by J A Fielding
“It’s no big deal. The harness just…” he had started saying before she cut in more surprised than annoyed.
“Not a big deal, Steven? Are you fucking kidding me?” she asked looking at him.
“Okay, obviously I didn’t think that through,” Steven said.
Julie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest.
“Gee, you think?” she asked in a condescending tone.
“Baby…” he started as he moved close to her.
“Don’t touch me,” Julie said brushing his hand off her elbow and turning to face the window with her back to him.
“Wow, this is going to be harder than I expected,” he thought as he looked at her. “Tell me what you want me to do baby and I will do it,” he said.
She turned around and glared at him.
“I want you to treat this with the fucking seriousness it deserves, Steven. That’s what the fuck I want,” she said angrily.
“Okay, but maybe just try and tone down the profanity,” Steven said. The look Julie gave him made him realize that he should have probably not said anything.
“I will curse as much as I want, Steven. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck. What the fuck are you going to do about it?” she asked.
“Okay. They say the crazy usually reveals itself after the wedding. And here it is,” he thought as he looked at her. He was getting a little worried. He had seen her mad before but never this mad. This was a whole new layer to her he never knew existed. She was almost as bad as his ex! He ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled. “I’m sorry, baby. I know you were worried and I am sorry. I would never ever do anything to upset you the way I saw you earlier today,” he said. Julie didn’t move. “Just tell me what to do,” he said again as he moved close to hold her around the waist, pulling her close to him. He looked into her eyes and fought the urge to kiss her. She looked so damn cute when she was mad but he was not going to let his dick dictate the moment. She suddenly pulled away and began walking towards the door. Hey…where are you going?” he asked but it was too late. He heard the door slam shut. He took another long deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “What did I do?” he wondered, confused.
*****
At the hotel bar, Julie ordered a mojito and drank it amazingly fast. She surprised even herself at how fast she drank the first glass. She ordered a second one and then pulled out her phone from her pocket.
“Call or text… Call or text… Call or text…” she wondered as she looked at her phone screen just as the bar attendant came over to where she was.
“Anything more ma’am?” he asked smiling at her. She shook her head and he nodded before he resumed wiping down the counter.
“Actually…do you have Wi-Fi here?” she asked. He nodded and handed her what looked like a coaster. She looked down at it and noticed the Wi-Fi password on it. “Thanks,” she said as she quickly input the password before she called Meg. “Please pick up Meg…pick up…” she pleaded in her head. “Damn it, Meg. Where the fuck are you?” she wondered when the line went dead. She dialed again but the phone rang for a long minute with no answer.
Get off Ellis’ dick and pick the fuck up.
She knew the text was a bit loud but at that point she didn’t really care. When she didn’t get a replied, she put the phone down with a little more force than she had originally intended getting the barman’s attention. He looked at her and smiled sympathetically.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked.
Julie forced out a smile and shook her head no.
“Really? Because I have seen that look before,” he said.
“What look?” Julie asked frowning.
“The look when there’s a busy tone or no service…you know, when you want to talk to someone but you can’t reach them,” he said. Julie smiled at him. “Come on, the bar is not busy and I could use some good gossip,” he said. Julie smiled and then laughed. “So, what happened?” he asked as he looked at her.
“My husband and I went up to the ledge climb and he almost had a bad accident…his harness…there was just something wrong and he lost his footing,” she started. The barman’s eyes grew wide.
“Whoa, is he okay?” he asked.
“He is fine,” she nodded, “but he is treating the whole thing like it was just a small incident. You know,” she said.
The man looked at her and shrugged.
“Well, with men some things can be perceived a little more different than women,” he said.
“I got married three days ago and being a widow is not high on my to-do list,” she said.
“Congratulations. Nice rock by the way,” the man said.
She smiled and looked at her ring finger.
“Thanks. It’s an heirloom,” she said.
“Lucky you,” he said with a smile. She took another sip of her mojito. “Listen, maybe you are being a bit hard on him. I mean, he could very well be freaked out but he cannot show that side of him to you because he is a man, your man. He is supposed to take care of you,” he said.
Julie opened her mouth to speak but she realized she had no comeback. He was right. But still, just because he had a nice big trunk between his legs didn’t give him the permission to treat the whole situation like it was no big deal.
“I get it. Honestly I do but just because he climbed Everest, does not give…” she started saying before he put his hand up interrupting her.
“Wait, he’s climbed Everest?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Yeah, more than once. What does that have to with anything?” she asked.
“That’s it,” the barman said.
Julie shook her head and looked at him.
“What’s it? What are you talking about?” she asked.
“He’s gone up the most dangerous mountain countless times…it’s the ultimate thrill. I mean, it’s all ice and barely anything to get your footing on and he almost fell from a ledge? That’s kid’s play to him,” he said.
“You think so?” she raised an eyebrow. He nodded. “I mean he was halfway up,” she added.
“Look, I know you were worried and that’s normal but the truth is that he was okay. Don’t be surprised if he wants to go out to the same spot tomorrow,” he said. “Ledge climbing, especially the small ledges, since we are in Kauai after all, are no big deal for an experienced mountain climber.”
