Читать книгу The Other Side Of The Lies - Callie Ansar - Страница 4

“I’m gonna kill her when I see her. Friggen kill her,” Lauri ranted all the way back to our room. “Who does that bitch think she is anyway? I don’t think she’s that great.”

I knew she was talking to me, but I was blocking her out. As she led our way through the crowded corridor to our room, multiple whistles followed us. It was then that I realized I was walking around in my bikini. In the midst of all of that commotion, I forgot to grab my things. I stopped two doors down from our room.

“Lauri, I have to go back down. I left everything down there, my wallet, my bag, my towel, my clothes,” I said worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll run down in a few minutes. I’d like to give Ramsey a piece of my mind anyway.”

“He didn’t do anything, Lau. It was all the girl. What was her name, Nicole? He couldn’t have known what was going to come out of her mouth. And you know what, she’s right. I am a loser. Guys don’t like girls like me. They want gorgeous, flashy girls. I know David did anyway. Don’t fight with Ramsey, it’s not his fault,” I pleaded as tears began to fill my eyes.

We had made it to room 208 before she said, “Well, I still want to rip his balls off.”

With a turn of the knob, we were back inside our room. A few candles were now lit, which meant that during Erin’s disturbance Lauri and Danny were either getting it on, or that it just smelled so bad in there that they had to light a candle. Either way, I was grateful for the pleasing scent masking the musty odor.

I didn’t see Danny at first glance, but soon heard the shower running. Lauri looked at me and said, “He’s in the shower. We were gonna run and grab a bite. Why don’t you change and come with us?”

“No, I don’t really feel like eating right now. I think I’ll hop in the shower and just chill out here until you guys get back.”

“Ok sweetie,” she softly said.

I went in my duffle and grabbed a pair of shorts and hurried to put them on before Danny came out of the bathroom. I plopped on my bed and watched Lauri as she fixed her hair and put on a little makeup.

“So tell me what that bitch said to you,” Lauri said as she blew herself a kiss in the mirror.

“Nothing I didn’t already know, Lau. She called me a skank and said that I was trying to bang her boyfriend. Then Ramsey went off on her. And then she called me a loser and told me that Ramsey would never like a girl like me, and that I was a joke to him,” I painfully told her.

When she was finished fussing with herself, she came and lay next to me on my bed. “Karen, you are beautiful and smart and funny and anyone would be lucky to have you love them. Just because David couldn’t see that doesn’t mean anyone else won’t. You are not a loser. You are good enough, for anyone.” Lauri went on to explain, “She’s the loser, Karen. She’s so pathetic when it comes to Ramsey. He found out that she had been cheating on him for months with this guy from Pinekill, he’s actually a pitcher too, just like Ramsey. Well, he broke up with her and she lost it. She just wanted to have her cake and eat it too. He was heartbroken, but never showed her that and that is what pissed her off the most.” She continued, “Honestly, that’s why I asked him to hang out with you. He’s been where you are and I thought he could help. I really didn’t even think something as bad as Nicole would happen. I’m so sorry, Karen.”

“Don’t be sorry, Lau, it’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just another vacation ruined because I’m just not good enough for guys. You know the messed up thing about the whole situation, besides that girl crushing me? I was actually having a really good time with Ramsey. I felt like we were connecting in some way. I guess I was wrong about that too,” I said as Danny finally emerged from the bathroom, a cloud of steam following him.

He was fully dressed and whistled at Lauri. “Looking good girl. Let’s go eat, I’m starving,” he said as he walked over to the dresser and grabbed his wallet. He was putting it in his pocket when he asked, “Coming with us, Karen?”

“Thanks Danny, but I’m just gonna hang here and take a shower. I need to cool down after that confrontation.”

“Ok, so we’ll see you later then,” he said as he grabbed Lauri’s hand and helped her off of the bed.

