Wet: Part 2

by Rivera, S. Jackson

  “Are you really going to leave me on my own?” she mocked him. “You never let me out of your sight.”

  “This is probably the only place I would dare leave you alone. You’ve been safe here the first twenty-four years of your life.” He noticed something flash across her expression. He suddenly worried she’d have a panic attack if he left her.

  “Do you want me to stay? I’ll stay if you need me. I just figured—”

  She smiled and shushed him by putting her finger over his lips. “I’ll be fine. Go get a drink—with your appetizers.” She giggled, understanding what visitors from the rest of the world had to put up with in her home state due to the unusual laws regarding alcohol. He moved closer and put his hands on her hips, resting his forehead on hers.

  “It’s not you I want to get away from, you know that, right?” He kissed the tip of her nose and then grinned. “It’s your shopping habits that make me want to kill myself.” He snickered and moved to avoid her playful slap across his arm.

  “Well, my methods are better than yours,” she said. “‘You like it? Buy it. Just buy the whole darn store’!” She imitated him with some exaggeration.

  He smiled and gave her a soft, but quick, kiss on the lips. “See you later. Take your time and have fun. Remember, this is all about your birthday.”

  “The best one I’ve ever had. Thank you.” She kissed him back.

  Rhees headed back to the dressing rooms and Paul headed toward the store’s entrance. On his way out, he noticed a display of board shorts that caught his attention. He realized his wardrobe could use a little refreshing as well. He’d been so focused on Rhees getting her shopping done that he didn’t think about buying anything for himself. He changed his mind about going for that drink and decided to just do some shopping himself—he wouldn’t have to leave Rhees on her own after all.

  He glanced back to tell Rhees of his change of plans, but she’d disappeared into the dressing room. He grabbed a few things and headed toward the back of the store.

  He walked to the dressing rooms and stood, trying to figure out which stall Rhees could be in so he could let her know he’d stuck around after all. The only attendant he could see busied herself by opening the door for another customer, so he waited.

  “You want to try those on?” Another attendant returned from putting unwanted items back on the store floor, and when she got a look at him, her mouth dropped open and she seemed to lose her train of thought.

  “Yes, please.”

  The woman led him to a stall and unlocked the door. She kept turning back to look at him, and it made him want to roll his eyes. He scowled instead and stepped inside. A few minutes later, he heard someone call Rhees’ name.

  “Rhees! Is that you?” he heard a female voice ask. “Oh my gosh!”

  “Kylee?” he heard Rhees respond. He remembered the name from Rhees’ story about her pud boyfriend who hurt her by sleeping with her best friend, Kylee.

  He scowled again.

  “Oh my gosh! Rhees. It’s been such a long time. What’ve you been up to? I heard you left the country and never came back.” It came out as if Kylee thought the idea contemptuous. “That surprised me so much. You were always so darn chicken. When I heard that, I thought, shoot, how did Rhees manage to do something so freakin’ adventurous? But that obviously wasn’t true because here you are.”

  “Yeah. It’s been a while. Um, yeah, it is true, actually. I have been in the Caribbean. I’m just visiting for a couple of days. I’m going back.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Kylee said. “I could never do that. Gads.”

  Paul almost laughed out loud as he strained to listen. Kylee sounded so much like Rhees. It helped him understand her a little better.

  “No. Really. It’s absolutely the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m working as a dive master, and I’m planning to become an instructor. I love it there. This is probably the last time I’ll ever come back to Utah. I see no reason to ever come back again.”

  Paul frowned at that.

  “Seriously?” Kylee almost shrieked the word. “I might get brave enough to leave Orem someday, but never Utah. Gosh, you never know what kind of thing you’ll run into out there. I could never live away from my family. Well, you’ve always been more, worldly, than the rest of us. I guess it makes sense, for you.”

  That made Paul angry. Kylee was the one who banged Rhees’ boyfriend. He didn’t like the snide undertone he felt from her comment.

