It’s New Years Eve and we’re all sitting on the deck at Arden’s. The party is in full force downstairs. This party is tame compared to the last two Arden has thrown here, but we’ve been busy packing and getting ready for the move. We leave in three days.
Chad keeps the drinks flowing and a waitress keeps bringing up trays of food for us.
Everyone has been well behaved tonight. Except for a group of girls that tried to get up the stairs and refused to take no for an answer. Ralph had to put them in an Uber about an hour ago.
Yasmin and Ally are standing at the bar discussing drink concoctions with Chad. “Can we bring Chad with us?” Yasmin asks us. “I’ll miss his cocktails next year.” She pouts. Yasmin and Ally are both tipsy, and it’s rather amusing.
“You know I live in New Hope right? I own a pub there,” Chad tells the girls.
“What? Really? Why are you here?” Yasmin asks him.
“I like bartending at Arden’s parties. It’s always entertaining,” Chad says, winking at the girls. “Plus he pays well and it’s a good excuse to visit my older brother.” Chad nods towards Ralph and the girls turn around a little too quickly, almost losing their balance.
“You guys are related?” Yasmin says a little too loud. Rhys and I chuckle at the girls. I didn’t expect Yasmin to know, but surely Ally knew.
“Yep,” Chad answers.
“Holy fuck. How did I not know that?” Ally asks. The shock is evident.
“It’s not a secret,” I tell them as I make my way over to Yasmin and pull her towards me. I miss her when she’s not in my arms. I’m not afraid to admit it and I know she loves me holding her as well.
“I had no idea. Does that mean we’ll still be seeing you next year?” Ally turns her attention to Chad and turns on the charm, flirting with him.
Rhys growls and Ashley storms off.
“Most likely,” Chad says to Ally, ignoring her flirty advances.
All of a sudden the lights dim and Arden’s voice booms over the speaker system.
“Time for the count down.” Suddenly everyone starts counting back from ten. Arden appears at the top of the stairs with a pretty brunette I don’t know tucked under his arm.
I turn Yasmin in my arms and kiss her when everyone reaches one. She melts into the kiss and starts to rub against me. I pull her closer and deepen the kiss, momentarily forgetting where we are.
The sound of fireworks brings me back to the present. I groan while pulling a way from her slightly. We need some space, or I’ll be dragging her off to our room.
I spin her around so she can see the fireworks. Leaning down to whisper in her ear. The smell of strawberries and cream lingers on her skin. “We’ll finish this later.”
She nods her head, her eyes focused on the spectacular light show in front of us.
After the fireworks, Yasmin and Ally go downstairs to dance. We tried to convince them to stay up here with us but they demanded we stop acting like cavemen and to let them go. Ralph has been watching them for us.
Rhys and I join him at the rail.
“It’s hard to believe this is the last party we’ll have here,” Rhys says.
“I’m not going to miss it,” Ralph says. “I’m glad Julia is nothing like her brother,” he adds.
“We haven’t been that bad,” I say to Ralph as I watch the girls dance. Everyone has sort of created a circle around them. No one game enough to get to close.
“You’ve kept me on my toes,” Ralph responds, casting a sideways glance at us.
“You love us,” I tell him.
“I do. I’m going to miss you little shits. Especially him,” he says as he nods towards Arden, who has the same brunette from earlier pushed up against the pool fence. I guess he’s getting his fill of Canary Bay girls before we leave.
“We’ll miss you too. But we’ll still see you when we visit and when you bring the girls to visit,” Rhys says as he looks over the crowd of people below us.
“I know. I’ve been interviewing drivers for you guys in New Hope,” Ralph tells us. Arden really wanted to bring Ralph with us but Ralph and Martha both need to stay here with Julia. It was a hard decision for Arden to make, but it was really a no-brainer. We’re old enough to adjust to new help.
“I thought we agreed we didn’t need a driver,” I say while sipping my beer.
“You did, and I decided I’d feel better if you had the option of one,” Ralph explains.
“You know we’re capable of Ubering right?” Rhys replies sarcastically, which causes Ralph to reach over me and smack him in the back of his head.
“Yes smartass, but having a driver available puts my mind at ease and could you imagine Arden in an Uber. The princess would have a coronary.” Ralph says laughing.
He’s not wrong, Arden is a little bit of princess when it comes to these things.
The girls giggling on their way up the stairs ends the conversation.
We help them to sit on the loveseats and Chad brings over some water for them. I sit beside Yasmin and pull her into me. She snuggles closer and inhales.
Rhys sits beside Ally, keeping some distance between them. Ashley is, after all, still floating around the party.
“Did you just sniff me?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Yep,” she says, inhaling again to prove it.
We fall into a comfortable silence, listening to the music and the party goers downstairs. Rhys and I chat occasionally. I’m pretty sure both the girls are asleep. Or at least not far off it.
Just as I’m about to decide to call it a night, my phone rings. Mum’s calling me. A quick glance at the time tells me it just after 2am. I know she’s at work tonight.
“Mum, is everything okay?” I answer.
“No.”
I stand as mum speaks waking Yasmin in my hurry.
“You need to get to the hospital,” Mum talks quickly filling me in. I hang up and jump into action.
“Ralph you need to get your guys to shut down the party. I’m getting Arden, and we need to leave,” I say in a hurry. I take off down the stairs, Yasmin following behind me.
“What’s going on?” Rhys yells over the railing. Him and Ally looking down at me confused.
“Meet me out the front,” I yell back.
I make my way through the crowd looking for Arden.
He’s still near the pool fence with the same girl.
“Arden, we have to go.” I say as I grab his shoulder to spin him around.
“Stop cock blocking me and go away,” Arden responds almost immediately, brushing me off.
“Arden, we have to go to the hospital. NOW,” I say, my voice quick and harsh. The adrenaline has taken over. I’m no longer tipsy. The alcohol is long gone.
“Why?” Arden turns around finally looking at me. At first, he looks pissed off but then my expression registers and he changes.
“What’s going on?” Arden asks again a little less agitated this time.
“Julia is in a coma.”
