by Denise Muniz
“Yeah fine, I promise.”
“Okay, well thanks, James. You’re the best. I’ll be waiting for your text.” From the sound of her voice I was pretty sure she had the biggest grin on her face.
“Yeah, I’ll text you later. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Thank goodness.
Paul emerged from his room. “Yo, James, what’s up?” He walked by me to go in the fridge, pulling out a beer as well. I plopped my ass on the sofa, lifting my leg to put on the coffee table. It was about time he used the word ‘yo’, I was getting tired of hearing him say ‘dude’ all day.
“Nothing, just trying to relax. Shit has been fucking hectic.” And that was the truth.
It was only the middle of the week and I was exhausted. Jim and I had been driving everywhere doing different jobs. Or if one of the men needed help at a site either Jim or myself had to go out to where they were. Meaning me, because Jim was having some problem with his wife or some shit like that. I was done for, which is why I was going in later than usual. Just give me a bed and call it a wrap.
Paul joined me on the sofa. “Who was that? Some chick you had and she wants more?” he asked me, laughing as he took a gulp.
“Nah, one of Becca’s friends. They’re coming down here Friday. She wanted to know if I knew a place her and her boyfriend to stay and to see if Becca could stay here. I told her Brent can lend them a spare room in his massive house,” I explained to him.
I put my drink on the coffee table and grabbed my phone to text Brent about the room before I ended up forgetting.
Me: Hey, Brent. A couple of my friends r coming down for the weekend. Since I know u have a shit load of rooms in that ridiculous place of urs, u think they could use one for the weekend?
I hoped he’d say yes, although I was about one hundred percent sure he would. I had known Brent for almost four years now. He was cool, one of those surfers dudes like Paul. But unlike Paul, Brent was a professional surfer, competing and shit. Pretty successful too.
As I was reaching for my beer, my phone beeped.
Brent: Yeah sure, whatever dude….u know I’m never there anyway. I’ll be there all day Friday though for the party, so u can come by whenever dude.
Me: Alright, sounds good…thanks man.
“Brent just text me to say Emma and her man can stay there,” I informed Paul.
He looked at me a little weird. “And Becca is going to stay here?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, and?” Where was he going with that question?
Taking a swig of his beer, he finished it and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Nah, nothing, it’s just…”
“Just what, bro?” He started now he was going to finish.
“It’s just, you think it’s a good idea her staying here?” He stood up, going back to the fridge to grab another beer.
Where the fuck had that come from? “Of course. Where else would she stay? There was no way she’s paying for some crappy ass hotel when she can crash here.”
Making his way back to the sofa, he didn’t sit, but remained standing as he spoke. “Her boyfriend seemed to be having a pissing contest with you that day at the Fourth of July party. You want him here too?”
“That dick? He’s not coming. Just Becca, Emma and Richard, Emma’s boyfriend.” I guess that’s why he was worried. Grey didn’t scare me or intimidate me. I’d known Becca for a while now. I knew more about her then he would ever know.
Paul walked up to the door of his room. “Good, I just didn’t want to kick some asshole’s ass.”
“Yeah, I wish Grey would touch me. I’d put his ass to sleep,” I whispered to myself.
“Well, I’m going to get ready for work.” The fucker just had two beers.
Living close to the beach meant it was pretty easy to find work. And with all the stores on the boardwalk, what better place was there to work. Paul worked at one of the surfboard shops on the boardwalk. He loved it. Not only did he get to sell and talk about his passion, but he picked up chicks all the time. Glancing at the time on my phone I saw it was about time for me to get ready for work too. But before I got my ass off the sofa I sent a text to Becca.
Me: Hey babes, how r u? (12:01pm)
She replied almost immediately.
Becca: Hey James. I’m ok, just on my lunch break right now. I miss u, how u been? Oh and btw, we will be there Friday, I can’t remember if I told u that already…(12:01pm)
Me: NICE! Can’t wait to see u. I’m doing well, I have to go to work soon but I wanted to touch base (12:04pm)
Becca: Always thinking about me, huh? Lol can’t wait to see u either (12:06pm)
Me: Ok babes, until Friday. Let me get my lazy ass off this sofa and get to work (12:07pm)
Becca: Ok, until Friday. Bye muahzz (12:08pm)
BECCA
Finally Friday. I totally needed this mini vacation to clear my mind. This had been a week from hell. Literally, hell. First everything at work had gone wrong; on Monday a customer bumped into me by accident, causing the tray of food I had in my hands to crash on the floor; Tuesday I’d gotten a flat tire that made me fifteen minutes late for work (thank goodness I knew how to change a tire), not to mention the night Emma surprised me about us having to be in Florida by Friday; Wednesday was semi-normal, except when I spoke to Grey at night to tell him about the trip. And then when I told my boss about it yesterday he nearly had a heart attack saying how I couldn’t take my vacation days with such a late notice, but luckily I was able to have someone cover for me.
Grey had given me shit about going with Emma when I told him. I knew it was because James would be around. It was our first major argument and I did not enjoy it. I had to keep reassuring him that James and I were just friends and that’s all we had ever been. He couldn’t come because he had another important case he was working on with one of the other employees. They needed to go over information, documents, and other shit. Emma was pretty happy about the whole ordeal, but I wanted him to come with us.