  “What are you doing now?” Rhees asked.

  “I work here. Gotta support my little girl . . . after the divorce and all.”

  “You’re divorced?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s a good thing. Now I can find someone who will take me to the temple. I should have known Brady would never go to church.”

  “Brady Bird? Yeah, I wouldn’t imagine.”

  “Yeah, I thought after we got married he’d change, but he wasn’t interested in even pretending to get religious. How about you? Did you ever get married?”

  Paul imagined Rhees didn’t want to talk about marriage and relationships with this particular girl. He didn’t hear her answer and assumed she’d just nodded.

  “Of course not, I can just imagine the kind of guys you’d meet out in the world. Brady’s a good guy. We just want different things. You and him would have been a better match, you know, since you’re not worried about going to the temple either.”

  Paul grew livid with this girl and her stupid mouth.

  “Um . . . there are some really good people outside of Utah, too,” Rhees said. “Well, I need to finish shopping. I’m supposed to meet someone.” She sounded anxious to get away from the girl.

  “Yeah. Gosh. It was so nice to see you.” The pleasantry in Kylee’s voice sounded fake to Paul. “Don’t get eaten by a shark! Imagine that. Rhees, of all people, in the Caribbean.”

  “Yeah, I know. I won’t get eaten, I promise.” The conversation was over.

  Paul finished trying on the clothes and walked out of his stall. He took a minute to figure out which girl had spoken to Rhees. He heard her voice talking to another customer and zeroed in on her.

  “Oh my gosh. Isn’t that shirt just so stinkin’ cute? We just got those in this morning.”

  Kylee was the same obnoxious dressing room attendant who couldn’t take her eyes off him earlier. He waited for her to return from letting her customer into a dressing room.

  “How did those work for you?” she asked, a little too enthusiastically at seeing him waiting for her.

  “I’ll take these,” he answered, holding up the items he wanted. He returned her annoying gaze with a smile, letting his eyes twinkle. It had the effect he’d hoped it would. She seemed flustered and dropped the clothes as he passed them to her.

  He reached down to pick them up at the same time she did. He smiled at her again, letting his eyes twinkle some more.

  “Can you ring me up or do I have to have one of the other clerks do it?” He hoped his right eye would twitch as it often did when he smiled the way he smiled at Kylee. It did. He’d learned, for some reason, the twitch, more than a real wink, endeared flirty women to him.

  “Sure.” Kylee practically salivated. She led him out to the storefront, turning back to look at him several times as she walked. She checked out his ring finger while she folded and bagged his purchases. “Not married? How is a good looking man like you not married?” she flirted when he shook his head in answer to her question.

  He smiled with a shrug and took a quick glance around the store, looking for Rhees. She must have gone back into the dressing room—another thing he didn’t understand. You go through a store, find what you want, try on a few things if you absolutely need to, pay for them and get out. The thought o
f her made him smile again, genuinely.

  He turned his attention back to Kylee and handed her his credit card. She appeared to assume he smiled because of her and he did nothing to dissuade her assumption. She smiled back and didn’t take her flattered and hopeful eyes off of him until the card was in her hand, but then she froze, staring at it like her eyes were about to pop out.

  “You can’t have one of these without an invitation. They’re rare.”

  “That’s right. So rare, I’m surprised you know what it is.”

  “The last time—only time—I’ve ever seen one, the uppity woman using it bragged nonstop to make sure I knew how important she thought she was.” Kylee blathered away as she swiped the card. “She was demanding and threw a tantrum over every little thing. She went on and on about how rich—” Kylee stopped as if her voice caught on something in her throat, and then she looked back up at Paul, her mouth hanging open. She started gushing over him, even more obviously than before.

  “I’ve never seen you in the store before.” She actually batted her eyes.

  “My first time in Orem,” he said. “It’s a nice place.”

