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The first thing Lucy registers when she wakes up is the pounding headache. Quite possibly the worst she’s ever had. As she goes to move the next thing she realizes is her neck is stiff and the sudden movement causes her stomach to roll. When she’s finally able to open her eyes, she blinks a few times trying to get her bearings. She notices asylum white walls with tacky beach decor and surrounding her body is cold white porcelain.
A small groan escapes her as she sits up. She immediately grabs her head and curses herself for drinking so much last night. Slowly but surely she’s able to rise to her feet and exit the bathtub that she apparently had slept in last night. She’s going to be paying for that later but she couldn’t think about that right now. As she steps onto the cold tile floor, she doesn’t make it more than two steps before she’s startled by a voice coming from below her.
“Ow! Hey!” The voice whines just a little too loud. Lucy looks down and sees that her foot is on a mane of dark hair. It doesn’t click right away that the whining voice was attached to the hair and that her foot was probably hurting said person.
It was Celina. Lucy was standing on Celina’s hair. The woman was lying underneath the bathmat, but was beginning to sit up, effectively taking her hair with her, causing Lucy to stumble a little.
“Sorry,” she croaked slowly.
“ ‘s fine,” Celina grumbled rubbing her head.
“What the hell happened last night?”
“Beats me,” Celina said, standing. “Last thing I remember is those guys at the bar offering to buy us all shots and Angela and Nyla threatening to hurt them if they didn’t leave us alone.”
Lucy was able to crack the slightest smile at the memory. The circumstances of the night before becoming just a little clearer.
Angela had insisted on throwing her a bachelorette party. Even though she said she didn’t need one. That she was happy just having a girls night at home. But Angela being Angela, she refused to take no for an answer. So that’s how she found herself at a bar with her, Nyla, Celina, Genny, Tamara and Bailey.
“Right,” she acknowledges before gesturing toward the door.
The two women entered the living room of the airbnb to find the rest of their friends in various states. As well as the house in disarray. Empty bottles of wine scattered the kitchen. A half drunk bottle of tequila was lying next to Angela who was passed out in the chair, using the jacket she was wearing last night as a makeshift blanket. Pink and white streamers litter the floors along with balloons, confetti and an inflatable body party that Lucy has no idea where it came from. Or what it was used for. Nyla is lying on the kitchen island, using a roll of paper towels as a pillow. Genny is half on, half off the couch and Tamara… Lucy whips back around to see Tamara in the kitchen looking like she’d barely had anything to drink. She was brewing a pot of coffee and nibbling on a piece of leftover pizza.
“T–what the,” Lucy began but was interrupted by a very obnoxious slam of the back door.
Five seconds later, Bailey made her presence known. Walking in, looking as unaffected by the night's events as Tamara. She was carrying several drink holders with coffees and clear plastic cups that housed some sort of green liquid. “Rise and shine! I brought remedies,” she sang and Lucy and Celina both grumbled at the volume of her voice.
And they weren’t the only ones. The other three women began to wake just as Lucy had a little while ago. Slowly and groaning. Just then someone’s alarm went off and another round of grumbling came from the five hungover ladies. Angela threw her phone in hopes it would shut up.
“What the fuck? Can someone turn down the sun?” Nyla complained.
Bailey laughed as she set the drinks down next to her.
“How do you not feel like ass?” Angela rasped. She stood up and walked over to the island to grab her coffee.
“Nope,” Bailey said. “This first,” she added, handing her the cup of lawn clippings. Angela shot her a glare that would make a weaker person crumble but Bailey didn’t back down. In too much pain to argue, Angela took the green stuff and downed it so she could get to the coffee quicker and Bailey made her rounds, handing the green smoothies to the rest of the group.
“I didn’t actually drink last night. John and I are going through testing for IVF and I just didn’t think it was a good idea. Plus someone had to make sure you all got back here safely.”
The group nods, making various faces as they drink the terrible concoction that Bailey had forced upon them.
Lucy practically spit it out onto the floor. “What the hell is in this?”
“Better if you don’t know. Just know that it will make you feel a hundred times better in about an hour. Here,” she said, picking up the coffee cup and handing it over. “Use it as a chaser.”
As if suddenly remembering she was in the room, Lucy turned to Tamara who was watching in amusement as the five older women battled their hangovers. “T, I know you drank last night. So would you like to explain how you’re okay this morning?”
Tamara leveled her with a pointed look. “Lucy please. I’m in college. Last night wasn’t exactly my most wild night out.”
