Perfect

LIAM
I rub my eyes to get the sleep out but it isn’t working. I barely had any shuteye last night to be honest and that’s fine once in a while but you do that often enough and it will get to you. I would have still been sleeping if Harry hadn’t called and sounded so frantic. When there’s a knock on the door, I open it to let Harry in but he’s not alone.
“Jamie…hi.” I’m trying to find words and then I realize it’s impossible to come up with anything that can get rid of this awkwardness. They’re both sporting messy, post-one-night-stand hair and they’re both in the same clothes I had seen them wearing last night. I saw Jamie leave with that Alex guy, and right after what I thought was a perfect moment, and Jamie wasn’t so much as acknowledging me now. Had I seriously been wrong about her? Was she the same as those other one night stands Harry walked around with the morning after? Women without a care in the world and who thought it was okay to have sex with random strangers? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that per say, I’m fine with whatever a guy or girl chooses to do as part of their lifestyle, but it just means I’m bad at discerning people.
Jamie says nothing, not even a hello, and simply walks in after Harry so I shut the door and wait for Harry to explain all this without me taking this as an opportunity to take a fist to his face again.
“So?” I say, sitting down on the armchair across from Harry and Jamie who’re both seated on the sofa. “How can I be of help?”
“Well,” Harry begins. “Something happened, Liam. And we’re not sure what to do about it, so we came to you for help.”
Does he realize that I’m the same age as him? So why does he always do this? Make a mistake and then bring it to me to sort it out? But at the same time I want to know what is going on because, well, Harry’s my friend, and because Jamie and I had that moment last night and I want to know exactly how wrong I had been about her.
“It’s too early in the day for you to be vague,” I snap.
Harry looks like he’s having trouble saying it. Unbelievable. The universe actually found something that Harry Styles is having trouble talking about! Hallelujah there is a God!
“Fine,” Harry says, and I notice that he and Jamie are making an effort to not look each other in the eye. Well, that just makes me more suspicious. “I guess we have to tell him.”
“Liam,” Jamie finally speaks up. “Something happened last night.”
Yeah, I’m tempted to say. You fucked my best friend the same night you were pretending to be into me.
“Liam,” Harry says. “What I’m about to tell you…it’s fucked up, man!”
“What, Harry?” Just tell me already!
“Okay well,” Harry says. “I woke up, and she was in bed with me.”
I feel like I’m going to punch someone or something, if this guy doesn’t stop talking right about now. But I have to keep calm. There’s no point getting into whatever mess this is that Harry’s about to load on me. And Miss Jamie certainly isn’t what she had seemed last night so why should I care? “Uh huh.”
“Liam,” he says. “I have no idea how that happened. I mean, I do…a little but…you get what I’m trying to say?”
I’m just pissed. “Is this what you came here to tell me?” I say. “That you were both too shitfaced to remember whether you used the missionary or the back entrance?”
“Liam,” Harry stands. “You can say whatever you want about me but don’t talk about her that way. You don’t know anything.”
“Get out, Harry. And take her with you.”
“I don’t understand what your problem is?” Harry says. “I came to you for help! You keep telling me I should do that, and now when I’m doing it, you’re angry! Give me a fucking break, will you?”
I roll my eyes. “Fine,” I say. “Harry, you have five minutes. Make your story interesting before I kick you out. Five minutes, Harry. Use them wisely.”
“I think someone drugged us,” Harry comes out with it at last.
Okay, so that one does sort of sound like a shocker. “What?”
“Her boyfriend,” Harry says. “He drugged her. And some guy named Harlow drugged me at the bar. Few minutes later, we end up in the same room. She thought she was with Alex and I thought I was with Natalie. I think Natalie was there—I’m not sure—my memory’s a bit vague but I know someone roofied us, Liam.”
“Harry,” I say. “That’s a serious accusation.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
Jamie looks like she’s about to cry anytime. Maybe it’s just that my skewed perspective has been altered but suddenly, I see the same girl I met last night; timid, reserved and barely able to speak to strangers. How could I even consider the possibility she would have a one-night stand with a guy like Harry while she was in her senses?!
“Jamie,” I say. “Are you alright?”
Harry looks at us in disbelief. “You two know each other?”
“We spent some time together yesterday,” I say. “It’s no big deal.”
