Sunny and 75 (Volume 1)

by Metal, Scarlett

  I laughed, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed he didn’t want kids. I guess it was another sign this wasn’t really going anywhere past the bedroom.

  We cleaned up our mess from the pizza and he sat on the bed. He pulled me to him and we tumbled back together until we were lying wrapped in each other on the bed. We didn’t say anything, each of us lost in our own thoughts. The sun was setting, casting a faint glow in the room. He turned his head and kissed my forehead. “I’ve had a great time with you, Julia,” he murmured against my skin.

  His tenderness threatened to bring tears to my eyes. “I’ve had a great time with you too, Aiden.”

  He rolled me onto my back and touched my face gently. We made love slowly, touching and kissing each other all over. We climaxed together, his hands on my face, looking into my eyes. I swore he was looking into my soul. It seemed like a fairytale, and if I was honest with myself, I was definitely falling for this island bartender.

  We fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. I woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee. I sat up in bed, wrapping the sheet around me. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked around, finding Aiden freshly showered. He was leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee in his hand and a smile on his face.

  “Good morning, sleepy head.” He found another mug and poured me some coffee. He brought it over to me and planted a kiss on my forehead.

  “Thank you.” I took a sip of the coffee. “Have you been awake long?”

  “No,” he shook his head. “I woke and couldn’t sleep anymore so I watched you sleep a bit before taking a shower. You looked so peaceful.”

  I blushed. He watched me sleep? I thought people only did that on TV or in movies.

  “Then I got a text from Jason, my boss. Apparently I was a hit at the swim up bar the other day so they want me again today in addition to my shift at the beach bar tonight.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry I have to cut our day today short.”

  I was disappointed, but I had just had an amazing twenty-four plus hours with him. I’m sure I would see him at the bar later. I foresaw some late nights and sleeping in for the rest of my time here and that was fine with me.

  “That’s ok. I’m going to go back to my place and freshen up. I should check in with my aunt. I haven’t talked to anyone back home since I’ve been here and I’m sure she’s worried.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “My mom died when I was five,” I said quietly.

  “I’m so sorry!” He put his hand on my leg. “I didn’t mean to bring her up.”

  “It’s ok. How could you know?” I patted his hand. He was so sweet.

  “And your dad? Or shouldn’t I ask?”

  “My dad – he’s another story,” I rolled my eyes. “He is a little controlling for lack of a better word. He’s the one that pushed me to marry Patrick. He hates all of my life choices and couldn’t be more disappointed in his daughter. I get the feeling he wished I was a boy.” Tears stung my eyes when I talked about my dad.

  He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He didn’t say anything, somehow knowing that I didn’t need him to.

  I took a deep breath. “Your turn,” I said. He may not like to share, but after I did, he better.

  “There’s not much to tell. Dad’s retired military and won’t talk to me because I didn’t make the Marines my career. Mom is great and I talk to her once a week.”

  I was sad for him that he didn’t have a good relationship with his father, but I loved that he still talked to his mother regularly. There was something endearing about a man that was close to his mother.

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” I asked.

  “I have a little sister. She’s a senior in high school,” he beamed, winning him more brownie points.

  “Do you see them much?” I asked, hoping this question wouldn’t cross the line.

  “No.” He face darkened. “I haven’t been back to Chicago since coming here three years ago.”

  The expression on his face changed, telling me I went too far. I wasn’t sure what to say after that.

  He got up from the bed. “I gotta get to work. Stay as long as you would like.” He bent down and kissed my cheek. He was out the door before I could say anything more.

  I sat and finished my coffee, tempted to pull out that picture again for any clues about Aiden, but I better not. After the way he abruptly ended our conversation about seeing his family, I didn’t want him to come back unexpectedly and catch me snooping.

  I got up and put my mug in the sink before gathering up my clothes. I searched high and low for my underwear and then remembered Aiden had ripped them off of me and kept them. A small smile played on my lips as I picked up my wedges and left his room. He was so dirty, but I loved it.

  As I closed the door behind me, a group of young girls walked by. They glared at me and whispered something amongst themselves before continuing on. From a few things he had said, I got the feeling that Aiden was a little bit of a man whore. I couldn’t blame him; he was gorgeous and sexy and had all of these willing women falling at his feet. I noticed the way they looked at him when he was making their drinks and I knew all too well the effect that smile could have on a female.

  I wondered if he made all the girls feel as special as he made me though. He mentioned having one night flings, but never more than that. We had spent a few days together and had plans to keep hanging out until I left. That had to count for something.

  I hurried over to my villa, relieved to shut the door behind me. It felt a little bit like college and the few times I had done the ‘walk of shame’ after spending the night with a guy. Even though I was old enough to do what I wanted with whom I wanted, it still felt weird going home in the clothes I left in two days before.

  I stripped and headed to the shower. After, I wrapped myself in the plush robe the hotel provided and thought about heading over to the spa for some pampering.

  I couldn’t find the brochure that had info on the spa, so I opened my laptop to check out their list of services. After deciding on a massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure, I checked the new email address I’d created to get in touch with Aunt Cathy and Sophia. I had one email from Sophia and ten from Aunt Cathy.

