Nick laughed. “My wife would say the same thing about being married to a Backstreet Boy.”
“Aw, I bet that’s not true. She gets to travel the world with you! What a lucky woman.”
He wished Lauren saw it that way. He checked his phone - still no word from her.
“Sorry,” said Dani when he didn’t reply. “I didn’t mean to imply that your lives are perfect or anything. I know no one’s is.”
Nick nodded. “You’re right about that,” he said, taking another sip of his drink. Their conversation quickly lapsed into silence.
“Are you okay?” she asked after two minutes had gone by without either of them talking. “You got quiet all of a sudden. Was it because of what I said about your wife?”
“Sorry,” said Nick, forcing himself to smile. “Nah, it’s not that. I guess I just ran out of stuff to say.”
She made a face. “Aw, man… Am I really that boring? I mean, Rob likes to believe he’s the fun one, but hey, I can be fun, too!”
Nick laughed and shook his head. “No, no, it’s not your fault,” he assured her. “You seem like a lot of fun. I’m the one who’s being lame tonight. Look at my costume compared to yours.”
“What costume?” she asked, laughing, as her eyes panned from his Bucs cap to the plain white t-shirt and jeans he was wearing.
“Exactly.”
She smirked. “I see. So this is like a ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ type of situation,” she said, making air quotes with her fingers.
“Yeah… sorry,” said Nick. “I’ve just been going through a lot of shit lately.”
“I know.” Her teasing smile was suddenly replaced with one of sympathy. “I was really sorry to hear about that.”
“Thanks.” His chest suddenly felt tight, as his throat constricted and his eyeballs burned. He turned to finish his drink, trying to hide the fact that he was blinking back tears. He could feel Dani staring at him.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked softly. “You look kinda pale all of a sudden.”
Nick swallowed hard and set his glass down. “Says the girl in gray face paint,” he replied, forcing himself to laugh. “I’m fine. It’s just, my stomach’s sort of upset. I’ll be right back.”
Great, now she thinks I’m going to take a shit, he thought, as he excused himself and hurried off to the bathroom. He used the urinal and washed his hands, then splashed some cold water on his face and wiped it off with a paper towel.
When he came back, Dani had ordered him another drink. “Hey, thanks,” he said, as he sat back down.
“You’re welcome. Feeling better?” she asked, smiling.
He nodded. “This should probably be my last one, though,” he said, looking at the time on his phone. It was eleven o’clock - eight in Las Vegas - and he still hadn’t heard back from Lauren. “I wanna head home soon and try to Facetime my son before he goes to bed, find out how his Halloween was.” He wasn’t sure Lauren would answer, but it was worth a try - and, if nothing else, an excuse for him to leave.
“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Dani exclaimed. “What did he dress up as?”
“I… I’m not sure,” Nick admitted, ashamed of how out-of-touch he’d been with what was going on at home.
“Oh… well, whatever it was, I’m sure he was adorable,” she said, smiling again.
He smiled back. “Thanks. You got any kids?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Rob and I both work long hours at the hospital, and with our busy schedules, I just don’t know how well we’d be able to balance work and family right now.”
“It’s not easy,” Nick admitted, “but you figure it out.” Or you let your wife figure it out, he thought, feeling the guilt stab at his heart yet again. That was how work and family had balanced out in his marriage: he went to work, and Lauren stayed home and took care of the family while he was away. Nick knew that wasn’t really fair to her, but it wasn’t like he’d wanted to leave, either. He didn’t have a choice. His career depended on him touring, and he had four other guys and legions of fans who were counting on him. He couldn’t let them down. But in fulfilling his commitments, he’d let Lauren down instead. His wife had needed him, and he hadn’t been there for her. It was no wonder she was still upset with him.
“I’m sure we will… someday,” Dani said wistfully, taking a sip of her drink.
Nick did the same, the vodka sliding smoothly down his throat. He was starting to feel the depressive effects of the alcohol now. Just a few more drinks when he got home, and he would feel nothing - which was exactly the way he wanted to feel. Numb.
Dani set her drink back down on the bar. “So,” she said, “if you don’t mind my asking, what are you doing here all by yourself on Halloween?”
