The Forgotten Night (7 page)

“I’ll meet you guys outside, give me a sec.”

“Yeah sure,” they said and stepped outside onto the deck.

“What were you going to say?”

“Just be careful, and don’t get drunk. Pretend. You have to be sober. I’m going to get Cass to take you upstairs tonight. So in a little bit, start playing the part and get a little rough, make her want to help you, or at least get you out of trouble,” Rachel said as she walked toward the hallway that led back to the party.

“Rach?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks.”

* * *

Cassidy was dancing with Robert when Rachel interrupted, pulling her aside. “Hey, Cass, I need you to take Drew upstairs.”

“I can’t do that, Rach,” she said.

“Why not?”

“I’m with Robert.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. Cass, Anthony needs you, he’s drunk and starting to get a little violent with the other guys. It’s not a good combination.”

Cassidy sighed, wishing she didn’t care, wishing she could just say no and leave it at that. “All right, fine, where is he?”

“Usual place, I’ll tell him you’re coming.”

“I’ll be right there. I just have to tell Robert.”

Rachel nodded and walked off.

Cassidy turned around and found Robert hovering at her side.

“Everything all right?” he asked her.

“Uh, not quite. Listen, would it be all right if I said goodnight now? My friend needs me, I might be awhile,”

“Do you need me to wait for you? I can take you home,” Robert offered.

“No, it’s fine. Go back to the hotel, I’ll see you later,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.

“Bye, Cassidy.” He frowned, then walked toward the entrance to retrieve his coat as Cassidy went onto the deck outside and found Andrew throwing the cards in his hand at the other guys.

“You’re a fucking cheater, Fisher!” he yelled.

“I’m not a cheater, Winbright, and I’m not drunk either,” Brian yelled back.

“Andy!” Cassidy yelled over both of them.

Andrew turned, looking happy to see her, and she realized she’d called him by her nickname for him, something she hadn’t done since last year.

“Cassie!” he called, giving her a wide, drunken grin.

She shook her head. “Come on, I’m taking you upstairs.”

“Wait a minute, I’m not finished with him,” Brian said before she could help him out of the chair.

“He didn’t mean it, Brian, let me just take him upstairs,” Cassidy said.

“Fucking bitch, you’re always in the way. This is between me and him. Don’t you have a boyfriend you have to get back to?” Brian snarled.

“Don’t call her that.” Andrew pushed suddenly to his feet, towering over Brian and pinning him with a furious gaze. “Don’t you ever call her that again.”

Brian sat back down and said nothing else.

Cassidy helped Andrew inside the house and up the stairs as usual, her heart racing. She had known Brian didn’t like her much, but had never expected him to call her names or act like that at the Winbright’s party. But Andrew had come to her defense, and she couldn’t deny his terse words had thrilled her.

Cassidy opened his bedroom door, turned on his light and sat him down on the sofa like she always had done. However this time instead of taking his jacket first, she positioned his trashcan by his bed and pulled out a change of clothes and put them in the bathroom. She took the aspirin from his medicine cabinet and filled a glass with water and placed both on his nightstand.

Andrew watched her silently as she moved around his room. She walked back over to him. “Let me have your jacket,” she said and helped him out of it. “And your shirt too,” she said, and he clumsily began to unbutton it.

Cassidy sighed and pushed his hands out of the way and sat down on the coffee table, the same exact place she had sat the previous year. She started from the bottom and worked her way up to the top and found it hard to concentrate when she kept remembering how he’d felt on top of her, remembering how his skin felt under her hands.

She closed her eyes then cleared her throat. She opened them and found herself staring into Andrew’s blue ones. Cassidy stood up before she did something she regretted. “Shirt?” she said, holding out her hands. Andrew took off the dress shirt and handed it to her. She held out her hands. “Come on, you need your sleep.”

Andrew let her help him up and into his bed, and then she pushed the covers over him and walked into his closet.

Cassidy threw his shirt into his hamper and hung up his suit jacket, causing the jacket next to it to fall. She picked it up and noticed something inside one of the pockets. She reached in and took it out then gasped.