  “Oh my gosh.” Her eyes brightened as if she’d just hit the jackpot. “You need a tour guide. There’re so many cool things to see that you wouldn’t know about unless you have a native Oremite to show you around. I could show you, after work.” Kylee’s gaze moved to something behind him and the expression on her face cooled. Paul turned to see why.

  Rhees slowly inched her way to the counter. Her eyes shifted uncertainly between Kylee and Paul. She appeared hesitant as she set her own purchases on the counter. Paul noticed the skirt he’d said he liked and it made him smile again.

  “Did you really like that or are you buying it because I did?”

  “I don’t think it’ll fit you,” she said dryly. Rhees’ gaze moved back and forth between him and Kylee again.

  “You know Rhees?” Kylee asked, looking at Paul as if she didn’t understand how that could be possible.

  “Danarya?” He turned what he knew were his most twinkling eyes to Rhees. “Rhees is my girl. Isn’t she beautiful?” Paul leaned over and gave Rhees a quick, feathery kiss. He thought she looked like she’d slap him—he took her hands in his to make sure she couldn’t.

  “Hey Baby,” he said in a seductive voice. “Just put her things on my card, too.” He tipped his chin to Rhees’ pile and gave Kylee a, you never stood a chance, look.

  “No,” Rhees snapped. “Don’t put it on his card.”

  “She hates it when I spend money on her,” Paul told Kylee, to let her know how familiar he was with Rhees.

  Rhees turned on him in a huff. “I don’t need you to pay for my things—especially when you insist on running around, dropping absurd amounts of money into my bank account.”

  Paul chuckled at how Rhees had played into his game and didn’t know it. He snaked his arms around her and lifted her off the ground, planting a passionate kiss on her before she had a chance to say something to ruin the moment.

  “Mm!” he grunted. He knew he needed to carefully navigate the very thin line between using physical affection to keep Rhees from scolding him in front of Kylee, and freaking her out with all the touching.

  “Gads, Rhees. You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.” Kylee put on a friendly face again and tried, but failed, to hide her discomfort, disbelief . . . and disappointment. She flashed Paul another questioning glance, hoping she’d read the situation wrong.

  “Um, yeah.” Rhees pushed on him to gain a little distance. He put her back down, but then he pulled her in front of him and lovingly wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind. Rhees couldn’t see his face but he could watch Kylee’s. “Paul, this is Kylee. Kylee, Paul, my boyfriend.” Rhees sounded monotone.

  “I’m her boyfriend,” Paul repeated. He rested his chin on the top of Rhees’ head but gave her hair a kiss every few seconds.

  “So how do you and Rhees know each other?” he asked. He felt Rhees tense in his arms and figured she didn’t realize Paul remembered.

  “Rhees and I go way back. We’ve been friends forever.”

  “We kind of drifted apart toward the end of high school,” Rhees added, making Paul want to laugh, but he didn’t.

  “Yeah, I know,” Kylee said in a sing-song tone, apparently struggling to keep putting a positive spin on their, no longer existent, friendship. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but that happens, even with the tightest of friends, right?”

  Rhees forced a polite smile at Kylee and turned her head to make the same attempt at being pleasant to Paul. He gave her another loving smooch on the temple.

  “Tight.” Paul made a sound of skepticism. “Rhees, Baby, why haven’t you mentioned your tight friend here to me?” He glared at Kylee now, knowing Rhees couldn’t see the coldness in his eyes for the slut.

  He would have preferred to drop the act and just ask Rhees, right in front of Kylee, ‘Is this the skanky whore who fucked your pud boyfriend?’, but he didn’t. Rhees had been making such an attempt to be civil and nice to the skanky whore, he didn’t understand why, but he decided to respect her effort. “Did you find everything you need, Baby? I’m ready to get you back to our hotel room and do worldly things to you.” He loved the shocked look on Kylee’s face—Rhees’ face—not so much. He may have crossed the line with that one.

