Chapter 29 ~ Carter ~
"T wo whiskies." Don and I entered a pub near the clubhouse. My best friend had dragged me here and was already placing the order as soon as the door had closed behind us.
"What's gotten into you?" I looked at him in surprise. "Usually, you're strictly against me drinking even a drop of alcohol when we still have to drive home. And now you're ordering me a whisky?"
"I think you need one." Don nodded at me. "You've been really unbearable these past few weeks. You're in the worst mood I've ever seen you in. One whisky won't get you totally drunk. And if it does, I'll drive." Don pointed to one of the booths where you could settle in with your beer or whisky or whatever. The whole pub had a dark atmosphere. Dark wood paneling, dark floor, dark ceiling, dark bar stools, and dark red leather upholstery. And of course, a dark bar. I almost felt transported to Ireland. Although this pub was only 200 meters from the clubhouse, I had never visited it until now.
"We should at least toast to your victory once," said Don. He went to the bar and got the two whiskies. As he sat down, the pub door opened again.
Cameron.
My brother entered. He headed straight for the bar and didn't notice me.
"Whisky. Two doubles," he ordered.
Don wanted to say something, but I raised my hand to signal him to be quiet. I didn't want my brother to notice us yet. Cameron hoisted himself onto one of the bar stools and turned his back to us. When the bartender placed two double whiskies in front of him on the dark counter, he downed both within a minute. He swung around vigorously and nearly slipped off the bar stool in the process. He barely managed to keep his balance. Now he was looking in the direction of the booth where Don and I were sitting.
"Www...Who do I see there?" Cameron slurred and staggered over to us. Had he been drinking before coming to the pub? Or even before the race? He had knocked back those two double whiskies pretty quickly, but you couldn't get that drunk in such a short time. Or could you?
"Hello Cameron," I replied coolly. I would have loved to land my fist in my brother's face again, but I controlled myself.
"Drinking to your victory, are you?" Cameron spoke so indistinctly that I could barely understand him.
"Yes, we wanted to celebrate a little," Don replied in my place.
I remained silent.
The victory.
The championship.
Cameron in second place behind me.
Just a few weeks ago, this goal had meant so much to me that I had given Tony hell to get the spare part for my quad in time. But now... Now it had only been a few hours since I had won the race against my brother, and already the memory had faded. The wild feeling of triumph I had expected hadn't come, neither right after the race nor now.
Something was missing.
"I thought I might be able to pick up some women here." Cameron grinned at me. The way only a drunk person could grin.
"May I remind you that you got married just over a month ago?" I had wanted to stay silent, but the sentence came out before I could stop it. Had the alcohol caused Cameron to forget about his wife and want to have fun elsewhere? I grimaced in disgust.
"So what? Marriage is no reason to give up on other women. What do you say, are you in? We'll find three pretty local beauties and then..." Cameron grinned again and made an unmistakable gesture. I doubted he could put his plan into action today. If he had one more whisky, he'd be more likely to end up passed out under the table, subjecting himself to the laughter of all the women present.
At the moment, we were the only guests in the pub anyway.
"Count me out, thanks," Don declined.
"And me too," I added. "Honestly, Cameron, your wife doesn't deserve this."
"I only took that old bag to make sure I get our grandma's inheritance. Like you said." Cameron was so drunk that confessions were just tumbling out of him. I listened with interest. "I don't care about her at all. Have you looked at her?" Cameron giggled. "In bed, all you can do is... close your eyes and think of someone else."
I grimaced in disgust. Sure, in the past, I hadn't always behaved like the model son-in-law. But I had never cheated on a woman. Even with the jealous Abigail, I had kicked her out first before I had fun elsewhere - even though Abigail had always accused me of doing exactly the opposite.
And anyway, if you marry someone... shouldn't it be someone you don't have to close your eyes and think of someone else with?
An image appeared before my eyes.
Why was I thinking of Isabella right now?
"You must be out of your mind," I said to Cameron. "You'd better go home and have fun with your wife. With what you're spouting here, you should be glad she's still around at all."
Cameron grunted.
"Was that an answer? If so, I'm afraid I didn't understand it." I turned away and looked at Don. I had heard enough of my brother's stupid talk.
"Easy for you to say... pleasure." Cameron shook his head. "I only find pleasure elsewhere. I'll tell you one thing, marriage is no pleasure. You can count yourself lucky that you escaped it again."
I just shook my head. Cameron's sentences weren't getting any smarter.
"Actually, you have me to thank for that. I saved you. Without me, you might be sailing into the harbor of marriage right now with that... Isadora." Cameron furrowed his brow.
"ISABELLA!"
"What?" Cameron said.
"Her name is ISABELLA!" For some stupid reason, I couldn't stand that Cameron couldn't remember Isabella's name. She was a woman worth being called by her correct name.
What did you just think, Carter?
I pushed that question aside. Because much more interesting than what I had just thought was what my brother had just said. "What exactly do I have to thank you for, Cameron?"
"Well, for not being tied down. Getting married is really a stupid, dumb thing, Carter, let me tell you that. You really don't need to do it. I would never have done it either if it wasn't for Grandma's money."
"You said that already." I drummed my fingers on the dark table in front of me. What was my brother talking about? "Why do I have you to thank for that?"
"Well, you see..."
At that moment, the door of the pub opened again and two scantily clad women came in. I didn't give them a second glance. They looked cheap. They had none of the class that...
... that Isabella had, for example.
