by Emerson Rose
What am I supposed to do now? Lennon is clearly unavailable, even if he doesn’t remember Kelly or the engagement. That ultrasound picture was her key to the kingdom. No way would he walk away from a child, especially if it’s his.
But, what if it’s not his? I mean, everyone says she’s been sleeping around for a long time. It’s possible. You don’t need this, Trinity. Baby or no baby, he has too much baggage and some of it he might not even remember. No, it’s best to walk away with a bruised heart instead of an annihilated one.
Bikini hops onto my chair and nudges my hand asking for attention. I comply scratching behind her ears as she kneads my shirt with her paws like she’s making dough.
My phone lights up on the table in front of me. I look, it’s a text from Fiona.
Fiona: Hey, I know you’re upset, but I wouldn’t believe anything that whore says. I’m staying with Lennon tonight since you had to go home, but I can’t be here tomorrow, gotta work. You think you could help, just until we find a replacement?
No way will I be drawn back into that mess, not when I’ve been successful at making a clean break.
Me: I’m sorry Fiona, I can’t. I’m sure a temp agency can send someone out right away in the morning.
Fiona: It’s late, no temp agency is open at this hour. You could just come and be here, you wouldn’t even have to see him. The house has security cameras, you could sit in the war room and watch him. If he has a problem, you can go and help him, otherwise nothing. I won’t even tell him you’re here. I’ll say I trust him to take care of himself for once.
Me: He may have lost his memories, but he’s not stupid. He’s going to suspect something is up.
Fiona: Then I’ll tell him I’m downstairs studying, and he should call if he needs help.
Me: And when he needs my help?
Fiona: Then you help him, and the cat’s out of the bag. It’s only for one day until we can get someone else.
I groan and exhale with force. She’s manipulating me, and I don’t like it. She knows I feel bad leaving them in the lurch with no help. And chances are he won’t even need anything tomorrow. I can just go and keep an eye on him from a distance and leave, forever.
Me: Okay but no contact unless he seizes or falls.
Fiona: Deal. I have to sleep for a couple of hours and be at my private client’s home by two. Can you be here around noon?
Me: Yes, I’ll be there.
Fiona: Thanks!
I feel used. This better not be a set-up. Knowing Fiona, it very well could be. That woman has the cupid bug bad.
My stomach growls so loud Bikini hops off the chair and heads inside to lounge on the back of the couch, her favorite spot. I follow and, in the kitchen, I make a frozen dinner in the microwave. I reserve those for lunch at the hospital on nights when the cafeteria isn’t open, but tonight I’m desperate.
When I’m done, I fall into bed in my clothes and play Solitaire on my phone. It’s something I do when I need to stop my mind from obsessing, and I am obsessing.
Five wins, two losses, and my elbow aches when I put the phone down. The second my mind is off of the game, it’s back on Lennon and Kelly. I can’t stand it. I need to get out of here and do something more distracting than a phone game.
The barbeque. I’m trudging through the sand toward the bonfire before I can think twice.
“Hey, Brit Goddess, you made it!” Bodhi yells from under the tall deck attached to his house. I walk to where several other people are taking shelter from the wind on the beach to smoke. Not Bodhi, though, he’s holding a beer instead of a cigarette. “I didn’t think you were comin’,” he says.
“Why not?”
“Well, first off, my friend, Fiona, told me you were taking some private gig at a bazillionaire’s house for a couple of weeks starting tonight.”
“You know Fiona?” I ask, not really surprised. She knows a lot of people. She’s the biggest social butterfly I’ve ever met.
“Yeah, met her through the DMV girl straight off the bus from Kansas.” His surfer tone slurs a bit, and I know he’s had more than a few drinks.
“The DMV girl?”
“Yeah, she got knocked up by the fireman. You know her, don’t cha?”
He must mean Edie and Hunter. “Edie.”
He raises his beer to point his finger at me. “Bingo.”
“Small world. I’m a nurse at Trinity Hospital. I work with a friend of theirs, Evan, and he introduced me to Fiona, who also works there.”