Nick looked over at her, surprised by the question and unsure of how to answer. “Honestly? I don’t really wanna talk about it,” he replied. “Sorry.”
“Fair enough,” she said, smiling at him. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No problem.” Nick smiled back, but he felt awkward, as if his perfectly polished “meet-and-greet” mask had slipped to reveal someone rude and ugly on the inside. It wasn’t that he was trying to hide the truth. He just didn’t want to air all his dirty laundry in front of this woman, this fan, he hardly knew. He took a long drink, draining half his glass in one swallow. His head swam as the alcohol rushed straight to it.
“Looks like we’re going to get some weather,” said Dani. Her eyes had wandered to one of the TVs mounted on the wall over their heads. The local news was on. The sound had been muted, but Nick could see a radar image showing the rotation of a tropical storm in the Atlantic.
“Is it heading this way?” he asked.
“Hard to tell. It’s still too far out to sea,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll be fine though. After Hurricane Irma, I’m convinced Key West can survive anything.”
“Were you here during Irma? I bet that was scary.”
Dani nodded. “It was. We had to evacuate the whole hospital. I ended up spending almost a week in the great city of Gadsden, Alabama. But all in all, we were lucky.”
“That’s good,” said Nick. He stared at the TV screen, pretending to be interested in a report about a missing woman. Her photo swam in and out of focus as his buzz intensified.
“How about you?” Dani asked him suddenly. “You’ve been through hurricanes before, haven’t you, growing up in Florida?”
“Uh-huh.” Nick was sure she had expected him to elaborate, but his brain felt foggy, his thoughts muddled. “Hey, I hate to do this to you, but I’m about ready to head home. How about you?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, okay. Sure.”
“Sorry,” Nick said. “I’m pathetic, I know. Can’t even make it to midnight anymore.”
She laughed. “It’s fine. Just let me order an Uber first.” She gave him a sidelong glance as she opened up the app on her phone. “We can share a ride, if you want. I don’t know how you got here, but you sure don’t look like you’re in any shape to drive. I’ll just have the driver drop you off at your place on the way.”
“Sure, that’d be great - thanks,” Nick replied, downing the rest of his drink while Dani reserved their ride.
“Okay, we’re all set,” she said, stuffing her phone into the front pocket of her dress. “He should be here in a couple of minutes. Silver Corolla.”
“Sounds good.” As Nick went to stand up, he was rocked by a sudden wave of dizziness. He swayed on the spot for a few seconds before Dani reached out and caught his arm.
“You okay?” she asked, looking at him with concern.
“Yeah,” he said, holding onto the stool to steady himself. He let out a shaky laugh. “Look at me, stumbling around after four fuckin’ drinks. I guess I’m getting old… can’t hold my liquor like I used to.”
“Happens to the best of us,” said Dani, patting his shoulder. “Are you good now? We should get outside.”
Nick nodded. “Yeah… let’s go.” He couldn’t wait to get some fresh air; he was starting to feel slightly nauseous. He followed her out of the bar, fighting claustrophobia as they wove their way through the crowd. Once they were standing on the sidewalk outside, he realized he was drenched in sweat. He hadn’t noticed how hot it had been inside the bar until now. No wonder he felt so bad - he was overheated and probably dehydrated, too. When he got home, he was going to chug a whole bottle of water before he went to bed.
“I had a really good time tonight,” Dani said, smiling at him, as they waited for their ride. “I’m so glad I got a chance to talk to you.”
“It was nice talking to you, too,” Nick replied. He tugged at the neck of his t-shirt, trying to cool off the skin underneath. The warm air was thick with humidity, which didn’t help.
When the silver Corolla pulled up to the curb, Nick climbed into the back seat with Dani and told the driver his address. He couldn’t wait to get home so he could take a cold shower and go to sleep. His heart was hammering in his chest, and his head was pounding. “Man, I sure hit my wall all of a sudden,” he mumbled, leaning his head against the window.
“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” he heard Dani ask.
“Yeah… fine,” he answered her, his eyelids growing heavy. The last thing he remembered was feeling the car shift into gear as he pressed his cheek up to the cool glass and let his eyes close.
***
