Conspiracy in the Capitol

by B Ivy Woods

  “I’m fine.” Rae let the lie slide right off her lips. “I’m having a hard time processing everything is all. It annoys me he didn’t believe me about his mother. I get it because it’s his mother, but the signs were all there. She doesn’t even know me.”

  “She doesn’t care about knowing you. She wanted to do whatever she could to help Flint get elected to Congress, and that included trying to meddle with his dating life. Which is crazy.”

  “It also hurt me that Flint somewhat went along with it. I understand that she’s his mother, but he knew what she was doing was wrong and would hurt me. Yet here we are.”

  “True. But at least you’re taking time out for yourself,” Jules said as she and Liv strolled up behind Rae and Eve. She grabbed Rae’s arm and pulled them toward the carousel, where they were supposed to pick up their luggage. The wait to get their bags took a little longer than they expected, but they weren’t worse for wear. They walked toward the exit and looked for a driver holding a sign with Liv’s name on it since she was the one who ended up booking the trip.

  “I can’t believe we’re here!” Liv exclaimed while she settled into the resort shuttle. She had napped on the plane to Bermuda and that sleep had given her a boost of energy. Or maybe she’d had some spiked orange juice, which wouldn’t be out of character.

  Rae pulled Jules aside. “She didn’t have too much on the plane, right? Is she going to pass out as soon as we reach the resort?”

  Jules smirked before replying, “She may have had one mimosa. I think she’s just acting like Liv.”

  Rae breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Liv could handle herself, but she didn’t want the first memory of Bermuda being Liv passed out on the living room floor of their beautiful suite. Well, at least based on the pictures it appeared to be beautiful.

  The ride to the resort was uneventful, but once they reached the entrance, all thoughts that had consumed the girls’ minds went out the window.

  “This is stunning,” Liv said as the group looked around the grounds from the shuttle. The palm trees were lightly blowing in the wind as they drove down the road to what Rae assumed was their suite. The resort had motel style buildings that were two floors high. But the driver kept going. The women shared a look between them as he kept driving down the windy road. When he slowed down, everyone else’s mouths were wide open.

  “Welcome to paradise,” he said, looking at the women in the rearview mirror.

  And paradise it was.

  After checking in, the women hopped back on the shuttle to go to their lodging. The driver stopped the vehicle and started unloading the luggage. The women offered to help him, and when he opened the door to their suite, their mouths were wide open. The bungalow where they were staying was beautiful. The driver handed Rae her items first, and she waited for her friends to grab their things before she headed to the room. When the driver opened the door, the women were frozen by the scene in front of them.

  “Um, Liv, are you sure this is what you booked us?”

  Liv didn’t answer for a few seconds before letting out a high-pitched squeal. “Yes! I didn’t think it would look this beautiful, though!”

  The women made their way into the suite, too stunned to do anything besides look around. When they stepped across the threshold, their living room, which had couches facing the balcony overlooking the beach and the ocean, greeted them. Connected to the living room was the dining room with colorful flowers on the table and a nice-sized kitchen that had upgraded appliances.

  “Is there anything else I can get you?”

  “No, sir. Thanks so much.” Jules was the only one who could find the words to say.

  “Welcome to Bermuda,” their driver said before he left their suite.

  “We should check out the bedrooms, huh? Let’s meet at the resort lounge fifteen minutes before our lunch reservation. Just in case anyone wants to enjoy a beverage.” Eve asked as she led the way to the back where they assumed the bedrooms were. When Rae opened the door of the room she had chosen, she was blown away.

  “Someone’s speaking my language,” Rae mumbled as she continued to take in the room. Her bed looked to be a king and was made up of soft sheets and a plethora of pillows she was used to on her bed.

  She walked down the hall and came across one of the two bathrooms and noticed it had a tub and shower. Rae knew she had to get in the tub at least once during her stay at the resort. Walking back into her room, she began unpacking her stuff and settling in. The fact that Rae was here on this island right now was blowing her mind. Its beauty shocked her, and she knew that she wanted to just stare out at the ocean while relaxing by herself. Rae made a mental note to get up earlier in the morning to watch the sunrise over the ocean.

  She continued unpacking her things and placing them where she could quickly grab them without thinking too much about it. She unpacked some of the clothes she thought might easily wrinkle because she wanted to avoid having to iron for as long as possible. Although she knew she was supposed to meet up with the girls in a little while, all she wanted to do was go to bed. And that made her feel guilty because they were on vacation.

  Rae freshened up and changed into a peach sundress. She put on a bit of perfume and grabbed her phone and her purse before she headed out to meet her friends at the main lodge. Her sandals slapped against the pavement as she quickly walked to her destination. The heat wasn’t as bad as it could get in DC because of the humidity is high, which made Rae happy. A man and woman were walking out of the lodge and held the doors open as she walked through them. Taking the time to enjoy the air conditioning, Rae looked around until she spotted Liv sitting alone in the resort lobby. Liv was doing something on her phone, choosing to ignore the world around her.

  “Here, you are on vacation, and you’re planning on staying on your phone the entire time?” Rae said as Liv smirked and glanced her way. She typed a couple of more things before she sat up and looked up from her phone.

