An Unusual Beginning

I know it's been a while guys.... but I'm back!!!!!!

This is the first story I wrote and completed. I self-published it, but it didn't do well because I self-edited too {not a good idea}. I'm in the process of preparing to rerelease it {hoping for a better outcome this time}. But I wanted to put the rough draft here so that everyone will know what the story is about once it comes out and will think about buying it. I hope you like it. Oh, some things you should know, this story is sparse on sex {I'm clumsy when it comes to love scenes} and the chapters are very long {something I have a habit of doing}. This story is about 29 or 30 chapters long {I forget} so I'll try to post a chapter every two weeks {depending on the reviews).

CHAPTER 1

Arlene was awakened by someone lightly shaking her and whispering her name. She slowly came awake and was surprised to see her friend Callie Brooks standing over her.

Her eyes still heavy from sleeping Arlene took her hand and brushed her thick curly, black, shoulder-length hair from her face to behind her ear, and she looked up at her friend.

"Hey, girl," Callie whispered, "how long will it take you to get dressed? Our plane leaves in three hours."

"What time is it?" Arlene asked closing her eyes.

"It's six o'clock," Callie replied.

"Six o'clock!" Arlene shrieked raising up and falling back down again immediately from the sharp pain that slammed into her head. "My...my head feels as if it's going to explode."

"A hangover will do that to you," Callie said.

"A hangover?" Arlene questioned. "How can I be suffering from a hangover when I don't drink?" Arlene asked her voice becoming louder as she spoke.

"Sh-sh," Callie said placing a finger against her lips, "you're going to wake up David."

"David?"

"Him," Callie said pointing towards the other side of the bed Arlene was lying in.

Arlene turned her head slowly in the direction that Callie was pointing, what she saw made her squeal and jump out of bed.

"What is he doing in bed with me?" Arlene said.

"I'll answer that after you cover up," Callie said pulling the spread off the bed and passing it to Arlene.

Arlene looked down at herself and realized that she was naked. She squealed, snatched the spread from Callie and covered herself up.

"Where're, my clothes?" she asked as she wrapped the bedspread around her body, "and who undressed me?"

Callie started laughing. "You don't remember how you, wound up in the bed naked with David?"

"David? That's his name?" Arlene asked.

"Yes," Callie replied. "Did you sleep with him?"

"I'm going to get dressed," Arlene said ignoring Callie's question.

Arlene picked up her clothes and headed towards the bathroom.

"We'll be waiting for you in the living room," Callie said still laughing at her embarrassed friend.

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Arlene closed the bathroom door and fell back against it.

"What have I done?" she asked herself.

She closed her eyes trying to remember the events of last night, but she could only recall bits and pieces of the evening.

She remembered meeting David and his friends as she and her friends were leaving the airport to begin their evening of celebrating the promotion she'd received earlier that day at work. They discovered that David's friends were giving him a bachelor party.

Her friends and David's friends decided that celebrating both events together would be a good idea, everyone deciding that the Vegas strip would be the perfect place to begin their celebrations.

She remembered the first and only club they visited. Everyone except her and David ordered an alcoholic beverage, Arlene and David ordered a soda.

"David can't have a real drink," one of his friends teased, "he promised his future wife, he wouldn't drink so that he wouldn't do anything outlandish or embarrassing while we're here. In other words, he wouldn't have any fun."

"He and Arlene would make the perfect couple," her friend Brenda teased. "She doesn't drink at all, because she doesn't like the way alcohol tastes or causes some people to act. Arlene likes to be in control of her actions and emotions at all times. She's so

responsible."

Everyone laughed at what Brenda said.

At some point during the evening, someone suggested that she and David dance. Arlene remembered said she didn't feel like dancing. That's when Brenda called her a party-pooper and her other friends Tina, Callie and Shayla egged her on to dance with David.

"It's only one dance, Arlene," Brenda said. "The man is about to get married, he's harmless, loosen up and dance with the man. You're both celebrating a special occasion in your lives, live a little, and have some fun."

"Don't force her," David said, "if she doesn't want to dance with me, it's okay."

