Nicole didn't fall, but the drink that the man was holding spilled onto his suit jacket. When Nicole realized the mess she had made, she bowed her head and started apologizing, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you. Why don't I pay for your dry cleaning and buy you a drink as an apology?"
As she was apologizing, they both didn't notice the man whose feet she had stumbled upon looking in a certain direction and secretly giving a thumbs-up sign with a wink. Then, John hurriedly went to Nicole. "Miss, I'm sorry," he said, then looked at his friend and added, "Lewis, don't get mad at her. It's partly my fault for not noticing her behind me."
Lewis looked deeply into her blue eyes and said in a cold voice, "It's okay." Then he swiftly removed his suit jacket that was now stained with the drink. With his white shirt and the dim, colorful lights of the club, he seemed to glow and looked ethereal. Nicole, who was slightly tipsy, stared at Lewis and thought that he was the most handsome guy she had ever seen.
John cleared his throat to break their staring contest and said sincerely, "Miss, since it was because of me, let me buy you a drink as an apology. Come join us."
Nicole was about to decline, but a woman suddenly grabbed her arm. "Yeah, join us. By the way, I'm Sarah Gomez ." Seeing that she was still hesitating, Sarah added a few more words, "Hey, why are you hesitating? We're all good people. No need to be nervous."
"Oh hi, I—I'm Nicole Murphy," Nicole said as she was still processing what the hell was going on.
"Let me introduce you to the others." She pointed at John and said, "This is my boyfriend, John Walker, and that's his best friend, Lewis Wil…" Before Sarah could finish her sentence, a phone rang, interrupting her. "Oh, just a sec." She answered it without even checking the caller ID. "Hello?"
"Sarah, what's taking you guys so long? Is the plan going smoothly? Do you need help?" On the other line, Sarah heard Jessica's voice.
"No need, it's almost done. We're coming." With that, she ended the call, then looked at everyone and said, "Let's go, they're waiting for us."
Sarah held Nicole's hand and dragged her into a private booth with both men following behind them. The whole time, Nicole tried to say she didn't want to go, but Sarah turned a deaf ear.
'What an enthusiastic person,' Nicole thought.
Sarah made her sit in the empty seat and then went to sit with her boyfriend. Nicole watched as Lewis took the seat beside her.
She was totally speechless by the turn of events, and now she was also sober. Nicole noticed that from where they were sitting, they could see what was happening in the club, especially on the dance floor, through the glass.
The booth was meant for more private gatherings and was made of one-way tinted glass. In this way, outsiders would not be able to see inside, maintaining privacy, but the people inside would have a clear view of the outside world to enjoy everything.
The awkwardness Nicole felt was immense as everyone in the room was looking at her curiously, except for Lewis, who just sat there with an indifferent expression. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.
"Hey, this is Nicole Murphy. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" Sarah suggested when she noticed everyone was staring at Nicole and feared they might scare her off.
"Hope I'm not interrupting you guys," Nicole said guiltily.
"Not at all, I'm Matthew Collins. Nice to meet you." Nicole looked at the guy who spoke first and nodded back at him in acknowledgment. "Hello, nice to meet you too."
Beside him, another young, handsome man spoke, "Hey there, I'm Mark Collins, Matthew's younger brother." Now Nicole understood why they resembled each other so much—Matthew and Mark were siblings. "Hi," Nicole replied.
"Hey, I'm Jessica Aray, Lewis's cousin," said the woman with blonde hair, her beautiful face showing a friendly smile. Jessica was Lewis's maternal cousin and only a few months younger than him.
Nicole smiled back at her, "Hello."
After the brief introduction, the waiter brought the drinks John had ordered.
"Are you okay? You look like you've been crying," Jessica asked after noticing Nicole's slightly puffy red eyes.
Nicole was surprised by the question because she didn't think anyone would notice her puffy eyes in the colorful, dim light after she had fixed her makeup in the washroom.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just angry about some personal issues."
"Oh…" Jessica didn't press further.
"Ms. Murphy…" Lewis, who had been quiet until now, called out as he reached for two glasses and handed one to Nicole. She accepted the drink and said, "Oh, you guys don't have to be so formal, just call me Nicole."
"So, Nicole, did you come here alone?"
Everyone in the room was stunned except for Nicole when they saw Lewis trying to make small talk and asking such questions, despite having seen her earlier dancing with her friend. He had even seen her friend leave before he went out to take a call. They all noticed this and thought that perhaps their plan would succeed if Lewis took an interest in Nicole.