Angela rolled her eyes as if she was actually offended by that statement. Lucy however, just nodded and continued to sip her drinks.
“I specifically remember saying I didn’t want anything too extreme,” Lucy muttered, glancing between Angela and Genny. Angela who’d enlisted Genny’s help to plan the whole night.
“You had fun. Admit it.” Genny pushed.
“If I could remember any of it, I’m sure I did.”
The whole group laughed and Lucy had to admit, she was starting to feel a little more human. Whatever the green stuff was— was doing wonders.
“Does anyone remember what happened? How we got so— you know…” Nyla gestured vaguely, not able to form the word.
“Let’s just say there was A LOT of tequila involved. Both at the bar and once we got back here. And then you,” Bailey pointed toward Celina. “insisted on breaking into the bottles of wine that we’d brought.”
Lucy grimaced. She was never going to drink again as long as she lived.
Bailey started filling in some more of the gaps. But did let the group know that part of the night she had slipped away to visit John who was at work. So what happened during that time was unbeknownst to her.
As they continued to chat, Lucy moved to the sink to splash some water on her face. When she went to stick her hands under the water that’s when she noticed a very large and very fake diamond ring adorning the finger where her engagement ring should be.
She gasped so loud the entire group of women went silent and whipped their heads toward her.
“What?” Angela asked. “What happened?”
Lucy, now properly panicking, began moving around the kitchen, picking things up and moving things to look around, behind and under any and everything.
“Lucy what’s wrong?” It was Genny this time.
“M–my engagement ring,” she lifted her hand to show them the toy ring that had apparently replaced the ring that Tim had given her. The ring that she had fought to keep on her hand while they were being held captive. Her eyes moved around the space, and her bottom lip began to quiver. “This is not happening!”
“Relax okay,” Celina tried to calm her friend down. “It’s got to be around here somewhere. You were wearing it last night. I do remember you shoving it in some guy’s face who wouldn’t leave you alone.”
Lucy looked at her briefly before returning to her frantic search. Completely ignoring the younger woman’s comment.
“Alright guys, let’s split up. The ring has to be here somewhere. It didn’t just get up and walk away,” Genny says as she hops off the stool she was occupying and begins to look as well.
Each of the women take a part of the house, moving anything that can be moved in hopes of finding Lucy’s engagement ring. Lucy is still in the kitchen when a lightbulb goes off. “The bathtub!” She yells and takes off toward the bathroom.
She rips back the curtain, lifts it up, moves every bottle of soap and shampoo in there and still… there’s no ring. “Dammit!” she shouts, sitting on the edge of the tub and burying her face in her hands. That’s how Tamara finds her.
“Luce, it’s going to be okay. We’re going to find it.” She glances behind her and notices the drain in the tub has a rather large opening. “Do you—” she doesn’t finish the sentence, not wanting to upset her friend further.
“What?” Lucy looks up and follows Tamara’s eyeline to the drain. “Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no! What if it fell down there?
“Lucy, relax.” Tamara tries. “The odds—”
“It could have though! I slept there. What if it slid off and I–I– I don’t know I accidentally kicked it down there. Oh my god! I cannot believe this is happening.”
The rest of the women had gathered outside the door, also coming up empty on the ring search, not knowing what else to do.
“Okay!” Bailey finally says, taking charge of this nightmare. “Here’s what we’re going to do.” They all look at her expectantly. “I’m going to stay here and see if I can get in that drain to see if the ring is down there.”
Everyone stared at her like she had just grown another head. “What? I’ve done it before.”
Of course she had.
“Alright. We were at two places last night. Genny, Angela and Nyla, you guys go to Blah Blah Karaoke to see if they found the ring.” The three women nod and take their leave. “Check in,” Bailey yelled after them. “You guys go to the Library Bar. That’s where I met up with you guys after I left John.”
Celina, Tamara and Lucy nod in understanding and go to gather their things before heading out.
Lucy was still visibly distraught and all Tamara and Celina could do was watch their friend spiral. They didn’t know how to fix this for her, short of finding her ring. She groaned when she pulled out her phone and saw three missed calls from Tim.
“Guys what am I going to do? What am I going to say to him? What if we don’t find it? He’s going to be devastated.”
Tim had told Lucy the story of her ring after they had been rescued. She teared up listening to him talk about it and she could tell that he loved it just as much as she did. It told their story and it was her most prized possession.
“You can’t think like that Luce,” Tamara patted her on the back. “We’re going to find it.”
“God, I hope you're right.” she murmured as she climbed into the car.
