never let me down | a. wilder (depeche mode)

16 - New Dress

Martin

Charlie and Evie walk through the hotel lobby doors, and see the four of us sitting there waiting for them. Evie walks over to me and gives me a hug and a kiss.

"I loved your songs, Martin." She says.

I blush. "Thank you."

"So, I believe a celebration is in order. What should we do? Something fancy, or something low key, just the six of us?" Andy asks.

"Can I invite a friend?" Dave asks.

"Sure." Andy says.

"Can we dress up fancy, as a joke?" Charlie asks.

I nod. "That sounds like fun."

Evie and Charlie get up from sitting with us and walk back towards the door.

"Where are you two off to now?" Alan asks them.

"We don't own anything fancy!" Evie says.

"Time us, we'll only be a half hour!" Charlie adds, and off they go.

"So, Dave, who's this friend of yours?" Andy asks, waggling his eyebrows.

"It's a surprise! But you know this person, I've introduced you guys before." Dave replies.

"There's no reason to be secretive, Dave, but keep your lips sealed if you want." I say.

Charlie

"Why did I say a half hour? It's shopping! Of course it will take longer than that!" I exclaim.

The first thing we find is a little boutique called Cynthia's, and I say a quick prayer before we go in that the prices are reasonable.

As we walked in, a saleswoman greeted us. "Hello, I'm Ally, and welcome to Cynthia's, how may I help you?"

"We are going to a party in two ours and we both need dresses, and maybe shoes." Evie says.

We both smile at her, and she looks a little nervous.

"I'm assuming it was a last minute invite?"

We both nod.

Surprisingly, 25 minutes later we emerge from Cynthia's, our pockets not too much lighter than when we entered. (The first time customer's 20% discount helped). My outfit is really pretty, and I hope I can impress Alan. I think he may be interested in me, but I can't tell for sure. As we walk into the hotel, I see the Dave and Martin still sitting in the lobby. They both drop their jaws when they see us.

"I'm impressed." Dave says, smirking.

"I told you we could do it!" I exclaim.

Martin and Dave clap.

"Let's go get dressed." Evie says.

"We'll come with you, Alan's gone to get drinks, and Andy went to the shop on the corner to get snacks." Martin says, and the four of us walk towards the elevator. With one hand holding Evie's he presses the 'up' button with his free hand.

Alan

I walked into the hotel room I share with Dave with a bag from the liquor store and the convenience store. I change in silence. Dave's pretending to be invested in his latest copy of Rolling Stone, but I know he's read it already and just using as a way to not talk. The two of us having a crush on Charlie is really putting a strain on our friendship. Dave gets a lot of girls as the frontman, and a lot of girls apparently do not understand my sarcasm. I have had quite a few women, but it was usually just some fan who could say that they've had sex with a band member of Depeche Mode.

For the impromptu party, we had agreed to meet in my room that I shared with Dave. Our room adjoined with Martin and Andy's with a door, so we could walk back and forth for more space.

I had bought some wine, and Andy was in charge of snacks.

A knock came from the other side of the door, I open it, and Andy walks in with a few plastic bags from the food shop near the hotel.

"I got mostly junk, but I assume we'll get dinner later." He says, laying the bags out on the dresser.

Dave, who hasn't spoken a word the whole time, suddenly speaks up.

"I have to go get my mystery visitor from the lobby, see you all soon!" He says, and walks out of the room.

As he's leaving, Charlie and Evie come in. Charlie looks stunning, she's wearing a strapless black sparkly dress and black heels. Her hair is curled, and she has put some makeup on.

"I assume Dave has gone to meet his mystery guest?" Martin says from behind the girls. "I just saw him get into the elevator."

"I'm very curious to see who it is!" Evie says, and the three of them come inside the room, and Martin closes the door. He then walks to the door that was between our rooms, and opened it. "I had unlocked it before I left, but I felt weird about barging in this way."

I go to set up the drinks, and I realize that I didn't get ice. I know that Charlie isn't a big drinker, so I got her some coke.

"Hey Charlie, I need to go get ice, do you want to come?" I ask, picking up the ice bucket and waving it at her.

"Sure!" She responds.

Finally, a chance for us to be alone.