Читать книгу Nowhere Yet - Edward Inc. Cozza - Страница 9

As Grant walked back to his room, he noticed the interior surroundings more than when he had walked through to the bar earlier. Maybe the pain medicine was wearing off. He was still rather numb, and he was not sure if it was because of the accident, seeing Annie, or meeting Isobelle. Though they were in the desert, Grant thought the hotel opulent. It was certainly no normal desert motif. The wood was dark and ornate, and he liked the plush carpets cushioning his heavy gait.

He stopped to talk to some of the hotel staff on his way back to the room. Talking with the hotel staff and hearing (if not participating in) actual conversation with his friends made it brutally obvious that he had spent far too much time alone. He was lonely. He hadn’t had this many people to talk to in a long time, and he somehow felt he had lost the ability to converse easily with strangers—and friends. The walk back to his room took longer than it should have. The sight of the interior of the hotel made him realize that up until now, he had been on a pretty bland social diet.

More like a prison diet, he thought.

He entered his room as quickly as possible, suddenly feeling nauseated. He ran into the bathroom, where he immediately threw up.

“Great. Should have gone fishing.”

As Grant leaned on the counter in the elegant, stately bathroom, he was surprised by how much better throwing up made him feel. He went out to the sleeping area of the room, noticing the refinements there, the embellishment that seemed to decorate every square foot. The fabric on the furniture, the pillows that seemed to be everywhere and that matched everything perfectly, the lamps that looked like they had been brought in from China that morning, with fresh new shades on all of them. He didn’t have that many pillows in his whole house. All the art on the walls was perfectly coordinated with every color in the entire space. went back into the bathroom, hoping for and finding items housekeeping had placed on the counter. He was in luck, as mouthwash was part of the sundry line-up. He busted open the tiny, sealed bottle, took a few swigs, and swished it around in his mouth. The minty taste refreshed him. Who would have thought that the recipe for a clear head involved vomiting and a miniature bottle of mouthwash? He turned the faucet on, letting the water run until it was as cold as it was going to get, then filled his cupped hands and splashed the water on his face.

“Pretty good start,” he muttered to his reflection in the mirror. “Puking … talking to everyone but Annie. Yeah, the puking was a real nice touch.”

Grant left his room and made his way back towards the bar, admiring the antique furniture that seemed to be everywhere. He stopped in front of one of the hallway pieces and looked it over. He pulled out one of the drawers part-way, and bent down to look underneath it. He pushed and pulled on the drawer until he finally pulled it completely out of the piece. He looked at the sides and muttered something about it being “good dovetail.” A hotel employee startled him, asking him, if you please, sir, what are you doing to this armoire?

A brief exchange ensued, regarding the craftsmanship and quality of the work done on the piece. Grant reflected aloud on the irony of the fact that he couldn’t get his life in order, but he did know about working with wood.

“Could you direct me back to the bar?” Grant said.

The man was now placing the drawer back into the hole in the piece. “I can take you there, sir,” the man replied.

“No need. You can just tell me. Not quite sure how I got turned around. Well, I am, but….”

“I’m going that way anyway, sir, and it would be my pleasure.”

“Thanks. Course, you might just be looking after the furniture.”

“Sir?”

“Nothing. What’s your name?”

“Fausto. My name is Fausto,” the man answered. “What’s your name, sir?”

“Grant.”

“Welcome, Señor Grant.”

“Thanks. This is quite a place. I don’t get to places like this much. Or ever, for that matter. Guess I’m not supposed to take the furniture apart, am I?”

“I am sorry, sir. We recently had some students from the universities here and they were not the best of guests. I should not have been so disrespectful of you. Please forgive me,” the man said, now embarrassed.

“Hey, no need to apologize. Did you say universities? College kids stay at the Ritz? Hell, I used to sleep in my car, or on the ground … which is still a possibility for this weekend, actually,” Grant said, looking out the window.

They made their way back to the bar, passing more pieces of wooden furniture in the lobby, and dining areas. Grant paused to look at almost every piece of furniture along the way.

“I never know so many things about the furnitures. You know so much,” Fausto said, admiringly.

“Love working with wood. May be the only thing I’m good at,” Grant said, scratching his head.

“Could I help you with anything else?”

“Not unless you can go in there and talk with the three ladies in there for me,” Grant said.

“Tres?”

“Si, tres.”

“No Señor Grant, I have trouble talking with just one. You are here to see the three women?” Fausto said, his eyes open very wide.

“Well, not really … sort of. It is, well, I came to see an old friend, and hopefully a woman. I didn’t know about the other two. That doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“Not to me, but maybe to you,” Fausto said, his head turned to one side.

