to ignore him. He’d definitely want to remember his stag night when we’re a couple of wrinkled old gits.
Thankfully, two of his old rugby friends were flying out from England today and I knew they wouldn’t let him get away with doing nothing. I’d booked their flights and hotel, but Rick refused to invite anyone else, even from his own gym, and Cady’s soldier brother was on deployment and wouldn’t get back until the rehearsal dinner. That was a shame—Army blokes knew how to party hard. Luckily, two guys from the fashion show were up for a laugh, so there’d be six of us commiserating on Rick’s decision to chain himself to Cady for the rest of his life.
I liked Cady, I did, but she had bigger balls than most blokes and she was loud.
Still, I had plans and I was getting through my list:
Friends from UK, sorted √
Clothes for the night, sorted √
Transport, sorted √
Entertainment, stage one sorted √
I just had to figure out the best place for a stripper competition. This was Manhattan, baby, and there were a ton of places to choose from. I was like a pig in muck planning it all.
But the first note that I might have bitten off more than I could chew was when Rick called me an hour after breakfast.
“This is the Vin-meister at your service.” I could hear him breathing but he wasn’t saying much. “Alright, Rick?”
“I just got a call from Leon. He said you booked his and Ben’s flights from the UK.”
“Yep, all booked up, and the hotels.”
“You got the date wrong.”
“Eh, no I didn’t. Arriving at lunchtime today, stag night tomorrow, hangover Friday, wedding on Saturday.”
“Their flights arrive on Friday lunchtime.”
My stomach clenched. “Nah, not possible, mate. I checked.”
“So did Leon when he went to check-in for the flight that should have been an hour ago.”
Rick definitely sounded a tad testy.
“I’m sure it’s just a mistake,” I said weakly. “Let me look into it and I’ll call you back,” cutting off his comment that he knew it was a mistake.
But when I studied the booking, I saw that I’d definitely made a balls up. My head dropped into my hands. It was Rick’s fault for leaving a dickhead like me to organize his stag night.
I phoned the airline and felt a jolt of hope when they told me that they could exchange the tickets—but only for flights on Thursday, but not till the evening, and the penalty fee would be $950 for two.
That was pretty rubbish since it meant they’d miss Rick’s big event tomorrow night anyway. I looked up other airlines but the prices were nuts, and when I found my balls and called Rick back, I admitted defeat.
“I’m sorry, buddy, I fooked up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he sighed. “I didn’t want to have a stag party anyway.”
“Are you kidding me? We’re still going!” I yelped. “Rafe and Elias are up for it.”
“I hardly know them,” Rick said in a grumpy voice
“Which is good, ‘cause they won’t know what a miserable bastard you are,” I answered cheerfully.
“And I thought they hated each other.”
“Not this week. I’ll be at your place tomorrow at six.”
“Why so early?”
“Got a lot to pack in, mate,” and I hung up before he could argue anymore.
Not only that, I wanted to prove to Gracie that she wasn’t the only one who could organize a night to remember.
She’d planned and executed Cady’s bachelorette party last weekend like a military exercise with a printed itinerary and comments in the margins—something I’d spotted when I’d visited Rick’s apartment—and nobody had been naked, lost, or arrested. It sounded tame to me. Cocktails at the Aviary on the Upper West Side with views across the city from the 35th floor and a new cocktail invented by some famous mixologist named for the woman of the hour, ‘Cady’s Easy Street’—meh; dinner at Boqueira on Second Avenue where they made Cady’s favorite Churros con Chocolate and individualized party candies—too girly; champagne at Be Cute in Brooklyn, a famous drag bar where they’d danced till dawn—whatever: Gracie, Cady and twenty-five of Cady’s nutso friends. Gracie had even organized a London bus to drive them around with a singing conductor—puh-leeze.
I was pretty certain I could top that. Whatever happened, it was going to be an epic stag night.
Gracie and Cady were already unsteady when I opened my front door at five o’clock the following day and found them leaning against the wall. I wondered if they were in a fit state