“How sure are you it was a small ledge?” she asked.
“You went to the Paradis place half an hour from here, right?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Yeah, it’s a small ledge and manmade too,” he said. Julie suddenly felt stupid. “Look, you look like a nice girl and I would hate to know that a client here is not having a good time because of a misunderstanding. Why don’t you go right up and make up with your new husband? I’m sure he would love to see you,” he said. Julie looked at her half empty mojito glass and realized he was right.
“I’m Julie by the way,” she smiled at him.
“Luke,” he said with a smile.
“Nice to meet you Luke,” she said with a smile. “Charge that to the honeymoon suite. Davenport,” she added before she grabbed her phone and walked towards the elevator. She had only been down here for an hour but it felt like forever since she saw Steven. When she walked into the suite, she found a black case on the table. “What’s this?” she asked as Steven walked into the room.
“Your wedding present,” he said looking at her. “And before you open it, I was hoping to get it on the night we arrived but there was a delay in the delivery. It’s not a bribe or anything,” he said quickly. She looked at him and smiled before she opened the case.
“Oh my God,” she said in a whisper. She was looking at an exact replica of the diamond and sapphire necklace worn by Kate Winslet in the Titanic.
“I remembered that you once said you would have loved to have Rose Hamilton’s necklace around your neck…that maybe you would wear it and nothing else for the man
you would give your heart to,” Steven said smiling.
“You remembered,” she looked at him and smiled.
“Of course I did,” he said with a smile as he walked towards her. She looked into his eyes and then leaned in to kiss him. “I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice when she pulled away.
She shook her head.
“Don’t be. I am sorry,” she said leaning her forehead against his.
“I guess this is our first official fight,” he said. She laughed. “I’m not going anywhere, Juelz. I’m not going anywhere, ever,” he said again.
Chapter 7
When they woke up the next day, they decided to go out for breakfast. It was there that they decided to drive back to Akamai’s place and give back the gear before driving to the zip line cross. Steven was actually surprised that Julie was willing to do anything else involving harnesses.
“Hey, I never got my turn,” she said. “And I need the rush,” she added. Steven looked at her and smiled. “And I get to go first this time. You seem to have some bad mojo around you,” she remarked. He looked at her and smiled before turning his attention back to the road.
“Ouch,” he said. She looked at him and smiled before she put on her sunglasses.
“So, how far are we from this…” her voice trailed off as she picked up the pamphlet. “I can’t pronounce this,” she said as she looked at the Hawaiian word on the pamphlet.
“Neither could I, but it looks amazing,” Steven said as he looked at his SAT-NAV. “We are about ten minutes away,” he said.
“Cool,” Julie said just as her phone rang. She looked at it and smiled. “Hey you,” she said cheerfully.
“Hey you? Is that all you can say?” Meg asked.
“What are you talking about?” Julie asked.
“The text you sent me yesterday?” Meg said.
Julie rolled her eyes and nodded.
“I’m sorry. I was pissed and I already had a mojito or two…I’m okay now,” she said. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back,” she added.
“That is not even why I called you,” Meg said. “How could you not tell me you are out there with Ezra Myer?” she asked.
Julie looked at Steven and then frowned.
“How the hell do you know about Ezra?” she asked.
“What? What did Ezra do?” Steven asked.
“You are on Perez Hilton’s blog…you, Steven, Ezra and that singer girlfriend of his, Olivia,” Meg said.
“Octavia,” Julie corrected.
“Whatever…how could you not tell me?” Meg asked.
“Well, I didn’t know they were going to be here. We just bumped into them…” Julie said.
“You better bring me an autograph,” Meg said before she giggled.
Julie raised an eyebrow.
“Is Ellis with you?” she asked. Her voice was a little judgmental.
“Yeah…why?” Meg asked.
“Because you only giggle like that if your neck is being nibbled on. Say hi. I have to check out Perez Hilton’s blog,” she said before she hung up, so fast that she didn’t even give Meg time for a comeback. “So we are apparently on Perez Hilton’s blog,” Julie said as she typed frantically on her phone.
“Really? That’s nice…I guess,” Steven said.
“Spotted: NBA superstar Ezra Myer and girlfriend in Hawaii. Celebrity realtor Steven Davenport was also there with his hot new wife,” she read and then looked up. “The world knows I’m hot,” she said.
“Why? You didn’t believe me?” Steven asked.
“I can’t hear you now that I’m famous,” she smiled. She looked at him and smiled just as they got to the unnamable place. As they got out of the car, one person was getting across the zip line and Steven looked up. Julie was surprised that he was surprised.
“I am really not sure we should go up there,” he said.
“Are you scared, Steven Davenport?” she asked smiling.
“No…I just…I’ve never really seen…done this before,” he said.
She smiled and nodded.
“It’s nothing to be worried about. I’ve done this a million times before. Trust me, safest thing in the world,” she said. Steven shook his head and then shrugged before he followed her into the shed to get their harnesses fixed. As they went up the hill, Steven looked at her and shook his head.