"See," Brenda said, "you've gone and hurt his feelings. You've got to dance with him now."

Arlene turned and looked at David.

He didn't look as if her turning his offer to dance hurt his feelings even though he tried to look disappointed by pretending to pout. The smile he tried to keep off his face ruined the look.

She smiled at him and deciding that one dance wouldn't ruin their lives she got up and held her hand out to David. He took it and they made their way to the dance floor.

The last thing Arlene remembered after dancing with David was returning to their booth where their friends were and sitting down, she couldn't remember anything that would explain her and David winding up in bed together.

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Overwhelmed by her situation and her emotions, a need to get out of the hotel room and out of Vegas came over Arlene.

Arlene threw on her underwear, bra, jeans, blouse and her shoes, then she grabbed the door of the bathroom and rushed back into the bedroom.

She froze when she stepped into the bedroom and saw David lying in the bed still asleep.

Arlene said a silent prayer thanking God that he hadn't woken up. She looked around the room for her carryon bag. She found it sitting on the floor next to the bed.

She slowly and quietly made her way over to the bed once again saying another silent prayer that David wouldn't wake up.

She inwardly breathed, a sigh of relief when she reached her bag and David hadn't moved.

Arlene began to panic when she bent down to pick up her bag and he moved.

Afraid he might awaken and not having the desire to face him, she grabbed her purse, her carryon bag and made her way quickly out of the room.

When she walked into the living room the first thing she noticed was that each of her friends, had paired up with one of David's friends.

When they heard the bedroom door open they all turned and looked in her direction. Arlene felt her face heat up and blush with embarrassment because they all knew what had happened between her and David.

She fought the urge to cry and tried to hide the shame she felt.

"Hey, girl," Tina said her hand reaching out to comfort her friend, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Arlene said avoiding her friend's touch. "I just want to get to the airport so that we can head back to Atlanta."

"You didn't hurt David too badly did, you?" asked William chuckling at his own comment, David's friend who had taken a liking to Shayla.

Shayla took her elbow and poked him in the rib.

"Ow!" William said rubbing his side, "Why did you do that."

"Because you're being insensitive and crass," Shayla said.

"How am I being insensitive or crass?" William asked. "I was only joking."

"Be quiet William," Shayla told him. "Can't you see that now isn't the time for joking?"

William looked over at Arlene and saw the embarrassed look on her face.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Shayla walked over to her friend and tried to put her arm around her, but Arlene moved away from her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Shayla asked not understanding why Arlene didn't want to be touched.

"I'm fine," Arlene said. "I just want to go home. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm alright. I'll be alright when we're back in Atlanta. Now, can we go please!"

"We'll be ready to go as soon as Brenda is ready," Callie said.

"I'm ready," Brenda said coming out of one of the other bedrooms with another one of David's friends. "Is everyone else ready to leave?"

"Where's Tina?" Arlene asked looking around the room for her friend when she noticed Tina wasn't in the room with them.

"She went down to the lobby to get us a taxi to take us to the airport," Callie said.

At that moment Callie's cell phone rung. It was Tina calling to let them know she had a taxi waiting for them, and they needed to get down to the lobby.

"We're on our way," Callie told her.

Each of Arlene's friends gave the man they were paired up with a kiss on the cheek, then they all headed out the suite to the elevator.

"Do you want to leave David a note?" William asked Arlene.

"No," Arlene replied leaving the room, praying she never saw David or his friends again.

The five friends made their way to the elevator none of them saying a word. Callie pushed the button that would bring the elevator up to their floor. When it arrived, they all stepped inside, the elevator doors closed and Callie pressed the button for the lobby and the elevator started down.

"What happened last night?" Arlene asked needing to know how she, wound up in bed with David.

"You don't recall anything about last night?" Callie asked.

"I wouldn't ask what happened if I could remember," Arlene said folding her arms across her chest to let her friend know that she was frustrated and wanted answers.

"Last night after we arrived at the club, while you and David were dancing, I poured out some of your soda and replaced it with vodka," Brenda said knowing that Arlene was really asking why she could hardly remember anything about last night.

Arlene's eyes grew big and all the air seemed to leave her body making it difficult for her to breathe.