  The one from Sophia was short, telling me to call if I needed anything. She was in law school and everything with her was quick and to the point. I sent her a short reply, letting her know I was fine. I thought about telling her about Aiden, but that was a conversation better saved for the phone.

  I sighed and prepared myself before opening the emails from my aunt.

  Aunt Cathy was my mom’s sister. She’d become something of surrogate mother to me since Mother died. Father wasn’t a fan of her though and always pushed me to do the opposite of what she would suggest. I’d seen pictures of Mother and Aunt Cathy and they could have been twins. I think that’s why Father didn’t like her; she reminded him too much of her.

  The first few emails were short, asking how I was and telling me to call if I wanted to talk. She told me she took care of cancelling what she could for the wedding but Father was furious about the money he had paid for everything. Her later emails were more urgent, telling me Father and Patrick were bothering her constantly about how to get in touch with her. The last email consisted of two words – “Call me”.

  I closed my laptop and grabbed the phone from the nightstand. I followed the instructions attached to the phone for making a call and dialed my aunt’s number. I always knew I would have to face things at home eventually, but I had been hoping I would have a little bit longer. It was too fun pretending things were perfect.

  The phone rang a few times before she picked up. “Hello?” She probably didn’t recognize the number I was calling from and was worried I was a telemarketer.

  “Hey Aunt Cathy,” I greeted her, twisting my fingers in the cord of the phone nervously.

  “Julia! How are you?”

  “Good.”
/>   “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. I’m hurt and angry with Patrick, but I didn’t really want to marry him anyway, Aunt Cathy. I guess I’m probably more humiliated than anything,” I admitted.

  “I never liked him. He’s a mini version of your father.”

  I couldn’t help but snort. “Yeah, I think Father liked him more than he liked me.”

  “I don’t know about that, Julia. Your father does love you whether you believe it or not. He just has a hard time showing you.”

  “I know.” I bit my lip, scared to ask her the next question. “How is he?”

  There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “You need to call him.”

  “I can’t.”

  “He’s your father and he’s worried about you. He was angry at first and I’m not even sure he knows why you left. He’s only heard Patrick’s side of the story and you can only imagine what lies he told him.”

  “Yeah.” I rolled my eyes. Patrick probably painted this horrible picture of me to Father about why I didn’t marry him.

  “Call him and explain why you left.”

  “What if he makes me come home? I’m not ready yet.”

  “Julia, you’re twenty-two years old. Your father can’t make you do anything. And with that trust fund your mother set up for you, you don’t need his money.”

  “You’re right.” I lay back on the bed with a big sigh. “I’ll call him.”

  “Good girl. Are you having a good time there despite everything?”

  “I am.” I wasn’t going to mention Aiden to her yet either. I wasn’t ready to answer all the questions she would have about him.

  “Did you make any friends?”

  “A few,” I said. “I spend most of my time by the pool. I started taking pictures again.”

  “That’s great! Maybe you can get back into that now. You have always had such a good eye.” She paused. “Listen honey, I have to get going. You go call your father.”

  “I will. I love you.”

  “Love you too. Call me soon.” She hung up and ended the call, leaving me sitting there with the phone in my hand.

  Fuck. I didn’t want to talk to him. But I had to.

  I dialed his number slowly, praying he was in a meeting and wasn’t able to answer his cell phone.

  “Hello.” He answered the phone on the second ring, the sound of his voice making me feel like I was going to throw up.

  “Hello Father,” I said softly.

  “Julia. Where are you?” He asked coldly. “More importantly, when are you coming home?”

  “I had to get away, Father.”

  “We don’t run away from our problems, Julia.”

  My eyes filled with tears. He wasn’t going to be as loving and supportive as I had hoped. I shouldn’t be surprised though. He rarely supported me in anything I did.

  “Patrick humiliated me.” I tried to stay calm. I couldn’t lose my composure or he would dismiss me for sure, telling me I was being silly and emotional.

  “How? From the way I see it, you humiliated him. You left him the day before your wedding with no explanation. He had to explain to everyone why there was no wedding.”

  Patrick had really pulled the wool over Father’s eyes. He had no idea what I had walked in on. “Father, I walked in on Patrick fucking another woman – his best friend’s wife!” I took a deep breath.

  “Don’t be so vulgar,” he scolded me. “Patrick told me you would say that, Julia. He said that wasn’t true and it was all a misunderstanding. Did you even talk to him about it?”

  “No,” I wiped a tear from my face that managed to escape. When would he ever be on my side? “I know what I saw though. I know what sex looks like.”

  “You need to get back here and fix this. Patrick is being patient and waiting for you to work out whatever you need to, but he won’t wait forever.”

  “I don’t want him to wait for me!” I exclaimed. He had to be kidding. There was no way I was even going to talk to that asshole.

  He sighed; I had to end this conversation before it got worse.

  “Daddy, I’m going to go. I just wanted to call and let you know I’m ok. I don’t know when I’ll be home. Aunt Cathy knows how to reach me if you need me.”