Celina drove them to the bar where they had ended their night. Lucy in the passenger seat and Tamara in the back. They were all quiet but when Lucy cursed under her breath, both girls turned toward her.
“What?” Tamara asked.
In lieu of an answer, Lucy showed her phone to her friends to show that Tim was now calling for a fourth time. “I– I can’t talk to him. I can’t lie. He’ll know something’s wrong right away.”
“Give me,” Tamara said, not waiting and snatching the phone from Lucy’s hand.
She slid the phone to answer. “Hello,”
Lucy’s eyes went wide and she tried to grab the phone from Tamara but the younger woman swatted her away.
“Hey Tim,” Tamara said. Obviously Lucy could only hear one side of the conversation. “Yeah Lucy’s not actually awake yet,” she paused. “Well we were out pretty late last night.” Another silence. “I’ll tell her you called when she wakes up. Promise.” Tamara rolled her eyes at whatever Tim was saying on the other end of the line. “Bye Tim,” she quipped before hanging up the phone and handing it over. “Okay that should buy us at least a little more time.”
When they arrived at the bar, Lucy was obsessively checking her phone, waiting for a message from either Bailey or someone from the other group with some sort of news. As Celina parked, they still had not heard from anyone. She sighed and climbed out of the car.
When they walked in, they had just planned on asking if anyone had found and/or turned in a ring. But the hostess insisted on seating them. When the bartender walked over to get their orders, his head was down. “What can I get you—” he stopped when he finally looked at them. “Oh it’s you guys,” he said sneeringly.
Lucy, Celina and Tamara looked at each other and then back at the bartender who was leering at Tamara. “I’m sorry,” Lucy said, “Do we know you?”
“Funny,” the word came out a little sarcastic and Lucy was really starting to lose patience. But she needed something from him so she kept her cool. “Did you guys come back for another round? I gotta say, after the seven… no eight rounds you had last night, I imagine you’re all sporting a pretty hefty hangover this morning.”
“We’re not here for more drinks,” Tamara spat out and if Lucy wasn’t in such a crisis right now, she’d be proud. “We’re here because my friend lost her engagement ring and we were wondering if you or anyone had found it.”
The bartender turned around and looked at Lucy who was watching him with hopeful eyes. He glanced down at her hand and saw the giant toy ring that was still on her finger and smirked. “That is not the one you were wearing last night.”
“Ugh, she knows that. Idi–”
“Wait—” Tamara is cut off by Lucy. “Does that mean I was wearing it while we were in here?”
“Not only were you wearing it, you were showing it off to every single person who glanced your way. You were going on and on about how much you loved your fiancé. T– Tyler or Tommy.”
“Tim,” Lucy mumbled.
“That’s it. Tim,” the man nodded.
Lucy sat staring at the bar top. She was playing with her fingers and despite the large plastic thing on her hand, it felt empty.
“Although,” the bartender spoke again. “I’m not sure how much you could love the guy if you were able to make out with a random stranger at a bar.”
All three of their heads shot up at once. Tamara and Celina looked toward Lucy while Lucy continued to look at the bartender. Surely she hadn’t heard him right. “Excuse me?” she said and she suddenly felt nauseous.
He simply nodded before continuing. “Between rounds three and four you went off to the bathroom, or so you said. And then all of a sudden I hear whistling and cheering coming from your group. I look over and you were all over the guy.”
Lucy was sure she was going to be sick. So not only did she lose her engagement ring. The ring Tim gave her that meant so much to the both of them, but she’d also kissed another guy. This was going to crush him. Tears welled in her eyes as she wished the ground would just open up and swallow her.
Just then Celina’s phone rang and she showed it to her. It was Nyla. She swiped to answer and Lucy watched as her shoulders deflated. She didn’t even need to ask to know that it was bad news. They hadn’t found her ring and Lucy still had two pieces of bad news that she was going to have to tell her fiancé. If she could even still call him that.
“So nobody turned in a ring? You didn’t find one over where we were sitting?” Tamara tried once more.
“No, sorry. Maybe it’s for the best.”
Lucy scoffed and Tamara threw a balled up napkin at the man as they got up from their seats and headed back to the car. She was buckling her seatbelt when her phone rang again. Preparing herself to talk to Tim she was actually relieved to see that it was Bailey calling her. She didn’t even bother with a greeting when she answered.
“Bailey! Pleeeaase tell me you found it.” There was a long silence on the other end.
“I’m sorry Lucy. It wasn't there. Did you guys have any luck?”
