5. Reva
REVA
“Hello?” I say when someone finally answers my call.
“Reva? Where are you? We went to your room to go out to eat for breakfast and you weren’t there!”
I sigh deeply and Harper groans. “Oh no, that sounds like there’s a really long story. We lost track of you last night after you went to say hello to that brutally gorgeous man at the roulette table.”
I flush and sag against the pillows on the bed, holding the phone up to my ear. “I’m so sorry. I actually can’t really remember. It’s all a huge blur.”
“Oh my god!” she shrieks, making me pull the phone from my ear with a grimace, my ears ringing. “Did someone drug you? I told you to keep an eye on your drinks! Was it that gorgeous guy?”
“It is a long story. And I need you to keep it to yourself. Don’t even tell the other girls!” Harper is my bestie so I’m hoping that she’ll agree to disagree on this.
“Of course. You know I’ll keep all your secrets, girl! But are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s really hard to explain since I don’t remember any of it. I’m just going off of what we’ve seen.”
“We?” She pounces on that one word like it’s a devil’s food cupcake. She loves her sweets. “Who the hell is we?”
“Well, from what we’ve seen…it looks like we might be married.” I cringe again when she shrieks.
“No fucking way! Have you lost your mind? I told you to stay the hell away from all those creepy little chapels! They suck you in and next thing you know you’re hitched to some perfect stranger.”
“He’s actually not a stranger.”
“Is it the guy?”
“The one at the roulette table last night? Yes. It is.”
“Who the hell is he and how do you know him?”
“Tom Gardner. He works in Wildwood and I’ve known him for awhile now. He’s my dad’s best friend.”
“Whoohoo!” She whistles. “I see why you want to keep this a secret. Your dad is going to flip his lid!”
“You think I don’t know that?” I huff. “We’re trying to find out if the papers were filed or not and if we need to get an annulment or not.”
“Why don’t you just go to the chapel and ask?”
“We did. It apparently burned to the ground early this morning.”
“Holy shit!” She breathes. “You two are cursed, I swear! So what do you need from me?”
“I’m gonna need to stay here for awhile longer. The guy’s brother is here and he’s trying to get ahold of his brother because the guy went on vacation to someplace where they lock up your cellphone. So we have to wait and see if he can get ahold of him.”
“Wow! So you’re not leaving with us today?”
“No. I’m not,” I murmur, my fingers pleating the sheets on the bed, my mind picturing Tom rolling over, his gorgeous eyes locked on me, dark and sexy.
“Well, I suppose I understand. But I’m curious about why you headed right for that guy when you saw him. You had this look in your eyes that didn’t say “Hey, dad’s best friend. Nice seeing you!””
“Ugh!” I roll my eyes. “I wish you weren’t so observant. Fine. I’ve had a crush on Tom for years.”
She gasps, delighted. “Oh my gosh! Does he know?”
“You think I told him that?” I shriek.
“No,” she huffs. “And I suppose since he’s a guy and older than you, he didn’t notice and just thinks of you as a little girl? Men!” I can picture the smirk on her face. She’s like the girl version of Tom. She just likes to have a good time and doesn’t want to fall in love.
“Yeah. Pretty much.” I don’t bother telling her about the electricity that seems to be building between us, like some rogue storm flaring up and out of control.
Waiting as the sky darkens and the lightning flashes around us is making me edgy as hell.
“But it’s probably for the best because my Dad would kill him and then lock me up for the next fifty years or so. ”
“Yeah. Dad’s are really awesome like that. Caring and all that shit.” I wince when I hear the hurt in her voice.
“I’m sorry, Harper. I know that…”.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she says quickly, cutting me off. “It doesn’t matter. Just be happy that your Dad does care even if he’s a pain in the ass about it.”
“I am. Really I am. I just don’t know what to do with all of these feelings.
Tom is my dream man. And I’m married to him but I can’t be because it would hurt my Dad.
But giving him up will hurt me. Ugh!” I growl, running my hand through my hair and tugging on it.
“Either way there is no winner in this scenario.”
“How does Tom feel about all of this?”
And that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?
How does he feel about all of this? Because I used to be able to read his feelings and thoughts really well.
He used to smile at me all the time and just be happy.
But that was a long time ago and things are different now.
I’m different. I’m not a little kid anymore and neither he nor my Dad seem to have recognized that.
“I don’t know. All I know is that he wants the whole marriage thing cleared up really quickly and he doesn’t want my Dad to know a damn thing about it. Neither do I.”
“Seems sensible unless he has a death wish.”
“Yeah. I know.” I shake off all the sadness and throw my shoulders back. “In the end, it’s really the only thing to do. I know that.”
“But you don’t want to do it. You’d like to know where it all might lead and you’re sad and hurt that he doesn’t.”
I chuckle but it’s not a happy sound. More like a choked-off sob. “Is that so wrong?”
“No,” her voice is soft. “But if you did try and see what, if anything, this could be…how many people would get hurt and could you live with yourself in that case? But if you walk away…can you live with that loss?” I wish to hell she wasn’t so good at laying it all out there.
Those are all damn good questions and I wish like hell I knew the answers. Right now we’re in limbo and there’s a reason that purgatory is basically limbo.
It’s an awful pain that never ends. The absolute perfect form of punishment for all misdeeds. Even ones that you haven’t done yet.