  “Yeah, I have what I need.” Rhees looked like she didn’t recognize him.

  “All right, Kylee? . . . Was it?” Paul played dumb very well. He’d been doing it his whole life. “It’s been nice to meet you. You should come and visit us sometime, in the Caribbean.” He said it in the same manner you’d tell a scary ghost story. “We can get you a good deal on a dive package. We own the shop.”

  Rhees shot him another surprised glare. “We do?”

  “Yes. Rhees and I . . . you know.” He winked at Kylee and flashed his, melt any girl’s panties, smile. “If you ever want to learn to dive, get in touch. We’ll hook you up. Rhees is the best dive master on the seven seas.” He looked into Rhees’ disorientated, and a little angry, eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do without her—professionally or otherwise.”

  “Nice seeing you again, um, Rhees. Nice to meet you.” Kylee eyed Paul, handing them their sacks with the new clothes, never once breaking eye contact with him.

  He followed Rhees toward the store’s entrance. “Oh, no. I forgot my credit card.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I’m right behind you.” She stomped off and he reached to feel the wallet in his pocket—the wallet he knew he’d already slipped his credit card into. He sauntered back toward the register where Kylee stood in a daze, probably still wondering what had just happened to the connection she thought she’d made with the handsome, rich dude—he hoped.

  “You came back.” She looked much too hopeful at seeing him again.

  He smiled, one more beautiful smile, just for her. “You’re nothing but a fucking skanky whore,” he said.

  He’d decided to say it after all. He turned and headed toward the entrance but turned back once again to see Kylee gaping in shock. He raised his hand to his lips and blew Kylee a kiss, but as he pulled his hand away, his fingers formed into an obscene gesture.

  “Thank you,” he mouthed, and he winked once more before exiting.

  “Hey,” he said, catching up to Rhees. She kept walking, ignoring him. He had a good idea why.

  “Is something wrong?” He sounded too innocent.

  “You’re attracted to her!” she sobbed, without turning to face him. People bumped into them because of their abrupt stop in the middle of the mallway.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “I saw you when you didn’t think I was around to see you, but I saw you trying to hypnotize her with your magical gaze. You use your eyes like Kaa, from
The Jungle Book. If you’re ready to end this stupid, pretend relationship . . .” She appeared to be trying not to cry, but failing. “Then just do it. But please.” Rhees blubbered a little. “End it for any reason except—except her,” she sobbed, but then her voice dropped to a whisper as she sucked in a shaky breath of air. “You don’t realize who that was.”

  His shoulders fell as he sighed—sickened with himself, seeing how badly it had all backfired. He didn’t mean to hurt Rhees. He just wanted to—he was selfish. He swept her into his arms and held her, rocking gently from side to side until she stopped trying to push him away.

  “I’m sorry,” he said humbly. “I am not attracted to her. I swear—promise—I promise I do nawt find that cunt attractive. I couldn’t help myself. I had to mess with her.” He pulled back so he could see Rhees’ face, keeping a tight hold on her shoulders in case she tried to get away. “I do know who that was. I remembered the name and I—” He shrugged, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. It was stupid. I wanted her to notice me.”

  Rhees gasped and turned red with anger. He thanked his intuition about holding on to her because she did try to get away from him. He wrangled her back and forced her to look at him.

  “Yes. I wanted her to find me attractive. I used what I know. Yeah, I used my ‘Kaa’ eyes.” He swooped in close to her face and made googly eyes, trying to make her smile. She didn’t, and he glanced down at his feet to gather the courage to admit the rest.

  “I used what I know. I turned on the charm and made her notice me—which was all too easy—it’s always too easy, but then I showed her how you are the one I have eyes for—at least, that’s what I was going for. I haven’t had a lot of practice at staking my claim—you know that.” He was thoughtful for a second as regret ran through his mind. “Maybe I should have just stuck to the other thing I understand and just slugged her.”

  That did make one side of Rhees’ mouth twist up a little.