The next few weeks drag on. You’re counting down the days until it’s time for Chase’s grand opening. Once the day finally arrives, you’re full of nerves and excitement. Still not sure about what Chase meant, you try to put all that aside and begin to get ready for his grand opening of H2O. You’ve got your hair and makeup done, and you slip into your favorite black cocktail dress.
“Perfect. There is no way that Chase will see me as a kid in this dress.”
Just as you’re finishing up, you hear a loud thud at the door. You open it up to see what is going on, and there stands your brother holding his shoulder.
He looks at you, confused, and says, “What the hell, Alex? You’re locking the door now?”
“Yeah, I had to since someone kept barging in on me!”
“Whatever, are you ready to go? We can’t be late.”
You grab your clutch, and the two of you head to Chase’s grand opening at H2O. Once you arrive at the club, you see a line going down the block and around the corner.
Wow. It’s going to take all night to get in.
Nick takes off toward the front of the line, passing everyone. You stand there, not sure if you should follow Nick or go to the back and wait. Nick looks back at you and yells, “Alex, are you coming or what?”
“I don’t think we can just cut the line, Nick.”
“Are you kidding me? We’re his best friends. Of course, we can.”
You follow Nick to the front of the line where he gives your names to the guy standing at the door. He checks his list and ushers the two of you in. The two of you enter the club, and as you look around you’re not sure what to think. It still looks like an abandoned warehouse. Only full of people. You lean in toward your brother and say, “I’m not sure he was ready for this.”
Nick just laughs and says, “Yeah he is. He is a marketing genius!”
You’re not sure what he means, but Chase must be doing something right because the place is absolutely packed. You even notice that there are people going up the step to the second floor. Chase spots the two of you and comes over to you.
“I’m so glad that you guys made it. Follow me. I have a VIP section closed off for us upstairs.”
You make your way upstairs, and you see where Chase put his money. You’re taken aback by how perfect everything is. From the floors, to the lighting, to the décor—it’s all perfect.
You get close enough so Chase can hear you and tell him, “Chase, you outdid yourself. This place is amazing.”
He looks back at you, and a huge smile comes across his face as you give him your approval.
Chase guides you and Nick to your reserved section. As you pass by him to take your seat, he puts his hand on the small of your back, and chills wash over you. Trying to not let it show, you take your seat and look anywhere other than at Chase.
Chase calls over a server and introduces her.
“Guys, this is Natalie. She’s going to be your server tonight. Whatever you guys want. It’s on the house. Have fun. I got a few things to take care of and then I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
With that, Chase takes off into the sea of dancing people. Nick makes a beeline for the dance floor, already hitting on every pretty girl he sees. You spot a couple of your friends dancing and join them.
After a few songs, you go ahead and make your way back to your seat, hoping to see Chase. He still hasn’t made it back yet but you wait, secretly hoping he’ll make his way back to you. While you sit there, you decide to get a drink. You spot Natalie and wave her over.
“What can I get ya?”
“Can I get a whiskey sour?”
“Sure thing.”
She brings you your drink, and you sit there enjoying your drink and listening to the music. Your friends come and sit with you a while before they take off for the night.
As the night comes to a close, you’ve only caught a glimpse or two of Chase around the club. Nick finally manages to make it back to his seat, and he is beyond drunk. He throws himself down and puts his arm around you and says, “Hey you. You want to know something? You’re my favorite sister… Shhhhh, don’t tell anyone… It’s a secret.”
You can’t help but begin to laugh at Nick and how drunk he is.
“Nick, I’m your only sister. The secret’s out.”
Nick laughs as he falls over into the seat next to him and passes out shortly after. You shake your head, wondering what in the world is wrong with him.
I guess it could be worse. He could be puking everywhere.
You finally see Chase make his way back up the stairs now that everyone has left. He heads over to you, and you feel a wave of excitement come over you.
It’s about time. Holy crap, Alex. Pull it together. Just breathe.’
Chase takes a seat across from you and lets out a low chuckle when he sees Nick passed out in the booth beside you. He turns his head to you still smiling.
“Well, I see Nick enjoyed himself. Did you have a good time?”
“Yeah, we didn’t get to see much of you, though.”
“Sorry about that. Every time I was on my way back over, something always came up.”
“It’s okay. You looked pretty busy, but that’s a good thing. Right?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a few things to finish up before I head out, but I can call you a cab, and I’ll take care of Nick when I get done?”
You give him a smoldering look.
“Chase, you haven’t even had a chance to celebrate your big night. We need to at least have a drink?”
“Well, I do have a bottle of champagne upstairs in my office that I was saving. I almost forgot about it.”
With that, you hop to your feet and gesture for him to lead the way for you.
“Well, what are we still doing here? Lead the way boss man.”
Chapter Six
The two of you make your way upstairs to Chase’s office, leaving your brother passed out on the sofa. Once you make it, Chase goes to get the bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses, and you begin checking everything out.
You make your way down the long bookshelf against the wall, looking at all the books and art pieces he has placed on it, and right in the center, you notice a very familiar picture frame on display.
It’s one of the matching picture frames you made for him when you were kids, and it still has the picture of the two of you that you put in it. Your heart begins doing flips, and a knot starts to form in the pit of your stomach at the thought of him holding on to it after all these years. You hold it up and turn to him.
“I can’t believe you still have this thing,” you say, surprised.
Chase laughs and asks, “Why?”
“Because I made these for us in, like, the first grade.”
Your heart fills up with warmth that he’s kept it all this time just like you have. Yours has its own special place on your desk with a necklace he got you a couple of years later. He comes over to you with a look of pure happiness. He takes the picture frame from your hand and looks at it like he’s looking at a lost piece of art.
As you stand there watching him, you can’t help but think, It’s just popsicle sticks, crazy glue, and shells we found down by the river that summer. The nicest thing about it is where it says “best friends” on the top,