  “I was just catching up on some work emails before I completely went dark.”

  Rae nodded and plopped into a seat next to Liv. “That makes sense. I should probably do the same,” Rae said as she took out her phone. She saw that she had a few emails, but none of them were pressing. Double-checking that she turned her vacation email responder on, she put her phone in her purse as she turned to Liv.

  “Is everything okay with you?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Because you haven’t glanced up from your phone at all.”

  Liv sighed and placed her phone down. She rubbed her face and blinked several times before she looked at Rae. “Sorry about that. Things have just been crazy recently.”

  “Are you sure it’s just about work?”

  “Yeah. Everything is fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  Rae knew better than to push Liv, even though she suspected that something else was up. When Liv was ready to tell her what was up, she would.

  “Did you hear anything from Eve or Jules? They’ll make us late for our reservation.”

  “Nope. Did they text you? And don’t worry about the reservation.”

  Rae pulled out her phone and saw nothing from her other two friends. She had a text notification from Flint. She debated reading the message but thought better of it. She was on vacation and should try to keep as much of the drama that she left in DC there.

  Before she could second-guess her decision, Jules and Eve hurried up to them. The two were out of breath.

  “What happened to you guys?” Rae asked.

  “We were just running late and bumped into each other on the way out. I’m sorry I kept you both waiting.” Jules reached over to get a tissue off the end table closest to Liv. She handed a tissue to Eve, and they both wiped the sweat that had formed after their workout.

  “Shit. Did we mess up the reservation? I know you said 1:15.” Eve held out her hand for Jules’s tissue, and once Jules handed it over, Eve walked to the small garbage can near the front desk and threw bo
th of them out.

  “I told you guys 1:15, but our reservation is at 1:30. I added a little buffer just in case someone lost track of time. Figured whoever came at 1:15 would have no problem hanging out at the bar for a little while.” Rae couldn’t find a flaw in Liv’s logic and was thankful that she came up with the idea.

  “Good idea. Seeing as how it’s 1:27, should we head to the hostess desk?”

  Everyone agreed, and the four friends walked up to the hostess and were seated within a couple of minutes. The group looked over the menu and noticed that they had an enormous amount of options between going up to a buffet and ordering one of ten entrée options on the menu. There were also plenty of drinks, alcoholic, and nonalcoholic that they could choose from. All the food and nonalcoholic beverages were included in their package.

  “Well, since it’s a vacation and I am no longer dieting to fit into a bathing suit, I’m digging in,” announced Liv. Rae was in the middle of skimming the menu when she noticed that her phone screen briefly lit up. Having decided what she wanted to eat and drink, she figured it would be all right to check it while the girls were still choosing and waiting for their server to arrive. It was another message from Flint.

  Rae sighed before putting her phone facedown on the table. Thankfully, no one noticed her motions as they were perusing the menu.

  The server came back up to the table and took everyone’s food and drink order, and filled their water glasses before he left.

  “I think we should make a toast when our drinks arrive,” Rae said.

  “Cheers to what?” Jules asked, turning her full attention to Rae.

  “Cheers to a girls’ vacation and leaving behind the drama setting DC on fire at the moment. Well, at least in my small neck of the woods.”

  “I totally understand that,” Eve said as she took a sip of her water.

  To the surprise of the table, the waiter returned with their drinks quickly, and Liv cleared her throat.

  “To us. Because loving and having faith in ourselves and each other will help us get through the rough times and celebrate the good.”

  “Cheers!”

  25

  Rae was on cloud nine as she and her girlfriends walked back to their suite. They had spent the rest of their day exploring different parts of the resort. Lunch and dinner had been fantastic, and the drinks were everything they hoped they would be and more. The smiles on their faces couldn’t be tamed and their giggles were infectious. They spent most of the day exploring their resort. She couldn’t remember the last time they had all had this much fun, or she felt so free. The quartet said good-night, and Rae closed the door of her bedroom. Silence greeted her, and that was when her thoughts came out to play.

  Her phone had been teasing her all night. Although she tried to act like she didn’t care, the thought of Flint sending her texts had her stomach in knots for most of the night. The texts from Flint probably led to her being even more enthusiastic about the drinks that kept coming to their table at lunch and dinner.

  Figuring that it was only a matter of time before exhaustion would take over, she started getting ready for bed. When she finished her nighttime routine and was lying in bed, her eyes kept darting back over to her phone, which was charging on the end table. Shaking her head at herself, she grabbed the phone and checked her text messages to see who had reached out to her besides Flint.

  Seeing a message from her parents, she replied to them before the haunting thoughts returned. Should she or shouldn’t she check to see what Flint had said to her?

  “Screw it,” mumbled Rae.

  Flint: Did you make it to Bermuda okay?

  Flint: I again just wanted to tell you how sorry I truly am.

  Rae knew she shouldn’t have checked the messages because she had been drinking; she knew it would make her feel some kind of way.

  How did he remember that she was going to Bermuda? She hadn’t mentioned it recently, so she went to find the only person who probably would have said it to him.

