I was running through Central Park Saturday morning when my phone started to ring. I grabbed it from my running belt and checked the caller ID. It was Mia, my best friend. I started working with Mia at a non-profit in New York City just after I graduated college 4 years ago, and it became clear that she and I were soulmates, in a sense. She was a few years older and was responsible for training me, but we had everything in common. It was a match made in heaven in my book.
"Hola," I said after answering the phone, slowing my pace slightly to be able to maintain a conversation, which I figured would be long. Mine with Mia usually were.
"Nina, you Latin superstar, we need to get away. It's so hot right now. This summer has been brutal."
Mia was always one with a flair for the dramatic, but it had been an exceptionally hot couple of weeks in Manhattan. It was only 7 am and already reaching the mid 90s. "What did you have in mind?" I questioned as the sweat dripped quickly down my forehead.
"Well, Chase and I want to go to his Hamptons house for the long weekend, and I would never leave you alone baking in Manhattan! Plus, I know we had plans for that weekend... but don't the Hamptons sound amazing? The ocean and the sand and sun and everything??"
Chase, Mia's fiancé, was loaded and, of course, had a huge place on the beach. I had to admit, the idea was hugely appealing to me. I loved the water and would love to get away for a weekend. I was about to chime in with a resounding yes until another thought entered my head. "Wait... just the three of us in the Hamptons for a weekend?"
"Well, no. Chase has invited some friends and I thought we could bring some other people if you want..."
"Mia, stop trying to distract. Who is coming?"
"Nina, don't worry about it! It's just a few of Chase's married couple friends and a few of his single guys friends."
That's what I was afraid of. "Including Dexter?" I questioned knowingly. Dexter was Chase's best friend, who I despised. He treated me like a child, ever since I met him. He liked to not only point out my small stature, but also my heightened innocence for a woman my age. I was barely over 5 feet tall, and due to my exercise habits, was also thin and petite. I did have big curly black hair, curtesy of my black father, which helped me seem slightly taller. However, on top of my size, I am a rather reserved person. I have never been wild or crazy and fail to recognize innuendos and things of that nature. I consider myself blissfully ignorant of the raunchiness of my world, but Dexter found it hilarious, never missing an opportunity to humiliate me for it.
"Yes, Nina, but don't worry about it! He likes you, and you always have me!" Mia said, trying desperately to convince me to come.
"Yes, but I hate him, Mia! Does he have to be there?"
"Chase already invited him... and he is his best friend." She replied. "Come on, I won't let him bother you, even for a second. Remember, you can spend all of your time in the water! And we can shop for new bikinis!"
I thought it over. Did I really want to spend my long weekend around Dexter? All I do know is that it was hot, and the Hamptons would be a great get-away. Plus, Mia would never desert me. "Fine, fine... I'm in, but I hope I don't regret this! Meet me at my place in an hour and we can go get bathing suits."
"Yippee!! Love you, girl!" Mia squealed back at me.
"Love you, too. See you soon!" I replied before hanging up and finishing my run, wondering what I had just agreed to get myself into.
I was packing my duffel for my long weekend at Chase's Hamptons house. Sometimes, it paid to be best friends with someone so god damn rich, but Chase and I were best friends well before he hit it big in the stock market. As for me, I was doing well in architecture in New York, but was so looking forward to a weekend out of the heat, with scantily clad beach babes all around me.
I had been a bit of a player in my early twenties, pleasing women up and down the Big Apple. Now that I was 28, I had settled down a little bit, but it had been a while since I got any, and I figured this weekend would be the perfect opportunity. I grabbed a box of condoms and threw them in my bag before zipping it up and throwing it over my shoulder. I hit the lights and left, locking my door behind me and hitting the stairs two at a time. When I got to the street in front of my classic brownstone home, I saw Chase in his convertible, top down, trying and failing to pull into a parallel parking spot. For a guy who owned a car in NYC, he sure couldn't drive for shit.
His fiancé Mia was in shotgun, and her best friend Nina sat in the back. Her hair was huge and curly from the humidity, and she looked over her shoulder towards the road with oversized sunglasses blocking most of her face. She was a gorgeous, half Mexican half African woman who I loved messing with. She would get so pouty and spit back at me with a fire I loved to see. I liked to get a reaction out of her.
"Hey y'all," I announced, distracting Chase from his task and causing him to nearly hit the truck behind him. "What the hell, Chase, no shotgun?" I questioned teasingly. I opened the trunk and hopped into the vehicle, sliding in beside Nina and throwing my bag in the trunk simultaneously before closing it behind me. "¿Hola, Niñita, como estás?" I smiled, knowing she hated that nickname. Even with the oversized glasses, I could feel her deeply roll her eyes.
"Jackass."
This girl is too much. "Good to see you, too, baby girl! I didn't know your parents had invited you to the grown-ups weekend." I teased further as I poked her in the side.
"I wasn't sure I would come when I found out you'd be here, actually." She replied bitingly.
"Aww, Niñita, that would hurt my feelings if I didn't know it was just because you are worried you will fall head over heels for me." I replied with a grin. Again, I could feel her roll her eyes.
"Shut up, Dexter. Play nice this weekend." Mia said, turning to face us.
"I will if she will," I replied like I was her brother and Mom had just scolded us. Mia shot Nina a look that said, "I'm sorry," and Nina waved away her concern. Soon, we were off to the Hamptons.
It hadn't even taken Dexter a minute before he started trying to get under my skin. I swear, it was like he liked to see me pissed off. If that was true, he was succeeding, since that's how I felt whenever I was with him.
We had just shoved off towards the Hamptons when Mr. Jackass decided he needed to "stretch out". His giant frame manages to take up the remaining two seats in the back, and his well-tanned, disgusting thigh rubbed against my own. "Dude, get the hell off!" I yelled at him, grabbing his knee and shoving it aside.
"You couldn't understand, Niñita, being so tiny, but I need a lot of room because I'm a big boy," he said calmly, winking at me and spreading out further.