ILLUSION
My eyes sprang open, expecting to see the long drapes and brilliant blue sky over Tokyo stretching out beyond the huge picture window of the hotel room, but instead finding the ceiling of my own hotel room. I sat up, looking around. Victoria wasn't there. There was no bar cart, there was nothing, anywhere, to suggest that any of it had happened at all. I was fully dressed in the jeans and t-shirt I'd worn on stage at the show the night before. I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was 11:45 PM.
"What the hell..." I mumbled, confused. "It didn't even happen? But it felt so real..."
Maybe, I thought desperately, it was 11:45 PM the next night and I'd slept all day. I grabbed at my cellphone, and opened my contacts, clicking the V. No entries. But I could've sworn I saved her number on my phone. I started at A and started scrolling through, seeing if I'd misspelled it somehow.
A knock on my door made me look up. "Nick?" It was Howie. I snapped my phone closed and went to the door, opening it for my tiniest band mate. He stared at me in disbelief. "Dude, why haven't you changed? Aren't you coming to the club with us?"
I glanced down at my clothes. "I-- uh-"
"Que demonios! Hurry up, Nicky, we've already been waiting for you for like twenty minutes... ay dios mio..." He wandered off down the hall, shaking his head.
I stared down at the clothes and turned back into the hotel room, running my hand along my neck - which still ached. We hadn't even gone to the club. I moved back to the bed and sat down on the edge, despite Howie's frustration, I felt unable to move. That was one fucking hell of a dream, I thought, feeling numb. What the hell would cause something that incredibly vivid? I wondered.
Then I remembered. I'd been thinking about calling Melody. Calling Melly would have caused my mind to start thinking about the end of one night stands and sex with intoxicating strangers, wouldn't it? The concept of tying oneself, of putting a heavy golden ring on the left hand, would drive any red-blooded man insane, wouldn't it?
But still... the pain in my neck was like fire...
I got dressed hurriedly, pulling on fresh jeans and a less wrinkled t-shirt, and got downstairs to the guys. Brian looked up from talking to Leighanne, leaning against the bar, as I came into the hotel lounge. He smirked, "What'd you do, Carter? Fall asleep?"
"Yeah, actually," I said apologetically.
Leighanne smiled, "It's okay, honey," she said, reaching over and patting my shoulder, "You were tired."
"Yeah, I guess I was," I answered, though I still felt strange.
Brian smirked, "Are you ready to go?" he asked. When I nodded, he looked at Leighanne and laid a kiss on her before taking two steps back, "I absolutely adore you, have I mentioned that yet tonight?"
Leighanne laughed, and led the way out of the lounge, pulling Brian by his tie like he was a puppy. Brian winked and followed along after her, puckering his lips and making kissy noises.
The other guys and their women were already in a long, sleek black limousine that was waiting by the curb in front of the swank hotel. We slid into the seats, and Brian pinned Leighanne against the far door, and she started giggling as he started kissing lines along her chin and jaw. Howie and Leigh were deep in conversation and AJ was sitting in Rochelle's lap, his mouth seemingly permanently attached to her neck. I felt ridiculously "extra".
As the car wound its way through the brilliantly colorful streets of Tokyo, I stared out the window and allowed my mind to wander. It was the strangest feeling, reliving what I thought I'd already done. I was so certain that I'd already been to the club, and that Victoria was real. I pulled my cellphone back out, combing through it once more, trying to find her number. But it wasn't there... because she didn't exist.
When we got to the club, we blew past the bouncers, into the throbbing atmosphere. The music was loud, it was the same song as I'd dreamt, playing like a heartbeat. The spikes of green and hot pink light strobed across the dancing crowed, and I looked at the spot where I'd first seen Victoria, but there was no one there, except a fat Japanese guy with a mohawk and lip rings.
"What's up?" AJ called over his shoulder, holding onto Rochelle's hand as she led the way, following Howie, Leigh, Leighanne and Brian through the crowd to the VIP lounge.
"Nothing," I said, "I thought I saw someone, but I guess it was just an illusion."
Bad Romance by Pengi