“Maybe I should go first,” he said. She looked at him and shook her head.
“No way, Jose,” she said as they got off the ATV. She looked at him and smiled. “Trust me, this is one thing you want to do. I can’t believe that you’ve never tried it before,” she said.
“Mr. and Mrs. Davenport. You are back.” Steven turned around and came face to face with Akamai.
“Hey. You run this place too?” Steven asked with a smile.
“Yeas, sir. All part of the company,” Akamai said. “About yesterday…” he started but Steven patted his shoulder.
“It’s fine,” he said. “Right now I just want an assurance that my wife will be safe on that zip line.”
Akamai smiled.
“This line has been operational for two years now. Never had an incident. You are actually our first customers of the day,” he said with a smile as he looked at Julie who was now getting on the zip line.
Steven took a long deep breath when she gave him a thumbs up as she started off. He watched her as she screamed all the way across but something happened. Halfway across the line, she suddenly stopped…and she was screaming.
“What…what the hell is going on?” Steven asked as he looked at Akamai who was speaking to members of his team in Hawaiian. For what seemed like forever, Akamai talked to the team members and eventually he mentioned something to Steven about getting a crane. “A crane…is there a crane that long?” Steven asked as he looked at Akamai.
“We have a heavy duty crane on the property and I know it is perfect for the job,” Akamai said. Steven looked at him and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at him and shook his head. For the next hour, he paced up and down wondering when the hell that crane would get there but even when the crane got there, he was still not sure is the crane could get the job done but somehow, Akamai’s people were making it happen. He was on edge as he watched the crane slowly making its way up and Julie, his precious Julie was just there, suspended in the middle of nothing. That stupid zip line was all that stood between her and certain death, of that he was sure. He looked on in horror as the crane slowly went up. It looked like it was taking forever before it finally got to where she was. He looked on as one of the safety guys unfastened her, gently releasing her onto the safety of the crane. He breathed his relief as the crane began its descent. He looked at Akamai and shook his head.
“What are the chances that this happens twice on my watch?” was what was going through Akamai’s head. “Mr. Davenport…” he started before Steven shook his head. Akamai couldn’t see it but Steven’s hand was shaking.
“You know that you just lost me as a customer right?” he asked. Akamai opened his mouth to reply but Steven clenched his fist. “For life!” he exclaimed before he walked away. He was walking so fast, he didn’t even realize when he started jogging. He knew that it would be at least another twenty minutes before the crane got all the way down to the ground and he needed to work out his steam. He didn’t even know where he was going but all he wanted to do was get away from there, to just be away…”Shit,” he thought as he made his way away from the parking lot. He had no idea how long he had been running for when he finally decided to run back. He must have been gone for more than twenty minutes because when he came back, Julie looked like she had been waiting for quite some time. A small crowd had gathered at the parking lot and customers were now leaving. Obviously, the company had halted operations and were now clearing the area. Julie got up and ran towards him but this time when she started crying, she was just happy that everything was over. She had her head on his shoulder and it was not until she stopped shaking that she fe
lt his rapid heartbeat. She pulled away and looked into his eyes and then smiled. “You okay?” he asked. She smiled and nodded.
“I’m fine,” she said in a low voice.
“What the hell happened?” he asked as he forced a strand of hair behind her ear. She shook her head and exhaled loudly.
“I don’t know…there was a knot on the line or something,” she said shrugging.
“A knot?” Steven asked as he looked into her eyes. He took a long deep breath and then turned around to look at the service workers.
“You are done,” he said to no one in particular. Akamai made his way through the crowd and looked at him and Julie.
“Mr. Davenport,” he started but Steven didn’t want to hear anything.
“Are you trying to get rid of the Davenport name or something?” Steven asked.
“Mr. Davenport, this was an accident. There was no way of knowing…” he started before Steven let out a cynical laugh.
“There was a knot on the line. What the hell is that about? Do you people even service your shit? Ever?” he asked. “Because if you did, you would have noticed the flipping knot on the flipping line,” he said a bit too loudly. By now, he was obviously attracting the wrong kind of attention.
“Mr. Davenport I assure you that I will not rest until I…” Akamai started before Steven stepped forward invading his personal space.
“By the time I am done suing this place you will not have a leg to stand on. I can promise you that,” he said.
Julie looked at him surprised.
“Steven!” she said in a loud whisper.
“No baby. Someone has to pay. Do you know the damage you would have incurred if you fell?” he asked. “They will know,” he added before he turned to look at Akamai. She looked at Steven surprised that this was the same person not making a big deal about almost falling to his death just a day earlier.
“Steven!” she said loudly. “Let’s go” she said slipping a hand around his elbow. She looked at him and there was a long awkward silence before he finally followed her to the car.
“This is not over!” he yelled to Akamai before he got in the car and buckled himself in. She looked at him and started the engine before she drove off. She was angry but she could not talk, not now. She needed to cool off. “Baby…” Steven started.