“Dude, so small, that’s awesome. Hey, if you need some fuel, there’s plenty of grub upstairs on the deck.” He gestures above us.
“Oh no, thanks, I just ate. Actually, I wasn’t going to come, but I needed some serious distracting.”
“Yeah, from Richie Rich?”
I give him a confused look until I realize he’s talking about Lennon. He has a nickname for everyone, and it’s hard to keep up with them all.
“Lennon, yes, the situation with the job,” I say not being totally honest.
“Dudette, you need to sit by the bonfire of life and tell master Bodhi your problems,” he says, taking me by the arm to lead me out on the beach. The group under the deck groans collectively, and Bodhi waves a hand at them. “Don’t listen to those vapid human vesicles under my deck. They don’t know the wonders of my mind.”
I give him a side glance to see if his pupils are dilated, but it’s too dark. “Are you on drugs?” I ask, and he laughs.
“Nah, I don’t do that stuff. It’s not good for ya. I do drink beer, though.” He pats the bare, ripped muscles of his stomach as if he had a beer belly. “Sit,” he says indicating one of two low beach chairs that have been pulled away from the fire a little. I sit, and he takes the other chair leaning way back and stretching his lean, tanned legs out in front of him. He’s wearing swim trunks and a button-up Hawaiian shirt that’s open and fluttering in the wind. His hair whips around his head as he digs his toes into the sand.
“So, you’re in love with Richie Rich, and he went and broke your heart. Am I right?”
I frown and turn in my chair to look at him. “What all has Fiona been telling you?” I ask.
“Oh, nothing, dudette. Swear. I just figured since you were gonna play nurse for the guy, and now your beautiful Brit Goddess ass is on the beach instead, that it had to be something like that.”
“I wasn’t going to play nurse. I am a nurse. I’ve been taking care of him since he was admitted to the hospital. It was only natural that I take the home healthcare position when he was discharged home for continuity care.”
He looks at me for a moment and bursts out laughing. I feel my frown deepen as my hackles rise. “Why are you laughing?” I ask.
He holds his free arm around his waist and pants for breath. “Sorry, man, you sounded more Brit than ever defending yourself like that.”
“I wasn’t defending myself. I was stating the facts.”
“Okay, okay,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender. Everyone around the fire is looking at us now wondering what’s making their host howl with laughter.
“Tell me the rest. If it’s all professional and stuff, what’s the problem? He needed a nurse, now he doesn’t. End of.”
“He does need a nurse, but I can’t do the job.”
“Why? Too hard?”
I’m offended. I’ve been an ICU nurse for years, and there’s not a patient I can’t care for. Well, not one I don’t have feelings for, anyway.
“No, the job isn’t too hard.”
“So, your feelins got in the way, huh?”
“Yes, something like that.”
“Hey, I met Richie Rich, and he’s a good guy. Whatever happened, you can work it out.”
“Nothing happened between us. He has a severe brain injury, and I don’t know if he’s making good decisions. He’s also engaged, and his fiancée is pregnant.” There, that ought to shut him up.
“But like, you love him?”
I turn away,
not wanting to discuss my unprofessional feelings with the neighbor I hardly know.
“You do love him, got it. Okay, so this brain injury, I heard from Fifi he’s gettin’ better, right?”
“Yes.”
“And the other chick, she’s a cockroach?”
I return my gaze to his. “A what?”
“A lying bug.”
“I don’t know. That’s what his friends say.”
“So, she’s probably not engaged or pregnant, right?”
“I have no idea, that’s the problem. He has amnesia, and he doesn’t even remember her or the baby. It’s not ethical for me to get involved with him.”
“Did a doc say he’s not with it enough to make his own decisions?”
“No, not yet.”
“So, when the doc gives the okay, Richie is fair game if you ask me. If he doesn’t remember the old girlfriend, that sucks for her, but man, that’s life. Shit happens.”
“And the baby?”