“Oh my god, this is where it was! I forgot about this,” she said as she hung up the jacket. She walked out of the closet and found Andrew passed out on the bed. She chuckled to herself, “I thought I lost this book, but I forgot you put it in your jacket pocket,” she said, staring down at him. “You know what, you can keep it, as a reminder of that night. Actually never mind, I’ll keep it. It doesn’t mean anything to you anyway,” she said bitterly.

She turned to go, then stopped with her forehead against the door. “You know, you really hurt me, Andy, yet I still find myself in your bedroom, helping you in your drunken stupor. You might have fooled me once last year, but not tonight. Not this year. Thank God you’re passed out drunk and won’t remember any of this in the morning, I hate to say this, but it’s as true now as it always has been. Even though you broke my heart last year, I…I still love you, Andy, always have…always will,” she whispered.

She walked out of the room and turned the light off, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Andrew waited for her footsteps to retreat before he turned on the lamp beside his bed. He couldn’t believe what he had heard. She loved him, still did. He wanted to run after her and tell her he loved her too, but he still had no idea what had happened last year or how he’d broken her heart. He kicked himself mentally for hurting her and knew he would never be so stupid to get drunk at his parent’s party again.

He sighed with happiness and frustration. She loved him, but he still had to find a way to tell her he loved her too. He had to find a way of explaining his actions last year, the actions he still couldn’t remember. Andrew yawned and turned off his lamp, letting himself succumb to sleep.

The woman grasped the front of his clothing and slowly began to unbutton his dress shirt. He kissed her and she sighed. He wrapped his arms around her and slowly unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the ground. They looked at each other and smiled in pleasure. He scooped her in his arms and placed her on the bed and straddled her slim hips. Her face was still blurry—he couldn’t make out her features.

He bent down and she moaned and arched into him. He ran his hands up and down her body until he slipped his fingertips inside of her. She moaned and he could hear her cry out, but couldn’t tell what she was saying. When she could take it no longer, he removed his hand and positioned himself over her and entered her. They were both crying out, climaxing with pleasure and he fell on top of her. They rested together a moment longer before he pulled away.

“I love you, Andy,” she whispered.

“I love you too, Cassidy Alyssa Ames.” He smiled back at her.

Andrew sat up in his bed, not sure what time it was but one thing he did know was that one year ago, he and Cassidy Ames had made love together and he had completely forgotten. The images and sensations all came flooding back to him. She had asked him why he wanted her and he told her the truth. In his drunken stupor, he had admitted he loved her. Then one thing led to another and they ended up in bed, but in the morning his stupid brain had made him forget.

Andrew looked at the clock and groaned.
4:30
. He rolled over and tried to fall back asleep, though the excitement at learning what had happened and his anger at himself for forgetting how amazing and wonderful that night had been made it hard.

Andrew sat at the table with the guys as Brian shuffled the cards. “So what are we playing tonight?” Andrew asked.

“I thought we’d play the good ol’ Kings,” Brian said. “With Vodka.”

“Man, you know about me and Vodka—” Andrew protested.

“You scared, Winbright?”

“You wish, Fisher.” Andrew laughed at his friends. “Besides, you know I’ll whip your asses.”

“We’ll see about that.” Brian smiled. He and the other guys picked up the bottles of vodka they had brought outside and passed one to each person. “A bottle?” Andrew asked skeptically.

“It’s easier than a cup and no need to refill,” Brian said as he placed a large plastic cup in the middle for the final king drawn. Andrew didn’t think too much about the vodka, he was usually pretty good at Kings, even though it required no strategy and was basically pure luck. He wasn’t worried.

They started the first round and pretty soon Andrew was drinking more and more from his bottle. There was one king left and the cup was almost completely filled. Andrew could feel himself slowly drifting away as he continued to drink more. It was like the guys had it out for them, but that wasn’t possible. Andrew drew his card and took a double look before placing it down.

“Bottoms up, buddy,” Brian said, pushing the glass toward him.

Andrew took the glass. He hated this game. Seconds later, he was downing the contents of the cup and knew he was a goner. They played a few more rounds and if Andrew hadn’t known better, he would have suspected the guys of cheating. Every round they played he ended up with the last king and every time the cup was completely filled.

