Regrets - Chapter Thirty Nine
We see the aftermath of the Sorelle Vote Meeting in "The One In This Bed"
Friday - Week 3
part 2 of 2
The One In This Bed – Nicole
The music was blaring as they left the driveway at Sorelle. Heavy bass, courtesy of Aja’s workout playlist. They had barely made it halfway back to the condo when Aja leaned into the space between the front seats and pointed at the windshield.
“Oh, pull in there.”
Nicole glanced over and followed her finger. A liquor store.
“Why?”
“Supplies.” Aja said, as if it was obvious.
“We have alcohol.” Nicole sighed.
“We have some alcohol.” Aja corrected her.
“We have wine.” Tessa chimed in.
Aja looked personally offended.
“Nicole. Today you resigned from a million-dollar company in front of God and everyone. Wine is not enough.” From the back seat, Brie immediately piped up. “She’s right.”
“Of course you think she’s right,” Leah moaned, shoved against the rear passenger door by the tight fit of all of them in the car.
“I’ve never been more right in my life, “ Brie said confidently looking at Nicole from the rear seat. Alexis was already laughing. Tessa groaned. The second Nicole pulled into the parking lot, Aja and Brie were out of the car.
They disappeared through the automatic doors before anyone could stop them.
“How bad is this going to be?” Nicole asked. Tessa calmly watched the entrance. “They took a cart.”
“Oh no.”
“Exactly.”
Ten minutes later the doors slid open. Aja appeared first. Brie right behind her. Both looked entirely too pleased with themselves. Between them was a shopping cart loaded with enough alcohol to support either a celebration or a small-scale revolution. Champagne bottles. Tequila. Vodka. Several things Nicole didn’t immediately recognize. And on top of the liquor heist, a giant bag of lime-flavored chips.
Nicole stared.
“What happened?”
Aja pushed the cart to the rear of the car. “We adapted to changing operational requirements.” Brie pointed proudly at the cart. “We got reinforcements.”
“For what?”
“For your freedom,” Brie stated, as if it was obvious to everyone. Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose. Alexis leaned against the door laughing. Leah looked at the cart, then Nicole, and once more back at the cart.
“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “I think this might actually be the healthiest reaction anyone has ever had to quitting a job.”
“Thank you,” Aja said. They somehow managed to fit everything into the back of the SUV. Barely.
By the time they finally reached Nicole’s condo, Charles had arrived and ordered enough food to feed an army, Aja and Brie were already arguing about shot selection, and the entire group was treating the day less like a resignation and more like Nicole had just won an election.
Which, Nicole suspected, wasn’t entirely wrong.
Someone opened champagne. Someone poured tequila. Nicole stopped trying to identify who was responsible. The answer was always Brie.
The energy in the condo felt completely disconnected from reality. She resigned. Possibly burned down her career and walked away from everything she’d spent years fighting for. Her friends were acting like she’d won a championship.
Brie raised her glass.
“To Nicole Templeton.” Nicole sighed. “Brie...”
Brie pointed her glass at her. “No. You don’t get to interrupt your own toast.”
The room laughed. Brie climbed to her feet. “To Nicole Templeton. Who finally told her mother and her entire army of assholes exactly where they could shove their opinions.”
Cheers erupted. Glasses clinked. Shots appeared again.
Nicole laughed despite herself. For the first time all day, it felt real. Not the resignation, the freedom.
Tessa ended up cross-legged on the floor with Leah, debating bad life choices. Aja was building what appeared to be a beer pong set up with tequila. Brie was openly judging everyone’s alcohol choices. Charles sat on the floor with the others, a huge smile across his face and a strong bourbon pour in his hand.
Alexis sat beside Nicole on the couch, one leg tucked beneath her, looking entirely too pleased with all of it. Nicole leaned into her shoulder for a second.
Leah looked up from her plate. “So what are we doing tomorrow?”
Nicole took a sip of wine.