Isabella again.
Why couldn't I get her out of my head?
"Ahhhh.... Finally." Cameron staggered towards the two women. "My sweeties, what can I get you?" They looked him up and down.
"I'll have a Tequila Sunrise," the one on the left chirped. She was the more heavily made-up of the two and had platinum bleached hair. She was probably trying to look a bit like Marilyn Monroe. The attempt, however, had failed miserably.
"And I'll have a Sex on the Beach," her companion added. She had pink hair, at least five piercings in her face, and black-painted lips. I had never been into this type of woman, but my brother looked at her enthusiastically.
"Then let's have a nice evening," he grinned at the two ladies. He squeezed between them, put his arms around their waists, and stroked each of their bottoms with one hand. Then he gave them both a little slap.
"Shall we go?" asked Don.
I stood up.
"Cameron."
My brother turned around.
"You still owe me an answer," I said.
"Ohhhh.... Who's this Sexy Boy?" The woman with the pink hair looked at me admiringly and licked... not her lips, but her piercings. I returned her gaze coldly.
"No one for you," I put her in her place.
But that seemed to encourage her more. She giggled. "Well, we'll see about that."
Certainly not.
"What did you mean earlier when you said you had saved me from sailing into the harbor of marriage with Isabella?" I looked at my brother.
"Oh, that..." he waved it off now. He seemed a bit more clear-headed than before and the situation was visibly uncomfortable for him. "Forget it. It was just talk. Let's have some fun instead." Again, he patted each of the women's bottoms.
"But I don't want to forget it." Slowly I took a step towards Cameron. And another. Now we were standing so close to each other that I could almost feel his breath on my face. "So. What happened? What did you do?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone. Go home or get yourself a woman." My brother tried to take a step back, but since he was holding the platinum blonde and the pink-haired woman in his arms and was standing right in front of the bar, he didn't really succeed.
"Nooooo... you're not going home, are you, Sexy Boy?" One of the women licked her piercings again.
Sexy Boy.
Disgusted, I twisted my face.
"I want to talk about it, Cameron. Spit it out now." My words echoed through the entire pub's bar room. The bartender behind the counter had stopped polishing glasses and was looking over at us.
Cameron shrugged.
Now I'd had enough. The guy probably thought he could make a fool of me with his stupid insinuations. I moved forward another inch and grabbed him by the collar. Then I slowly pulled him up so that he was standing only on his tiptoes.
"I'm asking for the last time." My voice was much quieter now, but no less threatening. "What did you do?"
Cameron tried to free himself from my grip, but he couldn't get his arms to his throat. The two women were in the way.
"I..." he wheezed.
I shook him lightly and loosened my grip just enough for Cameron to speak a little better.
"Well, I told Abigail to come to the wedding. And if she hadn't come, then... then all this wouldn't have happened and you would have had to marry Isabella."
"You invited Abigail?" What exactly that had to do with the argument between Isabella and me was still not clear to me.
"I knew she was still hot for you. Or still. And so I just..." Cameron shrugged.
"Yes?" I shook Cameron again.
"Well, I told Abigail that now she had a chance to outshine your fiancée. Then I would have gotten the whole inheritance." Cameron grinned. "Abigail probably told your Isadora... Isabella... some great stories. About how you two never really broke up and are still... well, you know."
What a creep.
So that's why Isabella had been so upset...
A terrible suspicion grew inside me.
"Go on!" I shook Cameron again. "That wasn't all, was it? What about this Owen?"
"Which Owen?" Cameron asked.
"Isabella's boyfriend."
"I don't know him." Cameron shrugged, as best he could in his position.
"Sexy boy, none of that matters now." The woman with pink hair nodded. "Now you're here with us."
"Only thanks to me, darling. Otherwise, he'd be taken." Cameron grinned at the woman.
That was the last straw. I let go of him and threw a punch. And hit the same spot as I had about an hour ago. Cameron stumbled backward, holding his face.
"You... you... you miserable... pig!" I could barely find words. The vein on my temple had suddenly swollen, and I felt my face turning red.
"Carter!" Don put a hand on my shoulder. "This isn't helping now. We need to find Isabella."
Isabella.
The sound of her name brought me somewhat back to my senses.
Don was right about one thing. This wasn't helping anymore. What had happened, had happened. I turned my back on Cameron and wordlessly left the pub. Don followed me.
"Why should we look for her?" I snapped grumpily, without looking at Don. "Cameron and Abigail might have lied to her, but that still doesn't change the fact that she got involved with this Owen again! Or had something going on with him the whole time. She's been stringing me along."
"Oh, really?" Don put a hand on my shoulder and forced me to turn around. "Think about it, Carter."
"There's nothing to think about." My answer was short and definitive.
Don wasn't deterred. "If Isabella really cheated on you and you mean nothing to her, why would she have gotten so upset about Abigail's words? Wouldn't she have reacted completely differently in that case?"
I stared at Don in the dim light.
Wouldn't Isabella have reacted completely differently?
The answer came quickly. I liked it. And also didn't.
She would have reacted damn differently, Carter. Above all, she would have insisted that you transfer her the $50,000. She definitely would have.
Instead, I had never heard from Isabella again.
I could only think one thing.
Cameron had lied to Isabella. He had wedged himself between us.
And I had insulted her, humiliated her in front of my family, and sent her away.
Unjustly?
That suddenly seemed quite likely to me.
My heart was pounding harder than it had in a long time.