“Karen, we’ll finish this conversation later. I’ll bring us back some wine coolers. See you in about an hour,” Lauri said as she kissed my cheek before they left the room.

As soon as they left, I went to the door to lock the deadbolt. I closed all of the curtains and began to take off my clothes before heading into the bathroom. I let the water run in the shower for a few seconds to make sure it was nice and hot. Once the temperature was where I wanted it to be, I hopped in. The water felt great as it washed the tears off of my face. I washed and conditioned my hair and even shaved my legs. I stayed in the shower for a while, just standing there, hoping the water would wash away my misery. Unfortunately, showers don’t do that.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a way too small towel around my body. As I emerged from the bathroom, there was a knock at the door, which scared the shit out of me.

I assumed that it was Lauri or Danny not being able to get in because I locked the deadbolt. But what if it was Nicole? My heart began to race. I slowly walked over to the door as someone continued to knock, and I peered into the peep hole. It was Ramsey. “Oh God, what do I do?” I whispered to myself.

“Karen, I know you’re in there. Open the door, I have your stuff,” he said through the door. My stuff. Shit, I completely forgot about my stuff. I needed my stuff, so I had to let him in.

Forgetting that all I was wearing was a towel that wouldn’t cover a toddler properly, I opened the door. I stood behind the door as I cracked it open, just wide enough so he could let himself in. As soon as he was in, I closed the door.

He wasn’t facing me when he said, “Well, Kid, you didn’t have to go to all of this trouble for me,” referring to the candles that had been lit by Danny and Lauri.

“Believe me, I didn’t,” I answered and he turned around at the sound of my voice.

When he set his eyes on me, they grew as big as his smile. His mouth dropped open when he said, “Well, you didn’t have to do that for me either.”

“Oh believe me, I didn’t,” I answered again, just standing there.

He exhaled. “So, here’s your stuff. Why don’t you put this towel on? It will probably cover you better,” he said as he handed me my beach towel. I guess Nicole was right. He wasn’t interested in me and handing me a towel to cover myself up proved it.

“Thanks,” I said as I wrapped the towel over the smaller one already on me. “I appreciate you bringing my stuff back. I completely forgot about it.”

There were a few seconds of silence. Awkward silence.

I spoke again and said, “Ok, so thanks again. I’m gonna get dressed now. See you later.” I wasn’t mad at Ramsey and I don’t know why it bothered me so much that Nicole told me he wasn’t interested in me, but it did. And that made me not want to be around him.

“I’ll wait out here while you change,” he said.

“Wait for what?” my attitude now coming out.

“Karen we need to talk about what happened down there. And you broke your promise to me.”

“Refresh my memory.”

“You promised you wouldn’t cry for the rest of the day, and you did.”

Attitude in full effect now, I said, “The promise wasn’t broken. I wasn’t crying because of David. I was crying because your girlfriend was a completely awful to me.”

“Ex,” he said.

“My apologies, your ex girlfriend,” I said.

He laughed. “Touché, Kid. Touché. Come on seriously, can we please talk?” He looked sincere as he looked at me, draped in layers of towels while my hair dripped water droplets onto the floor.

“Ok, stay here. I’ll go in the bathroom and change.”

I grabbed my duffle and headed in the bathroom. Heart racing once again, I scrambled to put something on, anything on. Not wanting to empty the contents of my bag onto the disgusting bathroom floor, I grabbed the first thing I could, which was a black bikini. I quickly put it on and then reached in and grabbed out my purple sundress. I was just hanging out in my room, so who the hell did I need to impress?

I ran a pick through my hair and left it down. I had gotten a lot of color that day and it was more predominant after my shower. I didn’t really need much makeup, so I swiped some mascara over my lashes and put a quick coat of gloss on my lips.

I gave myself a once over in the mirror and headed out into the other room. Ramsey was sitting back in the tweed chair, puffing on a cigarette. “Have a seat,” he said as he exhaled and motioned to the second ugly chair that sat across the table from where he was seated.