Nicole had no idea what everyone was thinking and answered honestly, "Well, I was with my friend, but she had to leave for an emergency. I was planning to leave too, but then I bumped into you guys." She took a sip of her drink.
"Oh… You look quite young. Do you study or work?" Lewis asked.
"I'm actually 24, and I just started working as an architect. What about you?" Nicole replied.
"Well, I'm 32, and I just came back from abroad to take over my father's business." Lewis didn't elaborate further, and Nicole didn't press for more details since they had only just met.
Sarah nudged Jessica, who was beside her, then leaned on her boyfriend's arm comfortably while drinking her juice.
Lewis drank from his glass but frowned after tasting the drink. Why did it taste funny to him? But before he could think further, his attention was drawn to Jessica's question.
"Nicole, do you have a boyfriend? If so, you should call him here too. The more, the merrier," Jessica asked with a teasing smile, secretly hoping for a negative answer.
Nicole froze, then put on a smile and said, "I broke up with him today."
"Why?" Jessica instinctively blurted out the question but regretted it after seeing Nicole's face.
Although Nicole was smiling, everyone could see the pain and disappointment in her eyes.
"Um… because he cheated on me," she squeezed out the words and lowered her eyes to hide the sadness.
"Let's forget all the gloomy things and enjoy the rest of the night," Mark said cheerfully, trying to brighten the atmosphere as he raised his glass.
"Cheers…" everyone followed suit. Although they had just met, Nicole was grateful to them for trying to lift her mood, knowing she was sad.
After some time, Nicole started to feel dizzy and hot. "Hey guys, I… t-think I can't drink anymore…" she said as she tried to get up but failed miserably. Thankfully, Lewis caught her before she could get hurt. Lewis suddenly felt his body heating up, so he loosened his tie and undid the first button of his shirt.
Nicole was getting restless in his arms and mumbled, "It's so hot and stuffy in here."
"She's wasted," Mark slurred.
"So are you," said Matthew, as he looked at his brother, who was grinning like an idiot.
"I will book a room," Sarah said, showing her phone. Then she looked at Lewis and continued, "Could you please help her to the room after you get the keycard from the receptionist?" She pointed at John and Jessica and said, "As you can see, I have to help them as well."
"I'll help her, but you don't have to book a room, I can manage," Lewis said and got up from the sofa.
Lewis picked up the suit jacket he had taken off earlier and draped it over Nicole's shoulders, then helped her stand up. Nicole was completely drunk at this point, leaning her head on his shoulder and mumbling something, but he ignored her. Grabbing her purse from the sofa, he left the room with her.
As soon as they left the room, Mark, John, and Jessica dropped their drunken act. They were slightly tipsy from a couple of drinks but not as drunk as they had pretended to be in front of Lewis.
"Was that really necessary? I mean, drugging them was a bit too much, wasn't it?" Mark was the first to speak.
Jessica snorted. "Hmph, do you think I wanted to do this…" She took a sip of her cranberry vodka. "That heartless guy never got a girlfriend for himself. Grandma Betty is worried because of him. She called me last night, saying that Grandpa Paul isn't doing well and wishes to see Lewis get married before something happens…" She paused for a moment, then continued. "Even his nephew is planning to get married. What's the point of his handsome face and godly body? With his emotionless and rude behavior, I'm afraid he wouldn't get a girl without us helping."
"That's true, but I think he likes her. Did you see the way he was looking at Nicole? I have never seen him look at someone like that. And he was very patient with her; when was he ever like that with someone else?" Sarah said.
"It seems like that to me too," John replied. While looking at Jessica, he continued, "But what if our plan to make them a couple goes wrong? That poor girl just broke up with her boyfriend. I think we all made a mistake this time."
"Don't think like that. Hope everything goes well," said Jessica.
"I tipped the waiter to spike their drinks like you told me to, but are you sure Lewis won't notice it? Because if he does, I'm not going to take all the blame on myself. You all have to take responsibility for it," Matthew said matter-of-factly.
"He'll definitely make us pay double," Mark guessed.
"Guys, let's not overthink this. Matthew, did you avoid the CCTV cameras when you tipped the waiter?" Jessica asked.
"Yes."
"Okay, now we just need to carry on our act and exit the club. The amount of drug I gave you to put in their drinks was small, so he won't suspect anything and will likely blame the alcohol and his impulses," Jessica explained.
"It better be like that, Jess," they all said in unison.
When they left the booth, Matthew was seen holding an extremely drunk Mark and John, while Sarah was holding Jessica, and they didn't drop their act until they got into their cars and drove home.