  “Jules?” Rae asked as she walked into the living room of their suite. She found Eve in the kitchen, grabbing a snack and Liv lounging on the couch in front of the TV. But no Jules.

  “Where did Jules go?”

  “Bathroom. I assume she’ll be out in a minute unless she got swallowed by the toilet monster.”

  “Ha. Ha. Ha. You’re hilarious,” Jules said as she walked into the living room. “What’s up?” she asked, turning her attention to Rae.

  “Did Flint reach out to you?”

  Jules frowned before saying, “I don’t think so, but I’ve been intentionally avoiding my phone all day so he might have. Let me go get it.” She grabbed her bag and brought it over toward Rae as she was trying to find her phone.

  “Let’s move this to the couch,” Eve said as she walked around the two women and into the living room. Rae and Jules followed, and by the times Jules sat down, she had pulled her phone out from the jungle that was her purse and was scanning through it to see if there was anything from Flint.

  “Looks like he sent me something.” She showed her phone to Rae, who then shared it with the rest of the group.

  Flint: Hey, did you, Rae, Eve, and Liv go to Bermuda?

  Flint: I stopped by Rae’s hoping to talk to her, and she didn’t answer the door. I texted her, but have heard nothing, so I figured the next best option was you since I don’t have any contact information for her parents.

  Flint: Sorry, didn’t mean to send all of those messages, but I just wanted to know that y’all were okay.

  “That was sweet of him, I guess,” Liv said. Rae knew Liv was still regretting not snapping at him more when he was standing at Rae’s door several days ago.

  “I guess I could at least tell him I’m fine,” Rae said out loud, and Eve nodded along with her. “Or I could just ask you to confirm I’m fine.”

  “Honestly, I’d do it if you wanted me to, but I also would kind of like to stay out of this.”

  “Don’t blame you there, girl,” Eve said as she leaned over to give Jules a high five.

  “I know you’re right. I’ll text Flint back,” Rae said as she eyed her phone in her hand. She unlocked the phone and started typing.

  Rae: We are in Bermuda and everything is fine. Thanks for checking.

  And with that, she clicked her phone off and placed it facedown on the coffee table.

  “Do y’all want to do anything tonight? Or should we just head to bed and get up early tomorrow?”

  Liv looked at her and huffed. “How about we stay in and sleep late too? There is nothing wrong with that. You and Jules are freaks of nature.”

  Jules shook her head as Rae nudged Liv with her elbow.

  “If that’s what we want to do, that’s fine. Jules, you want to head to the gym early tomorrow then while these two catch their z’s?”

  “That sounds like a plan.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll see y’all tomorrow.” After bidding everyone farewell, Rae walked back into her room and shut the door.

  “Do you have any idea what we’re doing for the rest of the day?” Rae asked while taking a glimpse at Jules. They made their workout session the next morning while Liv and Eve caught up on their sleep.

  “Nope. Liv has shared nothing else with me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t include something like lying on the beach for most of the day.”

  “I, for one, wouldn’t be mad at that.” Rae turned up the speed on her treadmill and began jogging.

  “Same. Did you hear anything else from Flint?”

  “Kind of. He said thanks for letting him know and that was it.” The words came out in a hurry because Rae was trying to concentrate on her workout.

  “Huh. That’s a bit of a change from what he was doing before.”

  Rae nodded before replying, “I was thinking the same thing.” She turned down the speed on the treadmill before setting it to a pace that she could keep up with by speed walking. “Okay, I didn’t expect that to knock t
he wind out of me at that speed.”

  “You were also trying to talk during it.”

  “True. Rookie mistake.” Rae slowed her pace down even more and took that time to catch her breath. “Do you want to do some weights before we head back?”

  Jules nodded as she stopped the machine. She hopped off her treadmill, while Rae slowed hers down to a stop. Jules walked back over to Rae with a rag and cleaning solution, and the two took the time to wipe down their treadmills before they headed over to the weight machines.

  Although they were spending one morning of their vacation working out, Rae couldn’t complain. The gym at the resort was empty beside them, and they got to spend the morning looking at the ocean as they got their workout in for the day. The women did a thirty-minute weight-training workout that Jules found online before grabbing their things and heading back to their suite.

  When they arrived, Liv’s and Eve’s bedroom doors were still closed, so they figured that now would be the best time to shower so that the bathrooms would be free for Eve and Liv. By the time they finished their showers, Liv and Eve were up and ready to go.

  “Did you guys just want to hang out at the beach today and maybe head to the crystal caves tomorrow?”

  Jules gave Rae a smirk after Liv finished her question. The women agreed that this was a great plan, and Rae headed to her room to put on her bathing suit. The dark green bikini made her golden-brown skin glisten even more.

  She gave herself a once-over in the mirror. “This bathing suit was a good purchase,” she said to herself.

  After thinking about it for a few moments, she put her hair in a braided ponytail. Putting her black coverup on, she debated wearing jewelry. Deciding against it because she would go into the water, Rae grabbed the things she wanted to take with her to the beach and placed them in a tote she brought from home.

  She walked out of her room and met the other women in their living room.

  “Is everyone ready to head out?” A chorus of yeses rang out, and the girls grabbed their belongings and walked down to the beach.