,” he added.

We got up at the same time. There was a little staggering but we didn’t fall back on our stools. Tony wrapped his hand around my waist and I did the same. We began to stagger towards the direction of my room. We struggled a bit before Tony got me to the front of my door.

“We’re in front of your room door Beth,” Tony announced.

I looked at the door number and it read ‘Room 100’, which was my room number.

“Oh that’s true,” I said, chuckling unreasonably again.

“Thank you but how will you get to your room?” I asked with a concerned tone.

“Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine,” he replied.

“Okay then goodnight,” I said, turning around to face my room door.

I opened my purse and pulled out the room key. Just as I was about to insert the key into the keyhole, Tony called my name. I turned back around to face him but as soon as I turned around, I felt a set of lips attack mine. My eyes widened in surprise and I sobered up a little. Tony was kissing me and I don’t know what to do, whether to push him away or to play along and just enjoy the kiss.

Suddenly, Tony pulled away. He looked like he had also sobered up a bit. He wiped his lips and said,

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to do that. I’m so sorry, Beth.”

I looked up to his face but instead of looking back at me, he was looking elsewhere. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me.

“Tony, It’s…it’s fine. We’re both drunk. It was a drunken mistake,” I said, brushing it off.

TONY

I don’t know what pushed me to kiss her but I’ve being wanting to do it the whole night. Her lips were right there in front of me and I just had to do it. I don’t know if I did it because I was trying to get over Lara or if I was starting to develop feelings for Beth. Whichever one it was, I still felt the need to do it.

“Tony, it’s…it’s fine. We’re both drunk. It was a drunken mistake,” she said, ins response to my apology.

My heart sank when she said it was ‘a drunken mistake’. But then again, I was her best friend’s husband-to-be so she was probably still considering that. Besides, we had just called ourselves friends a few moments ago. It was weird for friends to kiss each other.

“I’ll just head back to my room now; I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said.

“Yeah, tomorrow is great. Goodnight Tony,” she said, opening the door with its key and rushing into the room.

I turned around and headed towards the direction of my room which was at the other end of the ship. I got to my room, thinking about what had happened between Lara and me some minutes ago. I changed into my pajamas and climbed on my bed. I tried to close my eyes and sleep but my brain kept refreshing the kissing scene. I swear I could feel something when I kissed her.

After rolling around the bed for a while, from being unable to sleep, I decided to go back to Beth’s room and ask her if she felt anything like I did. I got up from the bed, put on my slippers and walked out of my room. It took me about three minutes to get to her room. I knocked on the door and when she opened, she didn’t look like she got a wink of sleep either.

My eyes dropped to her lips and again I felt like kissing her so I leaned in a pressed my lips against hers. I could still feel the alcohol in her mouth. She kissed me like I life depended on it and I knew she loved it. Before I knew what was happening, we were on her bed and things had began to play down.