by Beth Rinyu
“You sure do, sweetheart. Who’s gonna be the lucky guy?”
She scanned the bar area, then our eyes locked. With a huge grin cast upon her face, she pointed in my direction. “I pick…him!”
“Oh. My. God!” Lucy howled with laughter.
“No fuckin’ way,” I murmured and shook my head.
“And what’s his name?” the man standing up at the mic with Rose asked.
“Alex!” She laughed. “But I’ll bet any of you in here that he won’t come up here and sing with me.”
“Oh, Alex.” The mic screeched as the man spoke into it. “I think Rose is challenging you. Is she right? Are you afraid to get up here and sing with her?”
I glared at Rose, ignoring the chanting of my name from the rowdy bar goers who were just as drunk as Rose. Downing the shot of bourbon, I stood up, determined to prove Rose wrong—drunk or not, I couldn’t let her win.
“Go Alex!” Lucy cheered as I walked through the crowd of people hooting and hollering.
“Wow! I’m in shock,” Rose slurred when I reached the mic.
“Do we have any song requests for these two?” the man at the mic asked.
“Oh, I do!” Lucy’s normally meek voice stood out over the rest. “‘I’ve Got You Babe’ by Sonny and Cher!”
If there was anyone else in this bar I could possibly be more annoyed with than Rose at that moment, it was Lucy. “I Got You Babe?” Was she serious? I was thinking more along the lines of “Highway to Hell” from AC/DC.
“Oh, I love that song!” Rose beamed.
I didn’t even pay attention to what was in the shot glass the man holding the mic handed me. I just knew it was necessary to get me through the next two minutes or so of utter humiliation. A slow burn invaded my throat, and I suddenly discovered the mystery liquid in that shot glass was vodka. I was definitely going to be feeling this later. I never fared well with vodka…add in all the types of alcohol I’d been consuming all night, and I was suddenly having visions of hanging over the toilet bowl with regrets. I grabbed a mic, the music started, and Rose began to belt out her part. I stared up at the lyrics on the screen and all the alcohol I’d been consuming over the night kicked in once it was my turn…and the rest of the night became a blur.
Chapter 23
___________________
Rose
MY EYELIDS WERE WEIGHED down with anchors, my mouth was stuffed with cotton balls, and my head had a freight train passing through it—at least that’s what it all felt like to me, as I lay on my back, wondering when another truck would pass by and run me over once again to put me out of my misery. I turned on my side and my insides throbbed. My bladder was in a fight with the rest of my body to work together and find the strength to make it to the bathroom. My eyes peeled open to the bright sunlight shining in the window, and I immediately closed them once again.
Come on, you have to do this. Just make it to the bathroom, then you can come back to bed and die a slow, painful death. As I willed myself to open my eyes once again, the blur of the room came into focus when my pupils finally adjusted to the light. This isn’t my bedroom at my aunt’s place. Where the hell am I? Was I drugged? Have I been kidnapped? Are my kidnappers arranging for my ransom as I lie here unable to move? When I rolled over I found it to be something much worse than my overactive imagination—Alex passed out next to me.
“Oh my God!” I gasped, shooting up in bed, ignoring the extreme pain I had just caused my aching body.
His eyes peeled open, taking a moment to adjust. I was pretty certain he thought he was still sleeping and having a nightmare due to his delayed reaction of waking up next to me. “What the fuck?” he finally spoke. His voice was hoarse, and his eyes glassed over as he sat up and raked his hand through his somewhat messy hair.
I covered my face with my hands and shook my head. I will never drink again. I will never drink again. The only saving grace in this whole situation was we were both fully clothed right down to our shoes, so it was highly doubtful that anything happened. My stomach churned and the familiar after effects of a hard night of drinking began to rise to my throat.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I shouted.
“First door on the right,” he mumbled.
I darted from the bed and headed into the bathroom, reaching the toilet just in time. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sitting on the floor worshiping the porcelain god when Alex appeared in the doorway. I stared up at him, wondering how exactly we had gotten into this current situation we were in. I dropped my head to the bowl and went in for round two.
“How did I guess that would’ve been your reaction to waking up next to me?” Alex joked.
I closed my eyes and threw my head back against the bathroom wall. “We didn’t…did we?” I asked, praying he’d put my mind at ease with his answer.
“I highly doubt it.”
“You highly doubt it, as in…you’re not one hundred percent sure?”
“Unless we both got undressed and fully dressed again…then no.”
I started to counter his thought and he stopped me.
“And believe me, I don’t think either one of us was coherent enough to even take off a shoe, let alone do all that. So, to answer your question, yes, I’m one hundred percent sure nothing at all happened.”
“Oh, thank God,” I whispered.
“You’re not kidding,” he muttered as he walked out of the bathroom.
Really? He should consider himself honored to have had sex with me. I relaxed on the cool ceramic tile floor for a little while longer before finally hoisting myself up to the toilet bowl and putting my bladder out of its misery. After finding the courage to look in the mirror, I wished I hadn’t—death would best sum up my reflection. The mascara that once extended my lashes had now settled in dark blotches under my eyes, my skin was dull and flat, and my lips pale and dry. I was thankful for the elastic band wrapped around my wrist, allowing me to throw my knotted hair into a ponytail. I splashed some cool water onto my face and placed a dab of toothpaste on my finger in a poor attempt at brushing my teeth.
