Chapter 23
Charity
“Hello?” I gripped the towel at my chest and tried to hold the phone so it didn’t come in contact with my wet hair.
“Hi! It’s Greg.” I paused, several heartbeats going by before he said, “Is it lame that I’m calling you like the very next day? Because I’m suddenly feeling like I’m pretty lame,” he laughed nervously.
“No! Hi, um, you just caught me at a bad time; I just got out of the shower.”
“Oh, hey, if you don’t mind me saying, I guess that’s just a matter of perspective,” his tone was teasing and I laughed a little.
“Can I dry off and give you a call right back?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said, sounding skeptical.
“Call you right back. I promise,” I said.
“Okay.”
I ended the call and blew out an explosive breath. What is wrong with you? I thought to myself. I dried off and got dressed. A lace top that was long sleeved, but off the shoulder. Perfect to hide the bruises but cool enough for the sultry afternoon outside. I paired the black lace top with a pair of short light colored denim shorts and a pair of black, strappy wedge sandals. Not too dressy, but not totally casual either. I dried my hair, straightening it with my flat iron, and spent an extra few minutes covering the light bruise at the corner of my mouth with makeup. That done, I decided fuck it and did my whole face. I’d perfected the natural look, and with some light pink, bordering on nude lip gloss I was done.
I went back to my bedroom and picked up my phone off the bed. I needed a little ‘me’ time and had planned on heading down to the boulevard to have a drink by myself, but I fancied a bit of company, so long as it was company who wasn’t Nothing or the MC. I needed a break from the drama and Nothing’s club brothers kept casting me sympathetic looks that’d like to drive me crazy.
Greg picked up on the second ring, “I didn’t expect to hear from you,” he said.
“Yeah, sorry. I’m a girly girl. Hair and makeup take a minute.”
“I see, does that mean you’re going out?”
“Actually, if you’re free for that drink, I’d love to meet up.”
“Absolutely!”
So it was that I found myself down on the boulevard parking my Jeep down the block from one of the more tourist trap bars. An open air affair right off the beach with a spectacular view of the water and the sun hanging low in the sky, deepening on towards sunset. Greg was at the bar, and I slipped up onto the stool next to him.
“Hey stranger,” I greeted and he turned, all smiles, his mouth dropping open. Success!
“Wow! Look at you,” he said, “I know it’s forward of me, but can I have a hug?” he asked.
“Aww, that’s sweet you would ask,” I said with a laugh and held out my arms. We hugged, a friendly greeting that was neither too quick nor did it linger.
“So what did you do today?” he asked me, by way of conversation starter.
“Oh, you know, more storm clean up.”
We chatted amicably, and he bought me a drink, I went with a tried and true, Pina Colada, and sipped it slowly. As far as drinks went it was cool, sweet, and fruity but sort of on the weak side, which I was okay with seeing as I had every intention of driving home after a bit.
The bartender came by and asked if I wanted another drink. The first one had absolutely zero effect, so I nodded, smiling.
Greg was good conversation, he said he worked for a development company and that he’d been sent out to Ft. Royal to see if it was a prime location for a resort. I’d laughed at that, and he’d smiled ruefully.
“Yeah, I’m kind of feeling like I was set up to fail out here. The townspeople aren’t exactly welcoming with open arms when I mention that.”
“Can you blame them? It feels like this place is the last bastion in Florida when it comes to corporate development.”
“You are not wrong,” he said with a sigh.
The bartender set down my drink and I took a sip, smiling.
“So, what do you plan to do now that you have your degree?”
I scoffed, “Find a job before the student loans try to eat me alive.”
Greg cringed, “Oo, that bad?”
“Ahhh, not really. I pretty much had a full ride when it came to tuition, it was the text books that kill you. Some of them were more than four hundred dollars!”
“Yikes, why didn’t you get them used?”
I looked at him like ‘are you serious?’ and told him, “That was used.”
“Holy shit, are you serious?”
“As a heart attack,” I slipped off the stool, “Can you excuse me for a second? Ladies room is calling.”
“Absolutely, I’ll be right here.” He smiled brightly and I found the restroom to break the proverbial seal. I knew the science behind why you had to pee when you were drinking, I mean, that’s all alcohol was; a diuretic, and subsequently, that’s what a hangover was, a combination of dehydration and your body reacting to, essentially, the poison you put into it.
I freshened up my lip gloss in the bathroom mirror and went back out to the bar, retaking my seat.
“Where were we?” he asked and I smiled.
“Lamenting how stupid it is to get an education just so you can turn around and spend the rest of your life paying for it.”
“Ah right, I believe that’s the new American dream, isn’t it?”
“Something like that.”
I took another drink and Greg sipped his beer, both of us lapsing into the natural lull in conversation.
We made more small talk and I nodded at something he was saying, only the room started to spin, causing me to frown.
“You alright?” Greg asked.
“Yeah, that’s strange.” I looked over to the bartender who was in the back corner behind the bar, on the phone looking over his shoulder at me and Greg.
“What’s strange?” Greg asked and I swallowed hard.
“Guess this second drink was just a little bit stronger than the first, just got a bit dizzy there for a second.”
Greg frowned, “You want some water?” he asked.
“No,” I closed my eyes squeezing them shut and opening them again. I was seeing double. Something was really wrong. I slipped off my bar stool and nearly went down, my wedge heel turning under me, or maybe I was just that unsteady on my feet.
“What the hell?” Greg asked, and sounded genuinely concerned.
“Can we just get out of here?” I asked.
“Sure, absolutely.”
He put an arm around my waist, only it wasn’t right, it was too tight, and he began to usher me towards the door.
“Ow, Greg, ease up, you’re hurting me,” I said.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
I looked back at the bartender, head swimming with confusion. He nodded and spoke rapidly into the line and before I could call out, Greg had swept me out the door and onto the street, leaning me up against a parked car.
“Just a second,” he said and opened the passenger door on the nondescript gray sedan. The Gray of Nothing’s eyes.
“No, I don’t want to go anywhere with you,” I said but my voice came out slurred nonsense.
Oh… oh shit.
Greg shoved me into the passenger seat of the car, and I think I must have passed out, because I can’t remember anything after that.