He shrugs his shoulders and takes a swig of beer. “If she’s the skank bitch Fifi says she is, it’s probs not his anyway. I’d get a paternity test done when she has it and pay child support if it’s his.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“You’re makin’ it too hard, is all.”
We sit and stare into the flames for a while. Could he be right? Am I making this too difficult? It doesn’t feel right, and my mum always said when something doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t.
“Bodhi?”
“Yo.”
“Ethically, I want to wait for him to regain as much of his memories as possible. He might remember his fiancée and that she was pregnant in time.”
“But how long’s that gonna take?”
“That’s the problem, I have no way of knowing.”
“That’s what I’m sayin’, you gotta take a leap of faith like when I’m ridin’ a sick wave, and it’s looking gnarly, and I know I gotta bail or take the big drink, ya know? Sometimes the wave is worth the drink.”
I take a minute to process his surf slang. “So, you’re saying Lennon’s issues might be worth the possibility of having my heart broken?”
“Yeah,” he says, bobbing his head up and down slowly dragging out the word.
“You’re a very complex man, Bodhi.”
“Dudette, if you only knew.”
Bodhi is a wonderful host the rest of the evening, introducing me around, keeping my cup filled with beer and encouraging me to eat when I’ve had more than enough to drink.
Downstairs, a beautiful woman wearing a colorful bohemian sarong and a bikini top stands in the massive doorway that leads out to the deck which overlooks the dark ocean. She’s petite with dark cocoa skin and a wild head of dreadlocks that hang past her waist, Lisa Bonet style. I pad across the tiled floor and stand next to her admiring the view of the party and stars.
“Hey, you’re the neighbor Bodhi’s been talking about, aren’t you?” she says.
I hold out my hand. “I think so, Trinity, nice to meet you.”
She shakes my hand and chuckles. “Brit Goddess, you mean?”
I feel my cheeks warm. “He has a way with nicknames, doesn’t he?”
“Mmm hmmm, but only if he likes you. I’m Star, by the way.”
“Star, you’re his wife, yes?”
She wraps her arm around her tiny waist and laughs hard this time. I’m not sure how to react. I don’t know if I’ve insulted her or made her happy. It’s an unidentifiable laugh.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I can’t imagine Bodhi ever asking me or anyone to marry him. He’s the most free-spirited person I’ve ever known.”
“Oh, I uh, I thought I heard someone say you two were together.”
“Oh, we sleep in the same bed, eat in the same kitchen, and surf the same waves, but it’s fluid, ya know? Like, we don’t lay claim to each other or anything. If he’s into someone else, that’s cool with me.” She winks conspiratorially.
“You’re not insinuating that he and I are… because I can assure you that we’re not. I am or I was in a…” A what? Lennon and I weren’t in a relationship. We never did more than kiss and only once. I wanted it. I wanted it, but there were so many obstacles.
“In a what?”
“Nothing, sorry. We’ve only just met. He’s friends with someone I know, that’s all.”
“It’s cool. You’re beautiful.” She reaches out and touches my cheek with the tip of her finger in a much too intimate gesture. “And that accent,” she smiles. “I can totally see the draw.”
“Well, um, thank you, that’s kind of you to say.” I look out at the fire trying to conjure up a new topic, and I think I see a familiar face cuddled up with someone by the fire.
I step forward onto the deck squinting my eyes trying to see if it’s who I think it is.
“See someone you know?” Star asks.
“I don’t know. Who’s that woman with the man in purple swim trunks?” She joins me at the railing and peers down at the fire.
“That’s BJ, and I think the girl is Kelly. BJ is trouble, so if she’s a friend of yours, I would go straight down there and tell her to pick another guy, any guy, to chill with and stay the hell away from him.”
“Kelly Striker?”
“I don’t do last names, but Kelly is for sure her first name. You do know her, don’t you?”
Just then, the man named BJ leans over and kisses Kelly on the mouth. Full on, not a peck that could be misconstrued. No, this is the kiss of a lover. “Holy shit,” I whisper.
“Girl, I’m tellin’ ya, bad news, that one is,” Star says.