Taking a deep breath, I prepped myself to come out of hiding and face reality. That reality hit me in the face—literally—when I stepped out of the bathroom and right into Alex’s broad bare chest as he lowered his T-shirt over his head. How was it possible I never noticed that godlike, statuesque body of his or those muscular arms? I swallowed hard and stared up at him, trying to ignore the flutter in my stomach. What the hell? I was not having butterflies in my stomach over Alex Andrews! It just wasn’t possible. It was more than likely the remnants of the alcohol still lingering in my system, disagreeing with me.
“Excuse me!” I snapped, trying to conceal I was just thoroughly checking him out.
“Do you want some coffee?” he asked.
I nodded and even that was an effort.
I followed him into the kitchen and got a good look at this place. Surprisingly, it was really nice and rather upscale for a person who couldn’t pick out a suit to save his life. It was neat as a pin for a bachelor pad, but that didn’t surprise me just knowing how meticulous he was with everything at work.
“I feel like I want to curl up and die right now.” My body ached from head to toe.
“Suck it up. If you can’t do the time…don’t do the crime,” he said, handing me a cup of coffee.
“There’s no crime in drinking.” I took my first sip, hoping it would lessen the misery I was in.
“Umm…when you drink as much as you did last night it’s pretty close to being criminal.”
“Well, it’s not like you remember much either.”
“Yeah, but you don’t hear me bitching about it, do you?”
“I’m sure your ass will be back in bed the minute I’m out the door.”
“Nope. Can’t. I have to get William settled in today.”
“Oh shit! What time?”
He glanced at the clock and shrugged. “I know…as soon as I get to the hospital.”<
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“Fine. I’ll meet you at his place in a few hours?”
“That’s really not necessary. Go home and sleep off your hangover.”
“No, no…I said I’d help, and I’m sticking to my word. You’ll see, I’m not the wimp you think I am.”
“Whatever.” He shook his head, casting doubt upon me, which only made me more determined to make sure I showed.
“Thanks for the coffee.” I chugged down the rest and placed the empty cup in the sink. “Now I must be going. See you in a few hours.”
“Whatever you say,” he muttered as he walked me to the door just as an older couple and their poodle exited the apartment next to his.
I sensed the woman checking me out as I did the walk of shame, AKA: leaving a guy’s place after a one-night hookup that resulted from drinking way too much. I was familiar with the drill, and with the college boys I’d normally practice this ritual with, leaving their dorms or their cheap apartments they shared with seven other guys, it wasn’t a big deal. But as this woman and her husband, who appeared to be very well off, looked me over, it mattered. Maybe it was a sign I was maturing or maybe it was because I didn’t want anyone thinking I’d ever sleep with a man who treated me like an idiot—hot or not, I’d never be that desperate.
“Good morning.” I smiled at the couple as their little yippy dog snarled and showed its teeth at me, causing me to back up into Alex when the little rat on the leash lunged at me.
“Sasha, it’s okay, pretty girl.” The man gently tugged on her leash.
The woman walked past me and turned up her nose with no apology for her dog’s ill manners and no acknowledgement of my good morning greeting.
“I guess with a nasty dog like that, I wouldn’t be having a good morning either,” I shouted.
“Rose,” Alex interrupted, trying to stop me from my rant.
“What?” I turned around to face him. “I said good morning. Their ugly dog almost takes my head off, and they have the nerve to look at me like it’s my fault.”
“Excuse me?” the woman snapped.
Alex sighed heavily and closed his eyes. “Mrs. Whitman, she didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, I did! There’s no need to be rude, just because you think I’m leaving here after a night of wild sex with him, which by the way, you are so wrong in that assumption. We don’t even like one another…at all. I mean, I know that doesn’t matter if all we were doing was having sex, which we did not...” I was rambling big-time as the woman and her husband stood by the elevator door dumbfounded while I continued with my rant. “The fact of the matter is…nothing happened between the two of us last night except maybe having a little too much to drink. So much that he probably wouldn’t have even been able to get it up.”
“Oh my God!” The woman covered her mouth and gasped.
Her husband placed his hand on her arm, ushering her into the elevator, and they were whisked away.
I shrugged my shoulders at Alex. “Guess I’ll never be able to face them again.”
He bit back a smile before we both exploded with laughter.
“No loss. They look like two sticks in the mud anyway.” I shrugged. “See ya later.”
He flashed me that genuine smile he so often displayed to others but rarely to me. It was one of pure amusement, and I couldn’t help but smile in return before walking away.
“Hey, Rose!” he shouted just as I was about to step on the elevator.
“Yeah?” I turned around to face him.
“Just so you know, I could have gotten it up if I wanted to.”
“Guess we’ll just have to leave that one up for debate.”
Chapter 24
___________________
Alex
“I DIDN’T NEED THIS fancy place,” William complained once he was all settled into his apartment.