“We have an engagement party.”
The room stopped.
Brie stared at her. “The fuck we do.”
Nicole sighed.
“It’s already booked.”
“Nicole.”
“The venue. The food. The alcohol. It’s all paid for.”
Nicole set down her glass.
“But…I’m not marrying that asshole.”
Silence.
Alexis watched her carefully. “Then why are we doing it?”
Nicole looked around the room.
“Because I have to.”
Nobody said anything.
“I’m not asking you to understand it.” Her voice softened. “I’m just asking you to trust me.” She took a beat. “And be there for me. Please.”
The room went quiet. Really quiet.
Nicole managed a small smile. “Eat the food. Drink the alcohol. Have a good time.”
Aja slowly raised her hand. “Hypothetically...does this mean the Templeton guest list is now a draft pool? Because I need to know if I’m playing offense or defense tomorrow.”
Brie cackled so hard she nearly dropped her glass. “Girl, wear lipstick and shin guards. That’s my advice.” Charles, perched smugly on a throw pillow, raised his glass. “If this is turning into a singles mixer, I require a plus-two. Minimum. Preferably bilingual.”
Nicole groaned into her hand. “No. You get one. One Charles. That’s all this event can handle.”
“You can’t limit greatness,” he sniffed. “Besides, after your performance this morning, the Templeton brand owes me hazard pay.”
Brie leaned in, eyes wide. “Nicole. Real talk. Who’s showing up unattached? Because I heard from Charles that Mitchell’s assistant is very single and very bendy.”
Tessa howled. “Jesus, Brie!”
Aja wagged her phone. “Already making a chart. Brie has Mitchell’s assistant, I’m calling dibs on that Hinch lawyer Alexis never admits is hot…” “Absolutely not,” Alexis said, from where she was wrangling Aja’s blanket. Still dry, unflappable, but the faint flush on her cheeks betrayed her.
“See? Defensive,” Charles crowed. “Which means she’s absolutely hot.”
Nicole hid behind her glass, warmth flooding her chest. Wine, laughter, relief, all blurring. She’d walked out of a boardroom like she tossed a grenade and somehow landed in a living room turned safe house, her friends treating it like draft night at the NBA.
Brie vowed to dance with whoever showed up first, even the valet. Aja started assigning fake numbers to every potential hookup. Leah laughed so hard she hiccupped.
And through it all, Alexis sat cross-legged on the floor, quiet, a small smile tugging her mouth every time Nicole looked her way. It steadied her more than the wine ever could.
By the time headlights cut sharp across the curtains, the room had thinned into happy exhaustion. Charles was already on his feet when the knock came. “I’ve got it!”
The door swung open, and Cam stood there, boots dusty, eyes sweeping the room before settling on Nicole.
“Hey,” she said.
Nicole’s throat tightened, though her smile held. “Hey. Everyone…this is Cam.”
The girls froze. A beat. Wide-eyed hellos, muffled whispers behind wineglasses. Brie mouthed something filthy at Tessa, who immediately choked. Charles glanced between Cam and Alexis, then raised his glass with wicked delight. “Well, Ms Templeton. You definitely have a type.”
The room broke apart on that one. Brie spilling wine, Tessa shrieking into a pillow, Leah fanning herself like a telenovela extra.
Nicole groaned. “Do not start.”
Cam just smirked and turned her focus to the group on the floor. “Alright, degenerates. Big party tomorrow. Open bar. Try to save a little of yourselves.”
Somehow, no one argued. She herded them out like it was an operation, laughing, stumbling, spilling into the warm Tucson night.
Nicole lingered by the doorway, Alexis beside her. For a breath, the noise fell away. Just Cam’s steady look across the driveway…quiet, unflinching and so familiar.
Then the door shut, and the laughter drifted out into the dark.
