Rex
The loud knocking jarred me awake. The person wasn’t letting up, so I yelled for them to cut it the hell out. I wasn’t in the mood to talk. My night went downhill when Laura left, but I told Theo to make sure the girls made it home. Laura called it a night. Theo said Stacie was with some jackass at another bar. I spent the night working in-between sips of whiskey. The alternative would’ve been to think about the beautiful woman who had my heart all tangled the hell up.
I crashed on the sofa and planned to spend the morning alone in my office but someone was pounding on my damn door. It needed to end. The next series of knocks happened. I yelled louder and was pissed by the time Theo walked in with coffee and food.
He chuckled, “Are you alright?”
I groaned and sat up, “Yeah, what time is it?”
“Around noon,” Theo offered a coffee cup. “I had to wake you because Mish is worried.”
“I’ll speak to her in a bit,” I unwrapped a breakfast sandwich.
Theo relaxed to eat his food. “Do you want to talk about what happened with Laura?”
I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “She left. That’s it.”
“Bullshit. You could’ve handled it better.”
My eyes cut into him. “Laura spent the night with someone else and her father paid me.”
Theo shrugged, “You didn’t need his fucking cash and you should’ve addressed that shit right then and there. Why didn’t you take care of it?”
“Laura’s mom split when she was a kid. She loves her old man. I didn’t want to break her heart.”
“Give him points for being a great father or whatever, but he’s an asshole, so set the record straight.”
I sipped my coffee. “Laura didn’t remember the guy she was with that night.”
Theo shrugged, “It’s been awhile, but knowing you it hasn’t been long enough.”
“Laura was scared of me.”
“You don’t hide your anger well,” Theo said. “You’re bitter because she chose her dad and a random guy.”
I didn’t respond. I wanted to convince myself Laura wasn’t my forever, but there were times were I missed her so fucking much. The heartache left me raw, but I’ll never forget how her lip trembled, or the way her eyes filled with tears. I didn’t want to cause her pain, but my pride was in the way.
Theo knew me well. I didn’t have to explain it. He finished eating. “There are worse things than falling in love.”
“I saw how my family dealt with that,” I grabbed my boots. “My Grandfather spent twenty years grieving over it. Mom is still searching for it, and Dad believes it should be thrown away.”
Theo experienced the deepest kind of heartache firsthand. He understood my side of things, so it was business, downtime, different pretty faces, and repeat. The lifestyle wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling I had with Laura. She spent one night at the bar and everything was slanted.
Theo was flipping between giving advice and being my voice of reason. It should be the same difference, but it never was with him. My night on the sofa wasn’t great. I stood up and tried working out the knot in my side. “Thanks for making sure the girls made it home. How did things go with Stacie?”
“You mean the hellcat who wouldn’t shut up. It was a damn nightmare. She was a pain in my ass and didn’t back down when I said she couldn’t strip on the beach.”
I glanced at Theo, “She wanted to strip for you?”
“No. It wasn’t like that,” he shook his head. “She was supposed to be a distraction. I caught on but figured you could talk to Laura.”
I chuckled. “Are you sure? Did Stacie pull a fast one on you? We’re alone, you can confess.”
“Shut the hell up,” Theo growled. “I was trying to keep her from making a scene.”
“You should’ve had one of the guys escort her off the property,” I wanted to gauge how he felt.
Theo stared at me, “Why would I do that? She was with your girl. I didn’t want Laura to be pissed at me.”
I shook my head, “You have a weak spot for Laura. She’ll bat her eyelashes and you’ll give in.”
Theo shrugged, “Last night was proof Laura can handle your bullshit, so yeah, I like her for you, and I’m willing to bet she’ll be in here again.”
“Teddy, you could be right,” I replied.
Theo gave me a dirty look. “Don’t say that again.”
“Hey, we can mix it up but then you’ll have to admit you like Stacie,” I went to my desk. “I read your text. You seemed mad because she was with someone.”
Theo was fuming. He refused to talk about it.
“Teddy is a cute nickname,” I joked to keep him pissed off. “Stacie probably came up with that.”
“Cut the shit,” Theo cursed more when I wouldn’t stop laughing. Our conversation moved on. Savage Paradise was busy from open to close, so I wanted to make sure the beach, gardens, paths, and area around the loungers were clear of trash and debris. It was a rule for people to clean up behind themselves, so far there were only a few discarded beer bottles at the end of the night.
I left my office awhile later. Mischa was behind the bar doing inventory. I sat on a stool, “What’s up Mish?”
“Oh, you’re alive,” she spun to give me attitude.
“Do me a favor and say something the next time you lock yourself in for the night.” Mischa stop fussing and stared at me. “And you’re never hungover. How do you even manage that?”
I grinned, “I don’t drink past my limit.”
Mischa poured a glass of orange juice and set it on the bar. “You don’t have to drink at all because you stress me out all the damn time.”
“I should probably do it less,” I finished the juice in a few gulps. “Thanks, I’m heading out, but I’ll be back later with food from your favorite restaurant.”
“Now, you are forgiven. I’ll see you later boss,” Mischa went back to work.
I chuckled, food or cash. She was fine with either. Mischa would text at least three times. Theo would call to vent about something she did. They were intense but the dynamic worked.
I left Savage Paradise, made the drive to the house, took a shower, threw on lounge pants, and was in bed staring at the ceiling an hour later. I was still in love with Laura, so our current situation didn’t change things. I grabbed my phone, tapped her number, and tucked a pillow under my head. The call connected, but Laura didn’t answer. I listened to her message like I had done a few times in the past. Laura’s voice held a hint of excitement. She asked the caller to leave a message. There was something about hearing her voice that made our situation less fucked up.
ns 172.70.131.75da2