I sat down and grabbed a cigarette out of the open box he left on the table. Before I could reach for the lighter, his arm was extended in front of me, with the lighter at the tip of my cigarette. I slowly inhaled and said, “Thank you,” as I exhaled and the smoke came out of my mouth.

“Plan on going swimming later?” he asked, clearly curious as to why I had on a bathing suit.

“Yeah, I’m meeting Nicole at the pool around 5:00 for a dip. Care to join?” I sarcastically answered.

He laughed and then said, “You look really pretty, Karen.”

“Don’t,” I snapped.

“Don’t what? I can’t tell you that you look pretty?”

“Look Ramsey. I don’t blame you for anything that Nicole said to me. Lauri told me what happened between you guys and I know that’s why she asked you to hang out with me. I appreciate it, I do, but you don’t have to pretend anything. I’ve known you for what, a whole 2 hours? You don’t owe me anything. And I don’t want you feeling bad for me. I’ll get through this, just like I get through everything else,” I told him as I continued to smoke my cigarette.

“Karen,” he said as he extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray, “I don’t feel bad for you. I mean, I do feel bad about what happened with you and your boyfriend, and I do feel bad that you had to deal with Nicole, but I don’t feel bad for you. Yes, you’re right. We’ve only known each other for a whole two hours, but in that short time, I can tell that you’re a beautiful, funny, smartass who I enjoy spending time with. And I’d like to spend more time with you.”

“Ramsey,” I interrupted.

“No Karen. I don’t want to spend time with you because Lauri asked me to, but because I want to. I find you intriguing and I want to learn more about you.”

“What do you want to learn? What a day in the life of an ugly loser is like?” I tried to be sarcastic but my pain was obvious.

“Nicole is a bitch and I hope you aren’t taking anything she said to heart,” he said lighting another cigarette, as I put mine out. “I don’t think you’re an ugly loser, I think you’re really pretty.”

I let him continue.

“You’re not like any other girl I’ve met. Usually girls throw themselves at me, but not you. Why is that?” he asked.

“I don’t know you, Ramsey. I’m not very outgoing with guys that I don’t know,” I answered.

“Would you like to know me?”

Holy shit, I didn’t know what to say. On one hand, I was just getting over a horrific breakup that left my heart in a million pieces. Was I ready to start getting to know another guy on a romantic level, or would he just be my rebound? Or on the other hand, maybe he was just talking about having sex. I had only had sex with David and I definitely loved having sex with him, but was that only because I trusted him and was comfortable with him? But I’m sure I would really enjoy having sex with Ramsey too. Oh my God, why am I even thinking about this? He probably just wants to be friends. Thank goodness he couldn’t read my mind.

He broke the silence.

“Hey Kid, what are you thinking? Talk to me. If you don’t want me to bother you, I won’t, but you gotta talk to me.”

“Yeah, Ramsey, I’d like to get to know you better, but I’ve been through enough this past month. I don’t need, nor do I want to deal with psycho ex girlfriends. That’s just not on my agenda this summer.”

“I get it, I do. I can promise you that Nicole will never bother you again. I won’t even let her get close to you. How about we just hang out and get to know each other. We can take things as they come. What do you think?”

It was the oddest proposition ever made to me, but I was very intrigued, so I said, “Ok, I’m in.”

“Cool, now let’s start over. What do you want to do today? Pool or beach?” he asked.

Ugh, did he really want to go back to the pool? As much as I didn’t want to go back there, I figured that I’d take his word for it that he wouldn’t let Nicole near me again. So, once again, I said, “Pool then beach.”

He smiled his familiar smile and replied with, “I like it. Let’s go.” He walked around the room and blew out all of the candles that were lit, as I got my towel and bag together again. I grabbed my orange key and slipped it in my bag before heading to the door.

“Ready,” he asked as he held one hand out to mine, the other turning the door knob.

