There wasn't much more anyone could do, and you could see everyone was in shock from the looks on their faces. The ambulance was on its way as it was quick thinking for someone to call 911. The group just stared in disbelief as one of them lay on his back, fighting for his life.
The evening up until then had its miscues, but had been going fine as this was to be Pete's 40th birthday, and after a hell of a flight from Medford, Oregon, he had made it to New York greeted by his long time friend Armen. They hadn't seen each other in several years as Pete had broken away from all the media attention as Armen began taking the business in a direction that Pete didn't want. There was no argument, Pete went his own way splitting from the company which proved more comfortable than he thought what was hard was knowing the woman he loved didn't love him, and he'd possibly never see her again. Yet after many years due to Armen coaxing, he resurfaced for his 40th.
Putting things on autopilot with his new business in Medford, Pete booked his flight. Knowing everything he had seen in the media about the company, he had broken away from sat well with him. What didn't was seeing Armen marry the woman Pete loved Kendra. The day they married, he saw it on the news refusing to attend in person as they did send him an invite. Having now the wound from that finally heal was the main reason he agreed to visit New York for his 40th, knowing that seeing her might trigger a reaction he couldn't contain.
Pete and Armen met at the airport. Their meeting delayed by a few hours due to unpredictable high winds over the city. When it finally did happen, the two greeted each other with a cold handshake to break the ice, which turned into a long time coming brotherly hug signaling a truce. It did help Pete in a way that he had developed himself chiseling his body into a fit wonder with a well-groomed beard while Armen looked to have put on more than a few pounds. The two men then made a b-line from the airport to the lavish hotel where the first leg of the birthday festivities was to occur. Armen texted Kendra; they were en route barreling through the city in a luxury vehicle. Upon getting that text, Kendra flashed back briefly in her mind of what it was like in the early days of the company and the complexities of being the love interest of one partner and in love with the other.
On the ride over the former partners caught up the best, they could not dig too deep into their current business ventures and keep it cordial and light as the awkwardness of the moment had not fully thawed. As the luxury transport pulled up into the hotel entrance, a rush of people coming in and out caught the men's eyes as abnormal. As they exited the vehicle, they could hear cries of someone calling for someone to call 911. Inside the uproar came from the gathering of partygoers for Pete's 40th birthday party as one of the partygoers had an adverse reaction to something on the menu.
Walking inside the hotel, Armen and Pete finally got the down low as the night continued to bring elements that lead to an exaggerated birthday party for Pete. The party nearly dismantled, and partygoers were buzzing around the afflicted partygoer was the moment Kendra first laid eyes on the reinvented Pete from a distance. He stood taller than she remembered walking with a confidence that wasn't there when he ran the company she had gotten into at the ground floor and was now married. As her husband, Armen and Pete came closer to where she was near the bar, she could see the drastic difference between the two men over the years.
When Pete finally laid eyes on her, he was immediately a smile. The years didn't change his feelings toward her as he'd think. But some appearances did need to be made. So in their exchange of a warm embrace, they greeted each other amidst the backdrop of the first responders attending the ill partygoer. Now having a disbanded party, Armen, Kendra, and Pete sat at the hotel bar sipping top-shelf whiskey reflecting on numerous things, including there mutual past.
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