Saturday 9:42 AM
Nicole woke to eucalyptus, warmth, and the weight of Alexis’s arm heavy across her side. The night came back in flashes. Brie shouting about “singles strategy,” Aja drafting hookups like fantasy football, Charles performing like he’d just won an Emmy. And Alexis, half-exasperated, watching her through it all.
Now, morning. Stillness. Light filtering pale through gauze curtains. She shifted slightly, enough to feel Alexis stir behind her.
“You awake?” Alexis’s voice was gravel-soft, the kind that always hit her the hardest.
Nicole nodded. Didn’t move.
“What’s the plan, Templeton?”
Nicole smirked into the pillow. “Didn’t you hear? I’ve got an engagement party today.” Alexis rolled her eyes and swatted her arm. “Not that plan.” Nicole chuckled, finally turning to face her. “You’re on the board now. You tell me.”
Alexis propped herself up on one elbow, the blanket sliding low across her stomach. “Don’t do that,” she said quietly. “Don’t keep me out of the real plan like yesterday.”
Nicole turned fully, their faces close.
“I didn’t keep you out on purpose,” she said. “I just needed to make sure I still had a seat before I told you how I planned to flip the table.”
Alexis studied her, sharp and searching. “Rick barely got the votes. You knew that would happen?”
“I knew it could.” Nicole’s voice stayed even. “I gave them a choice.”
“Your mother’s face when you walked out…” Alexis shook her head. “You’d think she was the one who got voted down. I’ve never seen someone win and look more like they lost.”
Nicole smirked. “Fuck my mother.”
That got a short laugh. Alexis flopped back, one arm thrown over her eyes.
“And Cam?”
The name landed quietly. Nicole hesitated, not because she didn’t know what to say, but because it still hit somewhere tender. “She’s working with AJ and her people. They found the breach, cleaned up the mess. You already know that.”
Alexis gave her a look.
Nicole softened. “But that’s not what you meant.” She reached across the small space, brushing her fingers along Alexis’s arm.
“Cam is my past,” she said. “A complicated and messy one. A lesson I don’t need to repeat.”
A pause. Then a small smile, sure and calm. “You, you’re the future I’m trying to deserve.”
Alexis opened her mouth, but Nicole spoke first, lower now, words meant only for her. “You don’t have to ask if you should be worried. You’re the one in this bed. That’s not changing.”
Alexis met her gaze, steady. “Then tell me this, strategist. How are you going to get out of this engagement?”
Nicole’s mouth curved, half amusement, half warning. “You want the truth?”
“I always do.”
Nicole drew a slow breath, choosing each word like it mattered. “Ms. Blackwell, counselor and conscience… you’ll appreciate this part. I want you to have plausible deniability.”
Alexis’s brow arched, the lawyer already awake behind her eyes.
“It’s risky,” Nicole went on, voice low. “And if this goes sideways, you weren’t part of it. You didn’t know. But… when the time’s right, the proof might find its way to daylight.”
“Nicole.”
“Just trust me,” she said softly. “One last time.” The silence that followed wasn’t empty. It was heavy with understanding. Nicole brushed a strand of hair from Alexis’ face, memorizing her expression, the calm before impact.
“Cam’s on the guest list, by the way,” Nicole added lightly. “Technically as the pilot.”
Alexis groaned, rolling onto her back. “Should we warn her about the girls? After last night’s arrival, she probably moved up on the draft list.”
Nicole laughed, low and real. “Let them try.”
Alexis turned her head, smiling. “I should hate you a little.”
“You should.”
“But I don’t.”
Nicole’s voice softened. “You sure?”
“Not even close,” Alexis said, the smile still there.
They lay there another few minutes, the quiet stretching warm and human. Nicole finally reached for her phone. The screen lit her face, cold against the morning light.
Time to get up.
Time to dress for war.
Authors Note: So we are three chapters from the end of this story. Has it taken the path you thought at the beginning? Is it enjoyable? Does it hold up to the genre I wrote towards, the Queer Noir vibe? If you have followed this journey, please let me know your thoughts in the comments.