"You...you spiked my drink with vodka?" she asked when she, was able to move air through her body again. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I wanted you to loosen up," Brenda said nonchalantly, "have some fun, cut loose, remove the stick from your ass and bend at the waist like the rest of us, humans for once in your life."

Everyone in the elevator was shocked when Arlene raised her hand up, drew it back and brought it down across Brenda's face.

The sound of the slap and the collective gasp from the other ladies filled the elevator.

When Brenda moved towards Arlene, Callie blocked her path by standing in front of her friend, Shayla grabbed Brenda by the arms to keep her away from Arlene.

"You don't have to hold me or protect her from me," Brenda told Callie and Shayla, "I'm not going to hit her," she said pulling her arms out of Shayla's grasp. "I just want her to know that she gets only one free shot at me and that was hers, she won't get another one."

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"Come in," David told the person knocking on the bedroom door as he came out of the bathroom after taking a shower a towel wrapped around his waist.

"We need to get moving buddy," Raymond said walking into the room. "Our plane leaves in two and a half hours."

"I'll be ready," David said reaching for the new pants he purchased from the men's clothing store in the hotel lobby and putting them on.

Raymond watched his friend trying to see if he showed any hints of remembering the events of last night.

"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked David.

"Like there was something stronger than ginger ale in my soda," David replied looking at Raymond waiting for an answer.

"There might've been a little something stronger than ginger ale in your drink," Raymond said looking innocently up at the ceiling.

"Why?" David asked.

"To get you into the party mood so you could enjoy the twilight of your bachelorhood," Raymond said smiling. "You've been walking around being Mr. Responsible, and it was making the rest of us sick. You were slowly killing off the old David, and we wanted to see him one more time before you put him in his grave."

"I'm getting married," David said unwrapping the towel from his waist and letting it fall to the floor as he buttoned up his pants and zipped up his fly. He picked up his new shirt from the bed and put it on. "That's a big step, a big change in my life."

"People get married all the time," Raymond said, "and it doesn't change them at all."

"Then they really didn't get married," David replied buttoning up his shirt. "Marriage is a big step, and it's supposed to bring about a change in me and my life. I'm not supposed to be the same old me. I'm supposed to be different because my life will be different. I'm committing myself to loving, one woman, Diana for the rest of my life. That means she and her happiness becomes the most important things to me, and I can't do that by hanging out with the boys, leaving her home alone. So, yes Raymond my priorities have and had to change. Diana will be my main focus now. You and the rest of my friends will have to get use to that. If you can't then I guess we can't be friends any longer."

"Do you remember anything about last night?" Raymond asked changing their topic of conversation.

David had flashes of memories about last night and they all involved him having sex with Arlene, but he wasn't going to share that bit of information with Raymond.

"Why do you want to know?" David asked.

"You spent the night with a black woman," Raymond said, "a new experience for you, I want to know how it felt."

"Who spiked Arlene's drink?" David asked ignoring Raymond's question.

"How do you know her drink was spiked?" Raymond asked.

"I pretended to be asleep when her friend came in to wake her," David said, "she said her head was hurting and her friend told her that's what happens when you have a hangover. Arlene wanted to know how could she be suffering from a hangover when she didn't drink."

"Her friend Brenda spiked, her drink," Raymond said.

"The rest of her friends went along with it?" David asked not believing what he was hearing."

"They wanted her to loosen up," Raymond said. "Something good happened to her, and they wanted her to have some fun."

Raymond's nonchalant attitude about what had happened to him and Arlene was upsetting David and getting on his nerves.

"So everyone thought that getting us drunk and putting us in bed together was a good idea?" David said his tone angry.

"Hey," Raymond said holding his hand up in front of him. "We spiked your drinks, you and Arlene did the rest."

"Are you saying that what happened, was our fault?" David asked getting up in Raymond's face.

"No," Raymond replied. "I'm simply saying that after the drinks kicked in that you and Arlene gave into your attraction to each other and nature took its course."

"What do you mean our attraction to each other?" David said. "How can I be attracted to a woman, I've known less than twenty-four hours?"