“There’s nothing fancy about it, William. You just won’t be out on the streets anymore,” I explained. “You’re going to have an aide who’s going to be with you most of the day to help you with day-to-day things and cook for you, and then a nurse who will come in and check on you once a day, so you better be nice.”
“I don’t need anyone to check on me,” he grumbled.
“Hello?” Rose knocked lightly on the door before walking in with a grocery bag in one hand and a box of donuts in the other.
“Rose!” William smiled for the first time all day.
“I thought you didn’t want anyone coming over to check on you?” I teased him.
“How are you feeling?” Rose asked.
“I’m fine.” He coughed. “I don’t know why everyone’s making such a fuss.”
“Well, I got you some goodies.” She placed the box of donuts on William’s lap. “I’ll even allow you to share some with Alex if you’d like.” She looked at me and smirked, walking into the kitchen with the rest of the items in the bag.
“She’s a girl after my heart.” William opened the lid to the donuts, looking like a kid in a candy store.
“Wow, so you actually made it.” I walked into the kitchen and stood in the doorway, watching Rose as she unloaded the bagful of food into the fridge. She definitely wasn’t the perfectly put together girl I was used to seeing every day. Instead, she was dressed casually in sweats and a T-shirt, with her hair still wet and pulled up in a bun, but she still managed to make it look good.
“I told you I would.” She placed her hands on her hips and looked around the kitchen. “Please tell me this place has a coffee maker.”
“I think you’re out of luck.”
“Damn it!” She threw her head back.
“There’s a coffee place right off the street. What do you want?”
Her eyes widened. “Wow, you’d really go for me?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t plan on going.”
“Anything…as long as it’s humongous and loaded with caffeine.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
She followed me into the living room where William was starting to nod off on the couch with the box of donuts still on his lap. “I guess, we should let him get some rest,” Rose remarked.
“Rest, I don’t need any rest,” William piped up.
“William, would you like some coffee?” I asked.
“No, I only drink the percolated stuff. The kind that puts hair on your chest. I don’t like that watered-down poor excuse for caffeine you kids drink today.”
“Suit yourself,” I replied.
He was going to be one tough patient, but as Rose took a seat next to him, something told me she would be the one who could crack through the rough exterior.
_______________
I returned with the coffee to find Rose sitting alone on the couch, studying a black-and-white photo in her hand. “Where’s William?”
“He went and lie down.”
“What’s that?” I asked, handing her the cup of coffee and taking a seat next to her.
She held out the photo of a younger man standing next to an Asian woman, holding a newborn baby. It looked like it had been taken some time ago. If I had to guess, I’d say in the early 1970s. “That’s William’s daughter and her mother.”
“Oh, I didn’t know he had a daughter. He never mentioned her.”
“Audra…he hasn’t spoken to her in over twenty years.” Rose’s voice cracked. Her tear-filled eyes finally broke from the picture and locked with mine. “He met her mother when he was in Vietnam. She got pregnant, they were going to get married, but they started pulling the troops out of Vietnam immediately, and he had to leave. He sent her money, and she sent him photos, but then they lost touch. He found out they had moved to the States, and he was able to find her, but by then William was lost to drugs and alcohol. Audra was six years old. Her mother was married to someone else who was raising her, and he didn’t want to upset that happiness he knew he’d never be able to give her. She tracked him down twenty years ago after her mother had died. Her mother told her a little about him and
their relationship. She wanted to know the entire story of how he and her mother had met. He wanted to get to know her better, but she told him her real father would always be the man who raised her. He should really see her before he…” She stopped herself, unable to say the word that was soon to be William’s fate.
“Does he even know where she’s at?”
“He doesn’t. He said the last he heard she was someplace down south.”
“Well, unfortunately there’s really nothing we can do. It sucks, but—”
“We can find her and let her know what’s going on.” Rose perked up.
“That’s not as easy as it sounds. She’s more than likely married and has a different last name, if she even had William’s last name to begin with, and what if she doesn’t want to be bothered by it? I mean, obviously she doesn’t if it’s been twenty years. Just leave it well enough alone. We’re doing all we can for him.”
“I can’t.” She paused and stared straight ahead. “He’s dying. He’ll never get the chance to see her again. Don’t you see, Alex? He wanted to be part of her life but never had a chance because of circumstance. Just think of how different things may have turned out for him if he were able to.”
When the hell did she grow a heart? Her words resonated with me, but I still felt like this situation was better off not explored. “Rose, I get what you’re saying, but I think it’s a lost cause. It’s a sad situation, but it’s really not our business.”
“I’m going to make it my business.” She took a sip of her coffee and stood up.
“And how are you planning on doing that?”
“I don’t know, but I am. What’s William’s last name?”
I was hesitant to give that information, knowing she was going to use it for this crazy mission she had in mind. I shook my head and looked away.
“Alex, I’m gonna find out whether you tell me or not.”
“Benton,” I muttered.
“That’s a perfect start.”
“Rose, what if William doesn’t want to see her? Did you ever think of that?”
She looked down at the floor and didn’t respond. “It’s his daughter, of course he’ll want to see her.”