“What do you know about him? Why do you say he’s trouble? What kind of things is he into? Drugs, theft, assault, kidnapping, sex trafficking?”
“Whoa, whoa, there. Wow, you went straight for the worst stuff, huh?”
“You said he’s bad news. I want to know exactly how bad.”
“Okay, honey, drugs yes, theft yes, the rest I don’t know, but he’s definitely got a heavy hand with the women, and he’s definitely a scam artist.”
“What does BJ stand for?”
“Oh, that I don’t know, but you can ask Bodhi. He probably knows.”
I slip my phone from my pocket and start videoing Kelly and BJ making out next to the bonfire. “You’re an odd one, you know that?” Star says with raised eyebrows as she watches.
“That trollop down there is a total maggot. I’m going to expose her for what she really is, and it’s going to be bloody amazing.”
Star smiles a wicked smile. “You go get ‘em, Brit Goddess!” she whoops, pumping her fist in the air, and I can’t help but smile.
When I have enough video, I whisper, “Gotcha, bitch,” and slip my phone into my back pocket and turn to face Star.
“Star, this has been an amazing party, but I have to go home. Thank you for having me.”
“No problem, neighbor, the door’s always open here.”
“I appreciate that.”
I walk back to my house. It’s around two in the morning when I strip down and fall into bed. I key up the video and watch it again and again. The third time through, I notice that Kelly is wearing a bikini and her stomach is flapjack flat. More damning evidence that she’s not telling poor Lennon the truth is the lack of engagement ring on her left hand and the bottle of Jack Daniels in her right.
I smile in the dimly-lit room, and Bikini hops onto the bed, purring. She stands on my chest as I scratch her neck with both hands and look straight into her big green eyes. “Tomorrow we’re taking that bitch down.”
15
Lennon
It’s morning, I can feel it, but I don’t want to open my eyes. If I do, I’ll have to face the fact that I am engaged to a woman I don’t know, she is pregnant, and I’m in love with someone else. I’d rather just stay here in the dark and avoid the real world.
Without my angel, it’s hardly worth it anyway.
“I know you’re awa
ke,” Fiona’s voice cuts through my blissful silence.
“How?”
“I’m a nurse. I listen to people breathe for a living. That slow, regular breathing pattern you had going on half an hour ago, it’s gone.”
“Well, aren’t you clever?”
“Trinity’s accent is wearing off on you.”
“Why, because I used the word clever? Lots of people say that, the British don’t have a monopoly on it,” I murmur in a gravelly morning voice, my eyes still closed.
“Grouchy much? Come on, get up. I have to take a nap and go to work.”
“Work?” I open my eyes and turn to face her. “I thought you were going to stay with me today.”
“I am, but you’re going to have to look after yourself for a few hours. I’ve got your breakfast,” she says, showing me a tray of food she’s been holding. “And Callahan will bring you lunch and check on you a couple of times.”
“You’re leaving me with a chef instead of a nurse?”
“I’m leaving you with a man who has been like a father to you for most of your life. I won’t be gone forever. If you need anything, call me. Otherwise, try not to have a seizure or fall out of bed or anything.”
I tilt my head to the side and widen my eyes. “Don’t have a seizure? How do you propose I do that?”
“Don’t get upset.”
“And that’ll do it?”
“It should, the only two seizures you’ve had were because of Kelly. Callahan is having the locks changed today and new passwords set on your security system.”
“Also,” she says, holding up her index finger. “If you have an emergency, you know, one that you’re conscious for, of course…”
“Of course,” I say with a deep sigh.
“Call the number on your bedside.”
“Whose number is it?”
“Just call it,” she says with a twinkle in her eyes. She’s up to something. I know that look.
“Fiona, what do you have up your sleeve?”
Wearing a black tank top that says Tequila Said I Could on the front, she holds up her bare arms. “No sleeves,” she says with a sly grin.
“Uh, huh.” I stab a piece of watermelon and start to eat my breakfast. There’s no use pressing the issue. I’ll just have to wait and find out what my sneaky little sister has planned.