Before heading out I made sure to stick yellow post-its everywhere in the house, even in my dad’s car so he wouldn’t forget to take his meds. He needed all the reminders he could get. He couldn’t afford to forget his medicine for his diabetes. Under every post-it there was another, this time in pink, telling him to go for his fifteen minute walks. The one thing he hated was exercising but it was very important for him to stay active with his diabetes. I’d often try to walk with him whenever I wasn’t working but since I wouldn’t be there this weekend it was up to him to get it done.
Emma still hadn’t told me about where we would be staying, but I was trusting her. Or at least trying to. Now here we were in her dark green Toyota Tercel on our way to meet up with her boyfriend. The drive ahead of us would take a good four hours. I was driving the first two hours and she was driving the rest. The windows were rolled down, wind blowing in my hair while the wind blew on her feet. She had her legs stretched out on the dashboard, trying to paint her toenails. Only Emma would think about her toes on a drive.
“You have no idea how happy I am that Asshole didn’t come,” she said, reaching for her toes and concentrating hard. I swerved the car on purpose making the nail polish smear. “What the hell, Becca!”
“Would you stop calling him Asshole? Seriously.” I loved her but her hatred for Grey was something out of this world. “Why do you hate him so damn much?”
“Really? You don’t know and you date him?” Taking my eyes off the road for a second, I looked at her. She was laughing, holding the nailbrush a couple of inches from her toes. “What? It’s the truth. I don’t know how you don’t see right through him.” Here we go with the ‘why are you dating Grey’ again.
She just loved to point out the bad and ugly in Grey. Yes, he was not perfect, sometimes he was the biggest ass in the world, but he was a sweetheart too and I really, really liked him. I knew I sure as hell wasn’t perfect, and neither was Emma, so she just needed to chill out, we all had flaws. I be
lieved everyone had an ugly side to them.
“Would you stop? He had work to do on an important case,” I told her, defending him.
Putting her foot down, she twisted in her seat to face me as best she could without messing up her toes. “Are you sure that’s what he’s doing?”
Glancing at her again, I could see her eyebrows were raised. “Are you joking? You think he’s cheating on me?” Seriously? “You’re going overboard now.”
“Come on, I’m just asking you. I’m not insinuating anything if that’s what you think,” she told me. Truth be told, that’s exactly what she was doing.
“No, I don’t think he is cheating on me, Emma. Seriously! I can’t believe you just said that.” He was working on a fucking case. How hard was it to understand?
Lightly touching my shoulder, she said, “I don’t want you to get upset. Look, that was stupid of me to ask. I just don’t want you to think about him while we are here. James will be here and we’re going to have fun.” Now she was trying to change the subject.
But she had already started and now I was boiling inside. I didn’t know why she would even bring something like that up. It had me fucking second guessing shit now. Fuck, why did that happen? Someone says some shit you totally weren’t even thinking about, and then suddenly it’s all you can think about. Ugh.
“I’m sorry. You know how I feel about him. But I shouldn’t have said that.” She was trying to look into my eyes but I kept moving my head away from her view.
Fuck, I couldn’t be mad at her. “Say some shit like that again and I will turn the fuck around.”
“Fine.” She threw her hands in the air to surrender, and then she checked her toes again.
A few minutes had passed in silence. Driving in silence sucked. The music only helped a little. Sorry, Panic At The Disco, but you were not helping right now. Reaching for the knob, I turned the volume on the radio down a notch.
I knew that she didn’t like Grey. I didn’t know all the reasons, but I swore the two of them fucking bickered like children. It was like this from the freaking beginning. I mean, she questioned me when I told her I was dating him. Then she started to nitpick at him. Granted, he was someone you needed to get to know before you could judge him properly because his personality was one of a kind. But I liked him, and I just wished she could understand that. Besides, every fucking person was like that on this planet. You needed to get to know the person first before passing judgment.
From what James kept telling me, Grey wasn’t the greatest person in high school; acting like one of those complete assholes that thought he could have any girl he wanted. But he was different now, and he was kind and sweet to me. Why couldn’t she see that I was actually happy? I wasn’t making this shit up.
“What is your problem with him anyway?” The words came out of my mouth as soon as I thought them.
She stopped doing whatever the hell she was doing. “Who are you talking about?”
“Don’t play stupid with me.”
She took a deep breath before answering my question. “I just know you two aren’t meant to be.”
That made no fucking sense. “What?” I was already frustrated, needing her to start talking, and not in riddles.
“You are supposed to be with Jam...” she started, but I knew exactly where she was headed.
“Don’t even fucking finish that sentence! This is about James? You don’t like Grey because of James?” I couldn’t believe this shit.
“No, I don’t like Grey because he is a selfish bastard who only thinks of himself. He always makes excuses and he is just a plain dick.” Well, isn’t that a nice way of putting it. “He doesn’t treat you the way you should be treated. He should be fucking next to you, right now, driving in this car.”