He vaguely remembered the guys talking. “Do you think he’s drunk enough? Do you think he’d sleep with Ash like this?”

“I hope so. It’s about time he gets laid and stops waiting for that bitch, she’ll never come around.”

“Do you think he’d recognize her?”

“No, I think he’s good. I’ll go get Cassidy, you get Ash.”

Andrew groaned as he woke up. The sun was seeping through his closed blinds and he looked over at the clock. It was eleven. He got out of bed and took a shower. He was happy about not having a hangover to cope with on top of everything else. Andrew stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down his body.

He thought back on his dreams, two very real dreams. Andrew smiled to himself as he remembered the night he had spent with Cassidy. She loved him. The thought made him feel complete. He started to touch himself as he thought about Cassidy, his love for her, and their shared time together last year.

“I love you,” he said out loud as he exploded. Once he regained his composure, he chuckled at himself. Did he really just do that? The feeling didn't last long however. Guilt soon washed over him as he thought about the pain he'd inadvertently caused Cassidy.

Andrew’s thoughts were then sidetracked when he suddenly remembered the rounds of Kings he played with the guys.

“Do you think he’s drunk enough? Do you think he’d sleep with Ash like this?”

“I hope so. It’s about time he gets laid and stops waiting for that bitch, she’ll never come around.”

Andrew clenched his fists. He could have punched something, but knew that would get him nowhere. He never should have listened to them. He never should have played with vodka. He could have ruined his chances with Cassidy forever and all because of his so-called friends, trying to get him drunk enough not to recognize Ashley so he would sleep with her. He didn’t hate a lot of things, but these 'friends' had just made the top of the list.

Andrew got dressed and headed downstairs and found Rachel sitting in front of the downstairs television.

She looked up at him expectantly. “So? I said goodnight to Cass last night when she came downstairs. She didn’t seem too agitated. Did you find out anything?”

Andrew sat down next to his baby sister. “Yes, but you’re not going to like it very much.”

“What did you do this time? This is horrible, I knew things couldn’t be perfect,” Rachel wailed as she muted the show she was watching.

“Calm down, Rach, it’s not bad news, it’s just something you’re not going to want to hear.”

“What?”

“Last night when she helped me upstairs, she found her book in my suit pocket, the one from last year. She was talking to me, she thought I had passed out and right before she left she told me, ‘Even though you broke my heart, I still love you, always have and always will’.”

Rachel squealed at hearing the news. “Then what happened?”

“Nothing,” he answered. “She left and I went to sleep.”

“So what’s the news you don’t think I’ll like?”

“Well, I went to sleep and I had the same dream I’ve been having but this time right before I woke up I heard the woman say something. She said, ‘I love you, Andy,’ and I said ‘I love you too, Cassidy Alyssa Ames’.”

Rachel’s jaw dropped and hung open until Andrew extended his hand and pushed it back up.

“Oh my god, you slept with Cass? You slept with Cass! Then she thought you slept with—oh my god, you broke her heart! You’re horrible,” Rachel ranted.

“See I told you that you wouldn’t like it.”

“But it's okay, you didn’t sleep with some random person—it was Cass—and only her, right?”

“Yes, of course. I’m going to confront her at the New Year’s Eve party.”

“Aw,” Rachel said, a wide smile stretching her face. “Poor Robert, he’ll be so sad. But you…Cass…aw, you’ll be so happy.”

“That’s if she’ll listen to me, if she believes me.”

“She loves you and you love her, of course she’ll believe you.”

“There’s more, though.”

“What? What more could there be?”

“The guys, they did this to me. I remembered last night—in my dream—that the guys suggested Kings and vodka, and I agreed. I didn’t think I could be that bad at it, but then I realized they were cheating. I always ended with the last king and it seemed like I was always drinking. They did that to me, Rach. They did it so I wouldn’t recognize Ashley, they wanted us to have sex because they wanted me to stop waiting for ‘that bitch’,” he said with air quotes. “Then last night, when Brian called her that again, I wanted to kill him.”