"Okay," Raymond said holding his hands up in front of himself once again. "You're not attracted to her. Maybe both of you were simply filling a need. All I'm saying is that you, and she were all over each other. The two of you were so hot and heavy that you started kissing in the elevator, and by the time we opened the door to the suite you picked her up in your arms and carried her in here."

"Why didn't you or one of the others stop me?" David asked.

"We didn't see a need to," Raymond said.

"What?!" David said not believing what he was hearing.

"You and Arlene are adults," Raymond said, "and..."

"We were drunk," David pointed out his tone angry and tense. "Neither of us were in control of ourselves nor our actions. You have to know that what happened here has created a huge problem for me. I'm going to have to tell Diana about this."

"Why would you tell, Diana?" Raymond asked.

"Because I think she should know," David replied, "and I think I should be the one to tell her."

"I agree with Raymond."

David and Raymond turned to see Jonathan, William and Franklin Jr., David's younger brother standing in the doorway of the bedroom.

"I don't think you should tell Diana about what happened between you and Arlene," Jonathan said.

"How can you of all people approve of me keeping this from Diana?" David asked Jonathan. "She's your sister."

"And I don't want her to be hurt," Jonathan said. "What happened between you and Arlene was a one time thing, David. It happened because you were drunk, and because we spiked your drink, you didn't intentionally set out to cheat on Diana."

"Are you saying you're not going to tell her?" David asked.

"I'm not going to tell her," Jonathan said. "Telling her would cause her unnecessary pain, and I won't do that to her and I'm asking you not to tell her."

It took some doing but David finally agreed not to tell Diana, agreeing with Raymond and Jonathan that it would hurt her unnecessarily.

"I think we should head to the airport," Franklin Jr., said speaking for the first time. "We don't want to miss our flight."

"I need to make a pit stop before we go," Jonathan said heading for the bathroom.

"Are these yours, David?" Jonathan asked holding the pants and shirt David wore the night before.

"Thanks," David said going over and taking the pants and the shirt from Jonathan.

"How are you going to explain the new clothes to Diana?" Franklin asked.

"I felt like getting a change of clothes," David replied plain and simple.

"We're off to the airport gentlemen," William said, "then home to L.A."

The five friends made their way out of the hotel suite and headed to the airport.

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The ride to the airport for Arlene and her friends was a long and silent one. Her friends tried to talk to Arlene, but she wouldn't talk to any of them.

"Arlene, please say something," Tina pleaded.

Arlene remained silent.

"Leave her alone," Brenda said, "Your know she isn't going to say anything to anyone until she's ready."

Arlene silently counted back from one hundred trying to get herself under control, fighting the urge to slap Brenda again and curse out everyone else for what happened to her.

They were all acting as if what happened to her was her fault, as if it wasn't a big deal, and she should get over it. Especially Brenda the person most responsible for what had happened to her, and what she was going through. She seemed to be very angry, even offended by Arlene and the way she was reacting to what happened.

Arlene was glad when their taxi took the exit ramp that would take them to the airport, she would finally be able to get away from her so-called-friends. The last place she wanted to be, was where she was now.

When their taxi finally reached the airport, she was the first one to exit. She got out, rushed inside the airport and made her way over to the American Airlines® ticket counter. She told the ticket agent, she wanted to exchange her ticket for a later flight.

"What're you doing?" Shayla asked walking over to the ticket counter. "Why are you changing your ticket?"

"I need to be alone, Shayla," Arlene said.

"We came on this trip together," Shayla said, "and I think we should go home together."

"Please, Shayla," Arlene said. "I need to be alone. I can't get on that plane with you and the others. I need time by myself to try and deal with what has happened to me."

Sensing that she couldn't change Arlene's mind, Shayla went and joined the rest of her friends to board their plane.

"She is such a diva," Brenda said when Shayla told them Arlene wouldn't be flying back to Atlanta with them. "Leave it to Arlene to get angry over a practical joke."

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to slap you myself," Shayla told Brenda, her tone and look, daring Brenda to challenge her as they made their way towards airport security so that they could be checked in and board the plane that would take them back to Atlanta.