  I hung up the phone before he could say anything else. I rested my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands. Despite my valiant efforts, the dam of tears broke and my shoulders started shaking with my sobs.

  Even now my own father wouldn’t support me. I couldn’t figure out why. I thought parents were supposed to be there for their children and offer them unconditional love. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that from him.

  I cried until I had no more tears in me. I hadn’t done that since I first arrived in Punta Cana. I had a few hours before my spa appointment. I was going to go see Aiden before I went, but suddenly all I wanted to do was sleep.

  I slipped off my robe and turned back the covers. I climbed into bed and wrapped myself in the big comforter that covered the bed. I was overcome with sadness at the realization I had nothing to go back to in Chicago. Sure, I had Sophia and Aunt Cindy, but they had their own lives. I had cut myself off from any other friends from college when I moved home and I didn’t have a job. There was no reason for me to go back.

  Now I understood why Aiden didn’t want to go back; Chicago was filled with nothing but pain and sadness.

  Chapter Eight ~ Aiden

  I kept watching for her while I worked the swim up bar that afternoon, but she never came. I hoped she wasn’t upset by the way I left this morning. It had nothing to do with her. I didn’t like to talk about things back in Chicago and that was the only way I knew how to end the conversation. I would apologize to her when I finally saw her.

  I was worried those punks from the other night might have found her. I called my contact in security and he assured me they had left the day after the incident with Julia. I was relieved but then that also meant she was probably avoiding me on purpose.

  I eventually called her villa from the bar, but she didn’t answer. Maybe she was sleeping; I did wear her out the past couple of days. My cock stirred in my shorts just thinking about the way she whimpered when I went down on her.

  “Are you ok?” asked Carlos, another bartender working with me.

  “Yeah, why?” I replied as I poured a guest a drink.

  “You don’t seem yourself. Usually you are smiling and flirting with all the guests, especially the ladies. Hell, I think even some of the men end up with crushes on you,” he laughed.

  “Just tired,” I shrugged.

  “You had yesterday off. Must have found some hottie to get it on with, huh?” He winked at me.

  I gritted my teeth; Julia wasn’t ‘some hottie’, but he didn’t mean any harm. My reputation at the resort wasn’t a secret and even I joked about it all the time but this time I didn’t like the idea of Julia being referred to as‘another fling’.

  “Something like that,” I muttered and walked to wait on some guy at the other end of the bar.

  We had a rush of patrons coming to get drinks but when things slowed down, I asked Carlos to cover for me for about thirty minutes. I had to go check on Julia. I kept telling myself I was just being nice because she had no one else here, but it was more than that. I was genuinely worried about her but I also wanted to make sure she wasn’t mad at me. Maybe she found some other guy to entertain her while she was here; someone who came from the same kind of life she did.

  I was a former Marine who couldn’t even face reality and lived in the Dominican as a bartender. I couldn’t take care of her, just like I couldn’t take care of Becca. I scrubbed my face with my hand. Just the thought of her made my heart ache.

  I swore after Becca I would never let myself care for another woman again. I always made it clear to a woman before our clothes came off I wasn’t looking for a commitment. I usually played the long distance card, telling them it would be silly to try to have a relationship
when I lived here and they were back in the States. Most women were using me as much I was using them, so it didn’t matter anyway.

  I kept telling myself that’s all I wanted with Julia – just some fun while she was here on vacation. There was something about her that affected me like no one has since Becca. When she smiled, my stomach filled with butterflies. The sex was amazing, but even that feels like something more.

  What drew me to her the most was the pain I saw in her eyes when she thoughtIwasn’t looking. She’s been hurt by people she loved like I was. It was in totally different ways, but we’ve been hurt nonetheless. I wanted to take all that pain and heartache from her and make it go away.

  I got to her villa and knocked on the door. There was no answer so I knocked louder and called out her name. Still there was no answer. I walked around the villa, hoping I could see something in one of the windows, but she had all the blinds closed.

  I shook my head; since when did I become such a stalker. I started to head back to the bar when I heard the click of her door. I turned around and caught her standing in the doorway. Her hair was damp, hanging around her face, and she was dressed in the plush, white resort robe. I smiled and began to reach for her but my smile faded as I got closer and noticed her puffy, bloodshot eyes. It was obvious she had been crying.

  “Are you ok?” I asked as I went to her.

  “I was sleeping. Sorry I didn’t hear you knocking at first,” she mumbled.

  I reached out and brushed a piece of hair back from her face. “You look like you’ve been crying.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  She folded her arms across her chest and shook her head but I raised an eyebrow and her eyes filled with tears. I didn’t say anything but led her inside and closed the door behind us. I took her into my arms and she started sobbing against my chest. I held her while she cried, stroking her hair. I let her get it out, not asking any questions until she was done.

  She finally pulled away from me, sniffling. I glanced at the clock on the microwave and realized I had about ten minutes or so before I had to go back. I was going to have to talk to Jason about some time off so I could spend it with Julia. I hadn’t really had any real vacation since I started here.