14 Years [GNR/Mötley Crüe]

85. The Ten Commandments Of Dating

Nadia:

Today, my ex-fiancé got married. Nikki got married.

My dad wasn't one to gossip, so I didn't really know all the details surrounding it, but he did tell me that he was going to Nikki's wedding and that he and his wife were expecting.

"Here's to all the good riddance in life!" Evie said, raising her bottle of vodka as we collectively gathered on my balcony as usual.

Evie actually came for a meeting yesterday, and she was supposed to leave tomorrow evening. We were all about to head out, but that's when dad called, talk about terrible timing.

The plans for the night were still on, but we decided to get a little buzzed as we sat on the beanbags in my balcony and then head out to The Limelight.

"Guys, remember we should pace ourselves," Maria said, "The aim is to get a little buzzed, go there, have fun, NOT get wasted right here so that we don't make it past the elevator! Learn to pregame, girls!"

"Man, I still can't believe it!" I shook my head in disbelief, "He's married, and they barely dated for a year, and they are having a baby! That's nuts."

The amount of tears I shed for this guy. God!

"Oh, sweet Nadia," Nyla laughed, she was beyond buzzed already, "Honey, that's what men do. They pretend to love us, they would tell us things like they can't live without us, but if we die, they'll find their next wife at our funeral."

"Nyla, not this again!" Maria grimaced and took a sip of her drink.

Jack for Maria and me, Belvedere for Evie, and Corona for Nyla.

"What happened?" Evie enquired.

"She broke up with her boyfriend, Tom." I said, "It's their seventh breakup this year."

"What?" Evie snorted, "What the hell?"

"I asked him, what would he do if I died?" Nyla huffed, "And guess what that son of a bitch replied?" She looked at us, expecting us to finish the sentence. "He said, funeral. Then new girlfriend. What sort of pathetic piece of shit says that?!"

"Your boyfriend is the piece of shit who says that kinda shit," Maria retorted. "He's the piece of shit who says he's from New York when he actually lives in Hoboken, New Jersey."

Evie and I gave each other a knowing glance, a chuckle escaping us simultaneously as we saw our past selves in Maria and Nyla. That was us from 1986.

Taking another sip of my personal favorite vice, I looked out into the dark velvety night, Manhattan glowed like golden studs embedded into the velvet sky.

I reached for my leather jacket, feeling a gust of wind. Summer was finally over, but it wasn't fall yet. The weather had started to cool down, and the wind carried that subtle hint of dry leaves that crept in before fall.

I reached for my cigarette, lit it, and took a drag. It was also the perfect weather for smoking, not too hot, not too cold.

I found myself thinking about Nikki once again, not in a longing way but like holy shit! I wasn't always careful about sex with him, especially after we got engaged. It blew my mind that if, at all, he knocked me up, I would be married by now.

I won't be here, I wouldn't have become a partner, I wouldn't have met Marshall, I wouldn't have gotten my penthouse in LA. I wouldn't have taken a solo trip to Europe.

I would probably have quit my job for a shitty in-house job while being trapped in a loveless marriage with a kid. I would have turned into my fucking mother!