Harry seems convinced or doesn’t care. “Anyway,” he says. “That bastard Alex? He’s still in that room. But there’s no sign of that Harlow guy. All we have is Alex. Maybe he knows something.”
“What’re you suggesting, exactly?”
“I don’t know,” Harry says. “I’m as clueless as you are! Thought you might have better ideas!”
“Okay,” I say. “Let’s just slow down, okay?” I turn to Jamie. “Jamie. Tell me everything you do remember.”
“Well,” Jamie begins. “Alex and I were in the bar downstairs. Drinking, and talking, just, you know, having a good time. And then I remember feeling really sleepy—and dizzy too but I thought it was the alcohol, I’m a bit of a lightweight. We went to our room and well, Alex told me to…get in bed and that he was coming back. The next thing I know, I wake up in bed with Harry instead of Alex.”
“So, you have no memory of going into Harry’s room?” I ask, a little relieved.
“None.”
“Harry. What’s your story?”
“This guy,” Harry says. “Called himself Harlow. He started talking to me at the bar. I was watching Natalie and her husband Pierre making out on one of the booths with some friends. I was already drunk so when the guy started chatting me up I didn’t think much of it. He bought me a drink and we talked some more. And when I tried to get up, I knew something was wrong. I felt all…wrong. One glance at the bottom of my drink glass, and I saw there were pills in it. I just put two and two together. The weird thing is, I know he did it. I just don’t know why he did what he did. I mean, I thought for sure, when he was carrying me to my room that I was about to get robbed. I was just hoping that it wouldn’t get violent. I was so out of it. But my room’s the same, Liam. My wallet is there, so is my phone, and nothing is gone. So he didn’t do it to rob me. What other purpose could he have had?”
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” I say. “Jamie could have ended up in your room for a variety of reasons. Maybe she felt unsafe from the guy, and wandered into your room somehow, when it opened and we know it must have been open at some point if the guy took you there or if Natalie was there.”
“Liam’s right,” Jamie says. “Maybe it was just coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences.” Harry says with a serious face. Jamie doesn’t say another word. And I know I’m trying to be a calming influence here, but I don’t believe in coincidences much either. So there’s a good chance that Harry’s right about his assessment of the situation.
“Look,” I say, getting up and going towards the minibar to get drinks. “You have to keep a cool head.” Jamie refuses hers, and Harry downs one of those tiny bottles of whiskey without so much as a grimace.
“I don’t know about her,” Harry says. “But this is my cool head!!!”
The door opens and Carmen walks in, wearing a tiny dress, the same one she slept in last night. She had that bed hair and her mascara is smudged just a tiny bit. She walks right over to Harry and plants a kiss on his cheek.
“Carmen,” Harry says, smiling. “You’re here.”
Carmen gestures to me. “Well,” she says. “You know how Liam likes to play hard-to-get.” She turns to Jamie. “I don’t know you, chica. What’s your name and why is naughty Harry still carrying you around? There’s got to be something special about you because he usually dumps them before breakfast, don’t you Harry?”
“I’d never dump you, Carmen,” Harry says.
“Oh please,” Carmen says. “You’re such a liar, you big cheat.”
And just like that, Carmen heads to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back folks!”
Harry turns to me when she’s left the room. “Carmen’s here?” he asks.
We both know what that means so I can’t help but grin. “Drop it.”
Harry looks like he might be stopping himself from laughing too hard. “Well,” he says. “You live long enough, you see things huh?”
“Shut up,” I say, and suddenly notice how uncomfortable Jamie is. And then it occurs to me what seeing Carmen in my room must have made her feel after everything that happened last night—but before I can say something, Jamie stands. “I should probably go now.”
“Yeah,” Harry says. “Me too. I have to arrange for her plane tickets and some other stuff. I’ll see you back in your room in a couple of hours?”
“Sure.”
The last thing I want is for her to leave.
The room or the hotel.
But obviously her so-called boyfriend turned out to be a jerk, she must have no choice but to go back home to Springvale. I remembered her telling me that she lived in Springvale.
Still though, just sitting there patiently without letting Harry know how I felt about her was harder than I thought it would be. I felt even more connected to her somehow, despite everything that had happened. I wanted to do something for her. Why was Harry the one helping her anyway? I could do that too! And then I remember: I’m not a trust-fund baby like Harry Styles.
Well, that and she looks like she doesn’t want anything to do with me.

Notes