Lucy sniffled and shook her head. “No.” She didn’t bother with a goodbye either, hanging up the phone and placing her face into her hands. Her body shook with silent sobs as the realization of what was to come set in. She was going to have to go home to Tim. Without her ring. Tell him she lost it and tell him that she had kissed another man. She had to be honest. Since getting back together Tim had always been honest with her and she owed him that same courtesy.
“Luce,” Celina spoke softly. “Is there anywhere else you want to look?”
Her response wasn’t immediate. She lifted her head, sniffling a few more times and wiping her eyes. She simply shook her head and looked at her friends. “No. I have to face up to this. I have to go home and own up to what happened. And pray that my wonderful, perfect, fiancé doesn’t call off the wedding.”
Tamara and Celina exchange glances but no more words are exchanged.
When Lucy gets home, she pauses at the front door and takes a deep breath.
She could do this.
She opens the door slowly and makes her way inside. She doesn’t see Tim right away but then he emerges from their bedroom wearing only a pair of sweatpants and his hair and skin are damp like he’d just taken a shower.
“Hey baby,” he breathes, clearly relieved to see her. Which only makes her feel worse. “How was it?” He asked, coming up to wrap her in a hug. When she doesn’t return the gesture, he pulls back, hands on her arms and searches her face. “What’s wrong?”
Lucy doesn’t meet his eyes. She can’t. She cannot handle seeing the hurt and disappointment in those beautiful blue orbs when she tells him the truth. “There’s— um— there’s I need to tell you— I did something horrible.”
Tim scrunches his eyebrows in curiosity but there is also a hint of worry. “Okay,” he drawls.
“Two things actually,” she amends. She holds up her left hand. Her empty left hand and the guilt she feels nearly knocks her over. “I uh– um— I lost my engagement ring.” She murmurs, glancing at him briefly before looking away. “And– I kissed some guy.”
There it is. It’s out. Now Tim knows everything and she braces herself for his reaction. She continues to look at the floor, blinking back the tears that are forming. Tim remains quiet and after a while the silence becomes too much. Feeling the need to fill it, Lucy finally looks up at him and his expression is not at all what she expected. She continues anyway. “I swear it will never happen again and it meant absolutely nothing. You know how much I love you Tim. I don’t even remember who he was.”
“I do,” he finally says.
Lucy’s expression goes from guilt to confusion in two seconds flat as he steps closer to her.
“So I was just sitting down to play a round of Call of Duty when my phone rings. And imagine my surprise when I see my fiancée calling me from her bachelorette party. When I answered, you squealed and told me how you missed me and how you needed to see me. You told me that you’d snuck away because Angela would have yelled at you if she knew you were talking to me. A little rude if you ask me but,” he shrugs as a smile starts to form on his lips. “So I hop in my truck, check your location and drive down to the bar. When I get there, I’m met by a glare from my best friend, but that was background noise compared to the smile I got from my best girl,” his smile grows and he tucks a loose piece of hair behind Lucy’s ear and then plants his hands on her waist. “The minute you saw me you ran into my arms and started smothering me with kisses. When I looked back at the table, everyone was cheering and making a spectacle. You didn’t care though. You kept kissing me. Can’t say I hated it by the way. Drunk Lucy is very… affectionate.” Lucy blushed as Tim continued. “Then I pulled you away and we stepped outside for a minute. You latched yourself on to me and told me again how much you missed me. You looked down at your hand and smiled at your ring before taking it off and handing it to me.” Tim stepped back and reached in his pocket. Lucy nearly crumbled in relief when she saw what he was holding.
Her ring.
“You asked me to keep it safe for you so nothing would happen to it. But you didn’t want people to think you were available so you took the large, plastic ring off of the necklace you were wearing and put it on so that everyone knew you were happily taken.”
“Oh my god,” she breathed, letting her tears fall. Just minutes ago she thought she had ruined the best relationship she’d ever had. She believed she was going to lose the man who made her whole.
“So,” Tim began again. “Now that you’re home. Back with me. Where you belong,” he leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. “It’s time we get this back on your finger, where it belongs.” He gently reached for her left hand and slid the ring on, the same way he did all those months ago on the beach. Once it was secure he kissed her palm then looked back at her.
Lucy wasted no time pulling him down for a kiss. It wasn’t the most dignified kiss. She was still openly crying and he was smiling but it did convey just how much she loved this man.
“I love you so much,” she whispered, pulling back and resting her forehead against his. “I just—”
“I know,” Tim nods. And she supposes he does know. Without words he knows how much she loves him and vice versa.
Because that’s who Tim Bradford is. Her person. The love of her life. Her home.