Lily's POV - 4

"I don't like this place."

Catherine was already bobbing to the loud music. "What?!"

"Can we go?"

"No. We just got here. Call your friend, maybe he's already here."

I sighed, about to tell her that the guy would most likely come with his wife. However, I took a step away from the speakers and dialled the man's number. It rang three times before someone picked and a smile lit my face.

"Hello, this is Lily. You invited me for the party some days ago? Remember?"

The person sniffed into the phone. "Ethan invited so many people, so I'm not sure who this is."

I recognized the voice as that of his wife's, and my heart thumped once before I shook my head and sighed. I wasn't doing anything wrong, so there was no need to fear. "Okay, I'm the tour guide at Niagra Hotel."

"Oh, yes. I remember." She sniffed again and I heard something that sounded like she blowing into a tissue. "He won't be able to make it...to the party."

"Oh, is anything wrong?"

"He died of a heart attack last night."

"What?" I couldn't keep the shock out of my voice, and Catherine ran towards me. "How... what...was the hotel informed?"

"Yes, yes. Oh, I don't know. Everything happened so fast." The woman paused for a moment. "Well, thank you for calling. Enjoy your day."

I didn't even get a chance to say something else before the call cut off, while my best friend shook my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"He died yesterday. The man that invited me." The one day I was off, so I didn't get to hear about it. His face played into my memory, how jovial he was, and tears some to my eyes. Sure, he was on the old side but it still stung that life could be taken away so suddenly.

Beside me, Catherine pulled towards her and rubbed my back. "I'm sorry about that. He seemed like a nice man."

"Yeah, he did." It suddenly felt weird that we were standing in the building he invited us to, and I looked around us. Just how many people were here because of him? How many of them knew he wouldn't be able to attend this one, or any other?

"Come in, let's go to the bar and get a drink," she said, and I slowly nodded not really feel like partying anymore. "One martini for my friend and I, thank you."

As we waited, Catherine started to tell me about one of her frequent customers who was persistently asking her out. My best friend, unlike me, always had a steady stream of suitors but she refused to date any of them. After a failed relationship which nearly cost her sanity, she swore off them. It didn't mean she wasn't open to flirting or casual flings though.

When the bartender brought the drinks, she brought mine over and pulled me to the dance floor. "Since we're already here, we might as well dance."

I frowned at her for a moment, wondering how she could be so calm when someone died. But then again, she didn't know the man at all and besides, I wasn't sure he would want us sulking over him.

"Okay." I let myself be taken deep into the swarming sea of bodies, and as I passed, hands bumped into my dress but I carefully side-stepped until we both saw a large enough space. After about some minutes, I started to feel the beat and slowly began to sway my hips. "This is nice."

Being in the middle of the club meant the noise level was at an all time high, so I didn't hear Catherine's response until she repeated herself. "See, I told you!"

"Yeah!" We continued to dance together, while I tried to forget the man's death and my mother's overprotectiveness. We were dancing together for some minutes, until someone tapped Catherine. I paused for a moment, about to confirm whether we knew the guy or not when they suddenly hugged. Okay.

She smiled up at him and they whispered in each other's ears for some seconds before she turned and whispered in mine. "Remember Andrew? He was my classmate in high school."

He waved at me, and I waved back while trying to search for his dark hair and bright eyes in my mind. "Nope, I can't recall his face."

"You were his tour guide once, maybe you don't remember."

"Sure." I shook his hands still, and Catherine motioned for us to go to a quiet spot.

"How have you been?"

"Good, good. You girls look great, and by the way, Lily," the guy said, glancing at me. "I remember you well enough. You are good at your job, I must say."

"Oh, thank you." I couldn't help the blush that came to my cheeks. A lot of the time, most guests were mostly focused on their own interests so they never really remembered the local showing them around town.

Catherine turned to me with a huge grin. "See, I keep telling you." When I smiled again, she patted my hand and turned to her friend. "So tell me, what's the latest with you? It's been what, two years?"

As he answered, one thought nagged at me. I had been a tour guide for more than two years? For some reason, it saddened me and I eagerly drank the alcohol in my hand while listening to their conversation. After a while, it became obvious that I was the third wheel. They kept referencing to things I didn't remember, and then laughed before explaining to me. It was a bit boring, and I got the sense they wanted to say more to each other, but couldn't because of my presence.

With a sigh, I waited until there was another break in the conversation. "I need to get some water and use the bathroom, won't be long."

Catherine looked at me in concern, and a look of understanding passed through her face. She also seemed apologetic but I waved it off and stood up. Hopefully, I would find something else to keep my mind occupied. I got to the bar and asked for some water, and while I waited, he tried to flirt a bit. I smiled, looking him up and down once.

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood for that tonight." He looked a bit disappointed, but I figured it sounded better than telling him he wasn't my type. Afterwards, I started to head for the bathroom and on my way, I passed through some dancing bodies. As a lot of them had been dancing for hours, the air was filled with the smell of sweat and different colognes mixed together. I held my breath and tried to pass smoothly, but someone's bead of sweat dropped on my arms.

"Eww," I murmured, shooting the dancers a look of disdain before I turned away and quickly walked towards the open hallway. I was so absorbed in getting the fluid off me that I didn't see the person heading towards me. Suddenly, I hit a large body and watched in shock as my bag fell to the floor. 

"Sorry, I didn't–"

"My apologies, I didn't mean to…"