Letting a deep breath out I said, “Ready as I’ll ever be,” as the door slammed shut behind us.

Hand in hand, he once again led us down the long hallway, down the stairs, and finally to that damn white gate. We stood there a minute and surveyed the scene, looking to see if Nicole was in sight. When there was no visible sign of her, Ramsey looked at me and said, “The coast is clear.”

I smiled as he opened the gate and led us through. He walked us over to where we were earlier, right to his friends. Most of them were gone, but some were still there, Billy being one of them. He watched us as we approached, hand in hand, and said, “What’s this? I didn’t expect to see you two together again.”

“Shut up asshole,” Ramsey told him.

“Calm down, bro. I’m just kidding. What are you guys here for? Round two?”

“What do you mean?” Ramsey asked.

“Nicole’s over there by the pool. Come for another standoff, Karen?” Billy snickered.

My stomach dropped as I looked around and finally spotted her sitting on the edge of the pool, with a red plastic cup in her hand. Her legs were opened and in between them, a blonde haired, blue eyed beefcake. He seemed to be making her laugh, and she hadn’t seemed to notice us. I was more than grateful for that.

I couldn’t do this again. I didn’t want to do this again. As I started to turn in the direction of the exit, Ramsey grabbed my arm.

“You’re not going anywhere. I told you that I will not let her get near you, and I won’t. She will not bother you, Kid. Please trust me.”

Air filled my lungs and I exhaled another deep breath. I wanted to stay there with him, I really did, and I did believe that he would protect me to some extent. And since I felt like a dog that everyone had kicked while it was down, I’m sure I could endure another tongue lashing, so I decided to stay.

Ramsey quickly pulled off his shirt and hat and threw them on a chair. He once again, kicked off his sneakers and placed them by his other belongings. I wasn’t as animated about taking my clothes off this time around. I had on a simple sundress so I just slipped it off. My hair was already down and wet, so it was too heavy for the sexy swish. I flicked off my flips and told Ramsey that I was ready.

He gave me a once over and his eyes moved down to my belly ring. He touched it as he said, “I like this.”

“Thanks, it’s pretty new. I was thinking about taking it out. You know, bad memories and all.”

His hand still on my navel, he said, “Don’t take it out. Number one, it’s ridiculously sexy. And number two, keep it as a reminder, not of the bad memories that come with it, but of how you’ve overcome them.”

I just smiled at him. He smiled back as he moved his hand from my stomach to grab my hand.

“Let’s go,” he said.

I was more of a let me get my feet wet kind of girl when it came to going in a pool. I wasn’t for just jumping in, and figured that that’s what Ramsey had in mind when he walked us right behind Nicole, and to the ledge of the deepest part of the pool.

Now, standing on the edge of the pool hand in hand, Nicole spotted us. We were practically right next to her when she chuckled, “Well if it isn’t the happy couple.” The guy who occupied the space in between her legs looked up at us, confused.

Ramsey looked at me and said, “Let’s do it,” as he let go of my hand. “On three. One, two, three…”

At the sound of the three, we both cannon-balled into the pool. The water was ice cold as it enveloped me. As I started to make my way back up to the surface, my eyes were closed when I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me. All of a sudden, I was under the water, wrapped in Ramsey’s arms and it felt so good. When we finally emerged, the first thing both of us did was look in Nicole’s direction.

Our intentional splash had definitely made an impact. She was clearly wet and agitated. She muttered something under her breath as she wiped water from her eyes and tried to smooth out her hair. Her red cup was now floating in the pool, and her beefcake had swam away to retrieve it. Nicole looked at us and said, “You’re both assholes,” as she got out of the pool and walked out of our sight.

Still in the water holding me, Ramsey looked at me. We started hysterically laughing to the point where tears started coming out of my eyes.

“Feel better?” he asked.

“Oh my God, yes. Thank you, Ramsey,” I answered. “Thank you so much. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time. I needed that.”

“Anytime, Kid. Anytime.”