“Well, my life doesn’t make sense to me, either, so you’re not alone,” Grant said.

“I suppose.”

“Me too, for what that’s worth. Thanks for the tour, nice to meet you. Maybe I will see you around.”

“Thank you, Señor Grant, and watch out for the making the women loco-mad.”

“You want to tell me about your pals down at the other end of the bar?” Rex asked Isobelle, his gaze on the women a short distance away.

Annie and Kat glanced at each other.

“Are you sure he is with you?” Isobelle said, looking at Annie and Kat.

“I wouldn’t even begin to know how to answer that,” Annie said.

“I do,” Kat said.

“No Kat, it’s not necessary.”

“I have time,” Isobelle said.

“Annie, here, used to go with the man, Grant, who left. This one here, big mouth, is Grant’s friend. Apparently, they are a package deal, and no matter how much Grant might disappoint you, this one can make you absolutely furious. Great combination, huh?”

Rex looked back to the group.

“Kat. That short for … what, Katrina?”

“Yes,” Kat answered

“That’s Greek. You’re blonde.”

“Yes. My name is Katrina Ballas, but everyone calls me Kat. There are blonde people of Greek descent.”

“I’m just messing with you about the hair, but you should have said something sooner, Katrina Ballas, I would have ordered Metaxa. I would love to get a good Metaxa buzz going,” Rex said, looking back and forth, between Kat, and the women at the other end.

“What does Metaxa taste like?” Annie asked.

“Can’t remember, I was drunk,” Rex smiled.

Annie, Kat, and Isobelle chuckled at Rex’s comment.

“See what I mean?” Kat squinted.

“What’s funny?” Rex held his arms up.

“You, but in a different way than you probably think,” Kat patted him.

“Ok, so are you going with the good looking, quiet one now?” Isobelle asked.

“No,” Annie said.

“She’s seeing someone else, these two don’t know about that,” Kat whispered.

“I … you don’t….” Annie blushed.

“You should have a drink, Annie. I mean if we are going to spend all our time with this one, it might help.” Kat said.

“Yes, can I get you something?” Isobelle asked.

“No, thank you, I’m fine.”

“He’ll be back in a minute, so don’t worry,” Rex said, suddenly engaging with the group again. “Don’t base your decision to drink or not on whether or not Grant is coming back. Me, I’m on vacation. I’m going to drink regardless. I am glad to see you, Annie, even though I know you never liked me much. Grant is glad to see you, too. Oh, and I like your friend here.”

“I never said that I didn’t—” Annie started to say, but Rex cut her off.

“Look, even though I am not as smart as your doctor comrade here—tell me what do doctors do again?—I am smart enough to know you just sort of, I don’t know, maybe toler—”

“Stop it, Rex. It was all a long time ago, and the main thing is we are where we are now. Back then was … it was….”

“Was a lot of fun, and you know it,” Rex said, looking straight at Annie, challenging her to disagree.

“Well, it was….”

“It was fun, don’t deny it. It was a helluva lot of fun.”

“It was….”

“It was fun,” Rex said determinedly, emphasizing every syllable.

Annie turned back towards the entrance to the bar, where Grant was re-entering.

“Yes, it was fun,” Annie said quietly.

“I knew it!” Rex said, slamming his hand down on the top of the bar.

Grant had quietly returned to the bar, but jerked back as Rex’s hand hit the bar, clearly startled. He tilted his head as he approached the table, easing back into the chair.

“You starting things here in the bar?” Grant sat back in his chair.

“They started it, they are picking on me! Can you imagine that?” Rex said.

“Somehow I can imagine them doing something, but ‘picking on you’ probably isn’t the phrasing I would use,” Grant said.

“The friend, she’s pretty sharp. And not that Annie’s not sharp, we all know that she is smarter than us. By us, I mean me and Grant. Well, Grant for sure,” Rex said.

“No explanation needed,” Kat responded.

“Agreed,” Isobelle said.

The group all turned to look at her.

“But what do I know?” Isobelle said, suddenly embarrassed that she had been listening in to their conversation. Trying to save face, she sputtered, “She seems very smart to me.”

Annie laughed quietly to herself, seeming more relieved than before. “Everything all right, Grant? Rex told me you were in an accident,” Annie said, touching him on the arm.

“Yep, could have done without that. What did I miss here?” Grant asked, trying to change the subject.

“Are you sure you are all right?” Annie looked worried.

“A little bunged up, but I’m upright.”

“Well, your friend here was just charming us while you were away,” Kat said.

“Really? I wasn’t gone long enough for Rex to become charming. We’re only here for the weekend, and that would take several millenniums.”