She did make a point. I practically begged Grey to come with us. I wanted to spend time with James but Grey and I rarely got to spend quality time together with our hectic schedules. This would’ve been a good thing for us, a mini vacation, but he had to work and that was important as well. Because of Emma’s fucking late ass notice, it was nearly impossible for him to take off even if he wanted to. I understood completely. My job wasn’t as important as his was. I just worked at a diner where someone else was able to take my place for a couple days and then I’d cover for them when the time came. But for him, he had to literally read, memorize, and not forget one single detail on every case he was working on.
“But no, he’d rather fucking work. You should be number one and you’re not.” Ouch, that hurt. “I know with James it would be different.”
“What don’t you get? James and I are best friends. That is it. And that’s what we will always be. Stop trying to hook us up or something.” I understood her feelings toward us but she needed to stop it. “I’m happy with Grey,” I told her loudly because I was.
“Stop fucking kidding yourself, Becca. You like him and you are happy at the moment, but who knows what will happen. Sure, you’ve been with him for a while. What, seven months? That’s shit.”
I swore, all I wanted to do was turn this fucking car around and stay at home so she could do this shit herself. She knew where Richard was waiting for her so she could get there herself. Why did she need me? She didn’t. I pulled the car over, putting it in park. I needed to breathe right now. I loved Emma but I felt like punching the shit out of her.
“Would you just drop it, Emma? Or I swear I will fucking turn around and you will be going by yourself. Got it?” I screamed out. I needed to let it out and it wasn’t going to come out any other way. Looking toward her, I found her looking at me. She slouched against her seat, breathing slowly. She must have exhausted herself a little trying to tell me how she felt. “I hope I’m not just here so you can try your hand at getting me and James together while I have a boyfriend. Okay?”
She had never stopped trying to get James and me together. Whenever we were hanging out she would make stupid comment toward us. At times, I would feel uncomfortable, but I just let it slide. I always said she meant good, but this was too far. First she told me that Grey might be cheating on me, and then she stated the things she doesn’t like about him, and now the James thing. I didn’t know how much more I could take.
James and I were best friends. Just that, best friends. Yes, I liked him. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t. Since we became friends eight years ago I’d had a huge crush on him. But I never wanted to pursue anything because first, I was scared he didn’t feel the same way, and second, we would ruin our friendship, and I needed it. Besides, he never tried anything with me either, so I knew for a fact that he didn’t have the feelings for me that I had for him.
“Look, Emma. I know you are trying because you have a feeling in your heart that James and I are written in the stars. And yes, I like James. But I am with Grey and I like him, a lot. Can you just please leave it at that? Things can never happen between James and me.” I tried to lay it out nicely for her. I just hoped she got the point.
“Why? If you like him then why not try? Even after all these years?”
She didn’t get it.
“Because if things turned sour, we wouldn’t be friends anymore and I need his friendship. He’s part of my life, my family.”
I put the car in drive and started to drive. I wasn’t really going to turn around. I hadn’t seen James in a little while and I couldn’t wait to see him.
“Fine, I guess I should tell you now.” Oh boy, there’s more. Seriously? How much could she pile on me?
“Yeah, what?” I asked.
She was thinking, maybe about how she was going to say what was going to come out of her mouth. “Well, we're staying at James' friend’s house. The one whose party we are going to later.”
Well, thank goodness. At least I wouldn’t have to waste money I didn’t really have on a hotel. Coming on this trip last minute meant I didn’t have a lot of money to waste. Lately, my money had been going toward my dad’s medical bills and medicine. Those things k
ept building.
Wait…when she said ‘we’ who exactly was she talking about?
“Emma?” I glanced toward her. She was avoiding me. “Emma?” I asked again. “When you say ‘we’, who are you talking about?”
“Richard and I,” she mumbled.
“Where am I going to stay? You told me to trust you!” I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her when it came to this shit. I should have gone on the computer to find a hotel on my own.
“No, no. You already have a room.”
“Yeah, what room?” I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the words out of her mouth.
“You’ll be staying at James’ place,” she said quickly. Oh my goodness. Was she serious? This was just a joke. As I was about to open my mouth she beat me to it. “Let me explain. I didn’t think it was a bad idea. You were saving money, plus, you guys used to sleep in the same bed before all the time so I didn’t think there was a problem.”
“It’s a big fucking problem! I have a boyfriend now, Emma. Fuck!” I said, slamming my hands on the steering wheel. I couldn’t believe she had done that. She was right though; we used to share beds when we were teenagers and occasionally when he would get drunk, even when I had a boyfriend. But I actually wanted things to work out with Grey and we were older now. “Why did you think it was fine? You’re trying your fucking hook up shit, right?”
From my peripheral I could see she was shaking her head no. “I just didn’t want you to be the third wheel between Richard and me. I know I hate when I am the third wheel and I didn’t want that for you. I thought being with James and chilling with him would have been better.”
Well, when she put it that way it made perfect sense. I didn’t think that I would be the third wheel. Neither did I want to be the third wheel. “Wait, so you spoke to James already?”
I slightly turned my head toward her for a second before looking ahead. She had her innocent face on, which answered my question.
*
“Hey, sleepy head, wake up.” I felt someone tugging on my arm.